Author: Emma

Quiz: How Gross Are You?

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I want to say that my personal hygiene has really taken a nosedive since I started working from home, but if I’m being honest, I didn’t shower all that regularly to begin with. Fortunately, I have enough out-of-the-house meetings and appointments that I’m forced to wear non-sweatpants a couple of times a week (and I’m not even counting yoga pants here!). If you spent a lot of time outside, you are probably at least kind of gross, too. Let’s find out! Continue reading “Quiz: How Gross Are You?” →

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I’ve got [sunscreen] on a cloudy day

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As hard as I try not to embody gender-based stereotypes, I am perpetually Team Mom. I can’t help it. If we’re camping, I will follow you around picking up after you and organizing all our gear into neat piles. I want to make sure you’ve gotten enough to eat. Please let me pack you a lunch.

These qualities are generally considered endearing—who doesn’t want a smorgasboard laid out on the picnic table and a cold beer waiting when you finish pitching your tent? But I do have this one habit that drives people bonkers. Continue reading “I’ve got [sunscreen] on a cloudy day” →

How I climbed a mountain without making it entirely about myself

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A little over a year ago, I headed to Mexico with a group of women who are, in one way or another, associated with Big City Mountaineers. I’ve written a fair amount about BCM before, since I’ve worked as an instructor and as a volunteer, but basically: BCM is a nonprofit that teaches critical life skills to under-resourced kids during the course of weeklong wilderness backpacking and canoe trips. One of their primary fundraising tools is a program called Summit For Someone, in which participants do cool stuff like climb mountains or embark on their own wilderness trips while fundraising for BCM. Continue reading “How I climbed a mountain without making it entirely about myself” →

It’s nice to have gear that fits you

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I’ll never forget a monthlong glacier trip I did in my early twenties with a backpack I borrowed from the guy I was dating at the time. He was bigger and broader than me, and so was his pack. A week into the trip, the skin on my hips was raw, and I spent another 20 days miserably adjusting and readjusting and padding and un-padding and generally wishing I had a way to carry 85 pounds that actually fit me. By the time I got home, I was ready to burn it, and not just because our subsequent breakup wasn’t exactly amicable.  Continue reading “It’s nice to have gear that fits you” →