October 3, 2008 -- September may be my favorite month, and this year it was particularly great. I spent it in Ecuador, where I visited the Huaorani, a remote Amazonian tribe that recently built a small-scale ecolodge. I traveled by dugout canoe, learned how to hunt with a blowpipe (sorta), and visited tiny villages where the women painted their faces with red pigment from a local seed. I also visited the charming eco-minded Black Sheep Inn in the highlands, the Galapagos, and a community lodge in the cloud forest. To top off the month, I went backpacking in western Maine, where the leaves paraded their flashy fall costumes. I'll be home for most of October, enjoying the golden aspens around Durango and moving into my new house. P.S. Check out my story on diving in Fiji in this month's Sport Diver magazine.

July 29, 2008 -- Sometimes you just need a change of scene—and when you're a travel writer, you need a lot of scene changes. So in a bout of stir craziness and impulsiveness, I made reservations on Friday afternoon, and Andrew and I high-tailed it down to Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs in New Mexico. We were just in time to soak in a super-hot spring lit by a small wood fire. On Saturday we yoga-ed and drove through the desert to an eco-conscious spa, where we hot tubbed, drank wine, and did nothing productive whatsoever. On Sunday, we hiked down to the Rio Grande in the Taos Box canyon, happened upon some petroglyphs, and took a very refreshing dip without another soul around. Add to all of that some killer enchiladas and a cameo by a double rainbow and it wasn't a bad weekend. Now it's back to the grind. I just finished up work for the OR Daily and am now working on a big story for National Geographic Adventure as well as a number of short stories for Outside. As usual, I have no complaints.

June 10, 2008 -- I just got back from a successful climb of California's 14,162-foot Mt. Shasta, which benefited Big City Mountaineers, a non-profit that takes inner-city teens on wilderness trips. It was a wild adventure. We started at 1:30 am and climbed 5,000 vertical feet up the steep and frozen West Face with the help of crampons, axes, and ropes. At one point, an unroped climber who had lost his ice axe came sliding past us at top speed. He slid 2,000 vertical feet before coming to a halt in some rocks. Miraculously he wasn't seriously injured; nonetheless, an unnerving sight. By the time we topped out on the summit, it was sunny and clear, and we could see wide views of beautiful northern California. Two weeks ago, I returned from Iceland, where I watched minke whales, hiked in remote glacial valleys, scuba dived in the fissure between tectonic plates, caved in a lava tube, and got lost while locating fabulous wilderness hot springs. At some point, I'll post some photos. In other news, on Friday, my first piece for the Escapes section of the New York Times was published. Check out my tale of rafting Utah's San Juan River here. The next two weeks I go to a couple of weddings, then I'm moored at harbor working for the first portion of the summer.

April 28, 2008 -- To celebrate the close of a fantastic winter with a bang, my boyfriend Andrew and I splurged on three days of skiing in the Selkirks of British Columbia. We had a winning combination of powder snow, clear skies, and good company. To celebrate the arrival of spring, I recently went on a three-day raft trip on Utah's San Juan River, which has ancient dwellings, petroglyphs, fossils, and bizarre rock formations on its banks. Work goes well, and I have a few exciting stories in the works. At the moment, my reviews of women's hiking gear appear in the spring edition of the Outside Buyer's Guide and a review of lightweight jackets appears in the May issue of Runner's World. My story on high-end treks appears in Outside's Go, and I have a story on gelaterias in American Way, American Airlines' inflight magazine. Next trip: Iceland in May.

January 30, 2008 -- Last year my new year's resolution was to not make any more resolutions. I succeeded swimmingly, but if I were to have a resolution this year it would be to update this column of my website more often. Well, 2007 was a smashing year and so far so good for 2008. In the fall, I spent two weeks traveling and diving my way through Fiji. I encountered 9-foot-long bull sharks, schools of trevally, and sea turtles. I kayaked through mangroves, was wrapped in giant banana leaves at a spa, and tasted kava, the Fijians' pleasantly sedative and tongue-numbing beverage of choice. I tacked on another week in French Polynesia, where I visited a private island an hour boat ride from a tiny airstrip in Rangiroa, an atoll the middle of the nowhere. (About 90 minutes from Tahiti, to be exact.) The fruits of that trip will appear in the February/March issue of Outside's Go. I had a feature on how climate change is affecting recreation in the Northeast published in AMC Outdoors this fall. Other recent stories have appeared in National Geographic Adventure, Outside, Men's Journal, Plenty, Sunset, and Hemispheres, United Airlines' in-flight magazine. The best news of all, however, is the fact that the Durango is having the kick-assest winter in a long time. The snow gods are smiling—and so are we.

May 18, 2007 -- This spring was filled with lots of fun trips, from heliskiing in the Selkirks of British Columbia to kicking back on Martha's Vineyard. I have a few fun stories out right now as well. My account of learning to kiteboard with my friend Kelsey appears in the May issue of Women's Health, and a gargantuan service story on the new world of sustainable travel appears in the June/July issue of Plenty, to name a couple. In four days, I'm off on the next adventure: a three-week journey through Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.

March 7, 2007 -- This month, my seven-page guide to adventures in the Southwest appears in National Geographic Adventure magazine. Happily, I have experienced some great trips in the Southwest myself recently. I went on a six-day hut-to-hut ski tour through the San Juans, during which I skied waist-deep powder and witnessed the Brocken spectre. I also went on a whirlwind road trip around southwestern New Mexico, stopping to eat chilis rellenos and bumbleberry pie in near-ghost towns, explore cliff dwellings, and meditate among white sand dunes. Other than losing one ski on a powder-filled slope while backcountry skiing, this winter has been thoroughly enjoyable. Next month, I'll have a story about environmentally friendly gear in Outside and one on exploratory adventures in Men's Journal. I'll also have an article on inspiring ecofriendly companies in Delicious Living.

January 15, 2007 -- 2006 proved to be a good year with many travels. During the summer I gallivanted around my home state of Colorado, spending time in national parks like Rocky Mountain and Great Sand Dunes. In September I completed a gonzo week-long backpacking trip through Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in Alaska; It involved glacier crossings, wading through icy streams, three passes, and an 18-mile tromp out of the wilderness on the last day. In October I traveled to the other side of the globe to trek, watch elaborate Buddhist festivals, and visit monasteries in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. And in December I learned to kiteboard in Florida. Already this winter has been fun, with a couple of big storms and lots of skiing in the backcountry, with San Juan Ski Company Snowcats, and at Silverton Mountain. Work is ongoing with Men's Journal, Outside, National Geographic Adventure and The New York Times. I have also had stories in Plenty, Skiing, and Parks, a new National Parks Foundation publication. Check out my story on Bhutan in the February/March issue of Plenty, which hits newsstands right about now. They actually made my photos look decent!