They called me la grande voyageuse — the great traveler — when I lived in France for my third year of college, over five decades ago. By saying Yes! to all of life’s open doors (not only traveling), that year and ever since, I’ve learned that you can accomplish whatever dream lurks in your heart… even do it multiple times. Even when others tell you you’re crazy.

If you’ve ever dreamed of doing something wild in your lifetime (like becoming a climber at 59 and climbing El Capitan at 66!), ever longed to know whether you could (fill in the blank) but didn’t know how to make it happen, this might be a good place to start.

We’ll delve into the ‘how-to’ here. If you’d like some background about how I got here, check out my book, The Sharp End of Life. Going up El Capitan with my son was such a life-changing adventure that I couldn’t not write about it.

So who am I, that you should spend your time here? Oldest woman to climb El Capitan, Yosemite’s iconic 3,200-ft granite wall. Language professor (five languages/three continents). Orchestra founder & conductor. Author. Independent publisher. Multiple marathoner. Airline personnel. Tour guide (in various languages). Subject of 2 documentaries (Trailer: Climbing Into Life). Mother of two extreme athletes; you might have heard of one of them — Alex Honnold, of the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo.

(You can check out one of my interviews, with Alex, on CNN here. Or on daytime TV with Tamron Hall here. Or in the NYTimes article here, in the AARP Magazine Nov. ‘23. Or on the Be Bold Podcast, the Out There podcast, or over 40 others…)

I only tell you that to warn you that you won’t know what to expect here. Many writers have one focus, one topic they write about, a specialty. I’ve never been that lucky. Life is too varied and exciting! We’ll be exploring here through the lens of all the different facets that have given me a goal to strive for, challenged me, enriched me and given me so much satisfaction. There’s nothing quite as heady and addictive as accomplishing a goal you thought was impossible — so I invite you to keep your own dream/goal in mind as you join in the adventure!

You can be a casual adventurer, where you’ll come along on some of my adventures once or twice a month and read about some of the weird, wonderful things that are possible. Here and there, you’ll learn how to follow your own dream, no matter how improbable, or even impossible, it might seem at first.

Or, later in this new adventure of mine, you can be a paid subscriber and get all the above, plus early access to new adventures, subscriber-only messages, exclusive conversations now and then, and (if I figure out how to create them) personal ‘postcards’ from an adventure, wherever in the world it might be happening.

La Grande Voyageuse is about exploration. About learning how to say Yes! to whatever life offers, to whatever speaks to your heart. About making your dreams happen. I’m glad you’re coming along on the adventure!

Everything worthwhile in life starts with a dream. So I hope you’ll keep reading… and dreaming. I look forward to hearing from you as we explore together.

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