A Night of Adventure
Last night we were joined by some of the most inspiring people in adventure for an open and honest night of discussion, learning and of course, adventure. In collaboration with Stance, we set out to create an event that would give more women the skills and inspiration to get out on adventures of their own. Through map-reading and kit-packing workshops, presentations by 3 awesome women in adventure, and a panel discussion we certainly hope we achieved this and more!
In planning this event, we had three topics we felt need to be talked about for women in adventure.
These topics were:
- Normalising the topic of failure in adventure;
- the relationship between the environment and adventure;
- and how to fit in adventure when your life it really, really full.
We heard Jenny Wordsworth (formally Davis) talk about her missed- world record attempt. She skied across the South Pole, but had to call it quits falling ill before achieving the record. She shared the physical and emotional challenges associated with such a public ‘failure’, and how you can channel that failure into a good thing.
Dr. Becca Burns shared with us her journey of using adventure to open up discussions around environmental damage. Her knowledge of climate change and passion for adventure inspired all present to think about the effects of environmental change. She gave poignant insight into the emotion of seeing glaciers retreat in front of your own eyes.
Finally, Sue Barrett shared her journey coming to adventure as a 55-year-old. While working full time, looking after her parents, her husband, and her children she decided she desperately needed to go on a good walk – a reasonably standard response. There was nothing standard about this walk as Sue covered 1,300 miles and 8 countries, and in doing so became an inspiration to so many others.
As if these three didn’t have enough credentials to put on a great evening it was a real treat to have Emma Frampton (co-founder of Adventure Queens) host the evening and ask the hard hitting questions.
Though each of these adventurers had such different topics of discussion, one theme emerged throughout each talk.
Everyone is capable of starting their own adventure.
You are not too old, you do not need to be a world champion, and you are allowed to fail. Adventure is a mindset of being bold and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, however that looks in practice.
Great learnings from the evening came not just from the panel, but also the audience. From the workshops through to the panel discussion there was a true sense of community within the female adventure space. This is a movement that is gaining some real momentum and the women in the room were proof of that.
At Freestak we talk often about what our community means to us. This community comprises of the content creators we work with, brands we collaborate with, and the people we get to meet along the way. Our aim as a business has always been to inspire more people to get active. After last night it is clear that helping to build communities like this is one of the best ways we can make this happen.
If you were there, we hope that you were inspired and will take what you learned with you on a new adventure, be it a 3-month trek or a weekend in the lake district. If you weren’t able to attend, stay tuned as we hope this is just the beginning.
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