Learn Skills, Not Fear
Alicia Heyburn, Teens to Trails and the Ladies Adventure Club of Maine
Alicia Heyburn’s guiding cred ranges both broad and deep - she’s a registered Maine sea kayak guide, a wilderness first responder, long-distance bikepacker, and co-leader of the Ladies Adventure Club of Maine.
Equally as impressive is her involvement in a slew of community organizations and environmental non-profits that connect people to nature. Alicia serves on the board of the Maine Island Trail Association, the Advisory Board of the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust, the Ride Committee of Bicycle Coalition of Maine, and the Lands Committee of the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust. And in her, air quotes, spare time, she is the Executive Director of Teens To Trails, a Maine non-profit that connects high school students to life-changing outdoor experiences.
In this episode, Alicia shares some great ideas for easing into new activities at any age, and as a solo female adventurer; she shares her theories on nature deficit disorder - spoiler alert, she thinks it’s mostly BS - and we talk about the roles that curiosity and science can play in moving past fear.
Alicia is the mother of two teens, and is married to the man who ran her through her outdoor paces. First date - bike ride, returning in the dark. Second - canoeing whitewater (she said she faked it). Third - kayak camping (when she added wild harvested mussels to the cook pot of spaghetti, he knew she was the one).
You can connect with Alicia directly through the Teens To Trails website, or @TeensToTrails on Facebook and Instagram.
Plus, check out some of the other awesome organizations and products we talked about: