I grew up in the countryside of the Canadian prairies. My childhood revolved around helping my neighbors care for their horses and begging my parents to adopt farm kittens. I liked to ride my bike on lonely gravel roads all summer long and dream of big adventures.
Chasing my dreams ultimately led me all the way to South Korea. For the past 5 years, this country has been my home base for all kinds of awesome adventures. It’s here where I really grew into myself and discovered my passions.
Active Adventures
One of the things I’m most passionate about is being active: practicing yoga, hiking, paddling, biking, and especially running! Despite being active growing up, I didn’t really discover my sport until university. Fast forward a few years, and I ran my first marathon in Iceland on my 25th birthday. After that, I knew running would be a huge and permanent part of my life.
My life began to revolve around training and looking for races in fun places! One of the first things I did I when I moved abroad in 2011 was take a trip to the seaside to run a race! My now-husband and I also had some of our first dates on runs!
I made the switch from road running to trail running in 2015 while traveling in the Swiss Alps. This new way of running was perfect for the nature-lovers that we both are. Then my husband and I ran our first ultra marathons together in South Korea in 2016. Training for these endurance events is the best part: challenging ourselves to be self-sufficient in the mountains all day.
Alongside this running, there have also been big bike rides, wonderful hikes, wild horse treks and salty sea kayak trips. The world is a huge playground full of sights to see and challenges to face! Using human power to explore nature is essential to my way of life.
Animal Encounters
Animals are another central part of our way of life. I have always been amazed and inspired by animals. Animals feature heavily in my first memories, the studies I conducted in university, my decisions about where to travel, and all the media I consume (especially documentaries!). I have yet to start my dream career as a professional sloth caregiver or whale song decoder, but I plan many of my adventures around getting to spot animals and experience new ecosystems. The best part of travel for me is getting to admire our planet’s amazing creatures in their natural habitats. Going to places where I can see, learn about or meet animals makes me super happy!
Healthy & Kind Fuel
Another way I act on my love for animals is by eating plants. I’ve spent most of my life powered by plants. I became a vegetarian when I was eight, and in 2014, I stopped consuming eggs and dairy as well. I wanted to lead a sustainable life and be good to our animal friends. And, since becoming vegan, I’ve gotten healthier myself! I’ve learned more about nutrition, am more aware of food ingredients, and along the way, I fell in love with cooking.
Having strict dietary requirements while living and travelling abroad can be challenging. Ideally, I would always be able to find healthy, fresh, local food. But sometimes it entails packing a backpack full of energy bars, or surviving on a bag of grated, pickled carrots on a multi-day train ride across Russia. But with a little effort, vegan travel is increasingly possible around the globe.
Hell’s Gate National Park, Kenya 2013
Travel
This great globe of ours is another thing that I’m passionate about. My adventures really began when I took the plunge and moved to South Korea in 2011. Although I’d always dreamed of exploring, moving abroad seemed crazy. I was making my third career change in maybe as many years. But I did it anyways, and I’m so glad I did. Coming to South Korea allowed me to really figure out what I’m passionate about. And one of those passions is exploring the world!
Some world highlights (so far):
- roaming the romantic streets of Kyoto and climbing to the summit of Mount Fuji,
- getting charged by a rhino during a trek in South Africa’s Kruger National Park,
- watching the sunrise from a color-changing sand dune in the Namib,
- slicing through Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda in the company of armed rangers looking for gorillas,
- got outside my comfort zone biking down the west coast of India,
- trekking around the amazing Anapurna massif in Nepal and the tremendous Torres in Chile,
- experiencing the nomadic way of life in Mongolia,
- helping baby turtles reach the sea on Selingan Island in Malaysia,
- and visiting all of Korea’s National and Provincial Parks!
Better together
And this is the best bit! I was extremely lucky to meet my best friend, soulmate and adventure partner when I moved abroad. Since 2011, I’ve been exploring the world step-in-step with my husband: a fellow mountain-lover and friend of animals. And honestly, he’s what makes it all magical. He’s Kent, and together, we’re KnC: a pair of plant-powered peak-seekers.
So, in summary, Peaks and Penguins is about our experiences exploring the planet and meeting its wonderful wildlife. I aspire to follow in my hero David Attenborough’s footsteps: admiring and documenting and if possible helping to conserve as many of our planet’s incredible life forms as I can. I like trails and paths and lonely roads and bushwhacking. I’m into healthy food that can fuel amazing journeys. I’m extremely lucky to have an awesome adventure partner who joins me on my quests, and makes my every day life wonderful. Thanks for reading along!
