📢 How to Blend Your Adventure Passions and Advocacy with Alex Garcia

Although Puerto Rico is less than a four-hour flight from East Coast hubs like New York City and Washington, D.C., many continental Americans haven't experienced its stunning ecosystems and culture: rainforest, mangroves, bioluminescent bays, and one of the largest underground cave systems in the world.Writer, athlete, and engineer Alex Garcia grew up in that landscape, and this conversation traces how she carried it with her through a hard relocation to the mainland US, a period of major injuries and professional upheaval, and back out into some of the biggest adventures of her life.Alex and Angie talked about:The culture shock of relocating to Virginia for workFeeling like a second-class citizen despite being born a US citizenGetting through 2021–2023, a period riddled with major injuries and professional upheaval, and the mantra that carried her: "the only way out is through"Difficult Pursuits: her yearly practice of choosing one hard, self-designed outdoor challengeBecoming the first and fastest person to complete the Veredas Noreste, Puerto Rico's only long-distance backpacking trail, in January 2023How to be a sustainable change agent without burning out — focusing your energy where it's needed mostCheck out these resources:⁠The Cairn Project on IG⁠⁠The Cairn Project's newsletter⁠⁠Become a Trailblazer⁠⁠Summit Scholarship Foundation⁠Like this episode? Leave a 5-star rating and review on your podcast app!You can help us close the gender gap outdoors and beyond:⁠Become a Trailblazer⁠. Your Adventure Fundraiser makes wilderness experiences possible for girls and women.Check out the ⁠Summit Scholarship Foundation⁠.Send this episode to a friend who wants to survive capitalism and do some good in the world.Make sure you subscribe to the See Her Outside Podcast so you don't miss a story!⁠Follow on Spotify⁠⁠Subscribe on Apple Podcasts⁠Listen on: ⁠Amazon⁠, ⁠Pocket Casts⁠, ⁠iHeartRadio⁠, ⁠other platforms