Journalist-turned-podcaster Shelby Stanger has written a book titled \u201cWill to Wild: Adventures Great and Small to Change Your Life.\u201d<\/p>\n
The San Diego Community Newspaper Group alum is a La Jolla High School grad who interned for the Beach & Bay Press and La Jolla Village News in 1999-2000. She said her university professor\u2019s advice to \u201cintern for a community newspaper,\u201d is what set her on her ultimate fulfilling career course. And her career choice involves two subjects: nature and adventure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a really fun read that encourages you to go outside and go for it,\u201d enthused Stanger about her perfectly timed book. \u201cCovid was really hard on all of our mental health, but people are starting to get more outside and more active,\u201d she said. \u201cNow is the time to get deeper into nature and have an adventure. Doing an adventure \u2013 even a small one \u2013 will help you reset, recharge, heal, and just might change your life.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s an adventure? \u200b<\/p>\n
\u201cUsually outdoors, it involves some risk, some unknown, and physicality taking you somewhere else whether it\u2019s into the trees, trails, mountains, waves \u2013 taking your mind into a different state,\u201d Stanger answered. She added, \u201cCombining nature and adventure always seems to have a synergistic effect. Trying an adventure is the most effective way to create a shift in your mind and build courage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pointing out \u201clife itself is an adventure,\u201d adding \u201cadventure is life\u2019s antidote,\u201d Stanger pointed out every adventure she\u2019s ever undertaken \u201chas given me the courage to do something else in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stanger\u2019s book has examples of a range of adventurers from a suburban mom who became an ice-climbing guide at age 55, to a group of boogie-boarding grandmas, to a bird watcher, and someone who skied to the South Pole while she was undergoing menopause.<\/p>\n
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Of her time at SDCNG Stanger said. \u201cI loved my time there. Looking back at my old clips, I covered older ladies breaking records and people biking and hiking across the country for a purpose. The funny thing is, I\u2019m still covering fascinating people who pursue unconventional paths, seeing what the \u2018wild\u2019 looks like for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before launching her podcasting career in 2016, Stanger was inspired to get into the profession after taking an accelerator women\u2019s course, modeling a plan for it from the outdoor and action sports industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd my business was a podcast, which I thought was the perfect thing to start with,\u201d she said. \u201cMy plan included three podcasts and a trailer.\u00a0It was something I continued to pursue as a podcast host for Wild Ideas Worth Living, which I started and sold to REI Co-op and still host.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of podcasts, Stanger said: \u201cThey\u2019re really intimate, special. For 30- to 60 minutes at a time, you\u2019re telling stories. Now, as an author, I’ve learned that even a little adventure can go a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWill to Wild: Adventures Great and Small to Change Your Life,\u201d published by Simon and Schuster, is coming out Tuesday, June 6.<\/p>\n