I'm Gail Storob and you're listening to She Explorers.

So I've been struggling lately with the phrase. I used to.

I can't say that I've slowed down. I think I'm just more careful.

Well throughout this journey I've had to battle my fears.

Has my relationship with my body changes you've grown older?

Yeah, of course. I mean I think everybody's relationship with their body changes.

A mile in the woods by myself and making it back to the car,

oh my God, I was in heaven.

So I've accepted a new normal and that still offers me plenty of outdoor experiences to pursue,

which ultimately makes me the happiest.

In this episode, you'll hear the voices of hikers and campers and climbers.

Some are seeing the world, others are embracing their

backyards. Many are mothers whose children's lives have shaped their own

outdoor experiences. Their stories contain a great deal of overlap, the most notable being that they're all

aged 50 or older, save the rogue 49-year-old contributor, at the urging of several emails and a nudge from Joanne Hickey, I decide to devote a whole episode to stories from women over 50.

My inspiration for asking for a podcast about older women and my quote average women

was a lot of the people in the podcast seem to be extraordinary athletes,

long distance trail hikers, marathon runners,

and I don't consider myself extraordinary, just ordinary.

Thank you for this podcast.

I look forward to hearing others experiences.

Let's push forward to the stories then. Just one item to note, while I can't be sure of the backgrounds of all the women I heard from, my sense was that I didn't hear from many, if any, women of color. That said, I'd love to hear from you in the future, and I'm

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