Hi everyone, something a bit different this week. This episode of She Explores doesn't have a sponsor, so I decided to feature an artist inspired by the outdoors in this week's mid-roll. So stay tuned for later in the episode. I talk with

cartoonist Connie Soon, aka Cartoon Connie, about how drawing comics connects

her to the outdoors, the world around her, and herself.

I'm Gail Straub and you're listening to She Explores.

It's pretty difficult to imagine not hiking.

It's just been such a huge part of our lives.

You know, we've had so many experiences, learned so much.

Yeah, it's like a chunk of our lives. Yeah, it's a huge chunk of our lives.

Yeah, I'm definitely glad we got into it. That alarm it went off at 3.30 a.m. on a snowy Monday morning a little over two weeks ago. I have to admit, I usually

only wake up this early for flights or bad dreams, but that day I was expected at a trailhead at 6 a.m. So I brewed up coffee to go,

cleaned off my car, and piled my pack and snowshoes in the back. I'm 31 years old.

As I drive north in the darkness, I think I can't imagine doing this as a teenager.

What were you like at 15?

It can be such a tough age.

You've grown out of so much, but you haven't quite grown into yourself

yet. Or maybe that was just me. At 13, 14, 15, I was too old to play and make believe, but I was too young to drive.

I didn't know what I was interested in. I watched too much TV. I stayed up late eating popsicles. I was bored all the time and I thought I had so much of it.

But that was my experience.

What if you've been pursuing a lifelong passion

since you were five?

Of all the activities we grow out of in life,

there's no saying that you have to grow out of hiking.

...