Dec 17, 20192 min

Emily Pennington - hiking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, backpacking the High Sierra Trail

Updated: May 14, 2021

Emily is a writer, adventurer, climber, and comfort zone smasher. Put on her first international flight at 3 weeks old, she's been addicted to adventure ever since.

From wandering the forests of Sweden alone at age nine, to solo trekking in the Himalayas of India, to joining the circus as a professional aerialist, Emily is a big fan of the "just get out there and do it" mentality.

She loves inspiring others to go outside, travel, and get curious about everything. As John Muir so aptly put it, "going out is really going in.”

Emily works as a freelance journalist based out of Los Angeles and has written for Outside Magazine, Backpacker Magazine, Mountain Life Magazine, Outdoor Project, Modern Hiker, Territory Supply, The Outbound, Women Who Explore, and many others.

Some of her notable outdoor accomplishments include: hiking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, backpacking the High Sierra Trail in California and finishing atop Mt. Whitney, trekking the Laugavegur Trail in Iceland, summiting Illiniza Norte in Ecuador, summiting Vinicunca in Peru, hiking the Inca Trail with her mom, solo-trekking the Backbone Trail, climbing Cactus to Clouds in the winter, trail running Yosemite Rim to Rim, and dozens of other high-altitude peaks in the Sierra Nevada and California.

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Show notes

  • Her alter ego when hiking

  • Where the Brazen backpacker idea came from

  • Being brazen and wild

  • Moving to LA at 17

  • Being inspired by her mother

  • Leaving Texas behind

  • How the outdoors became part of her life

  • The mental barrier to access to the outdoors

  • Her first backpacking trip at 28

  • The challenges of altitude

  • Her hiking journey

  • Her passions for getting more women out hiking

  • Her relationship with her mum

  • Hiking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal

  • Dealing with periods and tiredness on the trail

  • The basics of backpacking

  • Steep and Cheap - ONLY in the US - for Europe - alpinetrek.co.uk

  • The magic of face wipes

  • The best problem to have!

  • Heading to Iceland for adventure

  • Quick Fire Questions

  • I am loving awareness

Social Media

Find out more about Emily’s writing and photography here: www.brazenbackpacker.com and follow on Instagram @brazenbackpacker

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