Happy Valentines Day!
I know it has been ages since I last gave an update! I make the assumption if you wanted to be kept updated you will be following along on Instagram stories, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube etc!
I don't do regular updates via newsletter...but maybe I should!! Anyway....
Let me update you on what’s been happening…..
2018 was all about the study...
doing my Masters in Women and Gender Studies.
I handed my dissertation in on the 30th August (Women, Adventure & Fear, all 20,000+ words of it!). Thank you to everyone who was part of that journey! After months of commuting up to Lancaster, reading academic journals and writing essays - I was done.
It was a relief for it to be over, it was a lot more intense than I was expecting it to be and it really took me out of my comfort zone!
I then had a fantastic weekend at Camp Wildfire, where I got to hang out with awesome people such as Laura Try from 7 women - 7 challenges, we followed her row around Great Britain in 2017. Laura has just come back from rowing across the Atlantic Ocean! What a legend - she's going to be coming on the podcast in April to share more of her story.
It was then saying goodbye to the parents before flying off to Vancouver, to hand out with my travel bestie - Camilla. We had an awesome few days exploring Vancouver, before I got on my bike and started my next big challenge - cycling the Pacific Coast Highway and down into Baja California on my way to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico.
#1 Arriving in Vancouver & sorting out a bike for the Pacific Coast Highway!
#2 Exploring Vancouver - Capilano Suspension Bridge & Grouse Mountain
Cycling the Pacific Coast Highway!!!
It was a super fun journey, with ups and downs, challenges with bikes (broken spokes, broken back racks, changing bikes half way through) and meeting different people, some great, some not so great (2 guys left me in the desert with a broken bike! Not the best day to be fair) thunderstorms and hailstones, sunshine, beautiful coast views, seeing the pacific ocean for the first time, going to the Patreon conference, riding in LA, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge into San Fransisco, camping, meeting members of the Tough Girl Tribe, almost missing my flight to Australia, battling with DHL to get a bike sent back to California. There has been a lot going on!
The great thing is - I’ve been recording it, so I can share it all with you though the vlogs!!! New video’s are coming out every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Subscribe to the Tough Girl Youtube Channel!
Melbourne, Australia
Just before Christmas, I flew into Melbourne to stay with my brother and his family. I also met my nephew , Charlie for the first time and I’ve seen him go from sitting to crawling, to standing. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll get to see him walk before I leave at the end of February.
Tough Girl Podcast Update
I’ve been interviewing more awesome women for the Tough Girl Podcast, starting off the year with Abbi Naylor - Adventurer & Endurance Athlete who completed 30 challenges to celebrate turning 30 in 2018!
Check out these awesome women we have sharing their stories in January and February!
I've also been catching up with previous guest to see what they’ve been up to since we last spoke for Tough Girl EXTRA. These interviews come out on an ad hoc basis on a Thursday at 7am UK time (we’ve got Jessica "Dixie" Mills - 7th Feb, Jenny Tough, 21st Feb, Anna Blackwell coming on the 14th March).
I’ve also spoken to Isabel Best about her new book - Queens of Pain which will be coming out on International Women’s Day - 8th March.
I'm also going to be catching up with Anna McNuff, Sally Kettle, Bex Band, and Laura Kennington in the coming weeks!
March .... Goa, India.... Yoga
I’m going to be off-line for all of March when I’m in Goa India for a Yoga retreat, (don’t worry the podcast and vlogs will be preloaded so there will still be regular content coming out). I want to use this time to refresh the mind and the body, so when I’m back in the UK in April - I’m recharged and ready for 2019! So far I don’t have any adventures or challenges planned, I’m looking at doing some more hiking in the UK, and maybe doing my Mountain Leader Award.
I’m also really keen to go and climb some mountains and do adventures with the Tough Girl Tribe - who knows maybe Mt Elbrus or Toubkal in Morocco. Things haven’t been decided yet! I will keep you updated.
4th - 10th April, London
I’ll be running a Brand Building workshop with Bex Band. If you are wanting to build your brand, blog, business & community - this is going to be an awesome weekend (6th & 7th April), we only have a limited number of spaces - so check it out, get signed up, and you won’t regret it.
Tuesday the 9th April will be the 200th episode of the Tough Girl Podcast - so I'm going to arrange a meet up in London!! More details to follow - but save the date!!
That's it!!!
Phew! I think that’s a long enough of an update, as always I love to hear from you, tell me what you are up to, what challenges you are going after, what you are struggling with, if you have any recommendations for the podcast, if you have any feedback, anything you think I should be doing differently. How can I get better? How can I be better? How can I add value to you? Send me an e-mail sarah@toughgirlchallenges.com
Thank you so much for all your support. The Tough Girl Podcast won a national award in 2018 (The Women’s Sports Trust Media Initiative of the year Award) has passed 700,000 listens, there are over 190 interviews on the website, over 1700 subscribers to the Youtube channel, with over 250,000 views. With your continued support the Tough Girl Podcast, blog and brand will continue to grow, and it will continue to motivate and inspire women and girls around the world.
A massive thank you to my patrons - who are donating between US$2 and US$25 per month. I have 223 patrons supporting the work I do, which is fantastic. If you want to learn more about becoming a patron you can learn more here, and all patrons will get their name on a dedicated patrons page on the Tough Girl Website.