Made in Iceland Bart Och UK Part I Maybe I was being naive to think that it is as easily done as it is said. Or maybe I was grasping at straws seeking some kind of revolution in a life that was beginning to feel static. I ached for something to make me feel alive, and...
Peace by the Water Stephen Lightbown UK I am sat on an endless beach on the southern tip of Barbados watching the sun get lost in the waves. I’m with Carly, my girlfriend of the time, and now wife. Our bellies are full of the most incredible fish, cheese, egg and...
The Complacency of Place Paula Read Switzerland Day 1 — Versoix to Genthod The path is marked at regular intervals by plaques bearing the symbol of the journey, a scallop half-shell, set into walls and street signposts. My own half-shell swung against my backpack,...
Inis: Water Meadow Kerry Beth Neville USA …the minute interlock of word and word began, the rhythm formed. I sunk my hands into tradition sifting the centuries for words. This quiet excitement was not new: emotion challenged me to make it sayable. – Michael...
In Memoriam Gordon Murray Scotland Almost accidentally, we pulled into the car park at Stoneyfield Farm, to a path on the headland of Stornoway Harbour. It was a path I’d never trod before, despite being born and bred on this island. Along the coast is often cold and...
The Third Raven Carin Clevidence USA When Flóki Vilgerdarson set out from Denmark with his family in search of a rumoured land beyond the Faeroe Islands, he brought three ravens. It was the 9th century. Vikings navigated by the stars and by their knowledge of birds,...
The Light Between Worlds Maka Monture USA My grandmother was 4 feet and 10 inches on a good day with a head full of short, bouncy curls and a laugh that sounded like oversized jingle bells, a matriarch in every sense of the term, both in our family and for my people....
The Next Cross TA Loeffler Canada I only count when the going is tough and on this, the second day of our 8-day backcountry ski expedition in northern Sweden, the going is more than tough, it’s nearly impossible. The snow blows directly across my face scratching it...
Becoming Pirate Mama: Rethinking Life As a Single Mom Ky Delaney USA The wind blows fierce at 25 knots, strong enough for a Coast Guard small craft advisory. We’re heading straight into the wind so we must tack the boat, zig-zagging in our race against the sunset to...
A Walk to the End of the Croft Molly Murray USA A gaggle of wise-eyed Blackface Sheep watch my husband and me bustle into neon yellow boiler coats and black, knee-high wellies. The boiler coat is surprisingly comfortable; the thick material and tent-like shape cut the...
Snags Leslie Hsu Oh USA A few weeks after giving birth to our second, I stood on top of a mountain. Denali, the highest peak in North America, hid behind a wrath of clouds. In contrast, now, a bright sun turns the rivers and creeks into braids, twisting across the...
A First Hike Shehla Anjum USA As I picked my way carefully around the rocks on a trail that meandered in and out of a dry streambed I marveled at two of my hiking companions in front—the two who resembled apparitions in burqas gliding over the rough terrain with ease....
Summer of the Bears Christina Brobby Canada A ptarmigan squawked from the nearby willow bushes. Squatting by the pan of water on the Coleman stove, I called my husky, Paris, and did a quick mental calculation of the distance to the camper van – close enough if the...
Everlasting Nahida Esmail Tanzania A journalist, a real estate advisor, an interior decorator, a writer, and a business woman – we are all mothers. We are all on a mission: to hike Mount Kilimanjaro for mothers in need of neonatal care. We start on a dusty gravel path...
