In the summer of 2020, a good friend and I decided to head out of town and get our feet on a trail. Some lockdown restrictions had lifted and we were able to fly, so with some stimulus cash and unused airline miles, we prepared to head out of state.

Living in Fort Worth, Texas, it can feel like there aren’t a lot of places to hike or recreate outdoors. One of the most common things I hear people say about Texas as it relates to outdoor recreation is “what do you do there?” Or “where do you go?” As it turns out, there are so many options for getting outside whether you’re a hiker, cyclist, paddler, camper, or backpacker. Sometimes you just have to look a little closer or get a little more creative to find them. 

I made a lot of mistakes on my first backpacking trip but I also learned a lot from those mistakes. On each subsequent trip, I grew a little more confident and a little smarter with gear and clothing choices and these days I’m far more comfortable preparing for each trip and knowing what to bring along to make the best of it.

“I woke up early Friday morning after being unable to sleep the night before from being too excited. I was about to set out on my first backpacking trip; a trip I’d been buying gear for and meticulously planning for a little over two months…”

Call me Jen. I grew up in two very different worlds; one in a suburb of San Jose, Costa Rica, and the other in a small suburb of Dallas, Texas. Growing up in Costa Rica allowed me to develop a deep love of the outdoors at a young age and I had unforgettable experiences there exploring rainforests, looking into the mouths of volcanoes, climbing mountains, spending full days on beaches, being guided through rivers, and riding horseback to hidden waterfalls.