Host & Founder
Hi, I’m Missy.
I got in a van and drove.
And somewhere along the way, I fell completely in love with America’s public lands.
I spent a long time in a career I was good at — building marketing campaigns and brand partnerships for professional sports organizations. I was busy. I was successful. And I was performing a life more than I was living one.
In college, while everyone else was considering study abroad programs, I was dreaming about driving across the United States. That dream stayed with me for 30 years. It bubbled up quietly every time I got outside. Every time I hiked a trail or stood at the edge of something beautiful and felt like I could breathe again.
During COVID-19, I ordered a new atlas. I spent quarantine mapping routes and circling parks. And in January 2021, I left my career, packed a van, and hit the road. The only plan was to avoid bad weather.
100K+
Miles driven
49
States visited
141
Parks & monuments
“I spent the first half of my career giving people a way to escape life. I want the second half to be about teaching them to find joy in the everyday.”
I started the show because I believed something: you can’t fight for a place you’ve never felt anything about. And most people haven’t had the chance to feel anything about America’s public lands — because nobody brought them there.
That’s what this podcast does. It brings people there. Through the voices of rangers, indigenous community leaders, conservation advocates, and the places themselves — we help people discover, protect, and fall in love with the lands that belong to all of us.
And right now, those lands need us more than ever.
What I believe
A few things that drive everything I do.
- 🌲You don’t have to visit a place to fight for it. You just have to feel something about it.
- 🌲Getting outside isn’t an escape from life. It’s where real life happens.
- 🌲Public lands belong to all of us — and protecting them is everyone’s job.
- 🌲People aren’t burned out. They’re disconnected. The outdoors is one of the best ways back.
- 🌲The best stories are the ones that make you feel like you’ve been somewhere you’ve never been.
Come along
Follow the journey. 🌲
New episodes weekly. Daily content from the road. And the occasional photo of Tootsie at a trailhead.