#JustAnOutdoorGal: Alyssa Pelletier

Want to be featured on our #JustAnOutdoorGal series {or know someone you’d like to nominate}? Shoot us an email!

Happy #womencrushwednesday! This month we’re excited to talk about Alyssa Pelletier, an indoorsy California girl turned explorer, hiker, and climber!

Growing up, Alyssa wasn’t really into the outdoors. While she and her parents took trips to national parks, their trips usually included nice hotels rather than tents. In college, Alyssa started getting more interested in camping and hiking. She and Will {her then-boyfriend-now-fiance} went hiking and camping pretty frequently, and Alyssa’s interest grew.

All Photo Credit Goes to Alyssa

She picked up hiking, climbing, biking, running, and a few other sports along the way. As she got more and more interested in those activities, her athleticism grew as well. She’ll be competing in back-to-back running and bike races later this year, a feat she couldn’t have imagined completing five or six years ago!

After college, Alyssa moved to the Bay Area. She was working at a start-up in Palo Alto when she realized that she wasn’t happy with her life. Alyssa made the huge decision to quit her job and hike the John Muir Trail. While this was a scary decision, Alyssa also knew that she couldn’t let fear win. She did her research, figured out what she wanted, and set off on her journey with her parents joining her for a leg each.

When she returned to the Bay Area after her journey, she convinced Will to quit his job. Afterwards, they both moved to Colorado with their dog, Hilde. Together, they started a location-independent tech consulting company and converted a school bus into a mobile home; they’ve been traveling and working ever since.

While Alyssa misses having a steady community, she’s found that the opportunity to seize life and go on adventures is far more valuable to her. Alyssa admitted to experiencing doubts along the way; after all, it’s hard to change your entire life and a school bus without having some setbacks!

But in the end, Alyssa was able to stick to what she knew she wanted, despite the fears that tried to hold her back. She told me that in most cases, our biggest roadblocks are the ones we put up ourselves, and that it’s our choice to take those down. Alyssa’s living her dream life now, and all because she was able to shed her fears and insecurities and stop standing in her own way.

To other ladies out there, Alyssa has two pieces of advice:

• Don’t let fear or anxiety stop you from doing what you really want to do, and
• Find rad women who are doing what you want to be doing and talk to them. Women in the outdoors are amazing!

If you’re interested in learning more about Alyssa’s outdoor shenanigans in the bus, hop on over. Or, for her professional personality, you can find her here.

As always, huge thanks to Anagha for interviewing and writing this piece!

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