Creative Corner: Tranquil Trekker – Blogger

Hey lovely people and welcome to Creative Corner!

I hope you’ve been enjoying the Creative Corner series on the blog. I love bringing you new, fresh and inspiring creatives to get to know and check out.

Today’s Creative Corner guest, blogger Tranquil Trekker is no exception…

Meet blogger Tranquil Trekker; a 30-something-year-old blogger who describes herself as a “wife, doggy-mom, freelance writer and avid Nature Girl”. She lives with her husband in South Dakota.

What inspires you to write/blog and where do you get your ideas from?

I started my blog as a fun way to record our adventures and share them with family. Then I realized it was also a way to share amazing travel destinations with others, to help people appreciate the natural world around them, and to help others who may be dealing with similar mental health struggles as myself.

I love being outdoors and just experiencing nature. I find it helps me control my symptoms related to anxiety and SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). It also helps me stay grounded, focused and keep what’s important to me front and center in this world that can get crazy sometimes.

Besides blogging, what else do you enjoy doing/what are your hobbies?

Anything and everything that involves being outside.

My husband and I live in the Black Hills of South Dakota, so we hike, canoe, mountain bike, cross-country ski, snowshoe and camp.

Being not far from Colorado, the Rockies in Montana, and the Big Horns in Wyoming we enjoy traveling to many of these areas, driving 4×4 roads and visiting ghost towns, among other activities. I also like to read.

How do you manage time to run your blog efficiently? Are you using any apps to assist you and if so, which ones would you recommend?

I am blessed to be able to work from home.

I work as a freelance writer and grant writer. This allows me a flexible schedule to fit in blogging among my other work responsibilities.

I’m not very techy so I mainly just use the Sticky Notes app on the computer and the notepad on my phone. They keep my to-do list front and centre on my desktop or within hand’s reach.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given and by whom?

If you can’t explain someone else’s opinion/view, don’t mock it. You don’t really understand it.” I read this in an article several years ago and it really stuck with me. I find it’s especially true in this politically charged climate that we find ourselves.

It helps me to keep in mind that while I may not agree with everyone’s views, I can still respect them as a person and treat them with civility. I think it’s important to always try to understand where other people are coming from and why they believe what they do.

If you could have any superpower what would you choose and why?

I’d like to be able to fly (like a bird). It’s funny because I HATE to fly in planes, but I think if I was the one in control, I might enjoy it (also there wouldn’t be any airport security! :P) I think it’d be amazing to be able to go anywhere I wanted at the drop of a hat and to see things from a birds-eye-view.

Who are some of your favourite bloggers and why?

My best friend Adeline: so much of what’s on here is so uplifting and encouraging.

Boss Girl Blogger: she posts so many things that are inspiring and encouraging. You can tell that she’s been where you are and faced the same struggles as you.

Digital Nomad Wannabe: she posts things that REALLY help newbie bloggers and gives so much information free of charge.

Art of Manliness: it’s funny, because I’m a woman and the site is directed to men, but I find many of the posts are pertinent to all people. I especially like their mindfulness and self-improvement articles and podcasts.

What have been your biggest achievements so far; in blogging and life?

Paying off our student loans so I was able to quit my 9 – 5 job and pursue my freelance career. Each time I hit a new “traffic” goal with the blog. Learning how to code (minimally) on the blog. This was a big achievement for someone who has had no coding experience or training whatsoever. –Being a self-taught, successful grant writer.

What did you want to be when you were younger and what are you now? Are you enjoying it and why?

I wanted to be a teacher, and then a therapist. I worked as a social worker/caseworker for over a decade, now I write grants for local nonprofits.

I also write online travel articles and blog about outdoor adventures and using my love of nature to be more mindful and help control the symptoms related to my mental health diagnoses.

What would you say is the biggest challenge facing young women today?

I think it’s the same challenge that faces all young people, where do they fit in today’s world?

Things have changed so much since in the last 20 years. Advice that applied then may not be accurate or applicable to how the world is today. We were once told we HAD to have a college degree to be successful.

Now there’s a dearth of highly skilled labourers so people with those skills can sometimes make a better living than college graduates and without the terrible, student loan debt.

Also, there are job options that didn’t exist 10 years ago, and the same will be true 10 years from now. People don’t work at the same company their entire lives anymore.

Today’s career field is a whole new ball game and young people have to learn how to navigate it!

What is the most difficult challenge you’ve ever had to overcome and how did you overcome it?

My mental-health diagnoses.

I’ve dealt with anxiety all my life and developed SAD in my early 30’s after moving to the Northern Plains. I had to learn to recognize the symptoms and understand how they affected how I act, feel and see the world. I’ve worked to learn behavioral and natural interventions to mitigate the symptoms and control them as much as possible (I try to only use medication when it’s extremely necessary).

I’ve also had to learn to accept these struggles as a part of my life, that they were likely inherited (so I didn’t do anything “wrong” to “deserve” them) and that I’ll likely be struggling with them for the rest of my life.

This means I have to learn how to fit them into my life and still lead as “normal” a life as possible. It has also offered me insight into the struggles all people with mental health diagnoses face.

I thank blogger Tranquil Trekker and all of you guys for taking the time to join me on the blog today. I hope you had a good time with us today.

I’m interested to know what you guys thought of this interview so please leave your thoughts in the comments.

Wanna be the next featured Creative Corner guest?

Then drop me an email at weirdnliberated@gmail.com and I’ll get back to you.

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Laters Baby…