Author: Anastasia Allison

I usually hate lists,  but I love supporting women-owned brands and I love discovering gifts that fall into the category of 'functional' or 'unique', rather than just 'random stuff' that nobody actually wants. I've opted to include 12 items in this gift guide, since it is, at the very minimum, breaking from tradition of doing a list of only 10 things. I've tried to include things in this list that are consumable or so unbelievably functional that they aren't simply a replacement piece of gear...

I recently had the wonderful opportunity to appear on a segment with Q13 Fox news in Seattle sharing one of my favorite backpacking meal recipes : Chicken Pad Thai with Veggies! Making your own backpacking meals takes only a few minutes and is a much healthier and more cost effective option than purchasing a pre-made meal at the store. By opting for freeze-dried or dehydrated options, the meal is super light and easy to carry on the trail - simply add boiling water and allow it rehydrate...

“Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” -Desmond Tutu A year ago I almost died in a car crash, which was the catalyst for me deciding to pursue all of my dreams in life - I decided that I wanted to devote my life to inspiring others to follow their heart and blaze their own trail. I wrote a crazy mission statement that said that I wanted to, "inspire millions of people." I...

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever." -Steve Jobs I’m writing the foreward to my book, before my book even exists. A few nights ago, lying in bed, a simple message popped into my head, “Write the foreword” was all that it said. I woke up, turned on the light on my nightstand,...

A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence. -Leopold Stokowski   [caption id="attachment_2738" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] The Musical Mountaineers, Rose (piano) and Anastasia (violin)[/caption] I never imagined that I would be one half of The Musical Mountaineers. Even now, when I watch our videos or look at the photographs from our adventures, I have to pinch myself - "Is this real life?". When I decided to jump in and blaze my own trail, I knew it was going to be beautiful, but I never imagined...

My official “poetry training” is as follows: I started writing poems as a child on an old, manual typewriter. That’s it. I’ve never taken a class on how to write a poem. I vaguely remember learning something about, “iambic pentameter”, but I would need to use Google to remember what it means. I know what a haiku is, but otherwise, if you are looking for some sort of definitive poetry training, I have no clue what I’m talking about – and I’m so incredibly thankful...

“You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?” - Rumi   One year ago today, I almost lost everything. My mom and my husband and I were driving home from the most incredibly wonderful day of snowshoeing, when our truck hit a patch of black ice and went spinning across the highway - directly into the path of an oncoming semi-truck. To this day, I cannot explain why I am still here. There is no feasible explanation for how we did not get struck...