Author: Anastasia Allison

One day, before I believed that everything was possible, I wrote, “You can’t force magic” on the back of my hand. I didn’t even know what it meant – I just knew that I needed to understand it. I had been living in a world of “can’t, shouldn’t, won’t, will not, don’t” for so long. I was trapped in place by fear of the unknown. I believed that every “what-if” scenario in the world was involved in a giant conspiracy to prevent me from being...

I recorded a podcast on Thanksgiving Day called, "You are a miracle." I cried through the entire recording. If you listen closely, I'm sure that you will be able to hear me wiping the tears off my face. You can find the link to my podcast here.

When I started my podcast, I did not know it would be so emotional for me. I did not realize that I would be sharing my heart in such a tender way. When I first...

WHY is a question that I get asked a lot these days – specifically in reference to carrying my violin onto the summit of a mountain before sunrise to perform for nobody just as the sun crests the horizon. These musical mountaineering trips can be anything but fun at times – on one of our last climbs, I found myself huddled in a ball, shivering… wondering why I was standing on the summit of a peak holding my violin in 30 degrees weather wearing a...

On July 20th of this past year, I wrote the following:

My dreams are laughable. Seriously, laughable. ⠀⠀

I am going to be the much (much) smaller, female version of Tony Robbins for people who love the mountains and adventure. I am going to write a NY Times best seller about my experiences in the mountains and how they have translated into massive success in my life (NOTE: I almost deleted this sentence out of fear of failure, but I caught myself and am admitting it to...

It’s never mattered to me that I’m a woman who loves adventure. I don’t mean that in a negative way – I just never saw it as a limiting factor or as something that was even remotely out of the ordinary. As a young girl, I spent my days exploring the creek behind our house – digging up crawfish and searching for snakes, and, once, even outrunning an alligator (true story). I dangled from tree branches, watched anthills for hours and scampered...

I used to hate social media. In fact, in the midst of a difficult time in my life, I completely retreated from the internet in general. Most devastatingly, I stopped writing and I stopped connecting with other adventurers. It took me a few years to emerge from my own darkness, and in the process, I learned how to use social media as a tool for inspiration, rather than negativity. Instead of jumping down the rabbit hole of news, I put my...

I have a confession to make: I’ve been playing it safe. All along, I’ve known that I wasn’t living up to my true potential, and I was too afraid to change my situation. I was too afraid to leave my job: my fear of poverty and of being “irresponsible” was oppressively restricting. I was worried about what people would say – that I’m being silly, ridiculous and reckless. I was terrified of failure. These fears kept me trapped in...

Have you ever met somebody and immediately had the sense that your life was about to be forever changed?  That was the feeling that I felt when my friend Diana Dunnell first e-mailed me.  We had never met in person - she only "knew" me via my blog, and one day - on August 11, 2016 to be precise - she decided to send me an e-mail with a few questions about fitness and healthy eating.  I can't describe what I felt that day -...

“This above all, to thine own self be true.” — William Shakespeare One of the coolest things about being a part of an online community of adventurers is that I get to meet the most amazing people.  I wrote a message to friend the other day and these were my exact words in the message: It's funny, but I used to hate social media - I retreated from it for so long, but I am so grateful for it now and for the opportunity to connect with such...