Diversifying the Outdoors | Intersectional Environmentalism
I received my Master’s in Sustainable International Development and fell in love with nature when I went to New Zealand back in 2015 to volunteer for environmental conservation and developed a mindset for sustainable ecotourism and intersectionality.
I’ve sought out every beautiful place I could find to put on my bucket list destinations since. However, one aspect that really held me back was backpacking. In my short 25 years, I’ve seen a decent amount of diverse groups engaged with nature (which is amazing!), but for some reason, backpacking was always a euro-white centric dominated activity. It never occurred to me why I never saw an influencer or pictures of BBIPOC groups going backcountry and I realized that’s when I wanted to contribute to diversifying the outdoors! I want inspiring nature lovers to feel empowered to explore and adventure consciously, respecting indigenous land and also deepening their respect and sense of urgency to protect the landscape.
So one of my goals for 2021 is to document my journey as I train for my first backpacking trip in California! I will go through all the steps of thinking about gear, where to go, and my experience via Instagram and YouTube. I’m excited to delve into this world, but I know I am only able to comfortably because I am privileged. Backpacking as a sport is not necessarily affordable if you want to be well prepared. Now that I am able to financially afford backpacking and camping more often, I hope to help more socioeconomic classes and groups to do so too.
Here are some amazing, beautiful little villages I found and now follow to inspire people who look like me in this space:
@melaninbasecamp
@browngirloutdoorworld
@unlikelyhikers
@womenofcolorinnature
@outdoorasian
Thanks for following me on this new journey ❤
~Violet
#DiversifyOutdoors #backpacking #hiking #nature #melaninbasecamp #unlikeyhikers #intersectionalenviornmentalism #womenofcolorinnature #backcountry
