Lauren Schaad | Adventurer
I was raised in the quiet suburbs of Boston by midwestern parents. Kindness was our north star and laughter flowed readily through the house. My first taste of travel was a family trip to Italy as a teenager: Rome’s Colosseum left me spellbound, and I carried pet food wherever I went to feed the scraggly stray cats.
Little did I know of the more profound travel experiences that awaited me; during a semester abroad in Spain, tears streamed down my face when I first entered Salamanca’s Plaza Mayor, as though I had lived there in a past life. I intentionally lost myself in Spain’s side streets, just so I could ask someone for directions and practice my Spanish. My heart opened in this foreign land.
As the years passed, I pushed the boundaries of my physical self. First as a rower on the college crew team, paddling through Maine’s icy lakes in the morning mist. Then exploring the boundaries of altitude, trekking through the mountains of Nepal, France, Switzerland, and Russia.
Adventure has come to mean something different in recent years. I’m a proponent of solo travel (maybe not with a Maasai warrior as my guide — story for another day). But there is huge reward now in accompanying brave friends on their journeys of growth. Like kayaking with young adults with disabilities. Or, helping incarcerated folks access their most liberated selves through improv.
How will you stay connected to your adventurous heart?
I’ll see you out there.