Solo Travel Adventures: Safe Travel for Women, Preparing for a Trip, Overcoming Fear, Travel Tips
Equipping Women over 50 to Safely Travel in Confidence
Is fear holding you back from traveling because you don’t have anyone to go with? Are you concerned about being a woman traveling alone? Not sure how to prepare for a solo trip? Do family and friends think you are crazy for even considering solo travel in this day and age?
In this podcast, you will become equipped to travel safely by yourself. You’ll learn things like tactical travel tips and how to prepare for a trip, and how to overcome the fear so you can discover the transformation that travel can bring. My mission is to see more women over 50, empty-nesters, discover how travel can empower them. If you want to enjoy your next travel adventure solo, then start your journey here.
Hi Sister Travelers, I’m Cheryl, solo travel advocate and coach. I spent nearly 20 years putting my family/children first and felt guilty about even considering solo travel at the time. After my divorce and transitioning to an empty nest, I began to rediscover my passion for travel, built confidence in myself, and started to explore again. I have experienced life-changing adventures through travel and I want the same for you.
If you are ready to find freedom through travel and build your confidence while safely navigating new places, then this podcast is for you!
Pack your bags, grab your plane tickets and check one more time for that passport. It’s time to explore the world!
Email: adventuresredheadrambler@gmail.com
Solo Travel Adventures: Safe Travel for Women, Preparing for a Trip, Overcoming Fear, Travel Tips
From Caged Bird to Mountain Peaks: A Post-Divorce Healing Journey with Linda Magoon
What happens when a woman who's lived like a "caged bird" for 25 years suddenly finds herself free? For Linda Magoon, freedom meant climbing mountains—specifically, all 48 of New Hampshire's 4,000-foot peaks.
After decades in a controlling marriage where asking permission was the norm and independence was punished with silent treatments and anger, Linda reached what she calls her "tipping point" in her mid-50s. With the help of a crisis counselor, she realized she was experiencing domestic violence, even without physical abuse. Six months later, she was divorced and facing the terrifying prospect of creating a life entirely her own.
That's when Linda rediscovered hiking. What started as a simple eight-mile solo trek became transformative medicine for her soul. Each summit conquered represented another step toward reclaiming her voice and identity. "The accomplishment of hiking a summit was in itself healing," she shares. Combined with a life-coaching program that introduced her to vision boards, affirmations, and the radical idea that it's okay to want things for yourself, Linda's mountain odyssey became the framework for her rebirth.
The journey wasn't without challenges. Linda had to learn crucial distinctions between fear ("that small voice telling you you're not good enough") and instinct ("when your head, heart, and gut align"). She navigated solo hiking safety, extreme weather, and even the public shame when her ex-husband was later arrested for serious crimes. Through it all, the mountains offered perspective and healing.
Today, Linda has transformed her experience into her book "Live Free and Hike: Finding Grace on 48 Summits" and recently embraced retirement with solo RV adventures. Her story reminds us that healing doesn't always come through traditional therapy—sometimes it arrives one step, one summit, one moment of freedom at a time.
Want to hear more inspiring stories of transformation through travel? Subscribe to our podcast and share your own journey of finding freedom through exploration.
Connect or follow Linda Magoon:
https://lindamagoon.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090537038032
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Facebook community: Solo Travel for Women Over 50
Well, sisters, how would you respond if you had felt like a caged bird for 25 years? What would you do when you got released from that cage? Well, my guest today, linda Bagoon, will share her story of just that. After ending her 25-year toxic marriage, linda hiked all 48 of New Hampshire's 4,000 peaks or higher in her mid-50s as her post-divorce therapy which was cheaper than buying a sports car, according to her and on the trail she rediscovered her strength, resilience and the joy of dry socks. I'm with you on that. With each summit climbed, linda found the strength to overcome the anguish and uncertainty surrounding the worst period of her life, and Linda chronicles those in her book called Live Free and Hike Finding Grace on 48 Summits. She is passionate about motivating others to improve their mental and emotional well-being through the healing power of nature. Well, linda, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you have an incredible story. I really enjoyed reading your book. I am an avid hiker as well Well, maybe not as avid as you are but I do enjoy hiking and getting out in nature and so I felt your story resonated with me too, as I'm also divorced. So just hearing how you handled all of that uncertainty and it was not a normal story. So I'm going to let you kind of share a little bit of that.
Speaker 1:But you ran across a lot of challenges in this whole post-divorce you had a series of events that you actually that's how you found solo travel. So just tell us how that, how that came about with your story sure.
Speaker 2:So I, you know I I married fairly young in life and I was fairly inexperienced in my in my mid-20s, not too old, and you know what you think is a doting husband. Once you say I do, somehow and gradually turned into a very controlling and jealous husband. Right, and you know, over time these are. I don't know if your listeners are familiar with domestic violence, but over time he started isolating me from my friends. If I wanted to go out, it was like walking on eggshells trying to ask him to do some. You know, if I could do something, you know, without him he would get very angry. Uh, a lot of times he would give me the silent treatment and and would not speak to me for for days or or sleep on the couch and those were his, you know, instead of communicating though that was how he responded.
Speaker 2:I think it wasn't until many years later that I figured out that he was a narcissist, but at that time, I think a lot of victims feel that it's their fault and that they're looking at like what did I do wrong? You know, how can I keep him happy? And so that's sort of the mindset that you fall into gradually over time, and so the idea of wanting something for myself or doing something for myself came with consequences. And so I had to put in my mind, I had to figure out well, is this worth it? Is it worth going out for a weekend with the girls out? Well, is this worth it? Is it worth going out for a weekend with the girls? And if I wanted to do it badly enough, then I would. And then I would put up with the jealousy and the silent treatment and the sleeping on the couch and then gradually he would come around and we would start talking again.
Speaker 2:And so this lasted over a period of many years and at some point it becomes your normal. I was very introverted and very quiet. I figured you know my parents and my grandparents, well, you know they, you know it was a till death. Do you part marriage vow? And I thought for many years that well, I had my marriage vow and plus that well, I had my marriage vile. And plus, you know, I thought about leaving and went so far as to get the divorce papers from the courts. But it just became something like. That was just fearful for me, I was just afraid to do it.
Speaker 2:It's very scary, right filing divorce and you know how are you going to support yourself? Yes, right, all of those things. And so very common with abuse victims. It's just the devil, you know. Right, it's just easier to stay married rather than take that big, bold step. And finally, as I describe in my book I think the first chapter is called the Tipping Point People reach a tipping point I don't know about you when you realize it's like wait a minute, I've gone through enough and I think I deserve better came very much later in my mid-50s, when my ex-husband went into this swearing tirade in the middle of the night at me and I thought, wait a minute, I didn't do anything wrong, this isn't how I should be living.
Speaker 2:And when you go back and over time and think about how I've compensated and how I wasn't really able to be my true self, like like a caged bird, as you say in your introduction yeah, it was. It was kind of a a watershed moment for me. And after that tipping point, what? What started the the process rolling for me was I met with a crisis counselor from work. Now we're lucky enough to have that support and it from the questions she was asking. It didn't take me long to figure out that, even though my ex-husband wasn't physical with me, I was being abused in another way.
Speaker 2:And it's still called domestic violence, and even though it's not it's not, you know, throwing lamps and plates and, and you know, getting getting hurt physically it's still a form of power and control, whether it's physical or not. So so after that, that, that was a very a turning point for me, because I had never told a soul what he had done. And here I am, for the first time, telling a complete stranger what's going on. And so she ended up connecting me with a therapist who was experienced in these types of relationships, and with her guidance, I told her, I think, that second visit. I told her this is what I want I want to file for divorce, I don't want to stay married, I don't want to work this out. And so that's what I did. And so six months later, I was divorced. I was about I think it was about in my mid-50s, 54 or 55 at the time.
Speaker 1:And like most bullies.
Speaker 2:My ex-husband didn't try to pull any antics. I finally called him on his behavior and we managed to file for divorce without that much. We didn't go to trial, there wasn't a lot of drama about it, and so we we managed to to split. I moved out. You know that was the first time I I really, you know, moved out of our house and I found the experience. You know it was very scary of course, trying to find a place of my own, trying to live on your own now instead of you know, splitting bills.
Speaker 2:Now you're supporting yourself, right. So all of that was brand new. Telling people about my divorce was horrible because I had kept quiet for so long, so that was difficult. But once I moved into my new place and started to get into a rhythm, that's when my world opened up to me. And that's when I discovered hiking and I had forgotten that I had liked it because it had been so long since I really did any serious hiking. You know, I had this old beat-up backpack that I had in the attic when I was moving out and I thought you know what, let's try this.
Speaker 2:And, Cheryl, the experience was so exhilarating, I think just trying something new and being able to do what I wanted to do without walking on eggshells and how is he going to react and ask for permission? I mean, it must sound weird to your listeners, but for somebody who was trapped for so long, it was the best experience. Going on a solo eight-mile hike by myself. Can I do this? I'd never been on a walk that long before and you know, when you get back down from the mountain, it was. It was just the most incredible experience.
Speaker 1:It is. I'm so happy that you know you shared in your book how you rediscovered and you just mentioned that like it was something you had done a long time ago. This like you had done one hike. I love that. You found that again. You rediscovered that. Now you know, post-divorce you started doing these hikes and you were doing them solo with, without you know, having to get anything.
Speaker 1:And you know, I think for you, doing anything like that may have it's kind of an adjustment, like you said, because it was forbidden before you had to ask for permission. But so how did you adjust to the idea of just, you know, I get to do this on my own terms, solo hiking, doing what you desired after all those years. So what was that? That sort of transformation? You know, how did you adjust to that idea?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, it took some. It took some help. I wasn't even six months after my divorce. It was in December, it was after Christmas, and I was putting some Christmas decorations away with, you know, rolling up newspaper, and I came upon a press release from a life coach and it was a story about a six-week workshop called Be the Best you. And if I was married, there'd be no question that there's no way I would be able to spend one night a week for six weeks trying to be the best you, right? So I was really intrigued by this and so, rather than sign up, I thought well, maybe I'll call this life coach.
Speaker 2:Her name is Emily Clement. I'm going to call her on it. It's a Sunday afternoon, I'm sure the workshop will be filled, and it's a little scary trying to determine whether to sign up for this. I mean, what does this be the best you? So I thought you know what? I'll just call her up on a Sunday afternoon, leave a voicemail, and she won't call back and I won't go, and it'll be fine. So I call. It's a Sunday afternoon. So I call, it's a Sunday afternoon. And, wouldn't you know it, she answers her phone. Oh no. So I explained my story a little bit and my situation and she was like, oh no, you need this workshop and so I signed up for it. And that was really life-changing, cheryl.
Speaker 2:You know, your therapist helps you with your backstory and kind of goes into your past and tries to figure out what you know, what trauma you may have had or what makes you act the way you do today, While a life coach goes in a totally different direction.
Speaker 2:They meet you where you're at and try to help you determine what you want, what are your goals and how you can move forward. So I thought this is exactly what I need. I need somebody to help me move forward, and that's exactly what we worked on for the next six weeks, and the idea that the universe was of abundant creativity and a mass abundance and, would you know, help me achieve what I wanted to was just a mind blowing concept for me.
Speaker 2:It's just like no one had ever told me that it was OK to want Right, because, you know, if we wanted something, we're greedy, we're selfish, we're only. You know, we're only. We're not thinking of others. So this was just. I had never heard of the concept of a vision board where you cut things out of a magazine and you put it on a you know, put it on a poster board and look at it every day. Never heard of that, you know, put it on a poster board and look at it every day. Never heard of that. Never heard of affirmations where you write a statement and the statement is worded as if you already have it right. So instead of writing an affirmation that says, you know, I want to lose 10 pounds, you write an affirmation that says I drink 30 ounces of water daily and put healthy foods in my body. And so those types of ideas and vision boards, affirmations, you know, practicing gratitude these were things I had never heard of and I was absolutely hooked.
Speaker 2:So on the first day of class, we had to write on a post-it note what our dream was, what we wanted, and we had to put it up for the class for everyone to read and see. And my post-it and I still have it is hike the 4,000 footers of New Hampshire and write a book about it to inspire others. That was my post-it note. And so you know, other folks wrote about you know they maybe, perhaps they wanted a new car, or a lot of folks wanted to start a new business, quit their job, solo travel. So it was just interesting to read about what everybody, everyone else, wanted. So, uh, so that was the first time I'd ever told anybody what I wanted to do. So now I felt a measure of accountability, right, you know, when we met each week we kind of had to update folks on on what. Yeah, so that's, that's what inspired me to really start hiking these 4,000 photos was this accountability of telling others. And many of them, the majority of them, I did solo, by myself.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, I did read that. Yeah, so I think that's a very huge goal, huge dream for you to do that huge goal, huge dream for you to do that um. And you know, during some of those hikes you experienced some obstacles, anxiety, even disappointment. I mean, like you said, some of them, most of them, you did solo, um, but when the ones you were doing solo, how did you mentally handle those situations? Or, you know, could you give an example, like something that happened that you had to deal with because you know it's you, you don't deal with Because you don't know what you're expecting, right, I mean you just never know.
Speaker 1:Sure yeah.
Speaker 2:I have many examples throughout the barrel, I'm sure Pick one. I don't make the same mistake twice. I like to make it six or seven or eight times, just so I learn. But I didn't have a lot of high summit experience, even though 4,000, 5,000, 6,000 feet may not sound that high. Here in New Hampshire a lot of these summits are exposed, there's no trees and we're subject to, just because of our location, very rapid shifts in the weather. So the weather can be nice and sunny at the bottom and it can be literally snowing at the summit. So you really have to prepare for that right. And the elevation gain in such a short distance is also very arduous. Gain in such a short distance is also very arduous. You know.
Speaker 2:A lot of people hike Mount Washington, which is our highest peak here in New Hampshire, as a way to train for other alpine ascents. It's a good training ground because we're known for the worst weather in the world. On top of Mount Washington it's the highest wind gust. You know, it's just. The conditions can change very rapidly. So when I was starting out, I, you know, I didn't really know what I was doing. I was wearing the wrong clothes. You know I was wearing, like you know, cotton pants and an Elmer Fudd cap.
Speaker 2:And you know people were giving me strange looks and just kind of like moving around me. My pants are falling down. But with each hike you learn a little bit more, you read a little bit more. I took an outdoor survival class, which was very helpful, but I think the majority, the reason why I did the majority of these alone, are for a couple of reasons. One is that I was in the process of trying to find my autonomy.
Speaker 2:And I didn't want to. You know, I really wanted to do these by myself, just just, it was like a sense of freedom for me it was like it was like like being released from the cage right you?
Speaker 2:just want to fly off. And the second reason was was more logistical, in that sometimes I would go during the week and if it was a nice day and I didn't have any meetings, it was. It was like, okay, I'll, I'll, I'll try this particular summit. I think what was instrumental and and helping me stay on this goal was that I had this huge map of the White Mountains and the 48 4,000-footers and every time I hiked a summit I would put a little pushpin in the map and study it and figure out where I wanted to go next. And I didn't realize it at the time, but that was a big vision board.
Speaker 2:I could hang it anywhere in the house. I wanted to right, I had it hung in my bedroom. I could hang it anywhere I wanted to and not worry about, you know, someone seeing it or someone criticizing it or saying, what do you want to do that for? And so there was a real, you know, sense of freedom. And so there was a real, you know, sense of freedom. So there was a sense of freedom for not only trying to accomplish this, but just being out in nature alone is just so healing, as I'm sure your listeners can appreciate, you know it's, it's the idea of doing something physical, maybe feeling the edges of your comfort zone, but not quite.
Speaker 2:You know getting into trouble, you know just trying to trying to do something new.
Speaker 2:The the, the accomplishment of, of hiking, a summit or or you know, that was in itself healing. And when you start on a, on a little adventure, you know some of these. The average, I would say most of these hikes are between eight and ten miles. Some are longer, some are shorter, but when you're first starting out you have all of this monkey chatter in your head like how am I going to navigate my divorce and how am I going to live, and what am I going to do for retirement, all this little stuff.
Speaker 2:And by the time you get to the top, you know all of that sort of falls away right, yes, exactly able to enjoy the trees and the sounds of the birds singing, and just especially if, once you reach the summit and you and you look over, you know you can look into vermont or canada, or into maine, and and you realize, uh, you're. You're very tiny but you're on top of this huge landscape that very few people get to see, and if I had still been married, there was no way I would be able to uh, see these sites that, uh, you know I was, I was now seeing. So for traveling it was, it was both logistical, but it was also a way of finding and rediscovering myself too, and healing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, and you mentioned I love the you mentioned chapter 34, like why you preferred hiking alone. And you used a phrase which I love called, you know, finding your voice during this process. So in what you just explained to like there's, I feel like there's this confidence booster that happens when you're doing these kind of things. A you said it's getting you slightly out of your comfort zone, as you mentioned kind of things. A you said it's getting you slightly out of your comfort zone, as you mentioned, you're doing something new. You're accomplishing a huge deal because you know not many people have done that. So would you agree that this was all part of you finding your voice? And now I mean, look what you're doing now. I mean you've written a book about it to help other people. So I mean that's just. I feel that's remarkable and how you've discovered that healing in solo hiking. And it doesn't have to be.
Speaker 1:You know many people. I obviously love solo hiking, but also solo travel, which is what my podcast is about. But it is you. You didn't go far Like you had this. You had all of New Hampshire because you're from New. Go far like you had this. You had all of new hampshire because you're from new hampshire like accessible to you and that's remarkable and, as you said, not many people have that access. So, um, I appreciate this. Just encouraging people to to like use what's nearby is is, I think, would be a great idea for anybody that is maybe starting that process for themselves. Would you agree with that?
Speaker 2:oh, absolutely, cheryl. I you know you don't have to travel to the. You know the end of the world to be inspired right, or or to new hampshire. Uh, you know, check out your, check out your backyard, right I tell people who are, who are struggling maybe with some mentally or emotionally, and I think, just going out for a walk in nature, right, just finding a nearby park, or or sometimes you know, you know I there were times where I really struggled with depression and found it hard to get out of bed.
Speaker 2:And so, you know, on those days I would just, you know, my goal was okay, I'm just going to get out of bed and just take, you know, take a one hour at a time, right, we'll get out of bed and I'll take a shower. Oh, that felt good, yeah, okay Now, now I'm going to get dressed in some nice clothes and get out of my pajamas. Okay, I'll do that and just take those baby steps and that. That, really that mindset, really helped me, because it was, there were times where I really struggled and it seemed daunting to get up and go to work. It just seemed like it was. There were times where I really struggled and it seemed daunting to get up and go to work. It just seemed like it was just too much, and so I would just break it down into really small, small tasks. Okay, that was good. Now I'm going to eat healthy food or, you know, have, you know, instead of going through the drive-through, I'm going to, you know, make something, or have an apple, have a banana.
Speaker 2:Have a snack or something, and then that would make me feel better and then just try to take that. And it was the same way with hiking. It seemed very daunting to hike some of these peaks that are 4,000 or 5,000 feet. There are many miles. I did these all year round, even during the winter. Some of these peaks are four or five thousand feet there. There are many miles, you, you know, I did these all year round, even during the winter.
Speaker 1:I know remarkable. I just I couldn't do that. I just couldn't do that yeah, well, it was I.
Speaker 2:only I. I got smart. You know, there's a, there's a chapter where I I almost, I almost get, get, get really into some trouble, and that kind of smartened me up and I decided to only do these on bluebird days where I could really have a view. But it was the same thing with hiking. It's like, oh, this is very daunting, but I'm just going to decide where to go. Okay, now I'm going to pack my pack, now I'm going to drive to the hill and just take it like literally one step at a time, and if you just break it down into those small steps, you feel a little bit of accomplishment with each like yeah, and then, and and that's how I managed to publish the book as well it's just like, okay, I'll just, I'll just work on this chapter, I'll.
Speaker 2:You know again, I had a vision board and I had a, you know, used, used a lot of my life coachy things. You know, there's there's a lot of woo, woo, life coachy tips in the book for folks. You know, even if you don't like hiking, it's a lot of those tips, and if you do like hiking, I provide a lot of tips just because I made so many mistakes and you can kind of learn. Learn from me, don't make those mistakes, learn, I already made them. So go and learn from me. And so that's how I managed to do it. And I think doing it solo was very important to me because, as you mentioned, there were times when I did go with other folks. I enjoyed their company immensely. For some of these higher summits it's the safest thing to do. But I lost my sense of autonomy because when I went there was never a discussion of where we're going to go, what trail we're going to take. It was okay, we're going to do Mount Adams and we're leaving on Sunday at 7 am.
Speaker 2:we're going to do Mount Adams and we're leaving on Sunday at 7 am and we're going to take this trail and if you want to come, terrific and let's meet here. So I never passed that up. I appreciated folks asking me to go along with them, but I also felt like these were, these were really peak baggers and these, you know, the folks I went with moved very fast and I felt like I had to prove myself. I felt like I couldn't stop and take pictures or or or admire a certain tree, or you know.
Speaker 2:I felt like I had to keep up with the group and I and I had that feeling that I was losing my freedom again. You know it's kind of weird, like I don't have any say in this, you know, and and yeah, so so for me, the solo hiking aspect of it was was much more enjoyable for me and you know, I know you had a recent uh episode about safety and uh, I think uh there safety and I think for women who travel solo, I think that's a real concern.
Speaker 2:That's the most common question I get at book talks is well, oh, that's terrible, you were going out there alone. What would have happened? You could have gotten hurt. Or, as my mother said, you could going out there alone. You know what, you know what would have happened. Or you could have gotten hurt, or or, as my mother said, you know you could die up there. Yeah, but which is true, I mean, she wasn't wrong, but I think I mean. But there are things to do to mitigate risk, right, whether you, whether you're hiking solo or traveling solo, you do. Your do the best you can. You carry a good first aid kit. You equip yourself with knowledge.
Speaker 1:Like I said.
Speaker 2:I took a woman's survival course, that's amazing. That was just for women. It was great because there's no egos right, we're all trying to struggle to light a fire and it was so much fun, right? So you equip yourself with the right equipment, with the right knowledge, and even though you're traveling alone, hiking these 4,000 footers is so popular that you know if you get hurt or if you fall, somebody is going to come upon you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's usually other people no question. Yeah, yeah, yeah, unless's usually no question.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you know unless you get hopelessly lost, you know somebody, somebody will find you, uh, so yeah, so it's not. It's not scary at all uh yeah, so you know you do what you can to to, like I said, minimize the risk and and you know, knowledge and the right equipment and, uh, you know, bring technology with you, whether it's a, uh, like a cell phone or some sort of satellite communication device or something. And just try to make yourself, you know, as safe as possible, and you'll be, you'll be okay.
Speaker 2:You know the mountain will be there if the weather's bad and you're not having. You know there was. There were times when I just wasn't feeling it and that's you know. Trust your instinct. And it took some time for me to trust my instinct because I couldn't discern that from fear right.
Speaker 2:I lived in fear for so long that you know, fear is that small voice that tells you that you're not good enough, or that you're too old, or you're too out of shape or you can't do it. And instinct is that small voice where your head and your heart and your gut are all in alignment and they're saying no, this is not the day to do this mountain. And so for me, that was a little bit of a a struggle to differentiate between those two, between fear and instinct, but gradually, over time, I I learned to trust my instinct, and, and uh, I'm sure other solo travelers do too, or?
Speaker 2:so maybe sometimes yeah, like maybe I don't want to hit the road today.
Speaker 1:You know it's raining or something like that, and uh, you just yeah you just be flexible yeah, I like to say it's um, it's like a muscle and that you when you practice it more, it gets stronger. Meaning like you, like you said, maybe that you get better at um listening to your gut or your intuition, or you get better at um. You said being prepared. Right, you get that knowledge, you know, because you learn from your mistakes, as you mentioned.
Speaker 1:You know, or just like safety things too, that you mentioned. I love that. Thank you for bringing that up because, um, even even though you know solo hiking you're, you're not going far, you're going eight, ten miles or whatever um, there's still some safety issues that you probably need to be concerned about. It could be animals, right? Did you ever come across animals you?
Speaker 2:know I get that question a lot. I mean I hate to disappoint people and say that you know, I never had to outrun a bear or a moose. I did run into a juvenile moose on the trail at one point and they can be a little unpredictable because it was in the spring.
Speaker 1:And I think this.
Speaker 2:The mom had just kicked the moose out of the nest and said you know you need to, you need to go out on your own. He was a little gangly. You know most of just all legs and head. Right, it's a little gangly Moose, are just all legs and head right.
Speaker 2:They're just a little gangly. He didn't know what to do and so eventually he did nothing and then sauntered off, but like moose. People ask if I've ever been scared off by a bear, and over here we have black bears and they're not that. They're kind of skittish most of them, but it's the moose that are yes, I've traveled in new hampshire and I remember seeing road signs that say you know moose crossings or whatever, and I actually wanted to see.
Speaker 1:I mean, I didn't want to hit them with my car, obviously, but I just was like, wow, a moose. I've never seen a moose.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean moose car collisions are a thing. Yeah, because, because they travel at night and because they're all legs many times you don't see them because all you're looking at are their skinny little legs, not their body which is huge and yeah yeah, and so you know, uh, they've been. Yeah, yeah, most car collisions is a thing, especially at night. So wow, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:But but you know they've been. Yeah, moose car collisions is a thing, especially at night.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow, yeah, yeah. But you know, just to go back to safety one more time yeah, absolutely, there's a lot of folks that, a lot of women that solo backpack and they do just fine. I'm just too old to sleep on the ground. I've done it a few times, I've done it a few times, but I think what it comes down to whether you're backpacking, hiking, traveling, walking down the street is just situational awareness, right?
Speaker 2:It's just being aware of your surroundings. You know who's behind you on the trail. You know you don't have to be suspicious of everybody, but you just want to take note.
Speaker 1:You know, whether you're.
Speaker 2:You know, what I like to do when I'm on the trail is I'll play a game with myself and on the way up I'll mentally note you know I crossed a bridge here, or there was an outcropping of rocks here, and you know there crossed a bridge here, or there was an outcropping of rocks here and you know there was this sign there. So when I'm going back down the trail and I'm tired and just and just, you know, I'll try to play that game. It's like, ok, I just hit that rock outcropping, I should be expecting a bridge next and just being kind of aware of your surroundings, not only of of of nature, but but who you're encountered to. And so I mean, I think, I think that's, um, something I take with me, whether you know you're at the mall or or or on the trail. It's just always be situationally aware, right, where's you know. It's just, it's just out of habit, I guess it's like where, if I'm in a if.
Speaker 2:I'm in an auditorium. It's like where's the exits, where? What would happen if there was, you know, a fire? How would I get out? That? That's it, that type of thing. And the more you practice that, I think, the the the better traveler you are. You know, and you have less fear, so you feel more confident. I think right, yeah, right, I mean absolutely. You know simple things like always knowing where your car keys are. I always, I always had my car keys in a certain place in my back, you know. I just knew where everything was yeah, and it just makes you more confident and just just a safer.
Speaker 2:A safer traveler, yes, very good, did you have?
Speaker 1:any experience any? You know you started this in your mid-50s. Did you experience you talked a little? A safer traveler yes, very good. Did you have any experience any? You know you started this in your mid fifties. Did you experience you talked a little about like fear but naysayers, like people that heard what you were doing and thought, well, you're too old for this right. Have you ever?
Speaker 2:did you ever come across anybody that kind of gave you that, that that indication that they thought well you're crazy and you're too old or anything that would be, you know, maybe make you feel insecure or just like question what you were doing, maybe Not during the time I was doing it.
Speaker 2:Never to my face many years later I I would hear anecdotally or second or third hand, like I can't believe you did that or I can't believe you'd want to do that, and it's like you know, I'm sure people thought of it, but they never they never, uh, expressed it to me and I don't.
Speaker 2:I don't know if it would have mattered, ch Cheryl I was just determined to do it, and that's the voice of fear talking right, and you want to surround yourself with people that support you and love you, and that's what I've been able to do since I've been divorced. I've been, I've been very lucky to not only, uh, strengthen the friendships that I had like in high school before I was married, but but to make a new, new friends, you know, yeah, I'm still, you know.
Speaker 2:I'm still connected with my, with my life coach, and she's. She created this community of women that you know. We were accountable to one another, we support one another and we're you know, we're here for one another and that type of camaraderie is just, you know, you can't replace that. It's just, yeah, that's the type of people you want to surround yourself with. That's the type of people you want to surround yourself with, especially practicing gratitude being so thankful, being thankful for my health.
Speaker 2:Yes, right, yeah. People ask me well, did you get hurt? And I was like nah, I never got hurt.
Speaker 1:That's remarkable.
Speaker 2:I never even got a scratch.
Speaker 1:I mean, somebody was watching over me. For sure the universe had my back at the end of the day, because I could have got this.
Speaker 2:It's so easy to get hurt. You just slip and fall and and now you, you have to be carried out and I, just, I, just I never got a scratch. I just went up and down and like one one one. That's how I did it. It was just people ask how I did it.
Speaker 1:And it was just literally one step at a time. Yeah well, the New Hampshire White Mountains seems to offer you such a great space to heal and grow in different levels and for anybody who's actually walked through uh, trauma or grief or we didn't even touch on what happened to your husband after you got divorced, but there was shame, that kind of came alongside that and we all we both know, and anybody that's been through that, that this is all. It's a process to kind of move through those, whether it's trauma, grief coming out of you know that, controlling marriage for you and stuff. But we all want closure in a sense right, so that we can move forward from our past. As you said, like your life coach was helping you kind of do that, look forward. You know what? How did you? I mean it's a process, but have you come to a point where you feel like you actually have closure from all that and how long did that take you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, great question. I'm not sure about the word closure. I don't think there. I don't know if you ever talked to other trauma survivors, but I'm not sure if closure is ever the right word. Trauma survivors, but I'm not sure if closure is ever the right word.
Speaker 2:Uh, you know, my, my life coach wrote, and she wrote the foreword for the book and I think her, her sentence, sums it up nicely and and it is, you know, you, you're, you're writing from the scar, not the wound, right. So I think there's always a scar that will be there and you grow around it. It's kind of like the piece of sand in the oyster right. The piece of sand isn't part of the oyster right, but you grow around it and eventually you know there's no closure there, but eventually you know something beautiful comes comes out of that, and so I I enjoy, uh, taking folks out on on local hikes here in New Hampshire that are just starting out and maybe they they don't have the um confidence and they they want somebody to hike with them, and you know, I enjoy doing that.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I'm also. You know, if someone wants to reach out to me and say, yeah, I'm doing this 4,000 footer, you know, do you want to come with me? I'd be like. Yeah, I'd be happy to you know if people are looking for for for an extra person to come to go with them, absolutely yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm, I'm there.
Speaker 2:And so question I, you know, as you mentioned, you know I don't want to spoil it for you, no, let me, I think in your book.
Speaker 1:You actually on page 264, you actually said, instead of seeking closure, what I should be seeking is grace or compassion for the unworthy. So you know, I think that actually honestly, that I think that sums it up, is what you know.
Speaker 2:You kind of said the closure is not the right word Right, you answered it better than I did. Yes, yes, yeah, so my husband, unknown to me, shortly after we were divorced, my ex-husband was arrested and charged with some unspeakable crimes, and so that's where the title of the book comes from is Finding Grace on 48 Summits. Right. So you know, grace is compassion and forgiveness for the unworthy, and, honestly, there's probably no one more unworthy than him for what he did. But that you know, forgiveness isn't for him, it's for yourself right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that phrase too you know the same thing with resentment.
Speaker 2:It was just. You know it's easy to go to be resentful and angry and you know seething, but it's just so counterproductive and just so negative that you're only hurting yourself.
Speaker 1:It's wasting your energy too. Exactly, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:It's just negative. It's just negativity and you know it's just not. It's just negativity and it's, and you know it's, it's just not going to do any any good, I think. I think the anger was part of the journey, right? So you know the part of the book. You know I detail the process that I went through being being the ex-wife of somebody that was in the newspaper every other day, and so this it's very much like the grieving process where there's shock and anger and disbelief and it's like this couldn't have happened, and and bargaining, and then eventually there's there's acceptance, and then there's there's the grace.
Speaker 2:Yeah so, yeah, so I, I, you know, there's acceptance, and then there's there's the grace. Yeah, so, you know, for my benefit, I don't have any contact with him. You know he'll be in prison for a long time and it just does not. It just does not.
Speaker 2:it just does not benefit me yeah, exactly and if I were, it would be, it would be to serve him, and I felt like I've done that. Yeah, I've done that for a long time. You know this. These were his things that he did. Uh, that I, I did not know and I have no responsibility for him. Uh, and you know, just trying to, just trying to navigate that court process. It was over three years and you know that was a large part of the time period when I was hiking.
Speaker 1:You were hiking. Yeah, exactly yeah.
Speaker 2:And I was still doing that. And hiking became even more beneficial during that time because there were times, like I said, when I, when there was a headline in the paper and I was kind of thrown, I had no idea because I'm not, I'm not involved in the criminal process, I'm not a victim, I'm not a witness, I'm just a. I am a complete unknown, a complete outsider so it's nothing.
Speaker 2:so when I it would make a headline and I was just like how can I go to work, how can I face all my coworkers, how can I face my family, how can I face my friends? And and I and I learned, I learned different coping mechanisms, court to see when the next thing was, so I would be prepared when the newspapers were reporting it when is his trial, when is that going to happen? And I just was better able to arm myself so I wasn't so blindsided.
Speaker 1:Those were skills that you actually learned. Hiking you talked about beforehand being prepared you know like so you brought it back in to help you navigate that season so yeah, that's a skill you learned very I love that yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I mean with yeah, I mean your podcast is is, you know, solo traveling and and solo is good, but but it would took a little. It's a process for for me personally to ask for help. You know, if you're solo traveling and you're in, you're running into a situation, I don't know, flat tire, you know I have I purchased a travel trailer and so I do a lot of trailering solo. But if you run into a problem, you know, sometimes you just have to ask for help and and not be a martyr and you know, and and it's the same thing when you're going through an emotional journey as well.
Speaker 2:You know, it was hard for me to ask for help, and it's it's, you know, but I'm, I'm getting better at it, right? Uh, it's not, you know, healthy people, healthy people ask for help, right? So?
Speaker 1:so I like that yeah yeah, so, so yeah.
Speaker 2:So, whether you're listeners or viewers, uh, ask for help. I there's no shame.
Speaker 1:There's no shame in asking for help for sure yes, thank you for reiterating that yeah I think we get this whole like pride thing too, because we were doing this solo. We want to do it our way, you know. We want to show that we can do it solo. But you know, even those that I've interviewed that have solo traveled, one of the most important things that they have shared is not the solo part, which is great, but how they've either connected with community or they've connected with, met somebody or had an encounter with somebody. So it is about human interaction and whether you are, like you said, hiking alone or with somebody, um, you know there's interaction.
Speaker 1:You'll ask people right and so, yeah, I love that it's important that we we acknowledge that too, even though we are by ourselves, that there's other people around, as you mentioned. Sure that we're not really alone, right?
Speaker 2:no, no.
Speaker 2:On some of these hikes I started out as solo and I would catch up, or somebody would catch up to me that was also solo solo hiking yeah, and we had, and we had the same pace, yeah, and you know, you know there's a, there's a connection and and it really makes the miles go by a little bit faster. Uh, you learn, you learn things from things from folks that were more experienced than me, and I didn't, you know, I just don't have any. There's no pride here, there's no ego in this corner, and so if I didn't know something, I would just ask yeah, I have a sense of humor about it and yeah, people are super helpful.
Speaker 1:I mean.
Speaker 2:I think the traveling hiking community is super helpful. Traveling the RV community is super helpful. You know, like I said, I bought a travel trailer during COVID Okay, this was going to be my retirement was to travel in my travel trailer and during the the lockdown, my uh friend of mine says, well, why don't you buy it now, and that way, there you can at least get going with it and you know when it's time to retire.
Speaker 2:You'll, you'll, you'll have that experience and and, uh, you know you'll be kind of a ahead of the game and that she was right. That's exactly what I did and and you know I watched a lot of YouTube videos, did a lot of reading, you know, did as much research as you as you can, and you know you still make mistakes because you don't you don't know what you don't know, you know so but yeah, that's my latest adventure is I like to?
Speaker 1:go out. I was just going to ask you what. What are you working on right now and where are you so?
Speaker 2:I, uh, I retired a month ago. That was my long time goal. Yeah, congratulations, thank you yeah, again, today is like the 30-day anniversary, so I feel like I'm I feel like I'm in vacation mode, like yeah, yeah, so, yeah. So I did buy the RV during the lockdown in 2020 or 2021. And so up till now I've been a weekend warrior with it right.
Speaker 2:Okay, because I was working full time. Yeah, going on trips not too far, but I go solo sometimes. I did a lot of work on my book on solo RV trips in terms of editing. It was quiet, there were no distractions, it was just like my little writing office. And so I just came back from a music festival over the weekend in Vermont. That was fantastic. I mean you're right. I mean, I think, even though you're traveling solo, there's there is that community, there's the music community, the RV community, the hiking community.
Speaker 2:And as much as I like my, my alone time, because I still treasure it. You know, we all have to, we all crave that human connection on some level as well. So yeah, so that was the best of both worlds is music and, and going to camping out at a campground was just. It was just a fun, fun weekend.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's incredible and congrats on the retirement.
Speaker 2:Thank you, thank you, yeah One day, I'll get there Right. Yeah, I. I mean, I had been planning for it for like shortly after my divorce. I decided that I I needed to figure this out uh so yeah, so I've been planning for for the last 10 years or so, and so I I fell victim to that one more year syndrome. I originally wanted to do it in 2023, but here we are, uh, uh so.
Speaker 1:I, I did, yeah, I know other people that are in that same situation. Like one more year of teaching, yeah, I know. Yeah, Well, I'm so happy for you. What, um, where can people find you? You know you have a book out and I think you have a website.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so I do have a website. It's I thought of this one all by myself. It's my name. It's Linda Magooncom. That's L I N D A M A G O O Ncom. You can order my book through Amazon.
Speaker 1:If you're not into Amazon.
Speaker 2:that's fine. I just reach out through my website. I'd be happy to send you a signed copy. My email I thought of this one all by myself too is lindamagoonauthor at gmailcom. And also you can find me on Facebook, and that's lindamagoonauthor on Facebook.
Speaker 1:Okay, Awesome, this has been so exciting. Yeah, and here, wait, I'll just well, I have um, oh there it is. There's what the book looks like, folks so looking for it.
Speaker 1:That's what it looks like there and I enjoyed reading it. And, linda, this has been so remarkable. I thank you for um. Linda, this has been so remarkable. I thank you for sharing your story and I know there could be parts that kind of may have brought up some past things. So I appreciate you being honest with everything that happened to you and you know your book really dives a little deeper into all that. So if someone is interested in kind of hearing all the deets on, you know all that she went through. It's pretty remarkable. And look at you standing here. I mean you're here having completed the 48 peaks. I mean that's just remarkable.
Speaker 2:I mean it's inspiring. You get a little patch and a tiny certificate.
Speaker 1:That was my motivation.
Speaker 2:It was that tiny little patch about the size of a postage stamp, but I needed that, I needed that validation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree. I think we all kind of need stuff like that to validate what we've done and that hard, hard path that we've, we've walked for you, yeah. So thank you for sharing your journey with me, and my audience.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you for having me. Uh, cheryl is a pleasure to meet and chat with you and uh, safe travels to all of your viewers and listeners out there. Thank you so much for listening yes, thank you.
