We caught up with the brilliant and insightful April Adventuring a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi April, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
Optimism, like many things in life, is a mental skill that anyone can improve. Although I’ve always been a generally optimistic person, I still have downswings that I have to work through and over time the skill is strengthened.
My optimism comes from a few things:
– I believe in the inherent goodness of people. I see this in everyday life. People are kind and generous and curious; those who aren’t have something in their lives that has caused them to be otherwise and they deserve compassion and grace.
– The only control we have over most things in life is how we react to them. The world keeps spinning whether we want it to or not, so we can either choose to look on the bright side or not. The universe is indifferent to our choice, so I choose what makes me feel happier.
– Lastly, I always remember the fleetingness of life. It’s a bit morbid, but doesn’t have to be a negative thing. It’s already such an improbable chance that I should even be here experiencing this life and I only have so long to enjoy it. I’m not wasting any time suffering from unnecessary pessimism!
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
April Adventuring is all about inspiring people to get outdoors and explore our beautiful planet. I create videos, social media content, and blog posts that provide people with the information they need to plan their next adventure safely, responsibly, and packed with as much fun as possible.
I’m based out of Los Angeles and share guides, itineraries, and tips for visiting National Parks and other outdoor destinations throughout southern California and beyond. My goal is to make people feel more confident exploring the outdoors, whether through camping, backpacking, rock climbing, road tripping, or even going on their first hike!
My favorite part of starting April Adventuring has been when people reach out letting me know my videos motivated them to go on their first backpacking trip or solo road trip. So many of us find reasons to put off the traveling we want to do, but life is short and there’s so much to see! I want everyone to know the outdoors is for them and they should feel comfortable planning that bucket list adventure, even if it’s something completely new for them or they’ll be tackling it alone.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
If I had to give advice to someone starting out on a similar journey to mine, I would say the three skills that have helped me the most have been willingness to go outside my comfort zone, written communication, and authenticity in sharing myself with others.
Being willing (and excited) to get outside my comfort zone has to be the single biggest factor that pushed me forward on this journey of April Adventuring. Every day has challenges that require me to be courageous and try something new, from exploring a new trail by myself to posting videos of myself online. There’s always a fear of failure creeping at the back of my mind that wants to keep me from pursuing my goals. I have to remind myself that the rewards of facing that fear far outweighs the comfort of staying where I am. Besides, nobody’s really paying attention and waiting for me to fail, so it’s just about getting out there. It all gets easier with repetition.
My advice for someone working on this skill would be to purposefully do one thing every day (or every week) that scares you and record it in a notebook or on your phone. It can be anything from asking the barista for a discount on your coffee to visiting a new city alone. You’ll quickly realize a lot more things go your way than you’d ever expect and the world isn’t so scary after all.
Written communication is another skill that is essential for anyone trying to make it in the world of content creation. Even video creators need to be able to express their ideas in emails to brands or when writing scripts for their content. There are very few people that wouldn’t benefit from quality communication skills, particularly written in our digital age. Starting a blog or writing compelling captions on Instagram can take you far these days!
Again my advice here would be to get your reps in. I aim to write at least 300 words per day and use a website to track my progress. If you’re working on improving your grammar and word choice, there are tons of free tools online to help check your work. Reading is another great way to improve as your brain soaks in the different tones, sentence structures, and vocabulary.
Finally, having an authentic voice throughout my content has been highly impactful in my work. People may visit my pages for a quick tip, but they’ll often stay because they can sense my genuine desire to provide value to them. Showing up online can be tricky; we want to highlight the flashiest, most picturesque moments, but it’s also important to share the less glamorous parts of our lives. This goes hand-in-hand with getting outside my comfort zone since it can be scary to be seen as less than perfect online.
My advice here is threefold:
1. Set social media boundaries. Don’t share parts of your life that you aren’t comfortable with receiving criticism about or having judged. It’s totally okay to keep parts of you offline!
2. Consume content mindfully. Only follow other creators that inspire you and don’t cause FOMO or jealous comparison. Engaging with others that share authentically will make you feel safe to do so.
3. Don’t take it too seriously. Most people are more worried about their own lives to care if you have a pimple on your chin or you messed up saying a line in one of your videos. It’s all for fun anyways and no one will remember tomorrow!
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I’ve just made the shift to working on content creation full-time and am actively looking into partnerships and collaborations! My dream partners are ones with a focus on sustainability and minimizing their environmental impact and that empower people to get outdoors.
These could be brands that create high quality, long-lasting gear, guides/tours/classes that help people experience the outdoors, or even groups that meet up for hikes. I’m a fan of brands big and small that allow me to keep adventuring, running, and rock climbing. I would look forward to collaborating with someone whose mission aligns with that of April Adventuring — to get more people outside.
Anyone that’s interested can reach me by emailing april@apriladventuring.com or sending me a message on Instagram. Bonus points for sharing a silly, fun fact along with the collab details!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.apriladventuring.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apriladventuring/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/apriladventuring
- Other: https://www.patreon.com/apriladventuring
Image Credits
April Adventuring
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
