Gaby is a professional outdoor educator, guide, and wilderness medicine instructor. She holds a master's degree in outdoor education and spends most of her time hanging out with penguins and polar bears in the polar region. When she's not outdoors, you can find her traveling, reading Nietzsche, and drinking copious double espressos.
Over the last decade or so, I’ve spent much of my time living, working, and enjoying the great outdoors. However, it wasn’t always this way.
Although I’ve always loved spending time outside, I wasn’t formally introduced to the world of outdoor adventure until early high school. Around that time, I experienced a string of injuries that cut short my budding ice hockey goaltending career, so I hung up my skates and picked up a set of ice tools to start my journey in the vertical world.
Throughout high school and university, I spent every free moment hiking, camping, climbing, sailing, paddling, or skiing. Not long after, I landed my first job working in outdoor retail, which gave me plenty of opportunities to nerd out on the minutiae and finer points of outdoor gear.
Needless to say, this first job in the outdoor industry turned me into a major gear geek and I was instantly hooked on the idea of making a life for myself outside. After spending a few years working in outdoor retail in high school and university, I transitioned to working as a climbing and mountaineering guide in Alaska during the summer months.
At the same time, I worked toward developing my skills in the outdoors, earning a number of certifications with the American Mountain Guides Association, the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education, the Royal Yachting Association, and Leave No Trace.
Eventually, I also became a wilderness medicine instructor and started working as a field instructor for several expedition-based outdoor education companies in the United States and abroad.
Due to my natural geekiness, I soon sought opportunities to learn more about the world of outdoor education. This led me to complete a master’s degree in outdoor education at the University of Edinburgh.
Since then, I’ve spent a number of seasons working both in the United States as an outdoor education instructor and in the Arctic and the Antarctic as an expedition guide, helping people learn more about the natural environment as they experience some of the most beautiful locations on earth. When I’m not working, you can find me traveling or adventuring whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Above all, the uniting theme throughout my professional life has been education. Whether I’m working as a nature guide or as a writer, my goal is to help as many people as possible get outside in a safe and responsible way by providing helpful, accessible, and reliable information for all to enjoy.
