Tough Girl Podcast Dr. Susannah O’Sullivan: Teacher, Writer, Activist & Adventurer – From Solo Cycling Across Continents to Empowering Women in Palestine and Beyond
Teacher, writer, activist and adventurer. Susannah quit her job as a university lecturer in 2017 to cycle solo and unsupported from the UK to the Middle East. She camped all along the way, in olive groves, in peoples’ garages, next to motorways, by rivers and lakes, and in caves. She faced many of her own fears on this trip and wants to share her experiences to encourage other women to wild camp safely.
In the Middle East she spent 6 months in the West Bank, Palestine, teaching yoga to women in a refugee camp, working as a climbing guide and becoming a solidarity activist with victims of violence. For the next two years she kept returning to Palestine to continue this work. She has just completed writing a book about what she experienced there, including her own battle with depression and PTSD.
Her most recent adventures include thru-hiking a section of the Lebanon Mountain Trail, hitchhiking around the South Island of New Zealand, and driving a scooter 5,000km around the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia.
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Show notes
- Who is Susannah
- Being based in Bali
- Going on multiple adventures over the years
- 2017 cycling from Bristol to the Middle East
- 2022 hiking a section of the Lebanon Mountain Trail
- 2023 Riding a scouter around the islands of Indonesia
- Growing up in Bristol and her early years spent cycling outdoors
- Finding calm in nature
- Getting into politics as a teenager and studying politics and history
- Getting a scholarship to do a Masters & PHD
- Finishing her PHD in 2014 and working as a university lecturer
- The decline in her mental health and developing anxiety around her job and workload
- Taking a break in 2016 and moving back home
- Spending time in Nepal in the Katmandu Valley
- Cycling and wild camping solo in the South of France
- Wanting to see more of the world
- Reading Dervla Murphy - Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle
- Planning a bigger cycle trip
- Leaving in September 2017 and cycling to Istanbul
- Spending the winter in the West Bank, Palestine
- Taking the first step and what the planning and logistics looked like
- Dealing with fears and concerns
- Breaking down the fears in a rational manor
- Listening to other women who had done similar trips (from podcasts and live talks)
- If they can do it, why can’t I do it.
- Digging into the fear to understand where it is coming from
- Distinguishing what is a real risk and what is a story we are being told about women’s vulnerability
- Getting into her rhythm and starting to relax into the journey
- Meeting local people
- Not wild camping as much at the start, while travelling through Europe
- Wild camping and getting into the mental zone to do it
- Volunteering with an NGO in Palestine and how it changed her
- Having a PHD in International relations
- Her work in Palestine
- Writing a book about her cycle trip to Palestine and her experiences in the country
- The magical moments from the cycle ride
- The countries she would like to go back and visit and spend more time
- Meeting other cyclists
- Heading over to New Zealand to hitch hike around the South Island
- Hitchhiking….
- Funding and paying for adventures and living a life of travel
- The Queen Charlotte Track, New Zealand
- Hiking in Lebanon on the mountain trail
- Foreign Travel Advice - UK Government
- Learning how to ride a scooter in Indonesia
- Slower travel and wanting more flexibility and freedom
- Managing mental health while travelling
- Feeling traveled out and changing the way she travels
- Feeling setting in Indonesia
- Digital nomad tourist visa
- Plans for 2025 and wanting to ride a motorbike around Papa New Guinea
- How to connect with Susannah
- Final words of advice to encourage you to follow your passions
- Pursuing your passions and ignoring what the negative people have to say about it
Social Media
Website www.susannahosullivan.org