Ep. 1012: How Adventure Improves Our Lives as We Age - Caroline Paul

Author Caroline Paul has always filled her life with adventure. Now in her late fifties, she expects this new stage of life to be every bit as invigorating and full of high adrenalin escapades as the last. But as she skateboards, paddles a SUP, or surfs in cold winter swell alongside many men her age, she sees fewer and fewer older women. Isn’t the outdoors a vital elixir? Shouldn’t adventure be something we pursue as we age?

These are the questions Caroline Paul asks in her new book, Tough Brough. Among the interviews were 93-year-old hiker Dot Fisher-Smith, 80-year-old SCUBA diver Louise Wholey, 52-year-old BASE jumper Drew Brooks, and the many septuagenarian Wave Catchers, who boogie board together in the San Diego surf. These women aren’t famous. They aren’t experts. But their experiences offer important insight into our own physical and emotional health as we age.

Caroline dives deep into the research on aging, but also accompanies older women on bird-watching outings, sea kayaking excursions, swim laps, and walks in the park, among other outdoor adventures, and begins to see her own future in a new and dazzling light. Combining scientific research, cultural studies, psychology, and personal stories, Tough Broad is a high-spirited call for women to embrace the outdoors, not back away from it, in our fifties, sixties, seventies and beyond.

Caroline Paul is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Gutsy Girl: Escapades for Your Life of Epic Adventure and Lost Cat: A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology, which has been translated into fifteen languages. She is also the author of the memoir Fighting Fire, the middle-grade book You Are Mighty: A Guide to Changing the World, and the novel East Wind, Rain. Her TED Talk, “To Raise Brave Girls, Encourage Adventure,” has been viewed over 2 million times. A longtime member of the Writers Grotto, she lives in San Francisco.

You can get Tough Broad starting March 5, 2024 by following the link below: 

https://www.carolinepaul.com/tough-broad

Additional book link: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/tough-broad-9781635576498/

Website: https://www.carolinepaul.com/

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/adventure-sports-podcast/donations

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy