Hi, I’m Julie. I’m a workshop facilitator, experiential educator, outdoor guide, world traveler, and adventurer.

At age 18 I organized a solo trip to Bulgaria to volunteer at a children’s orphanage: my first big adventure. That’s where my interest in global culture, travel, and communication bloomed.

As an undergraduate at UC Davis, I guided backpacking, climbing, and winter outdoors trips for my fellow students and professors. Exploring Yosemite, Point Reyes, or Bryce Canyon began to constitute a normal weekend.

After college I felt a deep desire to continue teaching and guiding, and I spent a winter teaching kids to ski in North Lake Tahoe—despite having skied only 5 days in my entire life prior. There I learned the power of story and metaphor. My global adventures continued as I guided or solo-traveled across South and Central America, New Zealand, and Western North America.

I spent two years aboard a 101-year-old wooden tall ship in the Puget Sound, leading a team of a dozen environmental educators. Living in extremely tight quarters, on-call 24 hours a day, I learned how to facilitate a work and living environment of clear communication, personal growth, and group harmony. Our ship’s passengers included 4th-12th grade groups, Outward Bound executives, REI employees, corporations, and families.

I’ve led interactive communication and leadership workshops for middle school, high school, college, and business audiences in the Bay Area and Pacific Northwest. After working on the water, I ran the Outdoor Trips program and co-taught a class all about California water at an independent high school in San Francisco. When I headed to land locked western Colorado as a facilitator and mentor for the High Desert Center Gap Year for young adults, I had a transformative experience.

I started my own gap year company in 2017 to support young adults ages 17-20 who are seeking to shift gears, forge a new sense of purpose through adventure, and discover stability in community before heading off to college.

Check out Curious Kaleidoscope!

My mission: to help people communicate effectively and discover themselves through adventure.

 
On this website you can explore my adventures, read my blog, and get in touch with me to arrange a workshop or speaking engagement.

 

header photo credit: Elizabeth Becker, inset photo credit: Ian Walters