
THE
Betty Blog
January Featured Leader of the Month - Jen Hoge, Salt Lake City
Chapter Leaders and Alpha Betties volunteer a ton of their time to plan and host unique and extraordinary adventures all over the United States. With 39 chapters and over 50,000 members, our leaders host over 200 adventures a month!
Here at Bold Betties HQ, we decided it was time to celebrate the leaders that work so hard to empower and inspire their members. Each month of 2019, we'll feature a different leader here on the blog!
Trip of a Lifetime
Westcliffe Horse Ranch Retreat Adventure Review from Susie Halsey
I had the amazing opportunity, thanks to Bold Betties, to spend 4 incredible days at Music Meadows Ranch, a beautiful 3,800 acre cattle ranch in the Wet Mountain Valley at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It truly is God’s country.
The ranch is owned and operated by Elin Parker, an incredible rancher, horsewoman, business woman, and human. I am so appreciative of all the wisdom and stories she shared with us. I am amazed at how she, with her ranch manager (another tough as nails...
How to be an Ally to a Person of Size in the Outdoors
By Jennifer Davis-Flynn
Next time you’re hiking the trails, mountain biking, paddling, skiing…take a look around. Who do you see? Does everyone look the same?
Outdoor brand catalogs and enthusiast magazines show us countless images of young, white, skinny yoga chicks, ripped female climbers, and a whole lotta dudes. And, not surprisingly, reality often follows suit.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Society places a lot of limitations on what fat people can and cannot do: sitting at home alone, feeling ashamed is okay. Traveling, eating in public, and engaging in outdoor pursuits – not so...
Adventure Travel: 5 Trips to Get You Started
As is always the case, gaining the courage to take the first step into a new venture or challenge is always the hardest – a cliché that has withstood the test of time for a reason. When it comes to starting your life as an adventure traveler, choosing the wrong first adventure can leave you sheepishly heading back to your vacation routine. That’s why finding a comfort zone that challenges your physical ability and courage without going too far is key in the early going, and you might be surprised how quickly you tap into your own adventurous spirit...
Outdoor Safety Tips for Women
There's nothing quite like getting out in the great outdoors and enjoying yourself. Whether you're going for a hike, heading out for a climb, or hunting, however, you want to make sure you're following a few critical safety tips along the way. These critical points in outdoor safety for women will help you be sure you're safe while enjoying your favorite activities.
Before You Go
Safety and preparation starts before you leave. Even if you don't have a trip on the horizon, as the weather warms up, go ahead and check your gear to...
Sisterhood and Sopping Sleeping Bags
So there I was, in the middle of a crazy, freak rain storm that came up out of nowhere, standing braless and bedraggled in front of the park ranger.
You may be wondering how I let myself get in this predicament in the first place, but in my defense there were no threatening clouds on the horizon and no telling change in temperature. It was just a sudden downpour; which caught me off guard and wet in a thin, gray tank top…
We were a handful girlfriends with various levels of camping experience who had trekked to the prairies of...
Empowerment: The Allure of the Great Outdoors
They say all heartbreaks, no matter how devastating, can be cured by the sea; that nature is good for the soul; that time heals all wounds.
And I agree.
These days, I love to enjoy the outdoors with my daughter, my friends, and my mom. You might even say that being outside has become my prescription for overcoming almost any disappointment. I’m regularly drawn to Bar Harbor, Maine, where the crisp ocean air, and beautiful seaside vistas act as an antidote for my soul.
But it wasn’t always this way.
There...
Finding my Bold Out West
Sometimes you find yourself and your inner strength in the oddest places – for example a dude ranch.
When people asked me how I got to Colorado, the snarky answer is “Well, I drove over 2,000 miles.” The short, non-snarky answer is “a bad break-up.”
While this is an over simplification, let me try to explain where I was emotionally before I decided to quit my well-paying professional job in Boston to go work a summer...
Moab Adventures with Bold Betties
I hung up the phone. How the hell am I going to get out of this? I thought. I had just agreed to go on a four-day, three-night camping trip with my sister.
For many reading this blog, a camping trip might sound like fun. Maybe even just a regular weekend.
Not me.
I am decidedly NOT outdoorsy. As a 45 year-old stay-at-home mother of two young boys, my physical activity is limited to walking my kids...
So How Are Those Resolutions Going?
Yeah, yeah…we know. Resolutions Shmesolutions. We sort of wondered how many people stayed inside on this Colorado snow day and got obliterated on old wine since they have all been on the wagon for a month.
Or maybe you’ve been Planet Orange-ing Fitness Theorizing or whatever. (Patience, Regulars, everyone will be clearing out soon and you can have your playthings back to yourself! ; )
Or maybe you stopped swearing (people do this)…well, let ‘er rip because we all discovered on the facebooks recently that cursing means you are smarter. EINSTEINS OVER HERE!!!
So How Are Those Resolutions Going?
Yeah, yeah…we know. Resolutions Shmesolutions. We sort of wondered how many people stayed inside on this Colorado snow day and got obliterated on old wine since they have all been on the wagon for a month.
So How Are Those Resolutions Going?
Yeah, yeah…we know. Resolutions Shmesolutions. We sort of wondered how many people stayed inside on this Colorado snow day and got obliterated on old wine since they have all been on the wagon for a month.
How to Get Outside Your Comfort Zone

Human beings are creatures of habit. We stick to the familiar because it decreases our stress and we want to maintain a certain level of comfort. Sometimes when we push ourselves and things don’t go right it leads us to believe that we were wrong to try and that we should stay within our comfort zone. And so we do stay there, complacent with our predictable, normal routine. It’s not that routine is inherently bad, it’s just that the saying is true, all the magic really does happen outside...