Big Podcast News, Swimming with Hippos, Peace Corps, and the GR20 with Becca "Little Bag" Beckham (BPR #356)

In today's episode of Backpacker Radio presented by The Trek, brought to you by Topo Athletic, we sit down with Becca Beckham, trail name Little Bag, a Peace Corps veteran, thru-hiker and all around world traveler.

Becca has hiked the Long Trail and PCT, and last year tackled the Colorado Trail, the Tour du Mont Blanc, and the GR20 in Corsica. In this one, Becca shares what it’s like growing up in a military family bouncing across the country, to two years in Cameroon with the Peace Corps, to teaching English in France, to landing in the wonderful world of thru-hiking. She shares stories about floating a hippo-filled river in Central Africa, accidentally eating monkey, attending a rat festival, and what it's like to build community from scratch in a new place, over and over again. If you've ever wondered what it looks like to just keep saying yes, this is your episode.

We wrap the show with some very big and ungood news for the future of this podcast- hint it involves Chaunce- hint it’s probably what you think it is, hint we are all processing it together- hint it’s not related to health or anything serious on that level- but yes it’s sad and bad. We also share the tragic news about Ian MacLurg, a thru-hiker, Trek Blogger, and Trail Correspondent who recently passed away while hiking the PCT. 

On a lighter note- we reveal details of a live podcast happening in Denver in late June, the triple crown of team sports, the funniest terms for boobs, and why Chaunce is looking at her phone all the time during the podcast.

Topo Athletic: Use code “TREK15TOPO” at topoathletic.com.

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Hyperlite Mountain Gear: Use code “BPRADIO15” for 15% of hyperlitemountaingear.com

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Interview with Becca “Little Bag” Beckham

• Becca's Instagram

Time stamps & Questions

00:05:40 - Reminders: Live podcast in Denver on June 26! Listen to our episodes ad-free on Patreon and subscribe to The Trek's Youtube!

00:08:17 - Chaunce's Big News

00:23:11 - Introducing Becca “Little Bag” Beckham

00:24:41 - How did you get into backpacking?

00:25:59 - What was it like growing up in a military family?

00:29:57 - What was it like making friends when moving to a new school every few years?

00:32:35 - Alabama snakes tangent

00:35:16 - How did you get from Peace Corps to the Long Trail?

00:39:08 - What brought you to the Peace Corps?

00:44:15 - What was your day-to-day life like integrating into the community in Cameroon?

00:51:30 - What kind of work were you doing in Cameroon?

00:53:27 - What is bush meat, and what was the wildlife like in Cameroon?

00:57:49 - Did you float a hippo-filled river in Cameroon?

01:03:30 - Do you feel like the Peace Corps prepared you for thru-hiking?

01:06:48 - Have you always been this adventurous?

01:08:23 - Has living a non-traditional lifestyle made it harder to find love?

01:17:15 - How did you come to the decision not to have kids?

01:20:14 - What were your biggest gear fails on the Long Trail?

01:21:25 - What did you learn from the PCT shakedown?

01:28:28 - What was the mud situation like on the Long Trail in a wet year?

01:33:02 - What happened in the gap between the Long Trail and the PCT?

01:39:54 - Did you get norovirus at Crater Lake on the PCT?

01:42:47 - What happened when you discovered you were allergic to Leukotape on the PCT?

01:51:41 - What was your best campsite on the PCT?

01:52:55 - How did you transition back to AmeriCorps after the PCT?

01:54:31 - What is the difference between AmeriCorps and Peace Corps?

02:00:56 - What was it like living in a 15-passenger van with your AmeriCorps team?

02:05:14 - What was it like doing a site visit inside an Idaho prison?

02:13:17 - What was it like installing wildlife-friendly fencing on a Montana ranch?

02:14:58 - How did the government cuts to AmeriCorps affect you personally?

02:20:27 - How did losing your job lead to an epic year of hiking?

02:21:54 - What was it like hiking the Colorado Trail?

02:27:43 - What was hiking the Tour du Mont Blanc like?

02:37:15 - Is the GR20 the hardest hike in Europe?

02:44:25 - Tell us about the pigs tearing a hole in your tent

02:51:18 - Peak Performance Question: What’s your top performance enhancing or backpacking hack?

Segments

Trek Propaganda:

• Thru-Hiker Who Died on PCT Was Trek Blogger by Kelly Floro
• The Dark Side of Trail Magic: The Negative Experiences Hikers Rarely Talk About by Peg Leg

QOTD:  What’s the best/funniest word for boobs?

Triple Crown of (team) sports

Mail Bag

5 Star Review

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