Dr. Susannah O’Sullivan: Teacher, Writer, Activist & Adventurer – From Solo Cycling Across Continents to Empowering Women in Palestine and Beyond
Release Date: 01/21/2025
Alexandra Nemeth: Beyond the Seven Summits — Highs, Lows, and Life in Extreme Places.
Tough Girl Podcast
Alex is a qualified International Mountain Leader, Polar Guide, and a professional Photographer based in St. Moritz, Switzerland. From scaling the world’s highest peaks to leading expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctica, she thrives where the wild meets the extreme. Her passion for high-altitude exploration took her on a relentless quest; climbing the highest mountain on every continent, culminating on the summit of Mt. Everest in 2018. She became the first ever Hungarian to climb the Seven Summits. This journey ignited her mission to guide others through the raw beauty of the mountains...
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Bonita Norris – Mountains, Mindset, Motherhood and Mastering the Impossible
Tough Girl Podcast
Bonita Norris became the youngest woman to reach both the summit of Mt Everest at just 22 and the North Pole at 23, and her story is nothing short of extraordinary. In this episode, she shares the journey that took her from school trips in North Wales to climbing some of the world’s highest peaks, navigating extreme environments, and pushing the limits of what’s possible. Bonita reflects on the early steps that built her career in mountaineering—starting with beginner climbing courses, funding her expeditions, and preparing for the Himalayan peaks. She opens up about the mental and...
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Jacquetta Megarry – Founding Rucksack Readers, Walking Adventures, and Building Confidence in the Outdoors
Tough Girl Podcast
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Sabrina Pace-Humphreys – UTMB, Trail Running, and Building Community: The Journey of a Runner and Advocate
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Becky Wandell – Reinvention, Solo Travel, and Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail at 55
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Becky Wandell is a Teacher, Writer, Tour Guide, Volunteer, and Solo Traveler. At 47, while weathering a difficult divorce and the death of four close relatives, she clawed her way up from the depths of grief and, in her words, set out to “find her way back to Becky again”. To do this, she quit her job, sold all of her belongings and charted a plan to complete a series of adventures she had always dreamed of doing. Joining the US Peace Corps, learning to speak Spanish and gaining her confidence in solo travel and living abroad set the stage for several years of living her best life...
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Denisa Krásná – Flow, Fear, and Female Adventure: Redefining Women’s Stories in Extreme Sports
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Sarah Williams: Solo Reflections Episode, GR10, the Numbers and Plans for 2026
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Dr Latika Nath – Nat Geo’s Tiger Princess: Pioneering Conservation and Studying Big Cats in the Wild
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From the jungles of India to the global stage of wildlife conservation, Dr Latika Nath has spent her life studying and protecting big cats, becoming the first woman in the world to study tigers in the wild. Known as Nat Geo’s “Tiger Princess,” she shares stories from deep in the forests where she observed tigers using tools, hunting porcupines, and navigating complex human-wildlife conflicts. In this episode, Latika takes us on her journey from a childhood spent exploring the outdoors to pursuing her dream in a male-dominated field, studying elephants and tigers in the wild. She shares...
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Kaytlyn Gerbin – Motherhood, Mountains, and 100-Mile Runs: Her Ultra Running Comeback
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Sheryl Ramstad – Surviving the Impossible: A 1% Miracle, Radical Resilience, and Rebuilding Life After a Plane Crash
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Sheryl Ramstad’s story is nothing short of extraordinary. After surviving a catastrophic plane crash with less than a 1% chance of survival, Sheryl’s life was forever changed. What began as her first solo flight at age 29 became a harrowing journey through life-threatening burns, multiple surgeries, overwhelming grief, and two years of excruciating rehabilitation. But this isn’t just a survival story—it’s a testament to the power of resilience, faith, and the unbreakable human spirit. In this powerful conversation, Sheryl shares how she transformed unimaginable trauma into...
info_outlineTeacher, 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