HeadRightOut

Feeling fearful about trying something adventurous? Listen in to a hub of vibrant, honest and motivational audio content, designed to encourage women to head out of their comfort zone within the outdoors. Featuring both the everyday and longer, planned challenges, Zoe Langley-Wathen invites stories from resilient women about facing their own HeadRightOut Moments, despite potential personal barriers. With the aim to inspire and empower midlife women to question and remedy their own levels of resilience, Zoe knows first-hand the power of facing fears after beginning long-distance hiking, solo at the age of forty. With life-long benefits to physical and mental health, particularly in supporting a positive peri-and post-menopause experience, she believes all women should be encouraged to try new things. Though aimed at midlife women, all ages and genders can benefit from the impact of the messages offered.

Trailblazing the Wales Coast Path in 2012 & other adventures - 020: Arry Cain 05/05/2022

A Donkey, Children & Slow Ways; inspiring human-powered home travel: Hannah Engelkamp - 019 03/23/2022

A Donkey, Children & Slow Ways; inspiring human-powered home travel: Hannah Engelkamp - 019 Hannah Engelkamp talks about walking Wales with a spirited donkey, children, adventures and the pandemic. Her current passion is inspiring others to walk Slow Ways routes, a new network of direct paths, from settlement to settlement, across Great Britain. Hannah is a writer and editor with a background in adventure magazines and websites. In 2013 she travelled waywardly around the circumference of Wales, 1000 miles, with a characterful donkey called Chico as her companion. In 2015 she published ‘Seaside Donkey’, a book and a feature-length film of the same, detailing her unusual adventure. In this episode, Zoe talks with Hannah about her adventures with her young children, taking on the position of wardens on Bardsey Island for six months with her partner, and her experience of the pandemic, with no garden and two children to occupy. There are surprising similarities between donkey and toddler, Hannah reveals. More recently, Hannah was appointed as the Culture, Imagination and Story Lead for Slow Ways, a project working towards creating a trusted network of walking routes that connect settlements and encourage people to walk and engage with the land for their everyday routines in addition to leisure walking. There will be a later episode of HeadRightOut in which full attention is given to Seaside Donkey, as Chico would naturally expect... SHOW LINKS: Hannah Engelkamp - Website: ( for the book and film) Instagram: Twitter: Facebook: Slow Ways - Website: Swarm including the link to the Google doc for submitting film clips from your walk. Map to use for searching for routes needing verification or choosing new walks to pioneer: Instagram: Twitter: Facebook: Where to find HeadRightOut and Zoe on social media: Music used in this episode: Intro, outro and transitions - ‘Stay Strong’ by Caffeine Creek Band SHOW NOTES: To follow FULL TRANSCRIPTION: To follow /episode/index/show/headrightout/id/22537301

Fell Running, Marathons & Mountain Biking; Founder of Element for Active Women - 018: Ruth Pickvance 02/09/2022

Fell Running, Marathons & Mountain Biking; Founder of Element for Active Women - 018: Ruth Pickvance Ruth shares her passion for the mountains, becoming an international fell running champion, fast marathons and how mountain bike orienteering has captured her interest aged 60. She is the founder of Element, offering active courses for women in Wales. In 2012, Ruth Pickvance, an adventurous, retired international fell running champion and super-fast marathon runner, left her well-paid head of faculty role at a Sixth Form College, to set up Element. The business offers women the opportunity to find confidence in outdoor pursuits such as Yoga for Runners, Beginning Fell Running and Mountain Biking for Beginners. At sixty years old, Ruth herself has discovered that she enjoys mountain bike orienteering, which marries her love of the outdoors with the joy of moving her body with less impact on her joints than perhaps those marathons of her forties had created. Living in the beautiful Brecon Beacons, Ruth shares more about her involvement in local environmental projects and conservation, as well as offering some first-hand wisdom regarding facing our fears and stretching those comfort zones. SHOW LINKS for RUTH PICKVANCE: Website: Instagram: Twitter: Facebook: ***PLEASE VOTE FOR HEADRIGHTOUT IN THE SPORTS PODCAST AWARDS:*** In the Best Urban and Adventure Category Where to find HeadRightOut and Zoe on social media: Music used in this episode: This Minimal Technology by from Morning Garden - Acoustic Chill by from The Cradle of Your Soul by from - Simple Piano Melody by from Intro, outro and transitions - ‘Stay Strong’ by Caffeine Creek Band SHOW NOTES: Welcome to the episode 00:51 Request for votes in the Sports Podcast Awards - Best Urban and Adventure Category - currently ranked in third place - this is likely to change 01:17 Different format for episode due to mic problems when recording. Please let me know if you like the format or preferred HeadRightOut’s original style 02:27 What to expect in our conversation. 03:23 Where Zoe and Ruth first met and Ruth’s bio: International Mountain Runner, Former British Fell Champion, fast marathon runner, exploring nature and founder of Element 04:06 How Ruth came into racing, visiting the Lake District one Christmas around 1985 and making a spontaneous decision 06:20 How quickly Ruth became good at the sport and why it touched a chord with her 08:42 How old Ruth was when she started racing and where her deep-rooted love of the mountains stemmed from 09:33 Zoe talks about the Gold Hill 10 race in Shaftesbury, Dorset - the strength needed running uphill vs the fear of running downhill 10:41 Where the fear comes from and how it affects us when running downhill 11:42 How to let go and deal with the fear head on 13:10 Understanding resilience both personally for Ruth and in general 15:13 What is fear, to Ruth? Recognising negative cycles and what we need 18:36 About perimenopause symptoms for Zoe 21:19 When menopause kicked in for Ruth and how she handled it 22:44 Ruth’s love for swimming and other activities - cycling, running, strength work, land management, walking 24:35 Zoe hearing about positive impact of exercise from other women in perimenopause including Jo Moseley 26:05 Ruth’s recommendations to see a GP or specialist doctor in menopause and HRT if symptoms are debilitating 26:42 Zoe’s experience with some of the perimenopause symptoms 27:27 Ruth talks about bringing curiosity to fear in order to see fear differently 29:09 Digging deep when the doubts and thoughts of being hopeless creep in 31:32 Mountain biking for beginners with Element - Ruth shares what some of the participants have said about the two-day course 35:28 What Element offers to women coming on the workshops and courses 38:14 Ruth’s volunteer work with , planting a million trees 42:50 Guardian articles and reviews, Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent and Kate Rawles 44:42 Talking about Ruth’s days racing and fell running in the UK and Europe 46:08 Types of sponsorship available and the preference to not be fully professional as an athlete 48:32 Ruth’s HeadRightOut Moment 50:40 Running marathons and choosing fell running over the Olympics 51:57 Where to find Ruth on her website and on social media 53:50 Laughing about talking for fifty minutes. Thanks from Zoe to Ruth 54:40 Zoe shares Ruth’s PB for her fast marathon. Subscribe to Ruth’s newsletter for Element 55:08 Lou Lloyd’s HeadRightOut Moment - wild camping solo in the Brecon Beacons and WWOOFING on a smallholding 57:00 Zoe taking a short break to deal with family things 59:44 Please let Zoe know what you thought of the episode format 1:00:10 Please vote for HeadRightOut in the Sports Podcast Awards 1:00:43 Thanks to the listeners, thanks to the guests and an invitation to plan and then step out of your comfort zone 1:00:55 HeadRightOut Hugs to all 1:01:39 /episode/index/show/headrightout/id/22063076

Truffles, Tribes & Tragedy; Healing Through World Foods & Adventures - 017: Sue Plastow 02/02/2022

Truffles, Tribes & Tragedy; Healing Through World Foods & Adventures - 017: Sue Plastow After the sudden death of her husband, Sue Plastow and her family left their Italian truffle orchard to return to the UK. Less than 12 months later, she is finding her feet again with exciting plans ahead that involves outdoor adventures, good food and a space for women to walk and talk. Her children experienced a wonderfully feral upbringing of travel and freedom. Now it’s Sue’s turn to find adventures to honour her late husband’s memory. Her positivity and zest for life is infectious. While she is aware that she is still grieving, Sue knows that the only way forward is to reach back to old skills, reach out for support, and reach up towards the future. SHOW LINKS: Instagram: Twitter: Facebook: ***PLEASE VOTE FOR HEADRIGHTOUT IN THE SPORTS PODCAST AWARDS:*** In the Best Urban and Adventure Category You can email Zoe: SHOW NOTES: An audio clip from Sue’s conversation [00:00] Zoe’s introduction to the guest [00:45] Thank you for voting and news about HeadRightOut being a finalist in the Podcasting for Business Awards in the Best Health & Wellbeing category. Request to vote in the Sports Podcast Awards [02:33] Sue Plastow’s bio across thirty years of family travelling and living abroad [03:58] Sue’s fears and reservations about adventuring with a young family of four children under the age of five [07:37] How Sue’s children, now young adults, have benefitted from a childhood of freedom and away from the conventional education system [08:52] Children barefoot and feral, roaming anywhere; living in the mountains, and near the Med, snowboarding, skiing and sailing [09:52] What her children are doing now and about their healthy emotional wellbeing [11:12] Why Sue thinks she’s always been resilient [12:24] Sue’s study/travel timeline, into a relationship, marriage and children, normal life attempt and then campervan adventures with the family in Canada [13:09] What you learn to live without - living simply on the road [14:36] Getting cold in Canada so moving to Dubai, doing desert drumming and sandboarding [15:27] Talking through the personal circumstances that’s brought Sue and family back to UK [17:23] Global Financial Crisis (GFC), Australia, Malaysia, South of France, Switzerland, Italy and Sue’s husband’s death [17:41] Quick thinking prior to travel corridors closing due to the pandemic - rapid move back to UK and how everyone is coping [18:32] Not wanting others to think they have to just crack on because Sue did [19:45] How Sue and the family have found the things they need to survive and move on; honouring her husband’s life [20:32] Sue looking back through her arsenal for skills to draw upon - what could she do? Cookery, social/communication, teaching English, gaining TEFL qualification [21:56] The importance of connection with other midlife women [23:57] Zoe’s similar experience of grief/loss [24:36] A lurching horror vs a transformation - not wanting to be prescriptive about grief [26:44] Message to all: You’re not alone and there are glimmers of hope [28:27] Zoe’s old saying from someone years ago ‘Out of every adversity…’ [28:42] The importance of food and travelling, cookery classes and a bridge between cultures [29:50] Travel adventures with food, outside and a podcast about it [30:36] New events kitchen - called Naked Tartufi [31:35] New concept of outdoor adventure, food and walking along the South West Coast Path - a Moveable Feast [32:23] A therapy, communication, tribe, group of women coming full circle from the bonding experiences of bringing up the family tribe [34:38] The magic of walking and talking [35:24] The impact of travelling so much on Sue and her children. Seeing a million ways to live a life [37:10] Sue’s HeadRightOut Moment facing her fears and driving her children in the snowy, icy mountains to their activities [38:02] Sue’s message that anyone can do it - if she can, they can [39:59] Discussing Sue’s presence on social media - Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, including both the Naked Tartufi account and English Language Cookery School and her podcast, Eat Yourself Alive [40:23] Zoe’s reflection on the episode [42:09] Zoe’s own HeadRightOut Moment from exactly two years ago - Mount Tremper, upstate New York, 100ScaryDays [43:26] Invitation to listen in next week - Ruth Pickvance next week’s guest - international champion fell runner, now running Element Active business - women in the outdoors [47:01] Grateful reminder for listeners to vote for HeadRightOut on Sports Podcast Awards in the Best Urban and Adventure category [47:42] HeadRightOut Hugs [47:56] /episode/index/show/headrightout/id/21991547