Sometimes all it takes to achieve our wildest dreams is simply the courage to try
on page and stage, I tell stories that entertain and inspire
A random decision to hike 3,000km down the length of New Zealand in 2013 nudged me off life’s tram tracks and onto a new path. Those rugged and challenging five months were a transformative rewilding that showed me the joy and mental clarity that comes with time spent in nature, as well as teaching me resilience, confidence and self-belief, lessons that helped transform my life from ho-hum to yee-hah!
I’m now author of two bestselling books (award-winning memoir Bewildered and Ultimate Walks & Hikes Australia), a travel writer for leading publications and a speaker on courage, authenticity and resilience.
Since that first big adventure I’ve hiked thousands more kilometres and kayaked 2,400km down the length of the Murray River. I’m passionate about encouraging people to connect with nature, and also about helping them give fear the old heave-ho and chase their goals, in business and in life. Because sometimes being brave and simply having a go is all it takes to achieve them.
AS SEEN IN
AWARD WINNING WRITER
My work is published in leading newspapers and magazines such as Escape (News Corp), Traveller (The Age/SMH), Explore, Australian Traveller, Sunday Life, International Traveller, Australian Geographic Outdoor, Geographical UK, Wild, Great Walks, Caravan World and more.
BOOKS
Transformational memoir Bewildered won ‘Best Travel Book 2021’ at the ASTW Awards for Excellence.
Ultimate Walks & Hikes Australia features 40 tops walks from around the country and was a finalist for Best Travel Book 2024 at the ASTW Awards for Excellence.
“A motivational story that I wish I could’ve read 40 years ago.”
”I found your book endlessly inspiring. May we reverse the numbing of spirt and cease to just exist.”
”This book has changed my life. Thank you Laura for freeing me up. I feel lighter and happier already. ”
Sharing inspiration from the wild
What if we dared not just to dream but to do?
I’m a regular everyday person who went from bored and unfulfilled to go-getting adventurer, travel writer and award-winning author. Through entertaining tales of adventure, I share the lessons I’ve learned on building the bravery muscle, turning fear into excitement, staying calm in a crisis, decision making and how to ride the waves of discomfort. Audiences walk away inspired and with the tools to help embrace challenge, avoid freaking out when things don’t go to plan, and gain the knowledge that sometimes all it takes to achieve our goals is to simply take the first step on the path of our choosing and ‘keep walking’.
Whether in business or life, Laura empowers audiences to brave, take the reins and thrive.
the ‘ordinary’ adventureR
I consider myself an “ordinary adventurer”. I haven’t climbed Mount Everest (…yet) or set any world records but I have done some cool stuff like hiking 3,000km from one end of New Zealand to the other and kayaking 2,400km solo down the length of the Murray River.
Then there are the smaller adventures like hiking 1,000km on Western Australia’s Bibbulmun Track, sailing 700km up the Queensland coast, and mountain-biking coast-to-coast across England; the dozens of South Pacific scuba dives on reefs and wrecks, ice cave explorations under a Zillertal Alps glacier, and snowshoeing across a frozen Hokkaido lake. Adventure can be found everywhere.
Stepping out into the unknown on a journey of no certain success is a thrill that invariably imparts a few lessons. I love the sense of discovery and freedom that adventuring brings but also the opportunity to overcome invisible self-imposed limits and ferret out hidden capabilities when the inevitable challenges arise.
I’m often asked ‘what’s next?’ Stay tuned…
