How many people signed up to those first events?

Ah, god. I should know this. I should know this. From memory, it was between 50 and 70 odd people. There was a lot of people who’d never been wild camping before. And it was them turning up to meet a complete group of strangers. I took a group out in the Chilterns and I still remember that as my friend said to me beforehand: “Are you just about to go and meet a group of people at the train station that you’ve literally never met before?”

We hiked up the hill, had dinner, and then shared a night under the stars together. It was really lovely. I found it amazing how quickly we connected with each other over shared experiences.

Do you think being afraid is the biggest barrier for people looking to get into the outdoors? 

It’s all about mindset. There’s obviously some practicality issues in terms of equipment and money and time, but those are issues that can be resolved with a bit of ‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way’ – by borrowing equipment off people, going on adventures closer to the front door. If you’ve got kids, asking your partner or a friend to look after them. They’re difficult issues but they can be overcome.

“Mindset is the biggest obstacle because it’s a funny old beast that can be harder to control”

But yes, I think mindset is the biggest obstacle because it’s a funny old beast that can be harder to control. It needs to be reminded of what we’re capable of. I think especially when you’re starting out on your first adventure, the excitement and the nerves of it all can be a lot to deal with. I know Anna [McNuff], who’s a professional adventurer, still gets that every time but the more you get out of your comfort zone the more you begin to understand that the mind stuff is all part of the journey.

Do you think being part of a community, like Adventure Queens, helps women to feel braver in the outdoors?

Yeah, definitely. When you’re part of a group, when you’re surrounding yourself with positive and supportive people, it’s huge. They can help you when you’re questioning yourself over whether you can even do it, they can reassure you about what you can achieve, and can encourage you to keep going. All that can be huge, especially if you don’t have a like-minded group around you already. And also, just being able to tap into something and meet people to go on adventures with.

“When you’re part of a group, when you’re surrounding yourself with positive and supportive people, it’s huge”

Generally, we have people coming from two different backgrounds. There’s the ones who have grown up in the outdoors, are super confident, know what they’re doing, but just don’t have people in their lives who are up for going out and doing cool adventures. These people also want to help others by encouraging them, and by passing on knowledge. That’s something which is really lovely to see.

And then there’s the other group. People who haven’t grown up in the outdoors, or maybe they did when they were younger but then life got in the way a bit. Or yes, people who haven’t really done any outdoorsy stuff before but are looking to find a way of getting into it. For those people, in particular, it can be overwhelming knowing where to start. Communities like Adventure Queens are great for them because it can provide them with information but also a network of people for them to get out there and do stuff with.

What advice would you give to women looking to get into, say, wild camping?

There’s so many different things you can do out there but I’d say it’s really important to listen to your inner voice. Say you’re curious about something, you’re eager to try it out, but there’s a bit of anxiousness there just because it scares you a bit, it might be a bit uncomfortable, and you haven’t done it before. Or is it more a case of being something that doesn’t actually feel like you but you feel like you should try it out because loads of other people are doing it?

“There’s so many different things you can do out there but I’d say it’s really important to listen to your inner voice”

If it’s the last one then go and try out whatever feels true to you, rather than just doing something because other people are doing it. If you are genuinely curious about wild camping though but not comfortable with going on your own, you can either start out by camping in your garden if you’ve got one, or go to a wilderness site like Chancery Woods near Guildford – there’s similar sites around the country – or grab a friend and go together. This first experience, however you do it, will help to give you the confidence to go and do it on your own.

Whatever you do though, whether it’s an overnight hike, an adventure with your bike, or something else, it’s about doing what feels right for you.

Have there ever been any times when you yourself have overcome a moment where you yourself felt scared or threatened in the outdoors?

I wouldn’t say I’ve had loads of scary moments, but I think there’s been moments when I’ve questioned whether I could do it. Moments when I’m on my own, there’s nobody around, something’s happened to my bike, or I’ve been up some frigging mountain again losing the plot slightly. I’ve had multiple moments like that.

I’ve done a few trips in South America and the biggest thing that scared me there was wild dogs. I love dogs but wild dogs freak me.

“And it gets worse when I see a guy come round the corner with a machete”

I’ve also had a couple of comical moments. At the time they happened, my heart skipped a bit but they were kind of more comical than scary. I was going through Chile, about three or four years ago, and there was this incident where I’d fallen off my bike and hurt my hand. I couldn’t lean properly on my handlebars, and I definitely couldn’t change gears.

I was with a friend and we’d parked up out of site behind a fence for the night, and was trying to pack up our stuff early before cracking on despite my injured hand and anyway next thing we know we’ve heard a car door. We were eating breakfast but our tent was still well and truly up so there’s no way we could quickly get it down in the space of like 30 seconds. Next thing, we hear footsteps. And, at this point, my heart is just racing. And it gets worse when I see a guy come round the corner with a machete. And yeah, I just had this moment where I was like “Oh my god. What the heck.” And this guy, he turns around he’s like “Hola!” And yeah, it turns out he’s just some guy taking his dog for a walk. He didn’t care about what he doing, said good morning to us and that was that. No problem.

Emma is wearing the Merrell Siren 3 – available at Cotswold Outdoor.

For more information on Merrell and Adventure Queens, head to their websites.

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