Interview with #GlyderGirl @vagabondhearts

“After graduating from university on the east coast of Canada I moved home... the only issue is that I didn't know what home was anymore, I don't think I had any idea who I was at that point in time. I have spent the past several years picking up pieces of myself from all of the places that they seem to have been scattered. On the tops of mountains I didn't think I would ever climb, the bottom of alpine lakes that are more glacier than water, small high altitude villages on the other side of the planet whose names I cannot pronounce... somehow bits and pieces of myself ended up everywhere I didn't know I needed to go.”

Andrea, you grew up in Alberta just outside of the Rocky Mountains. Did growing up in such a unique place help you discover your passion for adventure at a young age, or did that come later on?
On the nature vs. nurture debate I don’t think it has anything to do with where I live, it is something that has always been a part of me. When I meet my relatives living in Austria I see it in them as well but my brothers don’t have the same affinity for the outdoors as I do.

You’ve given up a “normal life” to pursue your passion of adventure and discovery. How did you decide to take the final plunge?
I went to university, finished with a few degrees, found a job that I turned into my dream career, but my passions were always outside of the confines of four walls though. So I started spending my weekends in the mountains and when that was not enough I would show up to my office at 5am and leave just after lunch, catching sunset from a summit as often as somebody wanted to go! I posted photos of my adventures online and the more I did it the more that I learned about photography until one day I looked in my bank account, crossed my fingers and handed in my resignation. That is not to say that I am not making some money currently - I have been really lucky and had some amazing companies believe in what I do and work with me. But the long and the short of it is that as nice as it would be to have an easy answer to this question, it's all (to me) about taking risks and working really hard to get where you want to be. For a more detailed story of the day Andrea decided to quit her job, read her blog post here.