#88 Whales, Bears, and the Will to Return: What Two Solo Voyages Through Alaska Taught Her About Risk, Resilience, and a Fragile Wild

At age 49, Susan Marie Conrad paddled 1,200 miles—alone—through the remote, storm-swept waters of the Alaskan Inside Passage.
Twelve years later, at 61, she went back and did it again.

In this powerful conversation, Susan shares what it means to return—not just to the same wild coastline, but as a different person. We unpack what changes when you chase something bold later in life, how nature reshapes your mindset, and what happens when you open yourself up to synchronicity, generosity, and the unexpected.

We also talk about the stark environmental changes she witnessed: the plastic where it didn’t belong, the shrinking glaciers, and the fragility of ecosystems many of us will never see.

This episode is a meditation on endurance, improvisation, awe, and the will to keep growing—even (especially) as we age.

🧭 What We Talk About

• What exactly is the Inside Passage—and what makes it so wild and magical
• The brutal logistics of a solo sea kayak expedition (and what people get wrong)
• Fear, failure, and what to do when a grizzly bear shows up 30 feet away
• How aging changed her approach to adventure—and made the second journey even deeper
• What climate change looks like from a tiny boat in a vast and fragile ecosystem
• Why she mentors younger women to take on big expeditions of their own
• Finding purpose through challenge, stillness, and storytelling

🔗 Links & Resources

📸 Susan's Instagram

🌊 Susan’s Website

📷 Susan's Books:

📚 Inside: One Woman’s Journey Through the Inside Passage
📷 Wildly Inside: A Visual Journey Through the Inside Passage

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