Wild Ideas Worth Living | Interviews On Adventure, Outdoors, Travel, Health, Fitness, Running, Business, Surfing, Exploring

Kim Chambers was 30 years old, an athlete and a powerful executive, when she slipped and fell down a set of stairs. The injuries she sustained changed the course of her life. In 2014, she became the sixth person (and third woman) to complete the Oceans Seven. In 2015, Kim became the first woman to swim 30 miles from the Farallon Islands to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, a swim that’s incredibly dangerous.

In June of 2017, rock climber Alex Honnold climbed El Capitan, a granite rock formation about 3,000 feet high in Yosemite National Park without any ropes. His journey to achieve that climb was captured and made into a beautiful, Academy Award-nominated documentary by filmmakers Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi. Aside from being incredibly talented filmmakers, Jimmy and Chai are married with two small children.

Smartphones have been around for a little over a decade, but in that short time, many of us have become addicted to our digital devices. Have you ever been staring at a gorgeous vista or surrounded by snow and found yourself wanting to pull out your phone to capture the moment? Danny Kim is a researcher and speaker who is studying the impact of technology and social media on our health. In his workshops, he talks about how to actually unplug.

At Sea Change Preparatory, a school in Del Mar, San Diego that not only educates junior high and high school students in traditional subjects, but also focuses on mindfulness, physical fitness, teamwork, and goal setting, they begin each day on the beach with a ten minute meditation and a mile-long swim in the open ocean before starting classes. What’s even more impressive, these kids are training to swim the English Channel as a team this summer. John Allcock, the co-founder and Director of Mindfulness at Sea Change Preparatory, talks about the impact this kind of education is having on these kids’ lives. John isn’t just an educator though, he’s also a Harvard-educated trial lawyer at one of the top firms in San Diego and the author of Forty Things I Wish I’d Told My Kids, a book about his journey learning mindfulness. Mindfulness has been a hot topic for a while now, but incorporating it into education is still a relatively new idea. John and the folks at Sea Change Prep are making a huge difference in thes

Last year was a big year for this podcast, and this year we’re boosting our production even more. We’re diving deeper into stories and exploring not just people, but also about topics and ideas that will help you chase down your own wild adventures. From mindfulness to saying yes to fear, hacking your health, and changing how we think about the outdoors, fitness, and technology, we’ve already recorded the first few shows. I think you’re going to love it. This trailer is here to give you a taste of what’s to come. I hope you enjoy it!

Wild Ideas Worth Living Podcast’s Idea: To interview top athletes, health experts, adventurers, and authors about their wild idea and share them with you. We are now two years, 97 episodes, and well over a million listens into this podcast. It’s been a wild ride, to say the least. And an incredible one. Thank you for listening and for your support. It’s been a privilege to interview some of the biggest names in adventure. This year, I’ve enjoyed the theme of exploring how we adventure inside our own heads as much as we adventure outside in the wild.  We’ve talked about how being outside in nature can help us overcome trauma and become healthier, what it’s like seeing the earth from outer space, the changing tides of consumerism, fighting wildfires, gaining financial independence, ultramarathon trail running, becoming sober, facing failure, representation in the outdoors, breaking records, how to surf giant waves, how to face fear, how to build your life resume, and so much more.  In the final episode of 2018,

Jesse’s Wild Idea: To encourage people to achieve massive things in their life and focus on what matters most. Today’s guest eats only fruit until noon. He loves Run-DMC. He wrote the New York Knicks anthem, “Go New York Go,” and he likes to live life out of the box. In his New York Times bestselling book, Living with a Seal, Jesse invited Navy Seal David Goggins to live with him for a month and train him. Years later he wrote Living with Monks, where he lived in a monastery in upstate New York. Both of his books are about learning lessons that others have to teach you, something Jesse is passionate about. Early in his career, Jesse was a rapper and wrote and performed in the NBA’s Emmy Award-winning “I Love This Game” music campaign. Prior to being a best-selling and hilarious author, he co-founded Marquis Jet, the world's largest private jet card company which he and his partner sold to Berkshire Hathaway/NetJets. Jesse then partnered with Zico coconut water, which he and his partner sold to The Coca-Cola C

Eric’s Wild Idea: To create a program that helps people optimize performance and alleviate pain.  As an athlete and human, it’s important to be able to move to the best of your ability. Injuries and pain that have kept me from running, surfing, or other adventuring have always been challenging.  Today’s guest, Dr. Eric Goodman, has been recommended to me by many guests of this show. As the founder of the movement-based Foundation Training program, Dr. Goodman has helped thousands of athletes and every-day people alleviate pain and increase performance. Some of the people he’s worked with include athletes like surfers Lakey Peterson and Brad Gerlach, the late climber Dean Potter, as well as actors Rob Lowe, Chris Hemsworth, Jeff Bridges, and Matthew McConaughey. Both my partner Johnny and I have been using Foundation Training for the last six months to help us alleviate a nagging back injury and IT band pain, and both of us have experienced positive results.  I wanted to have Dr. Goodman on the show because he

Elizabeth’s Wild Idea: To write about people who adventure for a larger purpose. There are some writers whose words resonate so well and whose descriptions are so deep, their words hit you to the core and transport you into their world.  Today’s guest, Elizabeth Weil, has evoked that feeling for me time and again through her work. The award-winning writer often covers the kind of people I love - those who live outside the normal boundaries of society, and pursue their own wild ideas and make them a reality. She has written about everyone from snowboarder Shaun White and skier Mikaela Shiffrin to swimmer Diana Nyad, Senator Kristen Gillibrand and a man named Doba who kayaked across the Atlantic in his seventies. In addition to writing articles for The New York Times Magazine, Outside Magazine, Wired, and more, she has also written a book about her own marriage, and she recently penned the New York Times bestselling book, The Girl Who Smiles Beads. In addition to being a writer, she’s also a mom and a wife. She

Samin’s Wild Idea: To share the power of food with the world and inspire everyone to get in the kitchen and cook with confidence using salt, fat, acid and heat.   If you have been anywhere on the internet lately, you’ve probably seen something about Netflix’s new series, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. The show follows today’s guest, Samin Nosrat, around the world as she teaches the importance of cooking with each of these four elements. On the show, she travels from Italy to Japan to Mexico and back to Berkeley, California working with internationally known foodies to discover how things like miso, soy sauce, corn tortillas and parmesan cheese are made. The whole series is beautifully documented, and she makes cooking and eating accessible and fun for everyone.   Samin’s cookbook of the same name came out just a year ago, and it quickly became a New York Times bestseller and won a James Beard Award (which is like an Oscar of the food world). She has been cooking since 2000, when she started working in the kitchen at

Gabby’s Wild Idea: To continuously learn new ways to optimize health and fitness while helping others be their best selves. Gabby Reece is a woman of many talents. She is a health and fitness expert, a former professional volleyball player, a best-selling author, a model, a TV host, wife to big wave surfer Laird Hamilton, and a mom. She is also the co-founder of XPT (extreme performance training) and founder of HighX Training. I have looked up to Gabby since I was young, and have even written a few stories about her throughout my career. It was pretty exciting to interview her at her house in Malibu (they have a slackline over their pool), and this conversation is different than many that you usually hear on this show. Instead of asking Gabby about her one wild idea, I ask her for advice on health, nutrition, training, how to have a great relationship, being a female athlete, being a mom, and so much more. She has a huge passion for what she does and an incredibly intuitive sense about her. It makes her an aw

Shannon’s Wild Idea: To work for NASA and spend months aboard the international space station. Shannon Walker first dreamed of becoming an astronaut in the 1960s. After getting her undergraduate degree in physics and her Masters of Science and Doctorate of Philosophy in Space Physics, she got her start with the Rockwell Space Operations Company at the Johnson Space Center in 1987 as a robotics flight controller for the space shuttle program. In 2004, she was selected to be a part of NASA, and six years later she served as a flight engineer for a long-duration mission aboard the International Space Station. Not only did Shannon need to know how to work a spacecraft, but she had to know how to do it in Russian. In addition to spending time far above the earth, she has also spent time below sea level as an aquanaut on the NEEMO, an underwater space station. She also loves the outdoors and has seen earth from a rare perspective so I was excited to get her thoughts on how the planet and the environment are changin

Tate’s Wild Idea: To climb over 13,000 feet up Grand Teton in Wyoming after seeing an image of the mountain in the hallway where he received cancer treatments. To not let his diagnosis affect his sense of humor and positive attitude.  Today’s guest is a skier, filmmaker, and all around awesome guy who I’ve known for a few years. Tate MacDowell got his start as a filmmaker making ski movies for companies like Teton Gravity Research and Brain Farm. His current company, Death Cookie Entertainment, specializes in editorial action sports films. He’s very present in the outdoor and action sports industry, and I have loved watching his movies. I started following his story more closely the last few years after he shared some vulnerable posts. In 2008, Tate and his wife moved from Jackson Hole, Wyoming to Cardiff, California and a few years later had a son, Wilson. Just two years ago, Tate was diagnosed with cancer, which has now advanced as he is going through stage IV metastatic rectal cancer. While undergoing trea

Rue’s Wild Idea: To start a movement that celebrates diversity, and helps gets more people outside and connected in nature. Rue Mapp is a true force of nature. The activist, nature-lover, and mom of three founded Outdoor Afro as a blog in 2009 and has since grown it to become the nation’s leading nonprofit network that encourages African-American leadership in nature. With nearly 80 leaders in 30 states around the country, the organization has connected thousands of people to outdoor experiences, changing the conversation around who plays outside. Diversity in the outdoors is a hot topic these days, especially at the Outdoor Retailer show where we did this interview. Rue’s voice is a valued leader in the conversation. Outdoor Afro started as something small and personal to Rue, but has grown and become incredibly influential in the outdoor arena. Rue herself has been invited to the White House to participate in the America’s Great Outdoors Conference and was part of a think tank for Michelle Obama’s Let’s Mov

Pete’s Wild Idea: To surf on the Big Wave World Tour, and create a life and career around surfing. You may have seen today’s guest gliding down a giant wave at Mavericks, or heard his voice behind the microphone as the commentator for the World Surf League. The long-time Quiksilver athlete, WSL commentator, owner of his family surf shop in Santa Cruz, husband and dad, Peter “Pete” Mel has a lot of roles he balances. We talk about how the man with one of the longest and most robust surfing careers does it all. We also chat about the complexities of big wave surfing, how he conquers fear, his sobriety, parenting advice, his take on failure, why he’s so into Eckhart Tolle, and so much more. Listen to this episode if:  You’ve ever wondered how people surf six-story tall waves. You want to ask better questions. You love surfing. You are on a journey to find a better work-life balance. For full show notes, including guest links and books mentioned during the episode, visit: http://wildideasworthliving.com/88

Courtney’s Wild Idea: To battle her autoimmune diagnosis by embracing minimalism, being less busy, having more JOMO, and sharing her journey and tips with the world. If you have social media or are connected to our current tech-savvy world, there’s a good chance you’ve experienced some FOMO (fear of missing out). Or maybe you’ve experienced a sense of feeling overwhelmed, being too busy, or had this deep desire to simplify your life and be happy with where you are and what you have right now?  If those questions spark something inside you, you will love today’s guest. After years in a fast-paced career as an ad executive, Courtney Carver was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease that forced her to rethink her whole life. Stress caused major flare-ups for her, so she went about eliminating as many sources of stress as she could. This led to a passion for minimalism, the creation of Project 333, and her book Soulful Simplicity, which has become a huge hit and really touched me when I rea

Alex’s Wild Idea: To climb El Capitan without ropes and tackle some of the world’s most challenging routes, setting records, inspiring others, and giving back through his foundation. *Editors Note: Do not try this at home. Alex Honnold is the most exciting and recognized climber in the world, in addition to being one of the best climbers ever. Last year, Alex completed the most terrifying, challenging climbing feats to date. He climbed 3,000 feet up El Capitan in Yosemite without ropes. (Yes, if he fell at any point he could have died). The film he made with National Geographic about his journey, and the training and everything else leading up to it will hit theaters nationwide in just a few weeks.  For years, Alex has lived the life that many athletes dream of -- living out of his van, traveling around, and climbing some of the toughest and most stunning routes. Along the way, he set plenty of records, but remains humble about his talents. He strives to live his own terms to the fullest, and encourage others

Jamie’s Wild Idea: To overcome asthma and become a world-champion paddleboarder and big wave surfer. To educate himself and the world about sustainable aquaculture practices. Today’s guest exemplifies what it means to make your wild idea a reality. Jamie Mitchell is one of the best athletes in the world and a ten-time winner of the Molokai to Oahu paddleboard race, one of the most challenging, prestigious races in the world where competitors paddle 32 miles between the Hawaiian Islands. Jamie was passionate about a sport, that at the time he started, wasn’t particularly popular, but he pursued it and made a great career out of it. He isn’t paddleboarding much anymore, but he is on the Big Wave Tour where he has taken the podium many times. If he wins the Big Wave Tour, he’ll be the first person ever to win both this title and the paddleboarding title.  In addition to his amazing career, we talk about Jamie’s struggle with asthma as a kid, and how it actually got him into water sports in the first place and ev

Andy’s Wild Idea: To reduce the amount of new items we purchase every year by 25% through his company, Yerdle. Andy Ruben has had a unique career path. He never thought he would end up in the business world, but ended up working as the Chief Sustainability Officer for Walmart. After seeing just how many products are bought and never used or thrown out, he decided to do something about it. In 2012, he co-founded Yerdle, a company that focuses on buying back and reselling products that might otherwise end up in a landfill, a process Andy calls “re-commerce.” Companies like REI, Patagonia, and Eileen Fisher all have their own buy-back programs where they will give you credit for your old gear or clothes, and then resell those items for a fraction of the price.  Andy is a forward-thinker with an untraditional path whose focus is to make a positive impact on our environment. While he’s aware that there’s still a need for new gear, he supports sustainable production practices. Through Yerdle, customers can get the

Scott’s Wild Idea: To renew his sense of purpose by running the Appalachian Trail (which he also set the speed record for), and chronicling his adventures with his wife in a book called North. Scott Jurek is one of the most accomplished ultra-runners of all time. Among his many accomplishments, Scott won the 153-mile Spartathalon, The Hard Rock 100, The Bad Water 135 Ultramarathon, and he’s won the Western States 100-mile endurance run a record-breaking seven straight times. He’s also the author of the New York Times bestseller Eat & Run, a memoir that traces Scott’s journey from his Midwestern childhood to his adventures in ultrarunning, and how he became a vegan. In 2015, Scott had already accomplished much in his life, but found himself wanting a refresh. He eventually decided to run the entire 2,189-mile Appalachian Trail north towards Maine, with his wife, Jenny, as his support crew. The trail not only tested his limits, but also renewed his sense of purpose and love for running and the life he creat