Pull up a chair and join me on a freelance writer’s journey into a brand new year. My resolution is to prove that anything is possible if you set your mind to it. Let’s see how I do!

Task one: break into a new writing market in January.

Dusk at Elizabeth Parker Hut

Merry Christmas, from my family to yours!

Lake O'Hara, December 2011

Panorama Ridge meadows. (Credit: B.Kopp) Last of the larch. (Credit: M.Kopp)

That being said, there’s alway time for a hike – or two! Fave of the month is Taylor Lake and the Panorama Ridge meadows. It’s a steady uphill climb, 6.4 km, from the parking lot to the lake and another 0.5 km to the start of the meadows. We strolled past the three tarns in the meadows and scrambled up a low ridge for a view over toward Lake Louise. Larches were pretty much done for the season, but this would the place to go for gold glory at the end of September – no crowds and freedom to roam.

“The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water,
but to walk on the earth.” – Chinese proverb

The first of the batch...

Not in my backyard, but maybe in yours?

Captivating subject... really!

A bright subject!

“You can’t wait for inspiration.
You have to go after it with a club.” - Jack London

Too much fun! (Photo: M.Kopp)

We hiked and talked and climbed and talked and worked (okay… all I had to do was belay her while she cleaned the backcountry cabin chimney, but I did carry the rope, harness, caribiners and climbing shoes!).

After the chimney we strolled up to the camping area, I watched as she cleaned the outhouse, checked the bear bins for stashes of garbage left by lazy hikers, and removed a couple of random firepits. She wouldn’t let me lift a finger.

We sat up at the lake and enjoyed the glow of evening light before heading back to the cabin, where she filled out the cabin log and I started jotting down a few blog/article ideas. Two pages later, I was done.

Playing hooky is positively inspiring!

Packed for five days! (Photo: M.Kopp)

It never happened, but it did become our favourite saying over the next five days in Desolation Sound off B.C.’s Sunshine Coast. Yachters taking dogs through our kitchen for pee breaks – just embrace it. Stove that won’t start after a dunking in ocean water – don’t worry, just… have a lot of patience. Snakes in what we nicknamed “Snake Cove” – okay, I’m working on that one.

A sea full of life. (Photo: M.Kopp)

From seals to starfish, moonlight to sunshine, ocean swims to laughter shared with good friends – I embraced it all and find myself wanting more!

“I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think,
All the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read,
And all the friends I want to see.”  – John Burroughs

Latest Capstone book arrived yesterday, in a small box tucked neatly in between the screen and front door. There’s something akin to Christmas when you unpack a plain cardboard box labelled author complimentary copies – it never grows old.

Latest book! (Photo: M.Kopp)

And that’s one of my favourite things about being a freelancer in general – the work never grows old. One day I’m writing a travel piece about Italy, the next I’m working on an outdoor blog post, the following I’m off on a sea kayaking trip building up new story ideas.

Life – as a freelance writer – is pretty sweet!

“Never tell me the sky’s the limit,
When there are footprints on the moon.”
- Unknown

Enjoying the open alpine of Yoho's Kindersley Pass. (Photo: M.Kopp)

Hiked Kindersley Pass in Yoho National Park this past week and met a grizzly bear on the way. It appeared disinterested in us as we backed off and peered around the trunk of a large tree. Quietly it moved off the trail, ghosting into the woods before our eyes.

Safety off the bear spray, canister in hand, we yelled our approach for the next kilometer or so, kept eyes open for any movement in the trees and heaved a big sigh of relief when we reached the alpine – open – slopes of the pass. Most memorable piece of wooded trail I’ve hiked in a long time.

My mind started racing with a couple of article ideas as we walked. See that’s the great thing about not working, stories can unfold even as you are out enjoying life.

What stories are you experiencing this summer?

“If one advances confidently in the directions of his dreams,
And endeavours to live a life which he has imagined,
He will meet a success unexpected in common hours.”
-          Henry David Thoreau

I showed a friend some travel pics a while ago and he asked, “Why aren’t these, and stories of your adventures, on your blog?”

Cinque Terre's Blue Path at sunset, Italy. (Photo: Megan Kopp)

Good question.

I guess it’s safe to say, I’ve been busy. It may be true, but it’s probably a bit of a cheat.

Lazy? Perhaps a little.

Unfocused? Yup.

Unsure if maintaining this blog was really necessary? Definitely.

I’ve recently come to the realization that promoting yourself is not only necessary, it’s rather critical for a freelance writer. Letting people know who you are and your specialties is important  – especially if one your niches is something like enjoying the outdoors through self-powered travel. It can be a somewhat small market for a writer.

That being said, here goes a toot or two – and no, you don’t need to stand back from the monitor!

1. I’ve got a hiking article on Italy set for online publication in September.
2. Several weeks ago I received feedback from my spring continuing education travel writing course at Mount Royal University – and this, copied directly by staff from comment sheets, is what the students said:

What did you like about the course?

• Megan was very well prepared, knowledgeable, provided a great deal of relevant information and resources
• That Megan encouraged so much class participation – we all critiques each other’s work.

What changes would you like to have made that would improve the course?

• Nothing it is great
• I liked it as is
• Nothing at all – WOW!

Other Comments:

• Megan was informative, knowledgeable, humorous, helpful, encouraging.

I may be blushing, but I’m also focused, knowing that what I say can have an impact and that what I write can be useful to others.

What about you, do you think it’s important for your writing and work to have an impact?

Saw a loon on the river yesterday – one of the few stretches not ice-covered it would seem. What a wacky winter this has been, but the rhythm of a season beating to a close has begun.

As the promise of change continues, I’m finding myself creatively inspired and willing and able to take on projects that were daunting a month ago. Part of this is no doubt due to an escape south for a week of desert glory – in Big Bend National Park, Texas. Birds sang, sun shone and water flowed. We camped, hiked, explored, talked, laughed, gazed, and stole precious time to rest weary souls.

No matter that we came back to a slam of winter; we tasted spring and it was delicious.

“Wilderness is not a luxury, but a necessity of the human spirit,
and as vital to our lives as water and a good bread.”
- Edward Abbey