tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630Wed, 15 Jan 2025 06:55:45 +0000Written WordPhotographyMusic and MediaInspirationalTravelSki The East :: An OdysseySugared MagnoliaThe Most Epic TripLandscapesCanadaSkiingUnited Statesnova scotiaAlbertaMountain BikingSouthVisalusclimbingContestFood RevolutionGina Begin At a GlanceKayakingPatagoniagardeningmediameInspiring others to "Go Conquer." Discover North America's outdoor adventure by skiing, climbing, hiking, and mountain biking with a traveling photojournalist.http://www.ginabegin.com/noreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)Blogger317125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-7022841814167231145Tue, 13 Sep 2016 15:55:00 +00002016-09-13T08:55:08.091-07:00Every morning I'm surrounded by windows framing a sky. Minute by minute, a layer of blue is lifted until a starless, aqua color remains. Sometimes I'm conscious that time is passing. I can hear the day beginning for others; street noise growing as the sky lightens. Other times, I don't see or hear anything—I'm buried in words. I wish every day were the latter. Man, if only I were brilliant: a http://www.ginabegin.com/2016/09/words-on-not-being-brilliant.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-3830069863422516797Sun, 11 Sep 2016 14:56:00 +00002016-09-11T07:57:04.416-07:00 I didn't take this photo. I should have looked for one that I took, as I'm sure there's something more fitting in my library, but I just want to hit publish. So, this here is a CC0 image--no credit needed. You can use it, too.&nbsp; Time warping through my mind's eye makes me feel like I'm standing still while everything is happening around me. There's a list sitting on my Google Drivehttp://www.ginabegin.com/2016/09/entrepreneurial-ideas-hamster-wheel.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-8370618019759430367Mon, 05 Sep 2016 17:00:00 +00002016-09-05T10:25:11.809-07:00InspirationalWritten WordWhat is the perfect photograph? The perfect story, the perfect article? What's the perfect social media post? The perfect filter, the perfect selfie? The world is chasing perfection. It's no longer an American fault of "keeping up with the Joneses;" it's a worldwide phenomenon, touching every area the internet reaches. The busyness of that network plays against our human need to be noticed, to http://www.ginabegin.com/2016/09/entitlement-internet-generation.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-575084922408652359Sun, 04 Sep 2016 21:43:00 +00002016-09-04T15:50:42.456-07:00CanadaLandscapesTravelWritten Word Not bad, hey? Mt. Cooper and his friends in Goat Range Provincial Park I cracked the window in preparation for writing. I like to have as much natural light, natural air&nbsp;(is there ever unnatural air?) and natural views when writing. Cold air poured down onto my bare feet. Fall is coming. YES. I already felt it in my soul. As fall inches closer, I get more hungry to explore. It's likehttp://www.ginabegin.com/2016/09/exploring-backroads-of-bc.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)0Goat Range Provincial Park, Meadow Creek, BC V0G 1N0, Canada50.2467609 -117.2589525999999924.724726399999998 -158.5675466 75.7687954 -75.950358599999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-2433858934941292513Sat, 03 Sep 2016 16:55:00 +00002016-09-03T10:04:07.668-07:00 "A calling is not some carefully crafted plan. It's what's left when the plan goes horribly wrong."&nbsp; -Jeff Goins,&nbsp;The Art of Work In my world, purists would call this "adventure": Something must go wrong in order for it to be rightfully used. It's only by experiencing some hazard that you come out (hopefully) with the right to deem it an adventure. I'm not a fan of analogies, but http://www.ginabegin.com/2016/09/adventure-life-calling.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-4714175271837879099Fri, 02 Sep 2016 17:21:00 +00002016-09-02T10:50:48.659-07:00climbingMountain BikingSki The East :: An OdysseySkiingSouthTravelUnited StatesWritten Word Yes, this is Ohio. Photo: Analogue Kid "Where are you from?" It's no longer a standard question that I ask with a half-listening ear. It's a great conversation starter because I've usually been there, or at least nearby, and usually it sparks a connection between myself and a stranger.&nbsp; Because most of my travels are in search of outdoor recreation, and because many of the people Ihttp://www.ginabegin.com/2016/09/east-outdoor-adventure.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-6720995067476640601Thu, 01 Sep 2016 16:30:00 +00002016-09-01T13:36:51.526-07:00InspirationalLandscapesWritten Word This was the first time I'd sat down to draw in a very long time. Back when I was studying landscape architecture, one of the professors told us to get a journal and sketch every day. Being able to convey ideas quickly on paper, she said, was a key skill when interacting with clients. I was keen. I'd been drawing all my life, never through an academic requirement, but just because I never http://www.ginabegin.com/2016/09/drawing-from-outdoor-inspiration.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-6025668944041854191Mon, 29 Aug 2016 18:00:00 +00002016-08-29T11:00:03.092-07:00InspirationalWritten Word I was on a mission.&nbsp; I'd been tasked with providing photos for an upcoming campaign. They needed them straight away and I agreed straight away.&nbsp; Seconds later, I backed up, realizing they wanted me, not my nonprofit, to be featured.&nbsp; It's been a long time since I've done anything for myself, thought about my personal goals, or even done creative work for my own http://www.ginabegin.com/2016/08/return-to-creativity.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-3381003432518295542Wed, 24 Aug 2016 16:16:00 +00002016-08-24T09:19:14.065-07:00InspirationalWritten WordI'm back to freelancing full-time. It's a strange thing, to have a steady paycheck then walk away from it when you aren't sure that it's the right thing to do (but in your heart, you know it's the right thing to do).&nbsp; The lesson was learned once before: steady never really means steady. At any point, a higher up can decide you are dispensable, your talent is replaceable, your earnings http://www.ginabegin.com/2016/08/advice-for-building-someone-elses-dream.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-3726586422134717849Tue, 23 Aug 2016 14:55:00 +00002016-08-24T09:16:37.831-07:00The Most Epic TripTravelWritten Word There are pivotal moments in your life. I’m still trying to figure out mine. I don't know where the impulse came from; maybe it was the culmination of spontaneous midnight road trips I took in college. Maybe it went back further to my mom and dad getting the "caged bird" itch every fall and heading north to the Smoky Mountains for a change of colors and scenery. Whatever it was, the feeling http://www.ginabegin.com/2016/08/pivotal-moments-in-road-trippers-life.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-5981361430301168953Mon, 25 Jan 2016 01:14:00 +00002016-01-24T17:16:07.928-08:00Inspirational I have to be brave. http://www.ginabegin.com/2016/01/girl-be-brave.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-9073404653390925774Wed, 09 Dec 2015 14:00:00 +00002015-12-09T19:22:52.061-08:00AlbertaCanadaLandscapesnova scotiaPhotographySki The East :: An OdysseySkiingTravelWritten Word Expedia.ca asked me to share some of my favorite destinations in Canada. I tend to travel to “destinations” in the offseason because I get them all to myself, but I don’t mind sharing them with a few fellow adventurers, too. :) Visibility outside my window is shrouded, filled with white flakes and low clouds. This scene pulls me into what most would consider an unlikely place — back to the http://www.ginabegin.com/2015/12/exploring-canada-winter-fall-spring.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-6263232379211657094Tue, 08 Sep 2015 12:00:00 +00002015-09-08T06:46:08.847-07:00Landscapesnova scotiaPhotographyTravelWritten Word This post was written in partnership with REI. I'm not really a hiker. I don't hike for the love of burning quads, burning lungs, or a sweaty back hugged up against a day pack. If anything, I'm a seer. Not in the prophetic sense; I'm talking about an addiction to visual stimulus. I get hung up on details in the most ridiculously minute way. If it were possible, I would inhale http://www.ginabegin.com/2015/09/hiking-local-trails.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-1782759018070958512Sun, 31 May 2015 21:24:00 +00002016-08-23T07:57:52.912-07:00Written Word There’s no reason I can’t sleep in my car like I used to. Several times after my return from life on the road I felt homesick. Initially, I was staying on a friend’s couch in the middle of “Suburbia”, Salt Lake. It was odd to be stationed in one area, especially in an area away from wild things. But I was stoked on the novelty of having fridge access and a full shower. But novelty wears http://www.ginabegin.com/2015/05/moving-back-into-my-car.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-7378193641310445972Sat, 14 Feb 2015 08:10:00 +00002015-08-22T16:46:43.970-07:00CanadaInspirationalTravelWritten Word I don't know this place. Its hills, its further mountains, its farthest glaciers. I don't know them. I want to. I'm in an in-between place, a place where I'm not sure if I'm a permanent part. I question if I mean anything to anyone here, or if I'm just a tiny fragment in passing, an unclear memory someone will recall a few years from now while they struggle with my name. "You remember — http://www.ginabegin.com/2015/02/sense-of-place.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-5148424332500312672Thu, 14 Aug 2014 16:43:00 +00002015-08-22T16:47:46.627-07:00InspirationalWritten Word My 1st adventure back. Photo: Brent Malysh I don't always have pretty things to say. Forgive me. 2014 has seen a smile on my face for the majority of it. It wasn't fake; I felt it in my soul. But at the original time of this writing (time has since passed), I broke. . . .&nbsp; I spent over 2.5 years on the road, living in my car, going where I wanted. Time was spent skiing,http://www.ginabegin.com/2014/08/never-give-up.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-45442930529830714Sat, 24 May 2014 15:58:00 +00002015-05-24T09:05:31.193-07:00Written Word My knee will never do this again. My brain isn't ready to write. Can you tell by my very creative blog title? Yet here I am: motivated, with no ideas coming. If you give me an assignment, I'll whip out an article for you. But if I sit down to write here, for myself, nothing comes. &nbsp; I've been reading&nbsp;+Jeff Goins&nbsp;You are a Writer (so start ACTING like one). It keeps http://www.ginabegin.com/2014/05/writers-block.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-954452687899556692Thu, 17 Apr 2014 18:18:00 +00002015-08-22T16:49:04.369-07:00InspirationalMusic and MediaWritten Word Yesterday I was told to remove one crutch and walk on my dang leg already. The doctor couldn't believe I hadn't removed both of them at this point; my reply was that no one told me I could do it. So, without further warning (or fanfare, which I was kinda expecting), I had to walk.&nbsp; It was nerve-wracking. I put all of my weight on my left leg; my right hand, feeling the loss of an http://www.ginabegin.com/2014/04/camp-for-sick-children.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-1491206111723913923Mon, 31 Mar 2014 21:10:00 +00002015-08-22T16:49:29.050-07:00Written Word A really boring thing they like to call "exercise." Prescribed torture is more accurate. ...12 ...13 (voice shaking) ...14 (leg shaking) "FIFTEEN!" I dig my knuckle into my burning hip flexor and sit up straight, trying to alleviate the tension in my thigh. The final set of my physical therapy sums up a routine of exercise that is simultaneously boring and painful. Besides, calling it http://www.ginabegin.com/2014/03/recovering-from-injury.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-6847599989711723084Thu, 27 Feb 2014 22:53:00 +00002015-08-22T16:50:26.182-07:00PhotographyWritten Word This injury has me at 47 days without walking, without my car, without snow and ice. I'm one person in over a million strung along mountains I cannot access but that are crucial to my well-being. There's been one too many "Keep Calm and _(fill in this blank)_" and "The mountains are calling and I must go," quotes thrown at me. I've kept calm. Cheerful even. But the mountains are calling http://www.ginabegin.com/2014/02/canada-where-wild-things-are.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-9142988171110433768Wed, 12 Feb 2014 09:50:00 +00002014-02-12T09:39:37.859-08:00PhotographySkiingTravelWritten Word There were intentions of taking daily pictures this year so I could maintain at least a weekly blog post. Yet here I am, over a month after making that sort-of resolution and finding that I have made one post and taken probably about the same number of daily photos. An exaggeration; there are at least two. In protest, I'll put the blame somewhere else, like on the guy who skied out in fronthttp://www.ginabegin.com/2014/02/living-an-unconventional-life.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-1931411171782719081Sun, 05 Jan 2014 13:59:00 +00002014-01-05T06:00:56.882-08:00You're still doing the same thing you hated last year? Life isn't getting longer, you know.<!-- Place this tag where you want the widget to render. --> http://www.ginabegin.com/2014/01/live-life-fully.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-1918312894841047367Sat, 04 Jan 2014 03:18:00 +00002014-01-03T20:44:51.455-08:00InspirationalWritten Word 2013 ended. Isn't that just so typical? Taken somewhere on America's "Loneliest Road" When you write for others for a living, you don't really get around to your own blog. Well, I don't; perhaps I'm just the slacker of the writing bunch. Because of that, this blog took a huge hit in 2013 with me not dropping in to update it (sorry, blog). Since 2007, it's gone through various stages of myhttp://www.ginabegin.com/2014/01/new-year-these-goals.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-7722332465626806390Sat, 07 Dec 2013 03:58:00 +00002014-01-03T19:57:25.700-08:00Ski The East :: An OdysseySkiingTravelUnited StatesWritten Word Whiteface: It skis like the West "Ski the East" is a series of articles as I toured from maritime Canada to the northeast US in a quest to uncover the culture and vibe of the ski community and areas of eastern North America. This is part IX in this series. For more about the project, visit "Uncovering the Mystery." Having recently heard of Whiteface’s spectacular scenery—the ski area sits http://www.ginabegin.com/2013/12/ski-east-clocking-vert-at-whiteface.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103698808781320630.post-4669350992986686761Tue, 05 Nov 2013 18:13:00 +00002013-11-05T15:45:15.735-08:00 Yeah, flying is so not incredible. ;) Photo:&nbsp;arjanveen My brother and I were discussing flight costs of coming home for Thanksgiving. Usually, I would make the drive but the ol' Mazda is feeling her age (poor lass) and needs some surgery before I trek her through more cross-continent journeys. In an expression of mild distaste for the $200 price difference between flying into the major http://www.ginabegin.com/2013/11/a-revisit-everythings-amazing-and-no.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (ilikewinter)1