Meet Your Trip Leaders!
Meet Ashlyn!
Ashlyn is from West Hartford, Connecticut where she grew up playing soccer and lacrosse and later ran cross country in high school. Some of her favorite childhood memories are attending summer camp, where she later worked as a counselor and is what initially sparked her love of the outdoors! Ashlyn attended Fairfield University where she majored in Psychology and minored in Health Studies. During her time in college, Ashlyn conducted research, completed an internship working with individuals with severe mental illness, and was a Tour Ambassador and Senior Fellow for the Office of Admissions. She graduated in the class of 2022 Summa Cum Laude, was the recipient of the Psychology Department Award, and was inducted into 3 honors societies.
After graduation, Ashlyn decided to take the opportunity to travel and spent a summer in Cape Town, South Africa with an internship in an adolescent inpatient mental health clinic. Afterwards, Ashlyn went on to live and work in Costa Rica as a TEFL-certified ESL teacher for 8 months, which included exploring other parts of Central America as well. Ashlyn has just returned from a 6 month backpacking trip in South America where she spent many days hiking, exploring the outdoors, experiencing new cultures and meeting people from all over the world! When she is not on the move, Ashlyn loves to go for long runs, hike, cook and try new coffee shops.
Ashlyn is so excited to share her love for travel and the outdoors with students this summer. She has seen so much personal development in herself through exploring new places and hopes to inspire the same growth and passion in others!
Meet Birky!
Birky was born and raised in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, where she spent her childhood climbing trees, kayaking, doing ballet, and working on local farms. She attended Vassar College where she majored in Education and Psychology with a minor in Earth Science, and is hoping to pursue a career in outdoor programming for folks with developmental disabilities! Since graduating, Birky has been working as a Trip Leader and Outdoor Education Instructor. She currently resides in Larkspur, Colorado, however, she is a passionate traveler who feels at home in the great outdoors and has spent 230 nights in a tent spanning 9 states over the past 2 years.
Birky likes to dabble in a little bit of anything and everything, and in the past has worked as a farm hand, camp counselor, lifeguard, glacier tour guide, and educator. In college, she was a member of the rowing team, the president of a fire spinning circus troupe called ‘The Barefoot Fireflies’, and volunteered with her college’s crisis text line. In her free time, you can find Birky reading, hiking, puddle-hopping, running, telling cringe-worthy jokes, or baking something chocolatey. Through her various work and life experiences, Birky has acquired leadership skills and a keen sense of safety as well as a plethora of games fit for any occasions, advanced backcountry cooking recipes, and a variety of riddles that are always at-the-ready. She has found that building a strong sense of community within a group is key for any great trip experience and strives to do just that on every trip she leads.
Last year, Birky led The Rockies, Hawaii Service, and Campout trips, and she is very excited to return to Wilderness Adventures for a second summer to share her enthusiasm for the outdoors with even more young adventurers!
Meet Arden!
Arden was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He grew up enjoying the outdoors with many parks around where he grew up and the boundary waters and North Shore of Lake Superior only 2 hours away.
Arden attended the University of Minnesota- Carlson School of Business and received a dual-degree in International Business & Marketing. He was a part of Formula SAE, an automotive group on campus that built and designed a race car for competition. While working on that team, Arden was the Business Team Lead, helping with sponsor relations and team budgets. These activities helped Arden foster a strong sense of teamwork and helped develop his skills to tackle challenges. These clubs were a fast-paced rapid environment that always required adaptation and quick thinking which excites him. In his senior year, Arden studied abroad in Barcelona, Spain, and learned a lot about the Catalan culture and Spanish language.
Arden loves to spend time outside hiking and backpacking, exploring, traveling, learning about new cultures and foods, and is also an avid motorsport fan, especially F1, cheering on his favorite team every weekend! Arden plans to teach English abroad in Spain after his summer with Wilderness Adventures to further develop his skills as a teacher and communicator. After that, he would like to teach English in Japan or Taiwan to continue teaching, learning, and developing as a young professional along the way. He is hoping to transfer those skills learned as a teacher to work in motorsport or action sports marketing in the future.
Arden’s goal for this summer with WA is to connect with students and show them the beauty of the outdoors while creating unforgettable memories for everybody!