Author Cari Taylor-Carlson really knows the meaning of “faking it till’ you make it.” The former suburban housewife turned wilderness guide, spent a lot of time smiling through the fear as she started her outdoor touring business, Venture West.
Although locally, Taylor-Carlson may be more well-known as a food critic and travel guide, in her new memoir, Life on the Loose: My Journey From Suburban Housewife to Outdoor Guide, she shares a new side of herself. The book is a candid look at her personal struggle to mount her own business during a rough divorce, and how learned to survive in the wilderness.
She attributes some of her success in leading outdoor trips to her time as a Girl Scout leader for her daughter's troupes. "Being a Girl Scout leader and taking those kids camping three, four, five times a year for three years, had a lot to do with the fact that I had the courage to take people out and masquerade as a guide," says Taylor-Carlson. "And I will say in the beginning I was truly masquerading. I had absolutely no clue what I was doing, but somehow I pulled it off."
Taylor-Carlson will talk more about her memoir, Life on the Loose, Sunday, May 21 at Boswell Books.
