Hi! My name is Julie and this blog is intended for Kick-ass girls. That is.... girls who kick life in the ass when they're knocked down. Girls who pause, then inhale deeply and exhale with ferocity when life knocks the wind out of them. Girls who allow themselves a time out.. however long... but get back up. Girls who are fearless. Girls who fight back. Girls who show the way. Especially girls over 50. I know lots of them. And... I'm going to tell their stories.
The idea for this blog started quite unexpectedly on a camping trip. The seeds were planted before I left…. alone…. for the wilds of the Pacific coast when I couldn’t find anything on the internet about women over the age of 60 camping…. in tents…. or in anything for that matter…. alone!
There’s lots about “Wild” girls age 20/30 something… trekking. (Thank-you Cheryl Strayed!). Or, 30/40 something “Eat, Pray, Love” girls finding their way through spaghetti, ashrams and rice paddies. (Bless you, Elizabeth Gilbert!) Or more 20/30/40 something girls, who look like Stevie Nicks… “glamping” in “she-sheds” and tear drop campers… with dogs! But, nothing that I could find, about 60 something women…camping...in tents, in RV's in Westfalia’s!!!! Or, glamping, she-shedding or road tripping! The voices of women over 60 are strangely quiet. There’s a void. A chasm. A whole generation of experiences… that I want to hear about. Why?
I know a significant number of beautiful, health & fitness conscious women over 60 who camp alone… in tents…. with or without companions… travel to places well off the beaten track, ride bikes long distances, start businesses, work long hours with ambition and purpose, build houses, learn new things, start new careers, make incredible art, sell incredible art, have sex, want to have sex!!!.
Notice that I didn’t say do yoga, garden, meditate, cook for their families, look after their aging parents or their grandchildren. Yes… the women I know, over 50, do all of those things too. They are gorgeous, kick-ass girls! Who want to have sex!! But, all the women I know have experienced loss. Sometimes more than their fair share of loss. Many are motivated by hair splitting, grief. (But they still want to have sex!) And… that’s why, I think the voices of women over 50 are disturbingly quiet. The kick-ass girls I know do all of the things I mention above, inspite of gut wrenching, body numbing loss. Loss of relationships, partners, children (god forbid!), parents, jobs, health, beauty and purpose. Losses such as these are a normal part of life for women over 50. The women I know rise above their considerable losses with an attitude that says Fuck-you… I’m going to do this anyway! They inspire and support me because I’m a kick-ass girl too. I keep good company.
The purpose of this blog is to share my kick-ass girls and to tell their dynamic and inspiring stories. I also want to hear your stories about the kick-ass girls that you are and know and the stories that made them that way.
Julie V K
Learning curve in process!
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