I’ve always skipped just a bit off the beaten path. Drawn to magic and mystery, I’m invariably happier with some measure of adventure and challenge—mind, body and soul—in my life. I stretch my boundaries, lean into fear. One of my favorite mantras?

If it’s not a “fuck yes!”, it’s a “no”.

This has taken me to places high and low. Jumping into an environmental engineering Ph.D. program when I wasn’t trained as an engineer but was obsessed with water (and crying my way through more than a few all-nighters), but then, able to bring students to the Wilds of Patagonia, the Himalaya, and Alaska. Running rivers and finding peace, connection, and magical encounters with rock and water and animals and humans—and, ripping my knee open to the patella. Having money. Not having money. Finding the kind of love I’d only dreamed about, only to have my heart ripped out. Dancing with joyful abandon at Burning Man. Navigating uncomfortable edges.

In all of this, I’ve come to understand how profoundly grounding, healing, expansive, nurturing, awe-inspiring, and straight-up magical, time in and around Water + Wilds is. It is the antidote to the mess and stress and disconnect of so much of modern existence. And, make no mistake, I don’t always find the right balance, and when I’m off-kilter, oh-my-goddess does my soul scream.

I see so many people suffering from this kind of misalignment and I know that Water + Wilds have the capacity to teach and heal them. To help them reestablish connection to themselves, the planet, each other. To find love. And, then, to begin honoring themselves in powerful ways.

The “Official” Word

Wendy J. Pabich holds a PhD in Water Resources and an MS in Environmental Policy and Planning from MIT, an MS in Coastal Geology from Duke University, and a BA in Geography from Dartmouth College, and received a 40-hour certificate in Dispute Mediation from Harvard Law School and a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training certificate from School Yoga Institute in the Sacred Valley of Peru. She is President of Water Futures, which helps organizations ensure water security, has taught for MIT and the Sierra Institute, and has taken students to the wilds of Patagonia, the Himalaya and Alaska. She is the author of “Taking on Water: How One Water Expert Challenged Her Inner Hypocrite, Reduced Her Water Footprint (without Sacrificing a Toasty Shower), and Found Nirvana,” was a science advisor for the film “Patagonia Rising,” and shows her contemporary artwork regularly. She is a member of the International Women’s Forum, an Advisor to the Sun Valley Institute for Resilience, and served as a Board Member to High Country News and the Blaine County’s Land, Water & Wildlife Levy. Her work focuses on bringing wellness to women through water.