Hi, I'm Jess!
Nothing is worth doing if it doesn't make a difference.
... or at least, that's how I felt.
Paws for a Future is a one-woman show rooted in a love for the outdoors and our dogs. When I first started thinking about stepping into this space, one thing kept coming back to me: how important it is to give back and to make a difference.
From the start, it just made sense that every purchase would help support the places we love to hike and explore, along with the animals that help make those spaces so special.
To change the world is a daunting task, but to change our "world", the hiking with our dogs kind, that felt a little more achieveable.
THE OUTDOORS CHANGED THE ENTIRE TRAJECTORY OF MY LIFE IN 2020.
Dramatic? Maybe. Truth? Yes.
We were in the height of the Covid Pandemic, I had just "graduated" from college, locked away in my house, and I was working a dead end retail job I had worked the summer previous. I had just broken up with my partner of the time, too. To say I was at an all time low, would have been an understatement.
I cannot put into words how "stuck" I felt. I spent years battling depression, anxiety, and at that time, a pretty severe eating disorder. The perfect trifecta, really. So when I told my mom I was going to quit my job and hit the road, I truly don't think she was even that shocked because I was already a little off the rails on a runaway train. But that's what I did.
I bought a cheap tent, an atlas, and survival kit, and packed a suitcase of clothes, and I quit my job.
Have I mentioned I had never even done a weekend camping trip, let alone spent any time alone outside?
I hoped I'd figure it out as I went, though, I didn't give myself much other choice.
So, I began travelling. I picked out a place I wanted to hike and drove to that, and that night while I nursed my sore body, I picked out the next day's hike. And so on an so forth. Every evening, I journaled. I kept track of how many miles I had hiked, the trails I did, and the thoughts that ran through my head.
Slowly overtime, I felt the life return to me. Not that life that I had "lost", but the life I never knew I was meant to be living - the "bigger picture" type of life.
I was in the Badlands National Park, and I jogged down a ravine, and came face to face with a bison. To come within mere feet of an animal of that power... well, it was incredible. It was flat out terrifying, really. But after I scrambled back up the dirt ledge quicker than humanly possible, and after the adrenaline wore off, I realized there was just so much more to life. Life is made for us to experience moments like that. The ones that make you recognize how small you are in the grand scheme of things, the times that show you what really matter, the small moments that make you feel untouchable and magical.
Alone for 42 days and living out of my car, I drove across the country, exploring more than 23 National Parks and forests, countless State Parks, and BLM lands that year.
And I have been chasing that feeling since.
These are the lands Paws for a Future donates back to.
These are the animals Paws for a Future protects.
These are the moments that changed my life.
These days, I've begun to settle down a bit more, and traveling normally consists of me and the dogs. Occasionally, my fiancé tags along, but we both know that going solo has always given me that feeling of chasing that high.
At Paws for a Future, I understand what it means to get outside. I know what the elements are capable of, the quality we have to design our gear with, and most importantly, the heart that goes into the "outdoorsy" pieces that make us each feel a little more connected and a little more seen.
Thank you for being a part of something bigger.
