What does it actually mean to be alive?

I’m a physician, a wife, a mom of three, and a certified rescue diver. Like a lot of people I know, I got really good at my game: the training, the responsibility, the long days of holding everything together.

Four years ago, my kids and I were in my parents’ living room when my father took his final breath. As a doctor, I knew exactly what that breath meant; as his daughter, it woke something up in me. We tend to go about our days as if they are infinite, but all of our days are numbered. Since that day, I’ve been asking one question: what does it actually mean to be alive?

Worse than dying today is living 10,000 more days without ever truly being alive.

So I got passports for my family and, while still working as a physician, started traveling the world: on foot in the rainforest, diving with manta rays and sharks, trekking in the mountains, sleeping in the bush. In the wild places, among communities living close to nature, I learned to be alive again.

The wild is where I’ve felt the most presence, the deepest connection to being human. Dare to Dream Compass is how I share it with people who are hungry for the same thing.

My purpose is to lead humans on journeys into wild places that spark them to come home more courageous, loving, and true to themselves — ready to live their one precious life fully.