🌲🎙️Episode # 13

How Claiming Heritage and Healing Through Adventure Shapes a Wild Life

The Go Wildly Podcast is what happens when two childhood friends & dirtbag adventure junkies decide to bring a mic into the wilderness. We’re Emily & Heather...equal parts heart and chaos...pulling stories out of people like snacks from the bottom of a backpack. We hike. We float. We talk. And somehow, in between all the laughs and mosquito bites, something real always surfaces.

We take outdoor enthusiasts of all kinds into the woods & find out the common thread that led them to make the outdoors more than just a hobby, but a calling.We're goofy. We’re deep. We’re a little unhinged. And we somehow bring that out in our guests too. Think campfire vibes meets podcast energy...with just enough weird to keep things interesting.Together let’s GO WILDLY!

Today's Guest: Paris Iha

Paris Iha is a mental health counselor, coach, and clinical herbalist with training in adventure-based counseling. Inspired by place-based and more-than-human relationships, as well as her Indigenous Ryukyuan heritage, Paris' passion is to co-facilitate healing that centers our sense of belonging to nature. She integrates somatic, nature-based, canine-assisted, and neurobiology-informed approaches into her work.

In this episode of the Go Wildly Podcast, we dive deep with Paris Iha into the wild world of adventure therapy — what it looks like, how it heals, and the role her dog Cap Joe plays as a four-legged co-therapist. 🌲🐕✨

We explore Paris’s journey of reclaiming her Ryukyuan/Japanese heritage, navigating intergenerational trauma, and connecting with ancestral practices that have shaped her healing work. From conversations about blood quantum and cultural identity to stories of her and her sister rediscovering ancestral traditions, this episode is as raw as it is inspiring.

Paris also shares powerful, vulnerable stories from her time in nature — encounters that cracked her wide open, moments where carrying protection gave her confidence outdoors, and a breathtaking experience in Alaska where a single flower made her feel at home miles away from her roots. 🌸

We just skimmed the surface of her work in herbalism (definitely a part two coming), but even the glimpse we got showed how plants and the natural world can become allies in belonging and healing.

This episode is about adventure, ancestry, resilience, and the medicine of the wild.

Connect with Paris

• Instagram: @paris.rae.iha

Email: hellotherapistparis@gmail.com

Filmed on Location: Rafting- Rogue River; Indian Mary to Ennis

Let's Go Wildly Together:-Follow us on Instagram: @gowildlypodcast-Tag us on your hikes or adventures using #gowildly -Subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode-Leave us a review — it helps so much!-Get inspired: www.gowildlypodcast.com-

Want to be a guest or sponsor the show? Visit gowildlypodcast.com & sign-up for our newsletter & never miss an event, group hike, discount code (when those start), digital guides to the outdoors, and more behind the scenes content.

Keywords: go wildly podcast, adventure podcast, southern oregon, oregon, pnw, hiking, oregon, wilderness, public land, wilderness stories, outdoor stories, pacific northwest adventures, grants pass oregon, trail conversations, hiking podcast, trail building, explore oregon, close encounters, outdoor storytelling, go wildly, passion, purpose, mountain trail, trail talk, chitchat, yap, yapping, diet, health, change, climate change, friends, trail maintenance, youth outdoor advocate, kids outside, national land, blm, federal land, national parks, park, keep public land public, nonprofit, club, backcountry, national forest, rogue river wilderness, Rafting, whitewater, rogue river, traveling, goats, dogs, animals, artist, murals, boarding school, crazy stories, creative, floating, river, wild and scenic, canyon, river canyon, therapeutic, haritage, ancestors, healing, trauma, herbalism, nature, travel, protection, plants

🌲🎙️🐐🎨Episode # 12

How a Rebel Artist Built a Life Around Adventure with a Goat Named Frankie & Corn Dog

The Go Wildly Podcast is what happens when two childhood friends & dirtbag adventure junkies decide to bring a mic into the wilderness. We’re Emily & Heather...equal parts heart and chaos...pulling stories out of people like snacks from the bottom of a backpack. We hike. We float. We talk. And somehow, in between all the laughs and mosquito bites, something real always surfaces.

We take outdoor enthusiasts of all kinds into the woods & find out the common thread that led them to make the outdoors more than just a hobby, but a calling.We're goofy. We’re deep. We’re a little unhinged. And we somehow bring that out in our guests too. Think campfire vibes meets podcast energy...with just enough weird to keep things interesting.Together let’s GO WILDLY!

Today's Guest: Cate Battles

Cate Battles is an East Coast native whose passion for art began in childhood and has taken many forms over the years…from painting murals across Southern Oregon to capturing the wild through her photography. Now based in the region, she’s also a social media pro behind some of its most prominent travel pages and the creator of the travel blog Argosy Odyssey.

Cate’s life blends creativity and exploration…whether she’s camping in the Pacific Northwest, traveling the world, or spending time with her goat Frankie and dog Corn Dog. Her unique bond with Frankie was featured on the Discovery+ series The Bond. Through her murals, photography, and storytelling, Cate celebrates the beauty of wild places and the adventures that shape them.

In this episode, Cate Battles takes us from her wild boarding school years to life on the road in a renovated Airstream with her goat Frankie and dog Corn Dog. We talk about how that chapter began, the adventures and challenges along the way, and how those experiences shaped the art and murals she’s known for today. Cate also shares what life looks like now—rooted in Southern Oregon but still fueled by travel, creativity, and a love for the outdoors.

Connect with Cate www.argosyodyssey.com or on Instagram & Facebook @argosyodyssey or @catebattles

Filmed on Location: Rafting- Rogue River; Hogs Creek to Indian Mary

Let's Go Wildly Together:-Follow us on Instagram: @gowildlypodcast-Tag us on your hikes or adventures using #gowildly -Subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode-Leave us a review — it helps so much!-Get inspired: www.gowildlypodcast.com-

Want to be a guest or sponsor the show? Visit gowildlypodcast.com & sign-up for our newsletter & never miss an event, group hike, discount code (when those start), digital guides to the outdoors, and more behind the scenes content.

Keywords: go wildly podcast, adventure podcast, southern oregon, oregon, pnw, hiking, oregon, wilderness, public land, wilderness stories, outdoor stories, pacific northwest adventures, grants pass oregon, trail conversations, hiking podcast, trail building, explore oregon, close encounters, outdoor storytelling, go wildly, passion, purpose, mountain trail, trail talk, chitchat, yap, yapping, diet, health, change, climate change, friends, trail maintenance, youth outdoor advocate, kids outside, national land, blm, federal land, national parks, park, keep public land public, nonprofit, club, backcountry, national forest, rogue river wilderness, Rafting, whitewater, rogue river, traveling, goats, dogs, animals, artist, murals, boarding school, crazy stories, creative, floating, river, wild and scenic, canyon, river canyon, rebel, bad kid, childhood, growth, tiny house.

🌲🎙️🌊Episode # 11

How To Build a Life As a River Guide -- Even If You Didn't Grow Up Outdoorsy

"I had to find a job where I could share the outside with people"

The Go Wildly Podcast is what happens when two childhood friends & dirtbag adventure junkies decide to bring a mic into the wilderness. We’re Emily & Heather...equal parts heart and chaos...pulling stories out of people like snacks from the bottom of a backpack. We hike. We float. We talk. And somehow, in between all the laughs and mosquito bites, something real always surfaces.

We take outdoor enthusiasts of all kinds into the woods & find out the common thread that led them to make the outdoors more than just a hobby, but a calling.We're goofy. We’re deep. We’re a little unhinged. And we somehow bring that out in our guests too. Think campfire vibes meets podcast energy...with just enough weird to keep things interesting.

Together let’s GO WILDLY!

Today's Guest: Michael Hughes

Michael Hughes didn’t grow up outdoorsy. No family camping trips, no rafting childhood summers. But somewhere along the way, he said yes to the river — and it changed everything.

Now he’s the manager of Northwest Rafting Company, a career river guide, ultra runner, and the guy leading trips from the Rogue River all the way to Bhutan. In this episode, we talk about what life’s really like as a guide, the magic of the Northwest guide house, international rafting culture, and what it takes to build a life around adventure, even if you started far from it.

He also drops some real advice for anyone dreaming of a life outside: how to get started, how to stay grounded, and why it’s never too late to choose a different path.

This one’s for the explorers, the late bloomers, and the ones who keep showing up ...even if the episode’s a little late.

Let’s go wildly.

Northwest Rafting Company https://www.nwrafting.com/

also check out... https://www.whitewaterguidebook.com/

Filmed on Location: Ferry Road Boat Ramp

Let's Go Wildly Together:-Follow us on Instagram: @gowildlypodcast-Tag us on your hikes or adventures using #gowildly-Subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode-Leave us a review — it helps so much!-Get inspired: www.gowildlypodcast.com-Want to be a guest or sponsor the show? Visit gowildlypodcast.com & sign-up for our newsletter & never miss an event, group hike, discount code (when those start), digital guides to the outdoors, and more behind the scenes content.

Keywords: go wildly podcast, adventure podcast, southern oregon, oregon, pnw, hiking, oregon, wilderness, public land, wilderness stories, outdoor stories, pacific northwest adventures, grants pass oregon, trail conversations, hiking podcast, trail building, explore oregon, close encounters, outdoor storytelling, go wildly, passion, purpose, mountain trail, trail talk, chitchat, yap, yapping, diet, health, change, climate change, friends, trail maintenance, youth outdoor advocate, kids outside, national land, blm, federal land, national parks, park, keep public land public, nonprofit, club, backcountry, national forest, rogue river wilderness, rafting, whitewater, river, river guide, guiding rivers, outdoor guide, Bhutan, international travel