Here’s me about to get into a freezing cold Alpine lake in Austria. As you can probably tell from the picture, I love being in the great outdoors. Whether camping with my family or swimming in the Arctic circle, nothing beats how alive I feel when I’m immersed in nature. I’m also a lifelong, self-proclaimed book nerd. When not adventuring, you can find me curled up on the sofa with a good book and a cup of tea.

I grew up in Munich and New York, before moving to the U.K. to study when I was 19. When I got to Oxford University, I was excited to have a legitimate excuse to read countless novels for four years. After that, I became a journalist and was lucky enough to travel the world writing about all sorts of escapades, from befriending elephants in Thailand to becoming a stuntwoman for a day.

I live in London with my husband and three children, Bobby, Minu and Annie, as well as our legendary cat, Loco and our dog Rusty Scrumbles of Ledlewan.