Landon McGauley grew up in British Columbia. Like many of our other guests from BC, he spent his formative years in the outdoors exploring the mountains and at an early age fell in love with biking, riding around his neighborhood with a shovel to build dirt jumps. In 2011, at the age of 15, he was in a biking crash resulting in a T5 spinal cord injury and paraplegia. Landon and I initially connected for an interview in 2022 when he had fully adapted to life as a paraplegic. In the years after his accident, Landon found his way to adaptive mountain biking and was amongst a crew of hard charging pioneering riders. He was working as the High Fives athlete manager, and notably, in the planning stage for an ambitious mountain biking and rafting trip with his brother. As we were assembling that episode and before Landon had a chance to embark on his big adventure, he was in another biking accident. This time breaking his neck resulting in quadriplegia. Landon now has the very unique life experience of living as a non-disabled or able-bodied person, a paraplegic, and now a quadriplegic. He is a thoughtful, well-read individual, and and openly shared his wisdom in this conversation.

Guest info:

• @landonmcgauley

Additional Resources:

• www.highfivesfoundation.org
• https://mhanational.org/resources/suicide-prevention/
• https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/suicide-prevention.html

Contact us: 

• Instagram: @unexpectedjourneypod
• Email: [email protected] 
• Hosted and produced by Tim Brown
• Editing and sound design by Louis Arevalo
• Original theme music by Jesse LaFountaine
• Episode cover art by Lewis Falconer 
• Cover art and logo design by Anne Holt and Lewis Falconer

Last fall, I traveled to Oman for the World Inclusive Sailing Championships. It was an incredible experience. The inaugural event brought together many of the best adaptive sailors in the world, all competing to be world champion in one of three different classes – the RS venture connect - a two person boat, the Hansa 303 - a one person boat, and the Far East with three visually impaired sailors and three sighted sailors per boat.  Beyond the racing and crowning world champions, the event had a larger mission: to showcase the skill, passion, and level of competition of the international parasailing community, in an effort to get sailing back into the Paralympics after it was dropped following the 2016 Rio Games. Over 100 sailors from 36 different countries competed. 

In addition to enjoying the wonderful warmth of the Omani people, culture, landscape and weather, and mixing it up on the racecourse, my highlight was meeting the other sailors from around the world. In the quiet moments in between racing and exploring, I spoke with three of them to hear their stories.

Guest info:

• @pintobp05

Additional Resources:

• https://www.sailing.org/world-sailing-inclusion-championships/

Contact us: 

• Instagram: @unexpectedjourneypod
• Email: [email protected] 
• Hosted and produced by Tim Brown
• Editing and sound design by Louis Arevalo
• Original theme music by Jesse LaFountaine
• Episode cover art by Lewis Falconer 
• Cover art and logo design by Anne Holt and Lewis Falconer

After talking with Tanja Kari in Episode 57 we were super excited to learn more about the TetraSki, an emerging technology for the adaptive alpine skiing community. If you haven't already, I recommend giving episode 57 a listen before continuing this episode. We wanted to hear from several voices, so I reached out to athlete Becca Farewell who is now in her fourth season skiing and racing in the tetra ski.  Becca lives in Salt Lake City with her family and is highly involved in the adaptive sports and TetraSki communities. We also reached out to three individuals who are highly involved in the design, adoption, and usage of the TetraSki. Dr. Jeff Rosenbluth is the Medical Director of TRAILS adaptive program which he founded in 2003 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and has been a leader of the TetraSki revolution from the start. Cullen Robinson formerly worked as an adaptive ski instructor at New England Disabled Sports in New Hampshire and is now a Program Coordinator at TRAILS where he works with Jeff and Tanja and continues to be highly involved in adaptive skiing. Allie Peterson, is a leading adaptive ski instructor in New England who has extensive experience working with a wide range of adaptive ski equipment and adaptive athletes who also works as an inpatient acute care occupational therapist for her day job. 

Guest info:

• @avibex

Additional Resources:

• https://www.tetraski.us/
• https://www.utrails.us/
• www.highfivesfoundation.org

Contact us: 

• Instagram: @unexpectedjourneypod
• Email: [email protected] 
• Hosted and produced by Tim Brown
• Editing and sound design by Louis Arevalo
• Original theme music by Jesse LaFountaine
• Episode cover art by Lewis Falconer 
• Cover art and logo design by Anne Holt and Lewis Falconer

Tanja Kari is a Paralympic gold medalist in cross country skiing from Finland. In 2010 she was inducted into the Paralympic Hall of Fame, she has been nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award for Sports Person of the Year with a Disability, and in 1998 and 2002 she was voted Finland's best disabled athlete. Since retiring from competitive sport she has become a strong and passionate advocate for the expansion of para sport opportunities and now works at TRAILS Adaptive in Utah on efforts to make adaptive sports both competitive and recreational accessible to more people with complex disabilities.

Guest info:

• @karitanja

Additional Resources:

• https://www.tetraski.us/
• https://www.utrails.us/
• www.highfivesfoundation.org

Contact us: 

• Instagram: @unexpectedjourneypod
• Email: [email protected] 
• Hosted and produced by Tim Brown
• Editing and sound design by Louis Arevalo
• Original theme music by Jesse LaFountaine
• Episode cover art by Lewis Falconer 
• Cover art and logo design by Anne Holt and Lewis Falconer

Geoff Krill is a self-described adventure athlete, competitor, innovator, and motivator. He is also a national team member of PSIA, the Professional Ski Instructors of America. Since acquiring a spinal cord injury in his 20s he has competed in downhill mountain biking and skiing races both nationally and internationally, and continues to push boundaries as a wheelchair user. He is passionate about the impact of outdoor recreation and has dedicated his life to teaching others how to ski both disabled and non-disabled and creating greater access to the outdoors for everyone. He lives an outdoors life with his wife and two kids in New Hampshire.

Guest info:

• @geoffkrill

Additional Resources:

• https://nedisabledsports.org/
• www.highfivesfoundation.org

Contact us: 

• Instagram: @unexpectedjourneypod
• Email: [email protected] 
• Hosted and produced by Tim Brown
• Editing and sound design by Louis Arevalo
• Original theme music by Jesse LaFountaine
• Episode cover art by Lewis Falconer 
• Cover art and logo design by Anne Holt and Lewis Falconer

Anna Soens was the first guest on The Unexpected Journey. In episode one she shared the story of her pioneering para-mountaineering ascents of Mount Hood and Mount Baker in the Pacific Northwest. If you haven't listened yet, go check it out. In this conversation, the first in a short series of episodes on adaptive skiing, Anna returns to talk about her freeskiing career, her rapid rise as an adaptive downhill ski racer and her current pursuit of a spot on Team USA for the 2026 Winter Paralympics, and her major life updates in the past five years since she came on the podcast.

Guest info:

• @timjobrown

Additional Resources:

• www.empowersci.org
• www.highfivesfoundation.org

Contact us: 

• Instagram: @unexpectedjourneypod
• Email: [email protected] 
• Hosted and produced by Tim Brown
• Editing and sound design by Louis Arevalo
• Original theme music by Jesse LaFountaine
• Episode cover art by Lewis Falconer 
• Cover art and logo design by Anne Holt and Lewis Falconer

For this episode, we decided to switch things up. Louis Arevalo, Unexpected Journey editor and sound designer, gets behind the mic to interview Tim Brown, Unexpected Journey founder and  host. We talk about Tim's Journey, the origins of the The Unexpected Journey, what goes into creating the podcast, connecting with listeners, and the future of the pod!!

Guest info:

• @timjobrown

Additional Resources:

• www.empowersci.org
• www.highfivesfoundation.org

Contact us: 

• Instagram: @unexpectedjourneypod
• Email: [email protected] 
• Hosted and produced by Tim Brown
• Editing and sound design by Louis Arevalo
• Original theme music by Jesse LaFountaine
• Episode cover art by Lewis Falconer 
• Cover art and logo design by Anne Holt and Lewis Falconer

Nate Bibaud was born in 1984 in Amesbury, Massachusetts, where he grew up skateboarding and playing goalie in hockey. After studying architecture, he moved to St. Croix to work in print and graphic design. In 2010, a car accident left him paralyzed from the neck down, with limited arm movement and no hand function. During rehab at MGH and Spaulding, he began drawing with the help of a recreational therapist. Over time, Nate gained enough shoulder strength to paint independently, experimenting with watercolor, acrylic, and oil. Since then, he has battled through paralysis, infections, a blood clot, and cancer—and now works full time as an artist. Not too bad for someone who once had no idea what to do with his life. 

Guest info:

• @natebibaud

Additional Resources:

• www.natebibaud.com
• www.highfivesfoundation.org

Contact us: 

• Instagram: @unexpectedjourneypod
• Email: [email protected] 
• Hosted and produced by Tim Brown
• Editing and sound design by Louis Arevalo
• Original theme music by Jesse LaFountaine
• Episode cover art by Lewis Falconer 
• Cover art and logo design by Anne Holt and Lewis Falconer

Joel Brown is a paraplegic dancer, choreographer, and musician. He grew up in Salt Lake City in a large creative family and was paralyzed as a boy. Not one to slow down, he pursued many sports living an active life, and eventually found his way to dance.  His professional dance career took him to California, then London, and around the world. Now in his 30s and back in California working as a choreographer, Joel has extensive experience with dance, and is reflective about living and aging as a wheelchair user with a spinal cord injury.

Guest info:

• @joelbrowndancer

Additional Resources:

• https://axisdance.org/team-member/joel-brown/
• https://candoco.co.uk/
• www.highfivesfoundation.org

Contact us: 

• Instagram: @unexpectedjourneypod
• Email: [email protected] 
• Hosted and produced by Tim Brown
• Editing and sound design by Louis Arevalo
• Original theme music by Jesse LaFountaine
• Episode cover art by Lewis Falconer 
• Cover art and logo design by Anne Holt and Lewis Falconer

Alex Cano Gonzalez is a photographer, videographer, and artist living in Denver Colorado. He was paralyzed at a young age as a result of gun violence. He's currently rebuilding his life with a commitment to physical rehab and exercise, exploring adaptive sports, and hustling to grow his freelance career as an artist. In our conversation, I was struck by Alex's profound gratitude, inner peace, and level of maturity and wisdom at such a young age.   

Alex is always looking to collaborate with other creators – rappers, artists, musicians. If you're interested in working with him or following his story, you can find him on Instagram @iamalexcano

Guest info:

• @iamalexcano

Additional Resources:

• www.highfivesfoundation.org

Contact us: 

• Instagram: @unexpectedjourneypod
• Email: [email protected] 
• Hosted and produced by Tim Brown
• Editing and sound design by Louis Arevalo
• Original theme music by Jesse LaFountaine
• Episode cover art by Lewis Falconer 
• Cover art and logo design by Anne Holt and Lewis Falconer