The Unexpected Journey

By Tim Brown

Summiting and skiing an 11,000 foot volcano, completing a DIY adaptive sport decathlon in one day, harnessing a passion for art to help spinal cord injury survivors adapt and bond, flying in a wing

... more

4.9

101101 ratings

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FAQs about The Unexpected Journey:

How many episodes does The Unexpected Journey have?

The podcast currently has 63 episodes available.

The Unexpected Journey episodes:

January 08, 2026Becca Farewell and the Tetra Ski Revolution
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
...more
54min
December 25, 2025Tanja Kari on Nordic and Tetra Sports
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
...more
41min
November 27, 2025Geoff Krill on Acceptance and the Adaptive Outdoors
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
...more
57min
November 13, 2025Anna Soens Returns to Talk About Skiing and Pursuit of the Paralympics
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
...more
37min
October 30, 2025Tim Brown on Creating The Unexpected Journey Podcast
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
...more
37min
October 16, 2025Nate Bibaud on Creating Art and Choosing Compassion
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
...more
1h 4min
September 18, 2025Joel Brown on Dance and Determination
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
...more
52min
September 04, 2025Alex Cano Gonzalez on Forgiveness and Photography
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
...more
32min
August 21, 2025Neven Hart on Recovering Intimacy and Joy
Neven Hart and his fiancé Amber Cogbill are rising stars on social media. They openly and vulnerably sharing their experience navigating life together following Neven's recently acquired spinal cord injury. Neven is an athlete and is getting into adaptive sports, but most importantly, he and Amber are educating hundreds of thousands of people through their social media following on the challenging, joyful, mundane, silly, and nuanced aspects of living with spinal cord injury, with a focus on relationships and intimacy. And they are doing so in a genuine and approachable way.
Quick note. This episode discusses physical intimacy with spinal cord injury for a heterosexual couple and how spinal cord injury affects the male anatomy in that regard. We will explore this from the perspective of the female anatomy in a later episode.
Guest info:
@neven.hart
https://www.youtube.com/@ambercogbill03
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
...more
40min
August 07, 2025Jesi Stracham on Tough Mudders and Tenacity
Jesi Stracham is an advocate, adaptive athlete, and founder of the Wheel With Me Foundation. She's also co-owner of Adapt Fit and the Freedom LKN facility. I first read about Jesi in New Mobility magazine when she was competing in Tough Mudder races and blazing a trail for adaptive athletes in that realm, I met her in person four years later. Jesi is passionate about taking ownership of your life and pursuing your dreams, and she leads by example. These days she focuses her time and energy on her businesses, her organization, her upcoming book release, and being the best possible partner and family member.
Guest info:
@jesistracham
jesistracham.com
Additional Resources:
https://wheelwithmefoundation.org/
https://www.freedomlkn.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
...more
47min

FAQs about The Unexpected Journey:

How many episodes does The Unexpected Journey have?

The podcast currently has 63 episodes available.

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