Susan Purvis has taught wilderness medicine to everyone from the Secret Service to Sherpa guides in Nepal. Purvis and her search-and-rescue dog Tasha, whom she trained to save lives on the most avalanche-prone slopes in Colorado, launched dozens of rescue missions and received congressional recognition for their role in avalanche search and rescue. Purvis’ work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Smithsonian, the BBC, and on Discovery. Her outdoor adventure memoir Go Find chronicles two decades of saving lives, and teaching humans and canines to do the same. She lives in Whitefish, Montana.
How did you get started traveling?
I lived in an old mining town on the shores of Lake Superior. My parents didn’t have a lot of money, so we didn’t travel much. I learned to be independent at a young age. The lake and the north woods were my teachers. I traveled by canoe, on skis and foot (backpacking in the Bob Marshall Wilderness) early on. At sixteen, for a birthday gift to myself, I bought a 10-speed road bicycle to give me the freedom to explore alone. In college, I never had a car. I bicycled to Alaska from Montana. Then I bicycled throughout New Zealand, and parts of Australia. Immediately after college, I traveled to Antarctica and worked as a shuttle bus driver.
How did you get started writing?
I started writing in the sixth grade, and I still have all my journals. Then, in eighth grade, we wrote “DJ’s PJ’s,” my teacher Dwight Johnson’s assigned personal journals. Last year on book tour I ran into DJ in Marquette, Michigan and told him he was responsible for making me write my book. I still have my PJ’s. Last year on book tour, I posted them in my PowerPoint lecture. I have been writing my entire life, and knew by the time I was in third grade I was going to write a book. I just had to go live a life worth telling.
What do you consider your first “break” as a writer?
When I was training and deploying my search and rescue dog, Tasha, reporters would ask for an interview for a magazine or newspaper article they were writing. I would watch carefully how they’d go about the process. I would tell myself; I can do that. Years into my search and rescue career, I started writing my own mission reports for the newspapers. Then I found the confidence to write stories for magazines. Eventually, I pitched my search and rescue stories to television. I became an expert and found my way to writing my memoir.
As a traveler and fact/story gatherer, what is your biggest challenge on the road?
My biggest challenge on the road is eating and drinking, peeing and pooping and sleeping in normal proportions. In 1989 I traveled by Cessna 177 with my writer friend from Montana to the Amazon and back. Everything on the trip became an epic, from landing at remote strips, to speaking different languages, to interfacing with incompetent government employees, to finding a place to pee. I found the best place to pee was inside the small aircraft using a custom pee bottle. When you don’t speak the language, gathering the facts is the most challenging from a reporting point of view. Interpreters help.
What is your biggest challenge in the research and writing process?
I like to learn and research on the job. I need to go to the place I am reporting about and feel it, smell it, see it and live it. The challenge I face in the writing process is sitting down at my desk when it’s the perfect power ski day, or the perfect sunny floating day, or when the dog looks at me and says, “Human, get up and let’s get going.” It’s difficult to sit in your office, all alone and create. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
What is your biggest challenge from a business standpoint?
I’ve been doing it for years, but it can be overwhelming at times. I wish I could afford to pay an assistant, hire a part-time publicist, a marketer. Since I cannot, I must multitask on any given day: coordinating and running both my outdoor education company and my writing business. With both I must write articles for magazines and news media, market and promote my current book and keynote events, and continue writing book number two. Having said that, my biggest challenges come down to time management issues and prioritizing what is important. Updating websites and making it relevant is a big priority, along with writing a monthly newsletter. The key is not to get or feel overwhelmed. Anticipating the next year’s commitments and events and staying ahead of the game requires a plan.
Have you ever done other work to make ends meet?
Yes. I have primarily made my money as an exploration geologist and wilderness medicine and avalanche educator. Now, I am a near full-time writer. Back in the day, I knew too many writers (magazine, newspaper and authors) who didn’t make much money and struggled. I always felt I was too poor and couldn’t afford to be a writer, until recently.
What travel authors or books might you recommend and/or have influenced you?
One book that sticks with me is The Drifters by James Michener. I read it in high school. I wondered what life would be like if I was one of those drifters traveling through Morocco in the late 70’s. Soon after, I got on the road bicycling, walking and canoeing, and then traveled by Cessna, dug-out canoe and explored the world. Then I moved onto classics such as Seven Years in Tibet, Siddhartha, The Little Prince, Travels with Charley, Caribbean by Michener, On the Road, Grizzly Years by Doug Peacock, The Alchemist, 100 Years of Solitude, Gifts from the Sea by Anne Marrow Lindbergh, The Spirit of St. Louis, Three Cups of Tea.
What advice would you give to someone who is considering going into travel writing?
Don’t quit your day job. And never say no to a job. For example, I was called to work in hottest place on earth as film talent, and while there I took careful notes so I could write a story and sell it. I was paid to be a wilderness-medicine specialist, and I wrote on the side to create future art.
What is the biggest reward of life as a travel writer?
The simple answer is freedom. I am my own boss. I’ve always dreamed of becoming a travel writer, and now I am living the dream. I’ve owned my company since 1998, and I have the ability to travel anywhere in the world, engage with cultures and landscapes, give back, and write about it. Combining all my talents, I am able to make a living writing, teaching, keynote speaking, sharing my stories, and heling others along the way.
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