08/12/2026
Hi, I’m Kati 👋🏻 and it took me two months of this sitting in my drafts to work up the courage to re-introduce myself this way.
In a world that pressures us to be perfect, that wants to replace our human voices with synthetic slop, I strongly believe in radical vulnerability and honesty (thanks to my soul sister Sarah Clare Dale for inspiring me here).
I started Kati Explores in college simply to share my joy of the outdoors with people I loved. I treasured every request I received from my friends - especially the most common question from young women, “how did you get so confident doing things alone?”
Life has taken some unexpected twists and turns since then. I lost parts of myself and rebuilt them into something better. The only constants have been the outdoors, and my own inner strength.
I realized as I began writing my Pacific Northwest travel blog, Kati-explores.com, that I can no longer separate my personal story from my current work. I have mixed emotions around social media, but want to believe it can still be used as a tool for connection in an age when so many people are isolated. I want to inspire, not influence.
So here’s my re-introduction, a window into the mistakes I’ve worked hard to hide, the “missing year” in my life that I am finally allowing myself to talk about, five years later. I feel incredibly blessed that my life story has so clearly shown me my purpose and my passion. It’s the same as it ever was, to share the joy of the outdoors with people I love.
(And I will guarantee you plenty of typos, pronunciation mistakes, possible oversharing, dumb jokes, and all other imperfect human behaviors that AI cannot replace)
