All Episodes

August 13, 2025 80 mins

In this episode, Jen and Dyana chat with Emily Pennington — journalist, adventure writer, and photographer — who’s made a name for herself covering the outdoors, national parks, adventure travel, and wellness. Emily has visited every U.S. national park and chronicled her journey in her memoir Feral: Losing Myself and Finding My Way in America’s National Parks. They dive into her most memorable park experiences, why solo adventuring shaped her, and how it eventually inspired her to seek out more shared adventures. A seasoned contributor to Outside magazine, Emily’s work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Condé Nast Traveler, Lonely Planet, REI Journal, and Backpacker.

Follow Emily on Instagram @brazenbackpacker

Check out her book - Feral: Losing Myself and Finding My Way in America’s National Parks

NOTABLE TIMESTAMPS

6:56 Welcome Emily Pennington

13:55 Motivation & planning year long National Park trip

25:48 Writing Feral: Losing Myself and Finding My Way in America’s National Parks

33:19 Emily's most surprising & favorite National Park

41:46 Relationship with discomfort

48:39 Sharing adventures with others

57:25 Overtourism & challenges facing public lands

Send us a text

Where to find and support Bush & Banter:

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

The Joe Rogan Experience

The Joe Rogan Experience

The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.