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Bethany Taylor || Trail + Everyday Safety

@bethanycorataylor

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🪩 Helpin’ women live stoke-filled, safe + adventurous lives.
🖖🏼 Preparedness • Safety Tips • Doin’ Sh*t Outside
🌼 All-Women Adventure Trips || WA📍

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Greetings Earthlings ✨👽👋🏻🤍🍄⛰️

Welcome to my pocket of the internet universe.

I wanted refresh my “intro” post because this page, my content, and my business have ✨shifted✨ over the last couple of years so figured this was overdue.

I am super multi-passionate, so you’ll get to see all the things my brain has going on…buckle up, cowboy. 🤠

Random other rapid fire things:

🦊 We now own a 2011 Artic Fox 811 truck camper which we are obsessed with and y’all seem to dig it too!
🇯🇵 We have moved 4 times in the last 5 years—even made our way across the pond to/from Japan. WA is now our home and love it here.
🗣️ I also offer educational speaking engagements for retreats, sports teams, corporate offices, gyms, and small groups (education is my love language).

My website has all the goods + adventure trip info. 👾

Don’t forget—

🥾Go download my FREEBIE!
📧 Sign-up for my weekly newsletter.
💖 Drop a comment to say HOWDY.
💻 Explore my past content.
⛰️ Stay stoked and stay safe. by @bethanycorataylor

Alright—let’s get into it:

🔖 Always let someone reliable know where you’re going, where you’re parking, how long you plan to be out there, and what you’re wearing. Check-in when you’re done!

🤥 You are 10000% allow to lie to someone’s face if they start asking you questions that you don’t want to answer (whether it’s intentionally or unintentionally).

🤳🏻 DO NOT post on social media in real time disclosing your location or even the night before saying “I’m headed to ‘x’ trail tomorrow.”

📶 Going somewhere without service? Highly recommend back up comms via @garminoutdoor inReach Mini or T-Mobile Starlink Plan.

🚀 Distance and creating space between potential danger is one of the greatest skills we can learn/use.

🪛 Our eyes, ears, and voices are our biggest assets but it never hurts to have a physical personal safety tool with you (if you’re comfortable carrying it). I prefer something…pointy. And something that sprays like bear spray (always check laws/regulations).

👀 When you get to the trailhead, make a quick note of who is there/what cars are there & when you’re passing people on trail—try to make eye contact. This shows your vigilant AND it allows you to take in quick information on people you pass.

🧿 Use your eyes. Pay attention to things out of place or people who look out of place (like wearing the wrong clothing for the weather or for being on trail).

🪫 Always start your adventure with a fully charged phone battery and pack the 10 Essentials + some form of identification.

🌪️ If someone is closing in on your space or getting too close, don’t be afraid to make a fucking scene. Be loud, scream, and be obnoxious.

🪩 Know that YOUR SAFETY is always more important than someone else’s feelings. Don’t be afraid ro set a verbal boundary with someone like, “I am not interested in having this conversation.”

✨ I know “trust your gut” sounds so cliche but literally, trust it.

🍪 Being well-fed/eating enough is part of our safety!

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I dislike I even have to provide education on this topic but since the landscape of our safety as females has changed—I want to provide you with strategies and skills to step out on trail feel capable & prepared. 💖 by @bethanycorataylor

For what we want to do here in the PNW and in our future, the truck camper 100% makes the most sense.

Hands-down.

We’ve been talking about this for a long time (like since we were living in Japan 🇯🇵). This decision and these purchases were not taken lightly. We talked about this alot, did tons of research and everything kind of fell together where we were able to purchase the truck and the truck camper essentially at the same time.

We originally planned to get a smaller, non-slide out truck camper but we found this 2009 Arctic Fox 811 about an hour from us (thanks Ted!) and with the great condition it was in, excellent price point, it has a generator, gas stove, dinette, queen bed, heat/AC, wet bath and would fit in the truck bed of the truck we were already eyeballing...it made sense.

The truck purchase (2023 F350 Lariat Temor - High Output) was a long-term investment that will be a regular part of our daily lives when we aren’t camping/adventuring. It’s functional, reliable and with all the projects Bryce does, it will get heavily used and is something we plan to keep for years.

We also really like that the is was a two-part solution by being able to separate the truck + the camper, like we can drop the camper at a campground and use the truck freely.

As I mentioned, the truck camper was in awesome condition for being a 2009 model but we did make some upgrades (and some to the truck as well):

🪩Resealed the roof.
🪩Rewired the batteries.
🪩Added solar panels.
🪩Wired in chargers.
🪩Added a smart shunt.
🪩Bought a new mattress.
🪩Replaced bathroom door track.
🪩Added truck/camper cameras.
🪩Added air bags to the truck.
🪩Added sway bar to the truck.
🪩Fixed other minor stuff inside.
🪩Adding stairs (coming soon).

Everyone has their own personal preference on adventure rigs and what works for their lives/families & this was the best fit for ours.

Don’t get me wrong—I still love sleeping in a tent and in the back of my Jeep but this was something that made sense for what we have in store for our long-term future and allowing the whole family to be together. 🫶🏻

Let me know if you have any questions! by @bethanycorataylor

As someone who posts on social media sharing educational content, fun/adventures, and to create stoke to get outside—I know better than anyone that…it can’t wait.

The internet doesn’t need to know what you’re doing every second and every detail of your life/plans ahead of time.

Please read that again. 🫶🏻

You can still share the stoke and photos…later.
Or give *general* info about what you having coming up.

Your personal safety (yes, this relates to cyber safety too) should be your highest priority and delaying or being mindful of what you post on social media is one way to do that. 🤍

Stay Stoked.
Stay Safe. 💅🏼

PS - This safety consideration is also applicable to life OFF the trail as well. by @bethanycorataylor

Happy 6th Birthday, Bub. 💚

You are kind, patient, compassionate, and just an old soul.

You love to sleep big in the sun outside.
You love exploring on the beach driftwood.
You love going on hikes and sniffing the ferns.
You love being a big brother to your little sister.

Best thing we ever did was rescue you from the tiny little town in Romance, Arkansas when you were just a little potato. You’ve been all the way across the world to Japan and back where everyone loved you. And now you’re settled into WA where the trails are abundant, pup cups are flowing, and life is good.

I love you and will love you forever. 🫶🏻 by @bethanycorataylor

👉🏻 If this isn’t reason enough for you to take investigating things in your home that look, sound, or smell off seriously…. I don’t know what is.

Story Time:

Anytime our heater/furnace would kick on and I was outside by the porch, it would smell like gas/propane and almost like eggs for a few seconds and then go away. It happened everytime and I thought to myself, “Yeah, this isn’t right. This is too potent.”

I called our gas company since the gas meter is also near the porch for them to come check if there was a leak. They came out and checked the meter area, nothing. He then proceeded to check the exhaust pipe/flue for the furnace (that’s near by) and that ended up being the source of the smell.

Well, there ended up being 2,000ppm of CO (😳‼️) coming out of the exhaust pipe (thank god), which is odorless (the smell was other gases) but the dangerously high levels of CO were from a malfunctioning burner + incomplete combustion from the furnace. Which we only discovered from removing the front panel of the furnace and investigating. The burner box was also hot as fuck and very close to all the wiring…

In short, this led to opening a can of worms and more things discovered which were NOT visually apparent without pulling things apart. The furnace “worked” and produced heat but there was more than met the naked eye.

⚠️ If you don’t read anything else but this statement—be curious and PLEASE investigate if things seem off with appliances or things in your home. DO NOT IGNORE THEM. Take videos. Take notes. Document things. I would rather it be nothing than something but having peace of mind that you checked. ⚠️

All I can think about is what if I didn’t call the gas company because I didn’t want to have to deal with it or let is slide/brushed it off…

Anyways, we are getting a new furnace. I learned so damn much while troubleshooting, asking the HVAC Technician a million questions while he was here, and advocating for our safety/home.

Stay curious. 💖💅🏻🪩 by @bethanycorataylor

As someone who has moved a lot and every house has been different in terms of storage and space available, I’m always trying to find inexpensive and practical ways to store all our gear (packs, ski/touring shit, camp sleep systems, gadgets, boots/shoes, etc.) in a way that keeps it organized as well as helps maintain longevity. 💅🏻

This freestanding “garment rack” is one way we store our packs and it cost under under $10 & it’s super easy to move around! You can even put a one shelf shoe rack on the bottom for some of your trail shoes.

Even if you don’t have a dedicated gear room (you don’t have to have one!), you can use everyday household organizations products from Walmart or the Dollar Store (over the door hooks, bins, crates, etc.) to store your gear anywhere in the house. 🏡 by @bethanycorataylor

I see this often in (older) rentals homes! Cough cough…like ours. They were damn antiques. 🙃

You’ll move into a new rental and none of the smoke detectors are chirping so you think they are good to go with good battery life.

Well, you’ll need to check the actual date of manufacture on them and request to have them replaced if it’s pushing the 10 year limit.

General Guidance👇🏼

We want to have a smoke detector at minimum in every bedroom, outside of each sleeping area and on every level of your home.

We also NEED to have carbon monoxide detectors if we have ANY fuel-burning appliances (stove, furnace, fireplace, water heaters, etc) or an attached garage. Even if you don’t have fuel-burning appliances, it’s highly recommend to have one on each level of your home (especially in/near bedrooms).

Let me know how old your smoke detectors are…♥️🫢🔥⬇️

@mountainhardwear fleece was a paid actor.

#FireSafety #FireSafetyTips #Preparedness by @bethanycorataylor

Cool as fuck facts about banana slugs 💛🍌🐌👇🏼

🌎 They are the second-largest slug in the world! But they are also one of the slowest.

🌧️ They pretty much need moisture to stay alive (hello PNW). They dispense dry granules of mucus that absorb water which in turn helps create lubrication through slime to help them move across the forest floor with less effort.

❄️ If it’s really cold out or too dry/hot, they will nestle and bury themselves in a pile of leaves and cover itself with its own slime until they sense the conditions have improved.

🦝 Banana slug slime is truly their superpower and defense mechanism too. Their slime can protect an anesthetic which dumbs the mouth/tongue/throat of a would-be predator.

🍴More about their slime! It helps them collect forest floor debris and plant matter (fallen moss, fungi, leaves, etc.) for meals. They are kind of like the clean-up crew and actually help disperse spores and seeds along with their nitrogen-rich fertilizer from pooping which supports the ecosystem.

👄 The banana slug’s mouth is called their “radula” which can have up to 27,000 microspic “teeth”!!!!

🫁 You may notice a large “hole” on the right side of their heads. That’s called the pneumostome and it’s how they breathe! They open/close it as will to draw breath and they will actually close it to protect themselves from growing in crazy weather.

🍌 Their government name is Ariolimax. They can be a range of colors; green, yellow, brown, tan, white, or even spotted which are my FAVORITE. Their colors can change based on diet, solar, moisture levels, and age. by @bethanycorataylor

In case you’ve never had anyone teach/show you, I’d love help you feel more capable doing this. 🫶🏻🛞⚙️⚠️

Keeping a small, portable air compressor/tire inflator in your vehicle as part of your preparedness kit isn’t a bad idea either! Gives you access to quick recovery of mobility anywhere you go.

If you’re stoked to slowly build your own prepadness kit, I do have my favorite items linked in my b!0 (I really hate saying this LOL) if you wanted some ideas and a good place to start.

Sure hope this was helpful, friends! 📌

#VehicleSafety #Preparedness #VehicleMaintenance by @bethanycorataylor

Sometimes I wish you weren’t so good at everything but that’s not a bad problem to have. 😂🫶🏻💖🤪👽 by @bethanycorataylor

📩 📦🇺🇸📪 Free ‘Military Care Kit’ from USPS and tips for sending care packages (with less stress) to loved ones overseas. Send this to someone who may benefit from the tip/resource!!

#Milspouse #CarePackage #PostOffice by @bethanycorataylor