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Explore Booksellers, a favorite destination for visitors and locals alike, has been an institution in the Aspen community for nearly 50 years. More than a bookstore, Explore is an intellectual gathering place that embodies the Aspen spirit - where books, ideas, and the free-flowing conversation they initiate are part of the environment. Explore Booksellers is owned by a non-profit organization in the Public Interest Network, which operates and supports organizations in 30 states committed to a shared vision of a better world and a strategic approach to social change. Part of their mission is to serve the Aspen community by hosting free literary events with local and visiting authors, educational events and workshops with a variety of speakers, round table discussions, and other programming with thought leaders of the day. Learn more at explorebooksellers.com.

Explore Booksellers: Shayla Paradeis

This event was recorded on September 6, 2023 at Explore Booksellers, in partnership with Aspen Public Radio.

In Footprint of a Heart, Shayla "Kiddo" Paradeis ventures off the path of musical theater and moves from Manhattan to Montana. Sculpting a life outdoors as a long-distance hiker, she walks over 18,000 miles between 4-month treks known as thru-hikes including the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide. All without a smart phone.

Kiddo shares the trailside moments of five long journeys. Venturing through barren deserts, windy ridges, thick woods, estuaries, swarms of bugs, knee deep mud, and every kind of precipitation imaginable. Each step exposing the true north of a walk in the woods: The need to connect.