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Leslie Hsu Oh

Travel Writer | Photographer | Editor | seen in T+L, NatGeo, CNT,Outside, Parents, Smithsonian

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Stomping my crampons into the crumbly ice walls, I arrested my descent into a crack on the Vallée Blanche, a sliver just wide enough to fit my body. Another hiker roped to me said, “Most people want to avoid crevasses but Leslie climbs into one.” Chilled inside this glacier, I paid homage to the jagged peaks of the deadly Aiguille Verte and Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps. -Leslie

Drone footage: Alex Fenlon.

"Leslie Hsu Oh is one of the most innovative outdoor writers today. Her prose style has a combination of spare lyricism, perfect rhythm and sensory power that seems almost like magic, bringing her readers fully into the worlds she re-creates. As a mother who goes on backcountry expeditions with her young children, and an adopted daughter of a Diné and Tlingit family, she also brings a perspective that's seldom heard — a voice capable of overturning outdated formulas that have long dominated the genre. She is part of a generation of writers who are redefining what it means to write about nature and adventure and to seek a more inclusive sense of place in the wild and the world."

Katie Ives | Imaginary Peaks

Leslie Hsu Oh
2017-11-06T19:41:10+00:00

Katie Ives | Imaginary Peaks

"Leslie Hsu Oh is one of the most innovative outdoor writers today. Her prose style has a combination of spare lyricism, perfect rhythm and sensory power that seems almost like magic, bringing her readers fully into the worlds she re-creates. As a mother who goes on backcountry expeditions with her young children, and an adopted daughter of a Diné and Tlingit family, she also brings a perspective that's seldom heard — a voice capable of overturning outdated formulas that have long dominated the genre. She is part of a generation of writers who are redefining what it means to write about nature and adventure and to seek a more inclusive sense of place in the wild and the world."
https://www.lesliehsuoh.com/testimonials/katie-ives/
"It is too rare in this world that we find people who have both extraordinary talents and a deep natural humility that fosters close human links with all those they encounter. Leslie is one of those who does both."

Lachlan Forrow, M.D. | Director of Ethics and Palliative Care Programs at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and President of The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship

Leslie Hsu Oh
2017-09-20T18:02:43+00:00

Lachlan Forrow, M.D. | Director of Ethics and Palliative Care Programs at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and President of The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship

"It is too rare in this world that we find people who have both extraordinary talents and a deep natural humility that fosters close human links with all those they encounter. Leslie is one of those who does both."
https://www.lesliehsuoh.com/testimonials/lachlan-forrow-m-d/
"I started following you because you are one of the few Asian female travel writers I've found. Thank you for visibility in the travel writing community and your perspective as a parent and a minority female."

@saallyhwaang

Leslie Hsu Oh
2017-12-12T18:12:02+00:00

@saallyhwaang

@saallyhwaang
https://www.lesliehsuoh.com/testimonials/saallyhwaang/
"I believe that Leslie is a tremendous asset to the Alaskan Native and Native American community. The loss of her mother and brother fill her with an undying passion for working in the heart of the community. She is truly dedicated to making a difference."

Ursula Knoki-Wilson, CNM, MSN, MPH | Director, Midwifery Service
Chinle Comprehensive Health Care Facility

Leslie Hsu Oh
2017-09-20T18:04:06+00:00

Ursula Knoki-Wilson, CNM, MSN, MPH | Director, Midwifery Service
Chinle Comprehensive Health Care Facility

"I believe that Leslie is a tremendous asset to the Alaskan Native and Native American community. The loss of her mother and brother fill her with an undying passion for working in the heart of the community. She is truly dedicated to making a difference."
https://www.lesliehsuoh.com/testimonials/ursula-knoki-wilson-cnm-msn-mph/
"Thank you for creating this [HBI] organization. You are a role model for individuals like me who want to make a difference. Thank you for being the model to follow."

Phison Le | Executive Director, The Hepatitis B Initiative-Boston

Leslie Hsu Oh
2017-09-20T18:04:32+00:00

Phison Le | Executive Director, The Hepatitis B Initiative-Boston

"Thank you for creating this [HBI] organization. You are a role model for individuals like me who want to make a difference. Thank you for being the model to follow."
https://www.lesliehsuoh.com/testimonials/phison-le/
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Everyday, @andronis_arcadia would surprise us with Everyday, @andronis_arcadia would surprise us with a gift which we brought back for you. Have a great weekend! #greekeye #greece #protection #santorini @officialsantorinigreece #santorini💙
Did you know all #beaches in #greece are public? O Did you know all #beaches in #greece are public? Out of 6000 #islands only 200 are inhabited. I had a chance to visit 4. At this time of the year, you can enjoy moments alone. 

#iosisland did not get electricity until the 70’s. Its a striking contrast to the crowds in Santorini where in the thick of tourists rushing through a narrow path, I tripped on a cobblestone because my luggage didnt make it and I bought a cheap pair of flipflops.  The support I’ve experienced from my travel companions especially @michelebraphael @travelsbyomarperez @weekendexplorer @goodlivingsocal , the locals and the landscape as I hobbled my way from swimming to a sea cave to clinging onto a slippery seat of a high speed boat zipping across the Aegean Sea to insisting on hiking with a grumpy retired special forces guide who asked me to wait at the bottom of the trail while everyone else checked out Homer’s burial site have made me fall in love with Greece more. @discover_ios_island @visitgreecegr
Sunrise @agadafolegandros adult only retreat. Each Sunrise @agadafolegandros adult only retreat. Each brittle greenstone (buried deep in Earth, subjected to intense high pressure, low temperature subduction, then brutally pushed back to the surface) is warmed up by the sun.  If you quiet the thoughts in your head and hold your breath, you might be able to feel what Greeks call agria galini (wild peace): A rare physical silence described as an intense grounding stillness wrapped in a raw untamed elemental force. In this reel, excerpts from a livestream where you can listen to the “silence” and feel Folegandros’ energy!

See linked reel with sunset in previous Folegandros post
#agadafolegandros #greece #folegandrosisland #luxuryworldtraveler
At sunset, listen to the “sound of silence” @a At sunset, listen to the “sound of silence” @agadafolegandros —a bioclimatic architectural wonder harmonized with the island’s landscape. 

There are nine suites or villas each with own #infinitypool. The absense of motors running, people chatting, lawnmowers buzzing. And if you can be still enough, the birds (like the Common Linnets ? ) will visit. They like to bathe and sip fresh water from your pool.
 
Dont miss my exclusive interview about how #Agada was designed.
#greece #folegandrosisland #agadafolegandros
Chef @edmari_devarie introduced herself to me and Chef @edmari_devarie introduced herself to me and said she first read my work in @voguemagazine last May about #grieftravel . I was pleased to learn that my words helped her during a difficult time in her life. She messaged me:

“You were every bit as kind and warm in person as I imagined from your writing. I actually went back and reread your Vogue piece tonight, and something really unexpected happened: it hit me completely differently this time. When I first read it, I understood grief mostly as grieving people I had lost. Grandparents, aunts, people who were no longer here. I even thought about a trip my mom and I took to Alaska and how, in some ways, we found little pieces of ourselves again through that experience. But tonight I read your words from a completely different place in my life. I’m realizing that I’m grieving a lot more than people. I’m grieving my old self. I’m grieving friendships and chapters of my life that aren’t here anymore.

I’m grieving the person I used to be, even though I know I’m becoming someone new. And I’m grieving a life I thought I would have by now. [yes!! This is exactly how I feel. ]

Thank you for writing something that gave me a language for something I didn’t quite know how to name. And thank you for being so lovely tonight. I’m really glad I got to meet you.”

I received this gift in #jacksonhole after we ascended to 9,095 feet aboard the historic Bridger Gondola for dinner at @jacksonhole Piste Mtn Bistro.
 
We nearly had the whole place to ourselves due to a reservation glitch. The dining room spilled out onto a deck where we gathered briefly that morning before hiking down to our launch point. 

After placing our order, the sun set over the Tetons while the kids hiked up to the peak in their flipflops and skirts. I teared up thinking about how these moments when the 6 of us could explore national parks together were coming to an end.
Soaring air thermals is thrilling and terrifying. Soaring air thermals is thrilling and terrifying. You are a feather rising and falling, at the mercy of air deflected by the mountains and trees. A paraglider pilot determines whether an air thermal will reduce your descent or initiate a climb while you enjoy the raw feeling of engineless flight. A wobble here and there. Your heart skips a beat. Everything that you worried about disappears when the world looks so far away and you are flying side-by-side birds. 

This summer I was determined to tackle a #bucketlistadventure because I had no idea when my kids would lose interest in travelling with us. This is @kohadventures 21st summer, @ethanjsoh 18th, @rileyaustinoh 13th and @loganohrides 10th summer. Life continues to pull us apart. So knowing that I will be dropping off two kids at college soon, I asked them what was their number 1️⃣ bucketlistadventure ?
 
“Skydiving,” Kyra says. 

“Heliiboarding,” Riley says.
 
I surprised them with paragliding because since 2017 when I first experienced this sport in France, then Italy 2019, and Switzerland in 2022,  I have longed to share this w/my family.

#jacksonhole is ideal for #paragliding because a flat, low-lying valley is directly adjacent to ultra-steep, massive mountain ranges creating immediate massive altitude separation.  Plus advanced paragliders like the challenge of trying the “shot” (flying to @grandtetonnps) !

@jacksonholeparagliding not only has 30 years of experience with 60K safe tandem flights but owner Scott Harris one of the first to pioneer this sport, has pulled off a 6 hr flight in Columbia 2016. He orchestratend 6 paragliding pilots (one for each of us Riley = Dan Roof, Logan = Mike Bickley, Ethan =David Robinson, Kyra = @beaubach, me = Scott Harris, Thomas = Steve Marangi), one for the photographer @luke_gentry_photography and drone pilot @dangibeau.beinghuman …so at least 16 of us gathered at the top of Rendezvous Mtn. Steve and David were acro paragliders! They treated Thomas & Ethan to extreme paragliding tricks!! I was so jealous.

At 10,450 feet, we watched first Riley, then Logan, Ethan, and Kyra run off the mtn laughing. We looked at each other, eyes wide, thinking “What have we done?”
In this replay of a #liveinstagram story you’ll In this replay of a #liveinstagram story you’ll get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what its like to travel with us. 
We are @yellowstonenps (my memoir opens here when I was 9 and our family got caught in a flash storm) and tomorrow we will drive to @glaciernps (where I worked the summer my mother died of the same disease that claimed my brother’s life the year before.). I share my encounter with park rangers at #yellowstonenps who told me that adults can earn a #juniorrangerbadge

Riley shares what it was like to paraglide !! Yes stay tuned for drone footage on that…
@mountainmodernjh is 10 miles from @grandtetonnps @mountainmodernjh is 10 miles from @grandtetonnps 12 miles from @jacksonhole and 55 miles from @yellowstonenps .

Arrived around 1am after driving 10 hrs it was extremely convenient to have a functional kitchen, two bathrooms, and the most comfortable sofa sleeper and king bed that I ever tried…the kind that makes you forget where you are and what you’re supposed to be doing. During ski season, guests have complimentary shuttle to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort @jacksonhole 

The best part was my youngest @loganohrides  figured out how to swim cheered on by her sister @rileyaustinoh and @k.o_adventures while dad recooperated from the long drive. 
#jacksonwy
#jacksonhole
#mountainmodern
#staywild
Sneak peak of a story Im working on about legalize Sneak peak of a story Im working on about legalized #psychadelicretreats.  This is one of the locations where @confluence.retreats operates in partnership with Omnia Group Ashland, a licensed-and-regulated Psilocybin Service Center, and Hi-U Foundation, a Nonprofit with the mission to steward high-quality transformational experiences using psilocybin in connection with the natural world. 

Thank you Myles Katz for sharing your thoughts about @9strangershulu and your extensive experience running safe research backed 3 and 5 day retreats.

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