Welcome to Liz Explores!
I write to make sense of it all—the sadness, grief, and loss; the hope and the joy; the dreams and the longings; the moments I feel most alive, and the moments I can barely hang on.
Welcome to Liz Explores!
I’m so grateful that you’re here. My name is Liz Medford, and I’ve always dreamed of being a writer. After five years of running my business as a life coach and helping other people follow their dreams, I realized it was time to pursue mine!
I love adventure—hiking, biking, running, paddling, cross-country skiing—any way to move my body in nature, especially if I can enjoy it with my two dogs, Baxter and Laney. I’ve backpacked 750 miles of the Appalachian Trail, and I’ve peak-bagged the 100 highest mountains in New England twice (including a full round in winter—my logo is a photo from my finishing peak, an epic 20-mile slog through three feet of snow!). The White Mountains of New Hampshire are my home base, and I love exploring New England and beyond.
My husband Seth married in 2020 and spent years pursuing our dream of starting a family. We experienced five miscarriages and endured a year of fertility treatments before deciding to take a break. We bought the Dream Catcher, our 1999 Roadtrek camper van, and I spent 15 weeks driving 14,000 miles solo to Alaska and back, with Seth flying out for our belated honeymoon.
I returned home when our foster care license was approved to pursue adoption, but sadly our matches didn’t work out. In grief again, I got back on the road for six months, traveling the Baja peninsula in Mexico and visiting dozens of America’s national parks. I remain torn between my longing for a family and my thirst for adventure. My writing explores these themes as I contemplate the question, “What comes next after infertility?”
I write to make sense of it all—the sadness, grief, and loss; the hope and the joy; the dreams and the longings; the moments I feel most alive, and the moments I can barely hang on. I struggle with depression and anxiety, and I think it’s important to talk about those things, too.
Thank you for coming along for the ride!
What to expect
I share “raw and relatable” stories from my life about infertility, mental health, and adventure. I usually write a few times a month, and when you subscribe, I send my essays straight to your inbox. There's no schedule, so every piece will be a surprise! Sometimes life happens and I disappear for a few weeks, and when I come back, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do. You get it all, whenever it happens!
How you can support my writing
If you enjoy my work, please like, comment, and share! You can download the Substack app to join the conversation, and follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Join the Inner Circle
For just $36/year or $5/month you can subscribe to my Inner Circle, where I share my most personal writing (the stories that feel too raw to post publicly). For the cost of a nice book, you can read the book of my life as it’s being written, and support me along the way!
Subscribers at the Founding Members level ($100/year or above) receive a personalized post card from my next adventure–just reply to one of my emails after you join and let me know your mailing address.
You can also give a gift subscription to someone you know, or donate a subscription to someone you don’t know (if you’d like to join the Inner Circle but don’t have the means, please reply to any of my emails or comment on a post and let me know).
I would love it if you’d leave a comment and let me know what brought you here. We’re in for one heck of a ride together!
Talk soon,
Liz
p.s. Do you love listening to stories? Subscribe to my podcast feed and I’ll read them to you.
Got a minute? Come on over and introduce yourself in the group chat:
Here are some stories to get you started:
Baja Nearly Broke Me
For the first time in more than four months, rain drops dribble down the windows of my van. At the end of November, I drove through a day of rain in the Appalachians as I headed south from New Hampshire en route to Mexico for the winter. But I haven’t seen wet weather since I crossed into Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Southern California, and on to Baja i…
Celebrating Me
As I lie tucked into the blankets in my van under a cold starry sky, next to a glacial lake on a mountain pass somewhere near the borders of Alaska, British Columbia, and the Yukon, I am in awe of the woman who made this dream come true.
Van Life and Mental Health
Five weeks ago, I pulled my 1999 Roadtrek camper van out of the driveway of my home in New Hampshire, waved goodbye to my husband Seth, and started bawling.
The End of the Road
“I think I’m done,” I told Seth as he stirred under the covers to turn off his alarm clock.
Meet the Dream Catcher
“Turn around!” I shouted at Seth in the middle of our two-hour drive home from the fertility clinic in Vermont. “Did you see that?”
Soooo many your post titles have got my attention... I'm grabbing a cuppa and I'm going to have a read ! 🙏☕
B R A V E ❤️