Emily’s Trust
Following her instincts, Emily Thompson stepped outside her comfort zone to dedicate her life to the land — and people — she loves
By: Emily Thompson / 7-Minute Read
In 2002 I spent 10 days traveling down the Grand Canyon with 21 researchers and scientists studying a fish called the Humpback Chub. I’d never been to Grand Canyon. I’d never been on a river trip. In many ways, I hiked into the Grand Canyon and I never looked back.
During those 10 days, those 21 people became my family. We were surviving, moving from camp to camp. Working day and night, sampling populations of the native Humpback Chub. I was out of my comfort zone at first, but I settled into it. That experience of living in a wild situation with crazy weather —and sometimes crazy people —taught me how strong and capable I am. When I returned to the place I called home, I was a different person.
When I returned to my trailer after that trip, I slept on my back deck. I couldn’t sleep inside. I was mind-blown from that first trip. I love putting myself outside my comfort zone. I think that’s the only way we can remember how strong and resilient we are. People live in fear of things we can’t or shouldn’t do. We’re afraid of trying.
Throughout my life, I’ve trusted my instincts to lead me where I needed to go — especially when they took me way outside my comfort zone.
Just out of college, I was chosen for a marketing internship with J. Walter Thompson, the advertising firm for Ford Motor Company in San Jose, Costa Rica. It was a great job that most people would have loved to have, but I knew I couldn’t spend three months wearing panty hose and working in an office building. I knew I was in the wrong place. Then I met a Costa Rican woman who said I needed to go to Tamarindo and go surfing. So, I did it. It was a life changing experience. When I returned from Costa Rica, I accepted a job with J. Walter Thompson in Detroit, MI, and succumbed to the pantyhose and heels I swore I wouldn’t. 6 months into the job, I found myself having panic attacks and knew I was not where I was supposed to be.
From there, I found an internship through the Student Conservation Association, and that landed me at Lake Mead National Recreation Area. I lived in a little trailer. My parents thought I was crazy. I left a well-paying corporate job and was going to make $500 a month and live in a trailer. I loved it. I never returned to the office — or wearing pantyhose, for that matter.
During my time at Lake Mead, I got into fish biology and research. We were studying the razorback sucker, raising them at a hatchery and putting them back into the lake. All these endemic species of fish were going extinct, and I was working with a group that was trying to save them. My boss was awesome. I met these fish and wildlife guys and they suggested I volunteer in the Grand Canyon sampling Humpback Chub. So, I followed up on their lead and that led me to that initial river trip that shaped my life.
Most of my career with GCT was spent working in the volunteer program at the Trust. I’d take people out on trips, and work with federal agencies, university researchers and native American farmers. We restored springs, did climate research, built fences, documented beaver habitat, set wildlife cameras, and more. I’ve been a river guide in Grand Canyon and Moab. I’ve taken people on private tours. I’ve led college field trips in Montana for an outdoor education group. I’ve worked for a caterer and for a wedding and events planner. I loved it all.
Working for GCT gave me the opportunity to have more of an impact on people and provide opportunities for people of all ages to experience the outdoors. I want to share the magic that I know can happen when you get outside and get your hands dirty. With the presence of smartphones, computer screens and technology, humans have become increasingly disconnected from the earth and each other. It’s causing more problems than we realize. After nine years working for GCT, I took a three-month sabbatical and went to Hawaii. I rented a Jeep fully rigged with camping gear. It was so cool! I wondered if anyone was renting Jeeps like these in the southwest. It seemed like a great business idea. So I did some research and found out there was a need. (This was before vanlife took off.) I began to realize I was ready for a new life adventure. I bought my first bright blue jeep with some money my grandfather left me and started Southwest Jeep Adventures.
I loved working for the GCT and I wanted to work in the development program where I could work from anywhere and run my new Jeep rental business. I proposed a new position to design donor trips. They loved the idea! I put my house in Flagstaff on the market and it sold in two days. My life was rapidly changing, but I had one small problem: I didn’t know where I was going to live.
Once again, I trusted my instincts.
I’d played and worked in Moab, Utah and loved it there. I had a vision that I’d live in the Moab area someday. So, I put most of my belongings in storage, packed my Jeep with some essentials (clothes, a few mementos and my dog) and headed to Moab — not knowing a soul there but certain of my decision. Of course, there were other events happening in the world that I had would soon discover.
It was February 2020. I had all these Jeep bookings and the biz off was taking off. Within a month of being here, COVID hit. Everything fell apart. With Moab completely shut down, I got to experience it the way few people get to. People were scared. But I found it liberating. I didn’t know how I was going to make any money, but it was part of my new adventure.
During this time, my community just sort of came to me. I found an apartment on a whim. I went for a hike and made a wonderful new friend. I put myself in places and the Universe opened up and said, “Yes.”
I trust in the Universe. I can’t explain it. I don’t know if I just pay attention to signs or doors that open. I’ve learned to trust in myself. I’m not going to make a wrong decision. Every decision is going to lead to something else. But somehow it always works out. I found work, a community of friends, all the things I need. It’s all there as long as I listen to my instincts and my heart and follow. Someone’s looking out for me. There’s a reason for all of it. I don’t’ have a five-year plan. I’m just going with it.
More than anything, I want people to connect with the land in a way that’s going to make them care about the place forever — a way that you can’t get sitting in your car.
My jeep rental business is about getting people out into the land. I know the power of nature to heal and help us reconnect with ourselves. Being disconnected from the land is at the root of so many problems like depression and anxiety. Research shows that spending a night sleeping under the stars in nature resets our natural circadian rhythms, relieves stress, enhances our moods, and improves cognitive function!
Today, I’m happier here and in my life right now than I have been in years. Sometimes people are afraid of change. They fear the unknown. I thrive in it. I really do. It’s all worked out. I don’t know why. Sure, there are moments when I wake up in the middle of the night anxious and terrified. What am I doing?
But I quickly I shut that down and ask myself: What’s the worst that can happen? I’ll start over. I feel supported by this amazing group of people. The business is working. I’m transitioning out of the Trust now and putting all my energy and creativity fully into this business. I’m really excited —and a little scared —but I’m confident that it’s what I need to do.
About the Author:
Emily Thompson, owner of Southwest Jeep Adventures grew up on the Texas Gulf Coast. Her path led her west to Grand Canyon in 2002 where she volunteered on a fisheries research trip on the Colorado River and had a life changing experience. She fell in love with the desert southwest, and vowed to spend a career working to protect and preserve the public lands of the region. Emily spent the last 18 years studying the impacts of Glen Canyon Dam on the downstream environment, got her Master’s Degree in Environmental Studies, led volunteer groups on research and hands-on conservation projects for the Grand Canyon Trust, worked with young people to advocate for environmental and social justice in the region, and worked as a commercial tour guide and river guide. A current resident of Moab, UT, Emily spends all her free time on public land, whether hiking up mountains in national forests, backpacking or canyoneering through desert canyons on BLM land, or rowing her boat down rivers across the west. Emily looks to public lands to find solitude, adventure, peace and rejuvenation.
Southwest Jeep Adventures is a culmination of Emily’s time spent in the southwest, and combines all her experience, knowledge and passions from the last 18 years into a new purpose to help others experience the same love and respect for this landscape that she does.
