The first time I went to a Latin Outdoors event was for a ca The Boston Harbor Islands.

That was the first time I spent time with the Latinx community in New England after living here for seven year .

I think I met two Latinos in I didn't have a community.

When I said before that I was creating an outdoor community, it wasn't a Latinx community.

It was a community of people that did outdoor activities but were mostly white, American.

It wasn't a community where I had cultural similarities.

I think t at was always a big hole in my heart, not having that cultural connection with other people.

When I went to that Latino Outdoors event, that was the first time I felt t at there was hope of having a Latinx community in the outdoors.

I've been in the United States for 10 years.

I came to attend college at the niversity of Maine.

I got a to study there.

So, I came, and after that I moved to Boston.

I was there for seven years.

And I have been living in New Hampshire for two years.

The definition of being outside when I was growing up was very different to what people do as an outdoor activity here in the U.S.

There, it was more r lated to agriculture, like being in the countryside or farms with horses, cows and sheep.

There were a lot of experiences in the ocean, going to the coastline, and in H nduras we have beautiful beaches, a lot of reefs.

So those were my first experiences being outdoors.

When I came to Maine, it was a huge cultural shock for me when I went to college and I had a friend in school that was very into outdoor activities.

I think it was during my junior year where she planned everything.

In one weekend I went climbing, hiking and camping for the first time.

In that time, the truth is that I hadn't processed, in depth, the meaning of that weekend or the meaning of her # as a white, American woman # sharing that knowledge with me.

Now, 10 ears later, I realized that was the first time that I did any ou door activity in the way people in the U.S. define it.

Since tha moment I said to myself #I want to do more in the outdoors.

I want to explore more.

I want to see what things I can... How far can I push myself physically?

What are my limits?

But also, where this activity can take me?# I started to get more involved i these activities and what I do with Latino Outdoors.

We have a chapter in Boston.

At a personal level, this is a way that I can help others that are in the same place I was # I want to help them so that they don't experience the same things I did.

You have to go...

So the other way I went this way first, but now I'm going counterclockwise.

So it's just a matter of like am I going this way or am I going that way first.

Ok. Yeah.

But it's always just one turn an then the half is when you put it through.

I know how it feels to want to do something or not knowing if you can do som thing, but not having resources or not having a way to get there.

What we do a Latino Outdoors is make it easier to access outdoor activities whi e sharing resources for the community.

For example, if we have a surf e ent, we provide the surfboards and the instruction.

If people have never done it, that's not a problem.

Anyone can go without previous knowledge, with ut even knowing what surfing is or without ever having seen it, and have there to teach you how to do it nd how to do it with a community that supports you without judgme t. So we are trying to provide all the resources people might need to do the activity.

They just have to show up.

It's so hard being in this country as an immigrant.

You feel like you have to fight every day.

You have to keep that mindset of #I have to keep fighting, I have to be grateful for what I have.# here is a lot of guilt that is involved wit because you can always be doing more.

It comes from a place of wanting to get ahead and to have more resources and provide for your family.

We turn into people that don't k ow how to stop or how to rest.

Even when you have a day off, you are always thinking, "how can I be productive today?"

So the activities we are doing with Latino Outdoors and this community that we are creating We want to create a space where eople feel safe redefining what it means to be outside, acknowledging that you can rest.

That you don't have to...

Being outside doesn't mean that you need to be working.

Your definition of the outdoors can be being outside on your por h drinking a coffee, in your backyard listening to music... That could be your definition of being outside.

It's a place where you can find spirituality.

It's a place where you can find self healing, things like that.

You can reflec .

It's a place where you can be with yourself and internalize it and share that feeling with others a ound you.

And it's a place of joy.

And every time we host an activity, when we fin sh it's very rewarding because we're with people who have never done the activity that we're doing.

There are a lot of people that our events that have never gone iking, camping or anything like that.

They don't know what a sleeping ag is.

Those are things that we re giving that space to the community, and it's so rewarding to see people eel just so happy to be there, s happy to be learning something new, so happy to find a community.

I believe that for me, my purpos is to create and be part of a movement to reduce the barrier for the marginalized communities in the outdoors.