Sian Lewis is an acclaimed author behind the award-winning blog , The Girl Outdoors, and also two influential books. Sian is a leading voice in the outdoor community. Her first book is celebrated as an ‘outdoor bible for all women looking for information and inspiration to get out in the great outdoors.’ With her knowledge and experience, Sian has become a beacon for women navigating the traditionally male-dominated outdoor industry. I sat down with Sian to discuss all things outdoorsy and delve into her experiences and insights as a woman thriving in a challenging industry.
Sian’s love for the outdoors began in her childhood. Fond memories of walking with her parents and cold-water swimming with her grandmother in Ireland laid the foundation for her lifelong passion. “I just absolutely loved it and carried on ever since,” she says. This early connection with nature has driven her career and personal pursuits.
I write this as the only female out of the five others that write for this magazine. I, like Sian, grew up loving the outdoors and that’s continued throughout as I get older. For me, there isn’t a better feeling than after a day spent outdoors, swimming, hiking or climbing. Whatever it is, I feel like my body is always thankful after spending time in nature. But I am always faced with the question of why is it such a male heavy world? I know plenty of girls who love going outdoors, I climb regularly with a few girl-friends but there just seems to be more boys in nearly every area.
After working in magazines for a few years, Sian took the plunge into freelance writing, focusing on travel and adventure. Her blog, The Outdoors Girl, emphasises beginner-friendly and accessible outdoor activities, particularly in the UK. “Walking is a great way to get outdoors more and leave the city behind,” she said, highlighting the importance of sustainable travel and exploring local landscapes.
Sian’s journey into the outdoors wasn’t without its challenges. Solo travel after university was a significant confidence booster. “As a young woman alone, travelling the world and volunteering was such a huge confidence boost,” she said. This period helped her realise her capability to explore independently and with others, further fueling her passion for the outdoors.
Sian said : “When I was around 21 or 22, there weren’t a lot of young women kind of solo camping or solo hiking. Now it’s started to really change, which is wonderful. So it was about wanting to encourage other women to do those things confidently and to enjoy themselves.
“I really threw myself into going off hiking, learning new sports. And as I started working as a writer, I really enjoyed trying new things and writing about them. So I’ve done a whole range of things, writing articles about things like free diving, or cliff camping. But also, there’s just lovely weekends, where you take a tent and head out on a path and have a swim somewhere. That’s my idea of that’s my idea of heaven. So I really want to encourage that.”
Sian is thankful of the way social media can help other women look to their peers, she said: “I think social media gets a bit of a bad rap. It can be, there’s lots of negative sides to it. But one of the positive sides is that you can see people like you, out there doing cool stuff. So you can see loads of women confidently exploring, travelling, and hiking. So you can go looking for those inspiring people who you’d like to be like. So it has definitely improved in that way.”
The journey towards gender balance in the outdoors is ongoing. “It’s still a male-dominated world. I don’t think it’s there yet. The numbers do show that it is still mostly men who are interested in outdoor pursuits, but they are starting to improve.”
Sian said that she used to do quite a lot of climbing, “I would say it is still mostly men who are in that area. But it is improving. I would not be surprised now at my local climbing wall to see a big group of girls climbing all together. That’s really normal. When I started out, I think that was still changing.”
Seeing more women in outdoor pursuits is now more common, whether it’s groups of women hiking or mixed-gender groups enjoying nature together.
Sian said : “Recently I’ve been off with female climbing instructors and female mountaineering instructors. And I think that the space is really starting to feel more female friendly. However, there’s still not a big representation of people from different backgrounds and the outdoors, it does feel like a very white male world still. So I think that there’s still some work to be done there. So whilst there’s more women, it’d be great to see more diversity.” she says, advocating for more inclusion and representation of people from different backgrounds in outdoor activities.
