Given her extensive storytelling career, the Explorers Club thought Rachel would make a perfect Judge for its 2026 Epics of Exploration Photo Competition. After reviewing hundreds of entries alongside her fellow Judges, Rachel narrowed down her top 10 selections, then celebrated the winners in person at the Explorers Club Annual Dinner.
"Vagabonding" Author Rolf Potts Interviews Rachel
Rolf Potts is something of a legend in the travel world, thanks to his industry-changing book Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel. So, it was a treat for Rachel to see Rolf’s name hit her inbox with an invitation to participate in an interview.
Check out Rachel’s latest feature!
Explorers Club Taps Rachel for "ACCESS Webinar"
Rachel had a great time talking Effective Communication during The Explorers Club ACCESS Webinar series. The goal of Rachel’s talk was to invite listeners into their very own superpowers as everyday storytellers.
Give a listen to step into your superpowers.
Rachel Gives Lecture for The Explorers Club
Last week, Rachel had the privilege of giving a virtual lecture for The Explorers Club, an organization in which she’s proud to be a Fellow.
Her talk, “Live to Tell the Tale: Storytelling for Explorers”, reflected on how storytelling acts as the essential final leg of any expedition, turning individual discoveries into shared wisdom, and thereby expanding humanity’s knowledge, encouraging empathy, inspiring wonder, and creating a shared commitment to the planet we call home.
No matter who you are or what passions fuel you, this talk is *also* for you. Tune in to learn Rachel’s favorite tools and tricks for impactful storytelling, gleaned from nearly 20 years in the field.
WATCH
2025: A Year in Motion
As the year winds down, I’ve been reflecting on the miles covered and the lessons learned. It’s been a wild mix of high-octane projects and quiet moments in the wild. This year wasn't so much about checking boxes; it was about showing up fully to everything that was worth my “yes”—whether on a muddy trail or a red carpet.
Below are some highlights for which I’m thankful:
🌎 Working and exploring across 4 continents + 8 U.S. States
🚀 Covering launch preparations for NASA at Kennedy Space Center
🎵 Directing on new video content for Lady Gaga x YouTube
📹 Producing industry-changing events for clients like Anthropic, General Motors, Cognition, Intel, and HubSpot
📣 Delivering the opening keynote at Miami University’s Leadership Symposium on Why Women Deserve to Explore
🇧🇷 Working across three languages (English, Portuguese, and Spanish) in Brazil
⛑️ Earning my Wilderness First Responder (WFR) certification
🎥 Hosting the red carpet coverage for the Explorers Club Annual Dinner
📺 Producing 90+ new videos for my @rachelroams channels, spanning Europe, South America, the South Pacific, Central America, and the U.S.
🎤 Emceeing, moderating, and speaking at events like TGA Show and She Leads
🏆 Receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award from Oakwood High School
❤️ Volunteering as a Refugee Champion for UN Refugee Agency, a mentor through both The Explorers Club and Miami University, a and a trail maintenance crew member for Trailkeepers of Oregon
🎙️ Joining 10+ new podcasts and publications to talk storytelling and adventure
🌴 Kite boarding, kayaking, and swimming with sea turtles in the South Pacific
🐴 Exploring by whitewater raft and horseback in Montana
🚤 Searching for gators by jet boat in Florida
🦋 Marveling as my four year-old embraces curiosity, adventure, and an appreciation for nature (*and* racks up more extensive travels than I’d experienced by the time I started college)
To everyone who has supported this journey — colleagues, clients, and community — I can’t thank you enough for the trust and continued inspiration.
I’m headed into the new year with a full heart and a committed compass, and I can’t wait to see where 2026 takes us.
See you out there.
Rachel
HERE’S TO THE WHIRLWIND
The last three months have been wild ones, transporting me across the country and around the world for back-to-back projects and adventures. From red eye flights and late-night work sessions, to daybreak shoots and multilingual assignments, these months have tapped into every skillset I’ve honed over my nearly two decades of professional life. Below are a few highlights:
➕ Show and Content Producing news-breaking, industry-accelerating events such as:
GM Forward, an NYC press event helmed by General Motors leaders Mary Barra, Mark Royce, and Sterling Anderson, announcing GM’s evolution toward eyes-off driving, conversational AI, and a unified software platform
Merge, a São Paulo conference that celebrated Cognition’s Brazilian developer base, in the country where Devin’s first lines of code were written
Connection, an Intel summit in Sonoma that brought together tech leaders to partner on the future of chip-making, AI, and the industry as a whole
➕ Receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award from my alma mater alongside five other graduates who have, “made significant contributions as outstanding leaders in their field of work or in service to their community through local, state, national or international organizations, while maintaining high standards of integrity and character”.
➕ Completing my Wilderness First Responder certification, a comprehensive, 80+ hour medical training for individuals working or adventuring in remote areas, including in-depth patient assessments, medical and environmental emergency training, CPR, and more, in support of extended emergency care and remote evacuations.
➕ Joining as a guest for in podcasts and publications to talk storytelling, travel, and finding humor in the unexpected, including on JUMP with Traveling Jackie, and the Winging It Travel Podcast with James Hammond.
➕ Producing, filming, and exploring my way across two countries and six U.S. states (including by horseback, whitewater raft, and additional unique modes of transit).
Next up: I’m headed to the South Pacific for an adventure in the Cook Islands. I can’t wait to explore a new corner of our big, beautiful world — and share it with you on the other side.
Safe sojourns always,
Rachel
Rachel Featured on Winging It Podcast
Rachel enjoyed joining James Hammond to talk collaboration, adventure, and storytelling for the Winging It Travel Podcast. Links to the full conversation below!
iHeartRadio Winner: Rachel Joins "Jump with Jackie" Podcast
Rachel’s latest podcast feature is live — and *this* time it’s on an iHeartRadio winner!
Rachel recently connected with Jackie Nourse — adventure friend and fellow storyteller — for an episode of “Jump with Traveling Jackie”, the long-running series which just won the 2025 Best Travel Podcast at the #iHeartPodcastAwards.
Give a listen as the two travelers explore how:
- Curiosity compounds success
- Self-selection limits potential
- Mentorship plays a crucial role in growth
- Embracing what scares you opens new pathways to growth
+ more!
>> Listen on Apple
>> Listen on Spotify
That's a wrap on Anthropic "Code with Claude"!
That’s a wrap! I couldn’t be prouder of the dynamic, engaging, tech-industry-changing show that our teams at MAS & Anthropic produced for Code with Claude, Anthropic’s first-ever developer conference.
Welcoming over 500 attendees to San Francisco to deep-dive into tailor-made content across one news-breaking keynote, four broadcasts, and over 20 breakouts (in one day!), we certainly had a full slate. And it all went off swimmingly.
On stage, we not only welcomed luminary minds *but also* supported the brilliant Anthropic team through the launch of models Claude Opus 4 and Sonnet 4, which brought the Code with Claude house down (and subsequently broke the internet). If you haven’t yet heard of Anthropic or its AI models, look them up. They’re revolutionary.
As always, I’m honored to be trusted to produce projects in which people pour their hearts fully into the programming *and* the product, from the creatives who work behind the scenes building sets or slide decks to the speakers who inspire new ways of thinking on stage.
We needed each and every hand on deck for this one, and we got it. Kudos to the whole team!
-Rachel
Rachel Delivers Keynote: Why Women Deserve to Explore
Rachel was honored to deliver the opening keynote at Miami University’s Women Leadership Symposium last month.
She spent her session making a case for Why Women Deserve to Explore, extolling not only the virtues of far-flung adventure (which you know she loves), but also of stepping outside of one’s comfort zone *closer to home* to pursue activities that “scare us in a good way.”
Why ask that women stretch into new and exploratory spaces?
Because when women explore, they bring back more than just souvenirs. They bring back innovation, resilience, and a fresh perspective that benefits not only ourselves, but also our families, communities, and the world at large.
So: what scares YOU in a good way? What explorations could you embark upon that inspire fresh perspectives?
Rachel Red-Carpet Hosts Explorers Club Annual Dinner Coverage
✨ CHEERS TO THE EXPLORERS ✨
What a blessing it was to spend several late April days in in NYC with The Explorers Club, celebrating and communing with the dreamers, doers and change-makers who are working to improve our planet (*and* universe) for all of its inhabitants, great and small.
I’m honored to be a Fellow in The Explorers Club for my storytelling work, and I am delighted to uplift some of the world-changing stories that pass through the Club’s hallowed halls (including as red carpet host for this year’s gala, through which I interviewed exploration legends such as Victor L. Vescovo and Justin Fornal, as well as friends / next-generation change-makers like Callie Broaddus, Rebecca Hui & Ricardo A. Nascimento).
What IS The Explorers Club, you ask? It’s is a multidisciplinary, professional society dedicated to the advancement of field research, scientific exploration and resource conservation. It was founded in 1904 to support “the Scientific Exploration of Land, Sea, Air & Space”, and its members include the first people to visit the North & South Poles, the first to reach the Summit of Everest, *and* the first to set foot on the Moon.
Explorers Club an illustrious bunch, to say the least. And when it gathers, my mind cracks WIDE OPEN with inspiration, every. single. time.
-Rachel
2025 to Date
Man oh man, it’s been a whirlwind year… and it’s only April!
Over the last couple of months, I’ve loved:
🚀 Going behind the scenes at NASA Kennedy for the Crew-10 launch in Florida
🎤 Emceeing and producing the 2025 TGA Show in Las Vegas
🎥 Producing the first-ever Spotlight event for Hubspot in NYC
📣 Joining Travel Oregon as a panelist alongside game-changing entrepreneurs in Portland
🌎 Publishing 18 new videos across my @rachelroams channels from across Europe, South America, the South Pacific, Central America, and the USA
Over the *next* two months, I’m looking forward to:
💃 Hosting the red carpet coverage at the Explorers Club Annual Dinner in NYC (plus swapping tales of adventure with my fellow Explorers Club members!)
🎙️ Delivering a keynote address on Why Women Deserve to Explore at Miami University’s annual Leadership Symposium
🤖 Producing a new event in San Francisco for Anthropic, the company behind Claude AI
👩💻 Teaming up with a handful of my favorite brands to produce new storytelling campaigns
📹 Bringing you fresh, new content from around the world across my social channels
If you’d like to team up, don’t hesitate to reach out — we’ll see what dreams we can make happen!
* Images by Andrea Lonas Photography for Travel Oregon
Rachel's First Podcast Feature of 2025: Your Limitless Life
Rachel’s first podcast feature of 2025 is live! Rachel enjoyed sitting down with fellow creator Christina McEvoy (@macs_explore) to discuss effective storytelling, plus wax philosophical about travel, parenting, and life more broadly.
In Christina’s words: “Whether you’re a seasoned creator or just getting started, this conversation is packed with insights to help you hone your voice, build trust through vulnerability, and stand out in the crowded world of content creation…
[Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn in this episode:
Finding Your Voice
The Power of Vulnerability
Mistakes to Avoid
Crafting Stories That Resonate]”
If you’re looking to take your storytelling to the next level and connect more authentically with your audience, this episode is for you. Rachel’s insights and experiences will leave you inspired and ready to share your unique voice with the world.”
>> LISTEN
Cheers to 2024!
Cheers to the close of another year! 2024’s been a rollercoaster, full of the highs, lows, and in-betweens that make life a true adventure.
As the year comes to an end, I’m reflecting on some of the year’s highlights, both professional and personal. This year, I’m particularly proud to have:
— Produced keynotes, awards shows, and live event programming for clients like Google, Intel & Braze, delighting thousands of attendees from around the world
— Consulted for 10 iconic brands and agencies across the media, advertising, travel, and tech spaces, including YouTube, Meta, and MAS
— Hosted 30+ media segments as an on-camera travel expert for TV & radio stations across the nation
— Shot and produced 51 new travel videos for my @rachelroams channels, with content spanning 12 countries and 5 continents
— Delivered keynote speeches, led panels, and moderated book launches
— Written for publications such as National Geographic, AFAR, Hemispheres, USA Today, and Parents
— Joined a whole bunch of podcasts as a featured guest
— Explored and worked across 8 countries and 8 U.S. states
— Glacier trekked, kayaked, SAT ON A MARS ROVER, indoor skydived, snowshoed, went big-tree climbing, camped, bouldered, summited mountains, and journeyed over 1600 miles on foot
— Run my fastest timed mile since junior high school (6:29!)
— Mentored students and young professionals via The Explorers Club & Miami University
— Served as a Refugee Champion for the UN Refugee Agency
— Volunteered for organizations such as Trailkeepers of Oregon
— Delighted in (and was commensurately challenged by) parenting a just-turned three year-old
— Celebrated 10 years of marriage!
It’s been a wild and winding year, and those highlights serve to remind me that for every valley there’s a summit, and for every challenge there’s a community with whom to problem-solve.
Thanks for being my community,
Rachel
Nat Geo Has Rachel Weigh in on Winter Gear
Rachel’s latest feature is live — this time with National Geographic!
Rachel has spent a lot of time in the Arctic and Antarctic, sometimes for months at a time producing and shooting TV series for networks like Discovery and Nat Geo. One time, while producing Ice Road Truckers, Rachel’s eyes momentarily froze shut during a white-out blizzard. That same winter, she very nearly got left behind in the middle of the Arctic night when the trucker she was filming left her behind on the desolate Dalton Highway in sub-zero temps. (Thankfully, she was able to catch up to the 18-wheeler on foot before the frostbite could set in throughout herfingers. One of her colleagues was not so lucky.)
All that to say: winter gear is important to Rachel. It has kept her warm — and kept her alive. If you’re looking for good winter footwear this season, this article has you covered!
READ: 9 of the best winter boots for women
KATU Taps Rachel to Share Winter Travel Wisdom
Rachel enjoyed returning to KATU’s AM Northwest today for a new segment! If you want to know why Helen Raptis & Rachel are chatting about spare underwear, running out of gas while road tripping, or sweating it out in Tahiti, check out Rachel’s latest travel segment. It’s chock full of holiday travel tips.
WATCH
Rachel Joins Media in Minutes Podcast
Rachel recently joined Communications Redefined for the #MediaInMinutes podcast, sharing storytelling tips, travel recommendations, and advice on what NOT to do when you contact journalists with a pitch.
Give a listen
KGW Welcomes Rachel to Talk Holiday Travel
Rachel had a great time returning to KGW for a new segment on "Hello, Rose City!", this time to share holiday travel tips that can help you save money *and* save your sanity.
WATCH
Rachel Shares Fall Travel in 25+ TV Interviews
Rachel always has fun sharing travel with others—particularly when she gets to do so via 25+ back-to-back news interviews in just *one* morning! 📺
Here’s a fall travel segment from her most recent round of TV interviews. Hope you learn something new—and feel inspired to book that trip!
WATCH
Rachel Produces 1200-Person Live Event
“That’s a wrap! I couldn’t be more proud of the dynamic, engaging, wildly colorful show that my teams at MAS & Braze put on for Braze Forge 2024.
Welcoming over 1200 attendees to Las Vegas to deep-dive into tailor-made content across three keynotes, one awards show, a digital webinar, multiple livestreams, and nearly 40 breakouts and workshops (not to mention heaps of other mastermind-style sessions + activations), we certainly had our hands full.
On stage, we welcomed luminary talents such as Katie Ledecky, Alex Morgan, Daniel Lamarre, and Vince Kadlubek, and supported the brilliant folks at Braze to share the customer engagement adventure with the Braze Forge audience.
As always, I’m honored to be trusted to produce projects in which people pour their hearts fully into the programming, from the creatives who work behind the scenes building sets or slide decks to the speakers who inspire new ways of thinking on stage.
We needed each and every hand on deck, and we got it. Kudos to the whole team!
Rachel”
