Explore the tapestry
Story Categories
All stories written by me, unless noted as a collaboration.
Chronicles of edgy environments and experiences that leave us awe-struck and attentive — ready to learn lessons of humility, empathy, and purpose.
Stories of connections with elders or ancestors — through family lines or across cultures — that unearth a collective kinship, spark a creative endeavor, or preserve ancient wisdom.
Profiles of underdogs and experts exploring the frontiers of human knowledge, conducting groundbreaking research, and collaborating to achieve the unprecedented.
A Child Explorer in the Amazon
Originally published by Adventure Collection
Dad’s duffel bag was permanently damaged, but it was a small price to pay to meet a superhero, in my opinion. “Now I see why they warned us!” my mother sighed. As always, mom was right…
The Point of the Wilderness
Originally published by Hidden Compass
Eight thousand years ago, among the towering Andes and their yawning canyons, one choice changed everything. In those days, bands of hunter-gatherers made their living off of rivers…
For the Memories
Originally published by Geographic Expeditions
I cried twice while in Texas, one of them out of sheer terror. My dear boyfriend, Sean, was helping me load our gun when a 45-caliber pistol went off next to us, the violent blast so…
Sweet as Challah
Originally published by Hidden Compass
Written by Sonya Pevzner; Edited by Sabine K. Bergmann
On the morning of his fifth birthday in November of 1942, Victor Osherovich woke up in Volsk, a small, quiet town more than 500 miles from war-torn Moscow. A sleepy community on…
Wade in the Water
Originally published by Hidden Compass
Written by Alexandria Scott; Edited by Sonya Pevzner and Sabine K. Bergmann
Gazing out over an uneven checkerboard of green marshes and high-tide swells, I feel quiet and grounded. Flecks of Kelly-green wild grasses and golden-brown cattails enliven ribbons…
Old Clocks
Originally published by Hidden Compass
Written by Kelsey Camacho; Edited by Sabine K. Bergmann
The silence echoes from every surface: the walls of vacated buildings, the streetlamps, the tunnels leading up to the mine. It plays the settlement like an instrument. Even the wind…
When the World is Withdrawn
Originally published by Hidden Compass
Written by Sivani Babu; Edited by Sabine K. Bergmann
Once upon a time, I walked on stars. Distant suns shimmered above my head and beneath my feet as I stepped into a black inland sea only a few inches deep. I’d been waiting for…
What Walls Witnessed in Morocco
Originally published by Adventure Collection
I was just passing through. I had arrived in the golden sun of Moroccan spring as one more student in Fes — a taller, blonder, less Muslim, and more female version than the city’s…
A New Narrative for Volunteering Overseas
Originally published by Ethical Traveler
The narrative of a brave white savior swooping in to the developing world and saving the needy is dead. Or, at least, it’s no longer welcome. Take Louise Linton’s recent account…
Seeing America
Originally published by Bay Nature
Shayna Roosevelt had a clue hanging in her kitchen and she didn’t even know it. The clue was in the form of a poster, an image of silhouetted hikers trekking along purple-hued…