Veronica Rojas was born in Quito and raised between the Andes mountains and the Amazon jungle in Ecuador.
She holds an environmental engineering degree and a master’s in engineering for sustainable development from the University of Cambridge. After working for years in the field, she decided to change her path, to make a living doing what she loves.
She is passionate about trail running and trekking. She has lived in seven different countries and completed several ultra-running races in more than 15 countries.
She is the co-founder of Vagabond Trails, an adventure travel company that organises amazing trail running and trekking experiences in different parts of the world.
In her free time, she loves to pack a light vest and go fastpacking. She does this either alone or with friends. She is also a certified Life Coach and loves to share her knowledge with other women who want to feel empowered and learn more about trekking or fastpacking.
She has an online course called The Adventure Formula where she teaches the mindset, the knowledge, and the skills you need to stop being a spectator and become the main character of your adventures.
Veronica has a very gentle, calm manner and the conversation is wide ranging from spending summers in the jungle growing up and the freedom that gave her to the empowerment you can feel from doing things that challenge you and push you out of your comfort zone.
We discuss keeping doing the things you love regardless of other people’s opinions or reactions and the change of direction she took when she fell in love with running. We also talk about not being chosen for the UTMB (Ultra Trail de Mont Blanc) lottery and how disappointed she was in their lack of commitment to equality for women. Find out why, when she did finally get a place to run, her heart just wasn’t in it.
She tells me about her course, designed to inspire primarily Latin Americans, about planning adventure, how to fastpack, plan etc including a great deal on mindset.
Lastly, we talk about her recent miscarriage and how, for her, breaking the silence has helped deal with the shame she felt, how she learned from the grief and her realisation that she really, really wants to be a mum.
Her #challengecatie is to read “How to Heal Your Life” by Louise Hay. https://www.louisehay.com/
Instagram: @veronicarojas.u
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/veronicarojasu
https://www.veronicarojasu.com/
Podcast: “Indomable” https://www.veronicarojasu.com/podcast-1