Thanks for sharing your travels, sights, sounds, music, experiences and thoughts as you trek many trails around the world. I’m happy to be trekking vicariously with you. Suzann W

You are so strong, you are so brave, I lot forward to you returning to the podcast very soon to share your adventures with us all. Lots of good vibes and prayers your way.

Not only is there interesting info but Alison has such a happy, gentle, and calm tone voice. Great storytelling.

It’s so well produced - Alison’s voice is so comforting and expressive. I love all the captured sounds in the background as it really paints a picture in my mind of how her experience unfolds. Her joyfulness along her journeys is inspiring. I started listening to it as I prep for the AZT and have learned so much. Thank you, Alison!

Great stories and above and beyond storytelling. Very well done excellent artistry 💕👍🏻

There’s not a lot of great outdoor podcast especially for women but Allison does it right I’m hooked I want to hear her beautiful voice talk about getting ready for the outdoors the challenges and miracles

Descriptions of real life on the trail, told with such vivid language and care that it’s practically poetic. Thank you so much for the time you put into each story...I’m hooked.

I was listening to Minnesota Public Radio the other day and realized I hadn’t heard one of my favorite classical music hosts, Alison Young in quite awhile. I knew she did hikes and had taken a leave of absence sometime ago for a trek. Doing some searching I’ve found the bionic, intrepid hiker. Good to hear Alison’s lovely voice, thoughtful insights, and beautiful music as she travels along! I just listened to my first “Pee Rag” podcast and enjoyed it very much. Wishing Alison continued happy, albeit challenging, trails ahead! John H., Minneapolis, MN

I am glad to have been introduced to this podcast.

I love this podcast! Alison tells about her hiking adventures in such an engaging and creative way - I love the combination of her voice, the nature sounds, and flute music. It’s inspiring me as I pore over maps and lists of equipment, planning my own first through-hike!

If you seek a wonderful storyteller, with the eyes of a naturalist, the cadence of a voice artist, and the music of a world class flutist, you’ve come to the right place! Alison’s sensitivity and exploration of her internal and external life experiences greatly enhances the power of these podcasts. Hike on in!

The Pee Rag Podcast is a must listen for anyone seeking more adventure in their life! Alison Young is an eloquent and inspiring storyteller as she takes us on the journey of the Blissful Hiker’s adventures around the world. And to top it all of, the story is set to a soundtrack of Alison performing beautiful flute music!

Join Alison Young to get inspired and follow in her foot steps or blaze your own trail. She weaves great story telling with audio that make you feel like you are right there on the trail with her. I highly recommend listening to this podcast to get you in the mood for a great hike or exploring nature across the world.

Alison has an amazing talent for writing and then speaking about her travels! She describes every detail of the trail including hiking and weather conditions,vegetation ,wild life and the people she meets. Her expressive voice against a wonderful soundtrack of her performances as a professional flutist makes for a masterful presentation.

I have known Alison for quite some time, and was always impressed with her talents that have taken many different forms. She has always brought enthusiasm and expertise to everything she has accomplished. But I must say that she blew me away with these podcasts - they are expertly done with her fantastic voice, and create a narrative that captures her amazing experiences in travel and hiking. These are much more than hiking experiences, though - these podcasts contain a compelling story about an exceptional life: you will be thoroughly entertained, moved, and even learn about things you had no idea about, and you will be very glad that you did.

I am always happy to see another episode of the Pee Rag. Your descriptions of the landscapes and your enthusiasm for your adventures make me want to be walking with you. Thanks too for talking about the gear you’re using. I always appreciate hearing what works well. We’ve all been burned by bad gear. So keep on walking. Keep us informed about where you’re going, what you’re seeing, what you’re hearing, and what you’re thinking. I’ll stay tuned.

I enjoy the podcasts of Alison Young-the Pee Rag, Blissful Hiker- describing her backpacking adventures in New Zealand, on Pacific Crest trails, and Minnesota. With Alison’s wonderful prose and musings, her incredible photographs and accompanying music (performed by Alison), you are there WITH her, sharing the experience. I can no longer backpack but listening to these podcasts helps me relive what I loved. It is rare to find a podcast with everything- articulate writing and insights, beautiful narration by the author (she has the perfect voice and intonation), topped off with perfect photos! She has a rare eye and ear and truly observes. She is a lovely companion. I look forward to these podcasts more than any others-it makes my day when it arrives. Jennine S.

Alison is a wonderful storyteller! This podcast is engaging, funny and soothing. I find myself transported to where she is and envious of her adventures.

I have followed the hiker many times and you should too.

I love listening to Alisons stories of her backpacking adventures! She’s witty and entertaining and because of her I know I too can hike my hike solo. And as a bonus you get to hear her play her flute!

I have been listening to Alison’s blogs since she started her traverse of the entire length of New Zealand several years ago The music and her expressive voice draw amazing and sometimes funny pictures. I look forward to each installment!

Alison transports her listeners into the wilderness with inspiring, descriptive and captivating accounts of her adventures. Paired with evocative music and her superb voice artistry, it is a podcast of outstanding quality and unique content. I can’t wait to hear more!

I was fortunate to have read Alison’s blogs as she hiked the Pacific Coast Trail - I was on my own journey reading her blogs, almost daily experiencing the emotional visual and physical of her life on the trail. Alison is my friend of a few years, but I hadn’t experienced her genius as I did with her blog and now with the Pee Rag Podcast where she brings together her voice, her soul, wisdom and the ability to tell you stories of her personal journey and hiking experiences in a way that puts you right there with her. I encourage you to read and listen to as much of her hiking experiences as you can - she is a brilliant woman, artist and story teller.

I may be somewhat prejudiced, since Alison is my much loved stepdaughter, but the Pee Rag podcasts do a truly amazing job of taking the listener on wonderful adventures with The Blissful Hiker. Using only her very expressive voice and her recorded sound effects, Alison gives the hearer the feeling of an actual visual experience. Thanks, Alison!

Alison authentically and beautifully gives a window into being on the trail and outside for reals. She is true sheroine giving me inspiration to follow in her footsteps and take in every moment and view I encounter and being in the moment. Ohmmmmm....

Your first Pee Rag episode was great, Alison! And I am truly honored to be the one who bought your professional flute! You are a fantastic flute teacher and I am having my own blissful adventures playing! Thank you!!

The greatest success of The Pee Rag is its ability to completely transport the listener to the Te Aroroa in a way I never thought possible through a podcast. This is the perfect culmination of Alison’s many talents, combining her insatiable curiosity with vibrantly evocative storytelling, intricately curated audio snippets, and a window into the mental and emotional trials of her enormous undertaking. At times tranquil, at other times raw, but at all times real, it is the perfect bingeworthy listen for the avid hiker, inspiration seeker, or anyone desiring a mental escape to an exotic and ephemeral place.

The Blissful Hiker provides hours of Audio/Video enjoyment. This hiker is fearless and joyous. She enjoys her alone-ness as well as learning from hikers she encounters. Her photos are National Geographic quality. I can't wait for future postings!

Alison not only gives us a glimpse into life on a fantastic and challenging trail, she takes hiking podcasts to the next level by enveloping us in a beautiful soundscape. Delivered with Alison’s keen writing, production, and music skills, this podcast is a delight from start to finish.

It’s such a treat to listen to The Pee Rag podcast! Alison Young’s melodic voice is the perfect companion to her engaging story of hiking the entire New Zealand Te Araroa Trail on her own. I love hearing her daily progress with natural birdsong and other background sounds of the journey, along with her musings on life. I know hiking the Te Araroa is not in my actual future, so I love experiencing it virtually through Alison’s very relatable and poetic descriptions. Thank you, Alison!

Alison enlightens and entertains the listener with stories of her adventures and with the deep, personal insights that arise when one spends that many hours walking alone. It’s a great way to vicariously experience these long hikes since many of us will never have the ability or stamina to do them ourselves. Really entertaining.

In the early 1990s Alison shared with me a journal she'd kept of a trek she made on the flanks of Nanga Parbat. Her writing style was both lean and florid at the same time; efficient and enjoyable; spare yet satisfying. One entry was short enough to remember verbatim these 25+ years later: "Had diarrhea. Long day." While it hadn't meant to be humorous, in the reading it was initially funny, followed by a sense of the deadly seriousness of having diarrhea at - what? 4000m - on the flanks of Nanga Parbat. A year and a half ago I followed Alison's path as she blogged her way down the length of New Zealand. This was the same prose, the same observant and aware mind, the same gripping reading. I am looking forward to The Pee Rag.

Enjoyed being on the trail with Alison and hearing her adventures. A nice mix of voice, music, and the sounds of nature, along with insights on hiking the Te Araroa in NZ. Ready to go to NZ for Kiwi hospitality. But I will have to stick with a virtual hike. Thanks, Alison, for taking us along with you.

This podcast offers insights (while most traveloguers offer fleeting, visual moments), replete with an abundance of sensory delights that allow sonic visuals to play out within your mind, as the listener. Excited to hear future adventure-stories, and let the hiker trek out on her own, with her own voice as her guide. Not just for planning a trip, but for living beyond one's personal experience.

As close as we can get—without being there—to knowing how it feels to walk the length of New Zealand. Alison’s account is textured and tangible, describing the daily decisions, the moment by moment shifts in mood, the unpredictable camaraderie and clashes with other people encountered on the trail. And through it all there is an interior journey of self-discovery, self-doubt, and self-overcoming that unfolds almost in real time as we walk alongside her.

I’ve never been to New Zealand but your narration and descriptive imagery put me there. I enjoy how you give a personal experience and knowledge of trail tips, gear travel tips getting there and back. I look forward to listening and watching more of the adventure!

I so enjoyed hearing Allison describe her incredible adventures. I felt the South Pacific breeze and could picture the pristine NZ landscape. If you’ve missed Allison playing your favorite classical music like I have, this is a great way to hear her broadcast in vivid detail her incredible experiences.

I have listened to Alison for years as she worked at Minnesota Public Radio. Her easy, conversational, friendly presentation from the radio carried over into her podcast. I followed her on social media as she posted her updates on both trails, and found her comments to be honest, emotional, and healing. As I listened to these new podcasts, I would start out listening while doing dishes, or doing some desk work but soon found myself completly absorbed in what she was saying. Keep up the good work, Alison. You have so much to share.

Thank you for taking me on the Te Araroa hike virtually. What a joy to experience it without blisters on my feet or mud on my shoes. Your Pee Rag podcasts are a delight.

The Blissful Hiker takes me along on her journey everyday while I walk! Her words are so beautiful and so specific I feel as though I am seeing what she is experiencing. Allison has a beautiful voice, ripe with emotion and passion for everything she sees and experiences but always has a story and a laugh in each episode. To hear the beautiful music she chooses is an extra bonus.

Alison's stories about more than just backpacking. They are tales of persistence and joy. Listen if you want to learn about hiking long distances, and listen if you want to learn how to confront any challenge and find joy.

“If you dare to dare to dream, you dare to live.” What does this quote mean? When I was in college in Bemidji, MN many moons ago I dreamed of discovering the land or the world beyond my shore. My first travel aboard, was a visit to Canada, which is almost more like a friendly neighbor to the north. Beyond visiting our friendly neighbor to the north, the first country that gave me a stamp in my password was Japan. I flew through Japan on my way to adventure to mainland China. In the summer of 1997 and 1999, I spent the summer traveling through mainland China. This experience changed my perspective on the world and it opened my eyes. I remember being able to run through the Gobi Desert when I was in Mongolia and then in early July of 1997, I was in Shanghai when Hong Kong went back from British rule to Beijing, which is the capital of mainland China. I also remember being in the last emperor of China’s prison cell in northern China. During that time in history, the region was called Manchuria and it was occupied during WWII by Japan. The notion of being able to dream and to be able to chase the path of tremendous adventure by living our dreams on whatever path it makes take us in life, has a way of captivating my spirit. A good friend, the blissful hiker, who has an infectious spirit and adventurous soul, lives her dreams courageously. Listening to some of her many stories that are off the beaten track, inspires my heart of wanting to discover where are these unique and special places. The trails of her adventures have taken her around the world. In 2018, she hiked the whole distance of New Zealand on the Te Araroa and then in 2019 she trekked the Pacific Crest Trail from Washington through Oregon and finishing up in California. The blissful hiker is also known as Alison Young, I can her the all amazing Al! She is truly one of most amazing and remarkable people I have the pleasure to call my friend. Her pod-casts, called the Pee Rag, chronicles her adventures upon the Te Araroa. You will find her podcasts captivating, humorous and inspiring. All in all, full of adventure. Al has a tremendous wit and is brilliant walker or hiker of the world. In the Pee Rag podcasts, she brings you along on the many trails that she has trekked, the sounds and harmony of the beauty that makes the Te Araroa so amazing and special. The Pee Rag series has inspired me to grab my camera, trail shoes and backpack so I can capture the beauty and harmony of the trails that I love so much and to be able to discover new ones as well. The Pee Rag podcast series will inspire adventure and awaken your own curious spirit to grab a pair of hiking boots or trail shoes, with a backpack in toe and trekking poles, so you can plan your next adventure or find beauty on your own trails, where ever they make take you. Happy Trails, ‘til we meet again.

Alison has a knack for painting beautiful images with words and sound. For anyone who enjoys hiking, is curious about what motivates a person to push their body to its limits as a full time pedestrian, or just enjoys an epic adventure, this podcast is for you. Alison’s storytelling is inspiring and makes me want to pack my bags and get on the trail! Lots of great life lessons learned from her journey, and I can’t wait to hear more from the Blissful Hiker.

I love the cultivated narrative quality like a PBS or BBC program. Highly polished production mixes her compelling voice with found sounds from the trail. We are instantly taken along on Blissful Hiker’s journey. Like National Geographic, it feels like a picture book read aloud.

Alison’s voice is soothing, and her story is so inspiring! If you love MPR style storytelling, are looking for inspiration for making big goals in a new chapter of your life, or just want to travel vicariously during your quarantine, this podcast is for you. I especially love the addition of sounds she recorded while on her huge journey.

The pee rag is my new favorite podcast. You do not need to be a hiker to enjoy listening to Alison’s beautiful voice (Minnesota Public Radio) as she tells us about her long and amazing journey on the Te Araroa Trail across New Zealand. As a professional hiker, essayist and classical flutist, she takes us step by step on this through hike, recalling the ups and downs while treating us to the sounds of the ocean, the birds, and her gorgeous flute playing in the background. Sprinkled throughout are her inspirational thoughts, and quotes from environmental philosophers and the like. Treat yourself and have a listen! Bravo Alison!

Alison has a lot of material from her life and hikes, and she has a good sense for level of detail and pacing to keep a listener’s interest.

Alison Young’s narrative of her hiking experiences takes me there. I see the amazing vistas as well as the tiniest wild flowers. And I can experience what she must feel, invigorated, then exhausted, contemplative and then practical. Her writing, as well as her delivery, is both eloquent and down to earth, serious and at times hilarious. Young’s work is that of an artist.

Enlightening and eclectic tales of Alison’s adventures on the amazing trails she finds to hike. Highly recommend!!

I knew Alison Young when she was a star flutist, playing in major orchestra, being in high demand as a soloist, recording CD’s. It felt that the stars lined up for her, and nothing will stop this girl from keeping her illustrious career going up and up. But tragedy of illness suddenly came, and Alison fell to the very bottom very fast. No flute. No music. Ground zero. Enough for one person to sink into depression for the rest of her life. Not Alison! In no time ( or it seemed this way), she became an outstanding creator of classical music shows on Public Radio in Houston and later in St. Paul, Minnesota. She completely reinvented herself, becoming the unique voice which you cannot stop listening until it stops. Her radio shows always presented great music. Her comments were informative, exciting and sounded more like captivating stories. Her travels were mind boggling, they looked and sounded surreal. A small-built, even fragile - looking woman climbing icy cold mountains, marching through the deserts and jungles, sleeping in a tent alone in wilderness, surrounded by wild animals-really? You have to be a superwoman for this in my book. I guess, she is! The PeeRag is a a new way of Alison reinventing herself. She is a writer, and again, she is on a top of her craft! Her stories are eloquent, exciting, mesmerizing. And this voice- you don’t want the story to stop and you don’t want this voice to be silenced. She speaks like a professional actor, her voice is ringing with overtones, inflections rising and falling, keeping the listener engaged. I highly recommend the PeeRag podcast. Alison, I think your parents should have named you Phoenix, the bird in Ancient Creek mythology that cyclically regenerates by arising from the ashes of her predecessor. I’m honored to know you and so proud of all you have done.