About Us

Hey! What’s up? We appreciate you being here and checking us out.

We’re Cheyenne and Kellen, the duo behind Outside Thriving. For the last 3 years we’ve spent every moment we can outdoors in our passions. We live by three main things; 1. Fish 2.Hike 3.Camp/Travel! But it hasn’t been 3 years of just enjoying the outdoors. At the same time, we did a one-eighty with our lifestyle and habits. We started from scratch and rebuilt our life and ourselves.

We’ve always known that time is fleeting, but just like many of us it’s easy to get lost in the midst of life.

We made it our priority to get out from the things that were weighing us down.  And once we did, after MANY failed attempts, we knew that while we strive towards the life we want, we want others to thrive outdoors and outside their own limitations and expectations as well. Even despite their current situation.

About Us

In short, we’re best friends & partners, ready to take on any adventure together. We’re outdoor enthusiasts, the best fishing team, we’re climbing every mountain together (literally and figuratively) and simply put, adventure seekers.

However, before we got to this point, it’s been a long and bumpy road. Together, we’ve had our battles, but also individually, we both had our own challenges growing up.

And to get a few of the obvious out of the way:

1. No sob story around here. You’ll see that we share a little bit about our lives, but we only do so, for others to relate. We know life can be a challenge and that adversities come in many forms. There’s no shame in where you are or where you’ve been. We all have the capability to change course and both live & thrive outside them.
2. I, Kellen, obviously am a bit different and that’s no secret. I was born with only one hand. Some may call it a “handicap” or “different” situation but I consider myself lucky to be able to adapt and learn to do things in life my own way. I don’t find myself simply not trying something or giving up just because it’s “harder” or different from the norm. Throughout my life I’ve met others who struggle to adapt, this made me realize & has driven me to help others by sharing my experiences and advice. One of our reasons for OT.

How We Met

Ironically, we grew up in the same town and even the same neighborhoods but didn’t meet until 2016. We came into each others lives just as we both needed it. At the time, we both were unhappy and wanted something more than where our lives were headed. (In a simple way, you could see it as the boy and the girl next door…with the boy having the best grass in the neighborhood:) From the start we instantly connected, became the best of friends and found a sense of freedom within each other.

Our Wild Ride

Sometime into our relationship, we started to fool around with drugs together (…and we’re not talking the ganja). We can’t lie, we did have some crazy, fun and wild times. But it’s a slippery slope and before we knew it we were stuck in the trap, one that many know. The bad out weighing any good, everyday became the same routine. Wake up, figure out how to get our fix, end up unsatisfied, leading to desperation and horrible actions. We lost our minds and things kept getting worse. We lost time and made many decisions that filled us with regret.

Hooked Outside

We must say, fishing was the start to it all.

It was the second thing we finally did that filled the gap between saying and doing. After our first time fishing (especially our first largemouth) we were hooked! Everyday, every chance we could we were outside fishing. And naturally, that opened us up to more of our passions. It led us to kayaking, camping and hiking. The more we were exploring together the happier we were. However, while finding our true passions we had to re-discover our home, a.k.a. Long Island. Up until this point we had mostly made memories filled with our old habits and lifestyle. Although at first we just wanted to escape the Island and start over someplace else, we couldn’t. We had to right some of our wrongs and it taught us how to look at the same thing with new eyes. To change our initial thoughts and reminders we had to make new memories in places we’ve already been and discover places we’ve never been before.

This led us to fishing, kayaking, hiking and camping just about all of Long Islands bodies of water, trails and campgrounds!

Simultaneously, as we began to change ourselves and our lives, we began to travel. The outdoors and traveling became a way for us to celebrate our changes and gave us the motivation to keep going. With every small win or big milestone we planned a trip. Aside from L.I. so far we’ve explored our passions in Upstate NY, Connecticut, Mass, NJ and Vermont.

We were (and still) change for the better and travel to celebrate the change.

Why OT/Our Goals

Goal 1:

We created OT/OutsideThriving to not only archive our own journey together, but to connect with and help others along the way. The outdoors enabled us to create a better life, become happier people, push past our limitations of ourselves and broadened our vision of our future.

And quite frankly, we want the same for you.

We know we’re beyond lucky to get out of the situation we were in. Everyone has their own battles and challenges, so we want to make it easy and enjoyable for you to get outside.

We want you to thrive outdoors and outside your limitations of  yourself whether big or small.

Goal 2:

Throughout our outdoor adventures, especially while fishing and hiking, I, Kellen, have met many people both in similar situations as me (or not at all) that have asked me questions, advice on how to do things and have simply told me that by seeing me partake in these activities I give them the encouragement to continue on and do it themselves. A specific time that stands out most was when we were down at a lake fishing for bass from shore. A large gentlemen like myself, and his friend were approaching with their boat and rods in hand. When they got closer the guy noticed my arm and said hello to me, I then realized he had a nub as well!

As he saw our rods and gear, his face lit up in excitement. He introduced himself and shared his story of how he lost his arm in a horrible accident, falling onto the 3rd rail of a train track over a year prior. He explained he fished his entire life but this was the first time since his accident. I shared my story and how things felt natural to me since I was born like this. He showed me how he was fishing and asked for tips that would benefit his fishing experience all around.

This was the first time I was asked to teach someone something, similar to myself. It felt awesome to show him an easier way to hold his rod and use his nub to his advantage. He thanked me greatly, gave me a nub bump, hopped in his boat and was off rippin’ lips. This was a turning point for me. It all clicked that I can really help other people. I realized that I can help enable people in some way so that they can live life to the fullest beyond the obstacles that life throws at them. This was another reason for us to create OT.

Goal 3:

Along with encouraging others to explore the outdoors, comes our responsibility to preserve the environment around us. Growing up in a congested area such as Long Island, we witness first hand the affect people have on the waters and land. If we want to enjoy the world around us we need to maintain it at the same time.

Since the start of our exploration, we have vowed to always do what we can.

We’re big promoters of ethical fishing. We’re mainly catch and release fishermen ourselves, of course that’s not to say we won’t ever catch and cook. However, we try to preserve as much as we can in order to improve life around us and our passions, like fishing, for years to come. Imagine what our ecosystems could look like, or the fishing opportunities we could have and the PBs you could pull up! We always carry out what we carry in whether on land or boat, including fishing lines and lures. And we do our part of  ridding any other pollution around…don’t be the reason a place is trashy & becomes ruined!

How This Blog Can Help You

Here, we are going to keep things honest and genuine. With every adventure we go on, and from our personal experiences, OT aims to provide you with the information, advice and inspiration to help you plan your next adventure and get you outside thriving.

Outside Thriving will bring you:

Gear Recommendations

Inspiration

Why Follow Us

We’ve had our ups and downs both in life and in the outdoors. (scenarios like, a hook in the ear 3 miles in the woods, a poured out campsite, and even getting lost on an alternative route 3,500 ft up!)

Everyday we’re constantly learning something new through our travels and outdoor adventures. We want to share with you our knowledge and experiences so you can thrive outside too.

Life isn’t perfect and neither are we. But we know everyone has the capability to become and do more. Even against all odds. And so, Everyone is welcomed here. Whether you got a disability, skeletons in the closet, your road is bumpy or you just want to experience more.

We are also HYPED to say, we are in the middle of planning our U.S tour! It’s been a dream to of course explore the world, but we want to begin the adventure in the states. (checkin’ off a hike & a catch in every state) As consequences from our previous actions, we couldn’t until things were fully resolved. We are now planning for our trip! You know what that means; living on the road, rippin’ lips (on the hunt for our biggest catch), climbing new mountains, seeing where the road takes us and all that life has to offer.

Follow us, get outdoors, begin your own adventure and let’s start thriving outside of what we ever thought.