por Susana Renaud

The love of outdoors began for me when my mamí would say to us eight kids, “vayanse para fuera ah jugar” and off we would all go on our own way and, wouldn’t be seen again until it was time to eat. I would spend hours outside under mesquite trees with the wind as my best friend. I was always happiest outside. I grew up in a large Tejano/Mexicano familia in Tejas. I was the fourth of eight children growing up on a farm with animales that I would befriend, and later regret that I had, when they showed up on the dinner table. All of my early childhood and adolescence was spent either in the country or in small Pueblitos.

When I became a young adult at the age of nineteen I escaped to Austin, Tejas and that’s where more of my outdoor exploration began. I met friends who had grown up traveling, sailing, windsurfing, hiking, backpacking, skiing, and cycling around the world. The most I had ever done is ride my banana bike around my Pueblito. So, I was in awe and ready to go! I bought my first adult bicycle and it became my mode of transportation. After my shift of waitressing, I would ride my bike to Barton Springs, sunbathe and swim, then run around Austin Lake. I lived in Austin for eight years and I hiked so many of the surrounding trails and hung out in beautiful places like the Pedernales River and Lake Travis where I learned how to windsurf (well, tried anyway).

I moved to Berkeley, Ca. in 1989. I was twenty-eight years old and all of that outdoor exploration and play prepared me to do what I love to do the most, Backpack. My first trip up to the mountains was to Mt. Shasta for a week. The experience was breathtaking. Clear mountain air, cool water, brilliant skies that provided an opening to another world. I got to know my limitations. I always packed with other women, older and not Latinas. In fact, I never went outdoors with other mujeres or Latinos. I never ever saw any. I was the only India amongst a group of güeritos. I studied Yoga at the Iyengar Yoga Institute (I was again the ‘only’ Latina) and led a group of yogi friends up to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, we did yoga there in the buff. I kept riding my bike for transportation and going up to the mountains. I would go with different groups of women, again, never did I meet any mujeres who I could go up with. But I kept going, I was and am still in love and in awe with the outdoors. I became a Yoga teacher, finished my undergraduate degree in Integrative Health, met some wonderful older Xicanas who became my mentors, interned at the National Latina Health Organization where I became involved in program development for youth and connected with some amazing mujeres who I also took up to the mountains

I then returned to Graduate school receiving my Masters in Feminist Psychology, worked in the Latinx/Chicanx community in Oakland and San Francisco for sixteen years before being recruited by a large health and maintenance organization in Oakland. Fell in love a bazillion times, trekking outdoors with my loves and alone. And now, I always begin my outdoor experience with a blessing. With the wind as my best friend.

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Susana Renaud is a 62 y.o. two spirit, Xicanx. She is a teacher and an instructor of Yoga and Mindfulness Meditation and wholistic wellness. Susana loves the outdoors and is always exploring and trekking to new places and enjoys meeting new people during travel. Susana’s newest adventure is birdwatching and looks forward to partnering with Latino Outdoors to invite other Queer folx outdoors! Follow Susana on IG at @qtbipocwomenoutdoorover60.