Karuna Eberl

Title: Freelance Writer
Email: karunae@mac.com
Location: San Luis Valley/Boulder, Colo.
Social Media: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karuna-eberl-b50107b/, https://twitter.com/karunanature, https://www.instagram.com/quixotictravelers/, https://www.wanderingdogcreations.com/

Expertise

• Topics of Expertise: Outdoor gear, camping, hiking, van life, sustainability, green living, wildlife and nature, geology, road travel, overlanding, portable power and solar, DIY, backpacking, boating, scuba diving, photography
• Years in This Expertise: 30+
• Number of Products & Number of Hours Expert Has Tested: A couple hundred, many thousands

Education & Certifications

• Education: BA in journalism, minor in Geology from University of Montana, Missoula
• Years of Writing: 30+
• Club or Association Memberships: OWAA (Outdoor Writers Assoc. of America), SATW (Society of American Travel Writers), SEJ (Society of Environmental Journalists)
• Awards or Recognitions: Multiple awards from OWAA, SATW, and FOWA (Florida Outdoor Writers Association), Gold Award from Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, Animals magazine first place photo
• Previous Publications: National Geographic Channel, BBC Travel, Atlas Obscura, National Parks Magazine, National Parks Advocate, Reader’s Digest, Family Handyman

Experience

I had the great fortune of being born into an outdoor family. My dad is an accomplished mountaineer and my mom a gentle lover of nature. My earliest memories are hiking and backpacking around the West. In third grade I got reprimanded for not including a “house” in a lesson where we were told to list necessities. I mean, houses are nice and all, but not quite up there with oxygen, water, sunshine, food and being outside.

I guess that incident was foreshadowing, as four decades later I still spend a good deal of my time living out of a van, which is my favorite home. My partner is particularly good at DIY everything, so it’s a self-built palace. After installing solar in it a couple of years ago, we took a deep dive into learning about portable power. He is also often my co-author.

As far as sports, it was 1988 when I first saw a snowboarder. The next day I ditched school, rented a board at Loveland and never looked back. I spent a long while pursuing snow. I think my best was 261 days riding in one year. But who’s counting? To fund my habit, I worked many years in various ski, snowboard, bike and mountaineering stores. My short list of other sports: mountain biking, downhill and XC skiing, skateboarding, backpacking and scuba diving.

I’m from Colorado, but have lived extensively in Utah, Montana, southern California, Paris and the Florida Keys, where I eventually met the love of my life. He now cowrites and photographs with me. As I write this we’re on our yearly spring camping roadtrip through Baja. Not in the van, though. We tent camp here, so we can overland.

Career Highlights

• Getting my first snowboard, a Sims Terry Kidwell
• Riding the Poison Spider trail in Moab, on my second day ever mountain biking
• Climbing the tallest pinnacle on Skellig Michael (Ireland) with my dad
• Making movies in Hollywood, especially the first movie my brother directed
• Hiking the Camino de Santiago with my dad
• Writing for a Nat Geo Channel nature show
• Ditching my career for a year to work on a professional treasure hunting boat
• Writing an award-winning guidebook to the Florida Keys with my partner

A Word From Karuna Eberl

My life has always been intertwined with words. I reported and edited for my elementary, high school, and college papers, then wrote for several hometown newspapers after earning my journalism degree. For a while I ditched writing to produce and production manage Hollywood indie films. That was awesome, but writing is more my style, so now I’m back to that full time.

Writing allows me to earn a modest living, but more importantly, it supports my priorities: the flexibility to travel freely and spend a lot of time outdoors. Consequently, most of my writing has been about outdoor gear and sports. But, in light of our escalating climate and biodiversity crises, sustainability and conservation have also become my primary beats. If that’s something you’re interested in as well, feel free to drop me a line. We need more outdoor minds working on solutions.

Hope to see you on the trail!