About Me

I’m Amber, the passionate explorer behind Roaming Raes. Born with a condition that doctors believed would prevent me from ever walking, every step I take is a reminder to make the most out of each moment and live life to its fullest.

I want to inspire you to embrace life’s adventures, cherish experiences over possessions, and find joy in exploring the world.

Along with travel stories, I share tips on gear, nature, and living fully. Join me on this journey as we discover and celebrate the beauty of life together! I invite you to explore and share in my journey, and enjoy some of my favorite quotes along the way!

Sometimes overcoming means we walk with a limp.

This is something that I’ve tried to hide in the past because I was bullied, embarrassed, frustrated and it even made me feel abnormal. This is part of my overcoming, sharing publicly my story of disability.

When I was born a hospital in the area told my parents, “to build ramps, buy a van and a wheelchair, because she will never be able to walk.” My dad took that and started to build ramps at the house, because what else would you do? He almost bought a van until a friend told him about Shriners Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles.

Why? You may ask! Well . . . Here we go!

I was born with severe congenital hip dysplasia. To make it simple: It is a condition where the ball and socket joint of the hip does not properly form. My legs were basically hanging there not connected to anything. I remember my dad telling me that my legs could turn completely backward. My upper body was facing one way while my legs were facing the other.

The doctor who saw me was actually one of the orthopedic pioneers of child hip dysplasia surgeries. From that point I had numerous surgeries, x-rays galore, physical therapy and full body casts. The full body cast made it impossible for me to do the normal baby things. I never learned to crawl, roll over or learn to walk at the normal times. The way I moved around was by dragging my body and the cast across the floor. To this day my arms are ten times stronger than my legs have ever been. I attribute it to my early childhood strength training!

I started walking at 3 years old, despite the challenges that I face and am still facing. The surgeries helped me achieve my ability to walk but didn’t take away the pain I feel daily. I went for yearly checkups until I was eighteen. I am forever grateful to my parents for instilling a love of nature and the outdoors even while I was so young. Then in my 20’s, I was no longer able to walk up stairs and it was normal for me, but I realized something was not right. I received several more surgeries from 2017 - 2020. This is where they found that my whole lower body is anatomically incorrect - meaning: if you look at a skeleton my bones are not where they are supposed to be. This plays a huge part in how your muscles, tendons and ligaments act. If one bone is out of place, those other parts are working overtime, not working at all or are almost obsolete.

My surgeon told me that some of my leg muscles were almost 20 years behind those that were my age. Not because a lack of exercise but because my bone structure wouldn’t let them grow and be used. At one of my checkups, my surgeon looked at me and said, “Every now and then just look down at your knees and remember that they are not normal.” There was a harsh goodness to what he was saying. It was actually encouraging to me. He basically told me that being different is okay. I just needed to adjust my life to fit what my body can take. For example: A normal person would step over a log in the middle of the trail. I would most likely need to walk around it or sit on it and swing my legs over it!

During my healing process I decided that my end goal was to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. That was my therapy goal which was honestly, out there. But why not go on a long hike especially since I was never supposed to walk. In March of 2022 I started at the Southern Terminus for the trail and it truly changed my life.

I still walk with a limp but sometimes overcoming means walking with a limp.

What I Think

  • I truly believe that adventure can be found anywhere, from stepping out to a new coffee shop, a city park, to soaking in hot springs, hiking and traveling.

  • I believe that no one should be without access to nature, from city parks to national parks. It is a healing and explorative way to experience the world.

  • I believe that, in no matter what capacity you are outside -That is you being outdoorsy. If that is sitting in the dirt, under your favorite tree or If that is scaling the highest mountains. That is being outdoorsy. We are all different and we all belong.

  • Regard the small moments of getting to the end just as much as you do arriving there. This can be applied to adventure, routine and work.

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