Behind the Adventure(r) 

Ecuadorian — Raised in Germany — Field-Based Adventurer

I am an Ecuadorian adventurer raised in Brazil, Germany and China who returned to Ecuador at age 30 and later lived independently in the Amazon rainforest with an Achuar indigenous community.

But I didn’t begin this path to become “adventurous.”I began it because something in me needed to see the world with my own eyes and heart — not only through what we are told is safe, dangerous, possible, or impossible.

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My journeys were almost never recreational travel. They were always tied to real places, real responsibility, and real work on site.I lived on a remote island in Mozambique so isolated that reaching a proper hospital in an emergency would have been nearly impossible. Night flights could not land because the airstrip lights didn’t function. At one point we were under an Indian Ocean pirate attack warning. I wasn’t there as a tourist — I worked on site in a hotel operation and became part of the local rhythm of life.​I spent a year in Laos — the most heavily bombed country per capita — traveling into remote villages to support water systems, school infrastructure, and women’s health resources.

I served as General Manager of an NGO in the field. During one project we discovered a real bomb at the work site, and I carried responsibility for team safety and decisions in that moment.​Later I entered the Ecuadorian Amazon alone by small plane and canoe, underestimating how dense and logistically complex the forest truly is. I lived for months without infrastructure inside indigenous territory, teaching children English and Spanish, sharing daily life rather than passing through it.​​

My interest has never been only to discover places — but to commit to them long enough to understand people, culture, and reality from the inside. To stay. To listen. To build relationships.​Maybe this began even earlier. I lived many years in China and graduated from the German school in Shanghai. There I learned what it means to be immersed in a culture where language is not shared — and yet connection is possible through kindness, humility, and presence. China taught me how vast and layered a country can be, and awakened my respect for ancient traditions and lived wisdom. It showed me that the heart often understands before words do.​Over the years I found myself in places many people warned me about — remote islands, dense forests, isolated villages, uncertain infrastructure. And yes, sometimes there was real risk. But on the other side of fear, I found something greater: human dignity, generosity, resilience, and connection.​

My why has never been thrill.

It has always been possibility.​

I want women and children especially to know that exploration is not reserved for a certain type of person, gender, or background. Adventure can be physical, spiritual, logistical, emotional — and deeply personal. You don’t have to perform it. You can live it.​Traveling alone taught me to see beyond headlines and stereotypes. To meet places through people, not narratives. To understand that respect opens more doors than strength, and listening travels further than certainty.​Wild her(d) grows from these lived journeys — not to prove distance traveled, but to offer perspective, courage, and hope. It is a space for real field stories, cultural respect, shared learning, and practical wisdom. A platform where women can exchange experiences and tools, where aligned brands support responsible exploration, and where future books and stories can carry these voices forward.​What I hope to inspire is simple:Take the time to fully live your adventure — not just pass through it.​Adventure did not make me fearless. It made me faithful in the unknown.

​- Isabel Montaño