Route of Parks: Rewilding Chile with Groundbreaking Conservationist and former Patagonia CEO Kris Tompkins

Armchair Explorer

“These are the days in our lives that we remember. It's not all

the days that went so well. It's the days when you're miserable, when

you think you can't go one more step, and then you swear at somebody,

and then you keep going. Those are the days that form our spines. They

have formed my spine.”

- Kris Tompkins

Kris Tompkins has spent a lifetime fighting tooth and nail to protect wild lands. In

1993, she stepped down as CEO of outdoor apparel brand Patagonia, and moved

to the edge of a windswept road-less fjord in the northern end of Patagonian

Chile with her late husband Doug Tompkins (the founder of North Face).

There, they began to dream up one of the most audacious conservation visions

ever conceived. It would culminate, more than 25 years later, in the largest private

land donation in history, the creation of one of the most spectacular national parks

in the world and the launch of the wildest road trip on the planet: the Route of

Parks. This story is about the realization of that vision.

But it’s also a story about wild nature, and living a wild life. Bruce Chatwin called

Patagonia: “The furthest place to which Man has walked from his place of Origin.”

Patagonia is one of the world’s last frontiers, a place where your fantasies of

adventure are dwarfed by the staggering immensity on every bend.

Kris’s story will inspire you connect more deeply with the planet, fight for what

you believe in, and explore the jagged spires and turquoise rivers of the Route of

Parks for yourself.

"There is no question that when you put yourself out into these very extreme

circumstances, or places on earth, you are changed for the rest of your life. And

half the time, you can't explain in any language, what's happened to you. And

I think that's actually a good sign, because you're seeing things through a lens

that's so raw that it brings out genes in us that are most ancient, the most

fundamental. And that's why I like it so much, because I don't really want to have a

simple life. I'm not interested in going on vacations and sitting by the sea … I like

to go to places that make you feel unbelievably tiny.”

CONNECT

Learn more about Kris and her work at Tompkins Conservation on their website,

TompkinsConservation.org. Patagonia recently released a beautiful book,

called Patagonia National Park: Chile, and it includes essays and photos from Kris,

the former Chilean president, Patagonia's founder, and more. Find it wherever

books are sold or at patagonia.com.

SOCIAL

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @armchairexplorerpodcast. Want travel

tips and advice? Questions about this episode? Message me! Sign up for the

monthly newsletter at armchair-explorer.com.

CREDITS

This episode was produced by Armchair Productions. Find our other shows at armchair-productions.com. Jenny Allison did the guest booking and wrote this

episode, along with host and producer Aaron Millar. Charles Tyrie did the audio

editing and sound design. Theme music written by the artist Sweet Chap (on IG

@the_sweet_chap).

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