Embracing Adventure at Any Age: The Inspiring Journey of Caroline Paul

In ‘Tough Broad,’ Caroline Paul tells stories of ‘super fun, badass women’

How Caroline Paul Redefines Aging with Fearless Exploration and Unwavering Curiosity

The Inspiring Journey of Caroline Paul

Few things scare Caroline Paul. Not scuba diving with sharks, nor flying a motorized gyrocopter—a quirky hybrid of a bobsled and a whirlybird. At 60 years old, this adventurous spirit has been chasing risks since her childhood in Connecticut. Her love for adventure was evident early on, such as when, at just 13, she attempted to break the world record for crawling 12.5 miles, only to be stopped at 8.5 miles by skinned knees and hypothermia. The same year, she and her twin sister went whitewater rafting in a boat made from milk cartons on Connecticut’s Housatonic River.

Paul’s fearless journey and her relationship with risk are chronicled in her new book, “Tough Broad: From Boogie Boarding to Wing Walking—How Outdoor Adventure Improves Our Lives as We Age.” I first connected with Paul in 2016 after the release of her bestselling memoir, “Gutsy Girls.” She highlighted the unconscious biases in how we teach children about risk in sports—advising girls to be careful while encouraging boys to be brave. Luckily, Paul, growing up in the 1960s, ignored the cautious adults around her.

Her intrepid nature didn’t wane with age. Paul completed numerous first descents in kayaking around the globe, served as a firefighter in San Francisco for 14 years, and pursued hang gliding, One wheeling, and skydiving. However, by her early fifties, she faced a new challenge: maintaining her adventurous spirit through perimenopause and beyond. Inspired by her mother, who took up cycling in her forties and thrived into her eighties, Paul sought ways to embrace elderhood.

Paul researched aging and found women who continued to push boundaries well into their later years. She discovered a community of role models: an 80-year-old scuba diver, a 72-year-old champion orienteer and trail runner, and even a 52-year-old grandmother who Base-jumped off Yosemite’s El Capitan. Despite the diversity in sports and ages, these women shared common benefits from their outdoor adventures: a sense of community, wellness, novelty, purpose, and a positive outlook on aging.

“Outdoor adventure checks all the boxes,” Paul asserts. Shifting our mindset can make our later years a time of exploration and joy. Research supports her claims; exposure to nature improves cognitive function and memory. For example, Dot Fisher-Smith, a 93-year-old, spends her days walking in her suburban neighborhood, planning routes to maximize time among nature, benefiting from the phytoncides released by trees.

The psychological perks of outdoor activities are equally significant: delight, optimism, and a fresh perspective. Paul recounts how Dot Fisher-Smith once told her, “Old? You’re not old! Just do what you’ve always done. It gets better as you get older!”

Curious about the effects of new experiences on her brain, Paul booked a wing-walking lesson with 73-year-old cancer survivor Cynthia Hicks. Despite her extensive flying experience, wing-walking—aerial acrobatics on the wing of a biplane—was a new level of extreme for Paul. She reflected on her younger self, driven by a need to prove something, and realized she now craved awe more than adrenaline.

Life Lessons from a “Tough Broad”

During her wing-walking lesson, she felt a profound transformation. “The horizon curdles, falls away. Spinning earth, buffeting air, iceberg clouds flashing by… I am no longer afraid. I am something else entirely. Oddly, I begin to laugh,” she recounts in her book. This experience revealed that what she truly sought was awe, a feeling she now finds in simpler pleasures like bird-watching and “awe walking”—exploring without a destination, just to be present.

Though Paul enjoys quiet moments at home with her wife, illustrator Wendy MacNaughton, and their cat, she continues to seek new adventures. After her wing-walking lesson, she earned her gyrocopter license and has her sights set on learning to sail, navigate by stars, and perhaps even try an electric unicycle—though maybe after her book launch.

In “Tough Broad,” Paul provides a roadmap for aging adventurously: stay curious, try new things, be adaptable, cultivate awe, and, above all, keep moving. Her story is a testament to the idea that adventure knows no age, and that the best years of our lives can be the ones still ahead of us.

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