Hi, I’m Petra!

I’m the storyteller behind Ridge Raven. I want to encourage others to find excitement and joy, even if it’s just in your backyard.

Now you might find a bit more than just hiking, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and Skyline Drive… I will share about being a woman hiking alone and finding yourself.

I have found solace, inspiration, and maybe even a sense of purpose through hiking the trails just 30 minutes away from my home. In the chaos of this busy world, where our minds are often lost, hiking has become my refuge—a space where I can untangle my thoughts and experience freedom.

This journey is meant for living

One of the questions I get asked the most is “How did you become a blogger creativity coach or an Artist?”  Well, it didn’t just magically happen overnight.

Born in 74 in a small town in Germany, I was not raised by a loving family but rather by the foster care system or the people in it – from group homes to a family back to a group home – all in the region of Hessen. During that time I had the privilege to travel all over Germany as well as Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Austria and Denmark.

I have great memories of those adventures, camping in the middle of nowhere next to a field of blueberries in Sweden, capsizing a Kanu, and attempting to hike 36 miles – only to end up in the hospital with fluid on the knee – and me thinking my nature adventures were over.

Or that time we went skiing in Garmisch-Partenkirchen or I was hanging out at the lodge in Austria because I wasn’t allowed to ski due to still dealing with knee challenges.

Or maybe that time I camped near the Baltic Sea close enough to visit my biological grandparents for a day.

Or maybe that time I spend a week at a summer camp with tents in the fields, hiking in the middle of the night, listening to nature or the group leader trying to scare us.

Or the weekends we went hiking with the family that led to a restaurant at a soda at the end of the hike.

All this adventure ended not just because of my knee challenges but when I moved to the US at 18 and life took a bit of a different turn, trying to follow the rules of society even though my intuition told me otherwise.

Living life according to someone else’s rule would come to an end when my youngest son was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder and eventually needed a liver transplant or three.

Having not had any knee issues for some time, I started hiking in our local area and am lucky to have the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive in my backyard – but that again had to be placed on the back burner as my son’s care became too much and by the time he was well enough, my partner no longer physically was able to do the kind of hikes I wanted to do.

In December 2022, at age 48 my doctor told me I was at risk for a heart attack and needed to change my diet and add more exercise to my life. I was already running a few days a week but had gotten tired of it and the next thing I knew I found myself hiking Three Ridges on The Blue Ridge Parkway.

A World of Wonder

So, I started hiking because I wanted to be healthier and fell in love with it. The views, the challenges, the freedom, being in nature, the hunger and the tiredness … all of it.

I believe life is about living rather than just existing and you can create small and big adventures along the way!

Throughout my life, I have known that our value is in the experiences we have. And no matter how difficult my life may have been at times, for this I am grateful. I get to make art, help people overcome their creative challenges, and be in nature any time I want.

As I embark on this new journey, I invite you to join me. Let’s explore the trails, experience the views and wildlife, and embrace the experiences.