Trail Stories - Don't Rush Me with Andrea "Watergirl" Zelinski
· 21 min · S12 E2
Episode Trail Stories - Don't Rush Me with Andrea "Watergirl" Zelinski
About the Guest Andrea "Watergirl" Zelinski is a writer, former political reporter, and two-trail thru-hiker based in North Carolina. She covered the Texas State Legislature for the Houston Chronicle and Austin-based outlets before hiking the Appalachian Trail during the COVID pandemic in 2020. The AT led her to abandon political journalism, pivot to travel writing as senior cruise editor for Travel Weekly — a job that took her on 36 trips across five continents in three years, including Antarctica — and then to leave that job too, in 2025, to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. She is currently working on a memoir about the experience. Trail name: Watergirl. Named by a man called Medicine Man in Georgia after she embarrassed herself at a water source. They have been friends ever since. Episode Highlights Trail Name — Low-Key Superhero
Five Steps
The Blank Canvas
COVID AT — Hiking in the 1980s But With Internet
The McDonald's Family
The Career Arc
The Book — Don't Rush Me
Links & Resources
• Watergirl on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adventuresofwatergirl • The Name of the Stars: A Life in the Wilds — Pete Fromm. Watergirl's Off the Beaten Path recommendation — a memoir about nature, fatherhood, and what happens as we age. • Blaze Physio —: https://www.blazephysio.com • Appalachian Trail Conservancy — www.appalachiantrail.org — Pay It Forward: volunteer for local trail maintenance. • Pacific Crest Trail Association: https://www.pcta.org
Connect with Hiker Trash Radio
• Email: mailto:hikertashradio@gmail.com • Social: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok — search Hiker Trash Radio.
The full interview with Watergirl drops Wednesday in two parts. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts — it takes 60 seconds and makes a real difference.
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Links in the notes 4
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