Austin-Lehman Guide: Carrie lee

Guide: Carrie Lee
Short Bio:
I grew up in Hopkins, a suburb of Minneapolis, with four sisters and a set of parents driven to show us the United States from our 1987 conversion van.  My love for the outdoors grew from that van, and from time spent in the north woods of Minnesota and Wisconsin.  I graduated college from the University of Montana in Missoula where access to the mountains and outdoors expanded.  My love for people and adventure has since taken me all over the world - from farms to soccer fields, shantytowns to glaciers - I have lived and worked in a multititude of cities and places.  I so enjoy seeing people come alive and experience life; doing so in the outdoors is exhilarating and is the reason for which I am so excited to be working for Austin Lehman!  

Since falling madly in love with skiing powder, these days you are most likely to find me in the mountains of Montana, where I currently live in Big Sky, Montana. 

Trips Guided by Carrie:

1. South Dakota

Carries's Guide Survey:

What’s your favorite destination?
Spring and fall in Montana.  Every time I cross into Montana I know it's my favorite, and every time I'm living outside of it, I miss it most. 

What destination would you like to visit?
The Fertile Crescent

What’s your favorite bike ride?
Coming down Hyalite Canyon (Bozeman area) on a road bike is a great thrill!

Describe the most amazing experience you’ve had while traveling:
Funeral in the eastern cape, south Africa.  This area of the eastern cape is filled with rhonda's, smoke rooms for baking bread, chickens, large black pots that sit on fire coals for cooking, small rooms where generations of families sit and sleep, and the family cemetery where the ancestors lay; a way of living that has gone unchanged for generations upon generations.  Over the years, many family members moved to the city for economic and schooling reasons, so when a family member died within the xhosa family I was living in ndlovini, cape town, it was time to pack everyone together In a minibus and head back to the eastern cape (15 hrs drive) for the funeral, and to lay his body with the ancestors.  Everything that followed over the next week of commuting, sleeping in beds head to foot with women and kids, the singing, dancing, cooking, slaughtering, bathing, celebrating, greetings, hugs, tears, and laughter was one of the most human experiences I've ever had. 

Favorite Movie: Dirty Dancing

Favorite Outdoor Activity? Kayaking

What are your hobbies?
Playing soccer, skiing (water and snow), any activity involving water, the performing arts (especially broadway!), music, art, dancing, trail running, reading and writing, farming/gardening, the daily crossword puzzle, biking, hiking, camping, exploring

When did you first catch the travel bug?
Denver, Colorado, 1997, age 12.  At this point our parents had shown us much of the country via the conversion van, but for some reason, it was John Denver's same "rocky mountain high" that struck with everlasting effect, and further began the domino effect into the world of adventure. I skied the rockies for the first time and visited the air force academy, where i was convinced one day i would be flying fighter jets and playing soccer.  From this trip on I saved money and began to understand just how much was possible out of my own determination, will, and drive; to experience my dreams and adventures into the world.