Meet the Wander Women Collective
Catch the Highlights of Their Summer Tour
This summer, three women hopped in their vans to travel around the Northwest with one goal in mind: to bring people together beyond social media through the arts and the outdoors.
Through 17 events that reached over 700 people, they accomplished their goal during a tour they dubbed “The Wander Women Collective.” Starting in Hood River, Oregon, the team made their way to Bend, the Oregon Coast, Portland, and Seattle. In each location, they organized several outdoor meetups paired with live music.
The three women behind the Wander Women Collective, Anna Tedesco, Leah Woods, and Iz La Motte, share a love for outdoor adventures and the arts.
Anna, the team’s athlete and community organizer, planned each of the meetups and served as the official team chef. Leah, the team’s resident musician, played shows with local musicians in each town the Collective visited. And Iz, the team’s in-house photographer and videographer, captured the entire journey.
After the summer, Iz created a three-part video series documenting the adventures of The Wander Women Collective. Ride along on their adventures with this peek at their series.
The idea for The Wander Women Collective was born on a chairlift ride at Alta Ski Area in March 2019. Anna and Iz, both unclear of their summer plans, decided that they wanted to spend their summer bringing communities together and from there it grew.
The Wander Women Collective’s 17 outdoor events included mountain bike rides, surf meet-ups, yoga classes, ski days, and river floats. These events welcomed any self-identifying woman of any skill level.
On that chairlift ride, Anna and Iz knew they wanted two add two things to their tour: 1) a third woman, and 2) the arts. They asked Leah to join the team to add a live music component.
Leah and local musicians played at breweries, on rooftops, and at ice cream shops. But Leah’s favorite shows to play were powered by the solar array atop Anna’s van, thanks to their SOUNDBOKS speaker. These shows took place at trailheads after mountain bike rides and beside lakes during campouts.
As the trip progressed, it became clear that the three pillars of the Collective would become the themes of the videos. Iz ran around from sun up to sun down with camera in hand to tell the story of the Wander Women Collective.
On the road, the team also met artist Eliza Carver at one of their mountain biking events in Hood River. Eliza’s art resonated with the team and in the spirit of bringing the community into her videos, Iz asked to film in her studio for a day. Bringing someone they met on the road into the core of the videos showed what this journey was all about: finding community.
From the beginning, the main goal of the tour was to get people outside together—but it grew into so much more. Individuals welcomed The Wander Women Collective team into their lives, showing the crew their favorite surf spots, trail systems, and campsites. People traveled from one town to the next to attend various events. And in the end, everyone put their phones down, came together in person, and had another best day ever.
Follow @TheWanderWomenCollective to find out about upcoming events, including several ski meetups in the Intermountain West this winter. You can learn more about the Wander Women Collective at thewanderwomencollective.com