♪ ♪
A day spent outside is a good day for Dini Dowd.
- Dineo Dowd: It's good for your health.
It's good for your brain.
You know, that's how I exercise.
[laughs]
Getting outside is very important.
- Dini is a social media influencer
and, in her words,
a stay-outside mom.
- I believe that people
will stick with someone who's authentic.
You know, I don't polish anything.
Whenever I go to social media,
I share my experiences.
- Dini loves hiking, camping, and staying active.
But it wasn't always this way.
Dini grew up in South Africa
under apartheid-era policies.
- Dineo Dowd: My background growing up in South Africa,
it was different as a black person.
We were not allowed to go to national parks or resorts,
anything like that.
- Dini didn't truly find her path
until she moved to Utah as an adult.
- Dineo Dowd: I think my love for the outdoors and hiking
actually started in Utah.
I felt like I was free,
like there was just something telling me that
this is your chance.
- Eventually, her family relocated here to Wisconsin,
a place full of outdoor opportunities.
- So, where are we going?
We're going up here by the...
- Armani: Ha! [laughs rambunctiously]
- Today, her adventures are a family affair.
- Whoo!
Armani, look here.
- She travels the state
with her husband and their daughter.
- There you go.
We get outside the January to December.
I mean, I don't know, I...
I never thought I would say, "I love winter."
[laughs warmly]
- She shares their trips on social media,
helping other families plan their own expeditions.
- Dineo Dowd: So, I'm able to share my experiences
and kind of give them resources like,
"Oh, if you're a new parent and you're looking into,
"you know, hiking or camping,
"this is where you should go.
This is where you should start."
- The goal is to use her platform
to encourage everyone to get outside.
- Like, I get people who message me, like,
people of color are moving to Wisconsin,
and they will reach out to me and be like,
"Hey, we are moving to Wisconsin.
Do you know any groups in this area?"
And I'll even say,
"I'll go hiking with you, if you want.
Let's meet out and go hiking!"
- This passion for hiking
led her down the trail to another creative idea.
- Ooh, I love books.
I love reading books, and when I was a child,
my dad used to buy newspapers for me.
So, I would read newspapers
because we couldn't get books from the library.
[Dineo chuckles] I don't know what I'm going to do with you.
- Dini had a hard time finding nature stories
to share with her daughter.
So she created her own.
She became a children's book author.
- I said, "Hey, you see, if I am hiking, I am kayaking,
you can do this, you know,"
and I'm trying to show these kids
from different cultures and background
that the outdoors is for everybody.
- Dini also does this
by organizing a range of group activities.
From Wisconsin day hikes
to her most daring adventure...
- Leader: ♪ Kil-i-man-jaro ♪ - Group: ♪ Kil-i-man-jaro ♪
- Taking a group of women across the world
to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.
- The good part of the story: they're all moms.
Some of these women,
they have never even had a passport before.
[playing wind instrument and cheering]
This is the people that I want to be around with.
People who are not scared to take chances
and people who can push themselves and, you know,
do the things that you don't think your body can do.
- As someone who once wasn't allowed to enjoy the outdoors,
Dini is determined to keep trekking toward her dreams.
- I am reborn.
You know, it's like I have another chance in life
to do all these things that I didn't get to do.
This place is full of berries, Armani.
Look over there, over there.
- Wherever she goes, this stay-outside mom
is helping others who might need a little push
to put on their hiking boots.
- If you have a chance to do something,
get outside and do it.
♪ ♪