Francesca Turauskis - Advocate for Adventure & Epilepsy, walked the Camino de Santiago solo, and host of Seize Your Adventure Podcast.

After being diagnosed with epilepsy in 2015, Fran set out to walk the Camino de Santiago two years later, solo. Since then, she has worked more adventure into her life.  In 2017, Fran founded Seize Your Adventure  to advocate for epilepsy awareness in the adventure community, and for the benefits of adventure for those with epilepsy and to demystify the condition and encourage others to try new things and challenge themselves.  May 20th is the start of National Epilepsy Awareness week, and it is also the start of Fran’s next challenge: the '30 at 30 Challenge'  In her 30th year Fran plan to do 30 new adventures. Some of these will be small, micro adventures (such as foraging for dinner or SUP in London) whilst others are quite daunting - one of the biggest being the Race to the Stones in July. For each of the 30, Fran is hoping to work closely with the activity providers to spread epilepsy awareness. Fran also wants to invite 87 people to join in the adventures (because every day, 87 people in the UK are diagnosed with epilepsy.) *Please note we are not medical doctors and Fran is sharing just her own personal story - this is not medical advice in any shape or form!! Show Notes Looking to do 30 challenges over her 30th year Epilepsy and what it is Being diagnosed in 2015 Having her first seizure Being 22 years old and dealing with the not knowing  Getting into hiking and adventure The Camino de Santiago and deciding to do the walk Managing adventure and epilepsy What’s the right way to describe epilepsy Telling people about her epilepsy  Handling the added complexity of doing a challenge with epilepsy  What was happening before she started the walk Struggling with the language  Why the hike was so much more than she could imagine What was the biggest challenge while out on the Camino Dealing with post trip blues Coming back to not having a job Talking about the money Saving up money to pay for rent while she was away What she did after she got back Starting - Seize Your Adventure Hearing from other people who also have epilepsy  Deciding to start a podcast! What you can expect from the podcast 30 challenges before turning 30th Training for the race to stones (100km race over 2 days) Looking for size 5 trainers  Working through a training plan Mental preparation for the race…. Dealing with brain fog Deciding to invite 87 people to come and join her on her challenges throughout 2019 The Dos and Don’t when someone is having a seizure  Be kind Final advice and tips    Social media Website - https://www.francescaturauskis.co.uk  twitter @franict   Instagram personal -  @frantictwalks  Instagram podcast - @SYAdventurers