Meet Jillian Kimberlin | Camping and Hiking Enthusiast

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jillian Kimberlin and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Jillian, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I wouldn’t necessarily call it a business per-se, more like a hobby! I decided to start my own channel because I found there weren’t too many people who filmed hiking and camping trips in Arizona, and I love watching those! I decided to start my own channel to film my own adventures in Arizona, and have fun along the way! I love camping and hiking, especially up near the Grand Canyon area. The Grand Canyon has millions of visitors per year (well, a usual year, anyways), so I knew there would be interest there for other visitors to see what it’s like beforehand, and they can view my videos, too!
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m a full time software engineer, I bet you didn’t expect that! It doesn’t seem like it would match up but I just love the outdoors and filming it here in Arizona. I love being away from the computer in my free time, and when I come back in from a long hike I feel so accomplished (and full of fresh air!). I love doing what I do but I also think that hobbies are so important, especially in today’s world. It’s important to do something you love in your free time as well, and I love to hike and camp.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
First of all I would say let’s get out of the city. When people come to visit a lot of times they come for the Grand Canyon and want to make an itinerary up there! There are so many options so first I’d ask what do they want to do, skill level, etc. Some want to hike with children, some want a nice dinner on the canyon rim, some want the white water rafting experience. You can get it all up there! If they just want to stay in the area I always recommend a nice local hike (what can I say!), and usually join them in South Mountain and eat some local Mexican food afterward.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to thank all those Youtubers that I follow for inspiration: shugmery, DarwinOnTheTrail and HomemadeWanderlust. I love all of their channels (each for different reasons of course) and they are all such an inspiration.
Website: JillianCampsArizona.com
Instagram: @jilliancampsarizona
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jilliancampsarizona/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JillianCampsArizona