Hometown hero of exploration Sophie Hollingsworth devotes her dirty boots to achieving a more sustainable future. When she’s not starting fires, camping on a solo expedition across the Australian outback, she’s putting out fires by disengaging a potential nationwide outbreak in a third-world village of Africa. The “modern-day explorer” has already seen a century’s worth of the world in her quarter-century of living.
SLOWING DOWN AND TAKING IN HER SURROUNDINGS WITH SOME OPEN-FIRE COOKING, TAKEN BY ALAN MCNAUGHTON.
Hollingworth calls somewhere between Sydney, Australia and New York City her home base now, but the vivacious and worldly rambler hasn’t forgotten her indigenous roots in little ol’ Sarasota. Her passion for expeditions off the beaten track and discovering indigenous ways of life have led her to undertake uncharted treks and far-flung adventures most deem too inhospitable to bother. With a résumé that includes everything from trekking the mountains of Madagascar and traversing across the desert in Namibia, to meeting tribes in the Republic of Vanuatu to conduct ethnographic research and sailing across the Pacific Ocean as the youngest woman to obtain a 200-ton MCA Yachtmaster Captain’s License, her environmental advocacy work and writings have since been featured internationally by organizations like the United Nations and publications like Oceanographic Magazine and National Geographic. In 2017, she earned herself the revered title of New Explorer of the Year by The Explorers Club, and has since been dubbed by many media sources as “the Millennial Indiana Jones.”
BEHIND THE SCENES FOR NATGEO FILMING OF 'ACTIVATE,' COURTESY OF RYAN GALL.
After a long-distance call from down under with SRQ, Hollingsworth discussed what excites her to share with hometown friends, newfound friends and followers of her online presence, including her blog The Sofia Log. “I get told a lot that I was born 200 years too late to be an explorer,” she laughs, sharing what it means to be an explorer in the 21st century and touching on the importance of mindful exploration. “Exploration is not about planting your nation’s flag in an uncharted territory or being the first to summit the world’s tallest mountain,” she says. And although today’s tech-savvy era has spawned a new wave of social-media-starved explorers who crave “likes” for their brave adventure travels, she goes on to carefully note, “Exploration, at its core, is curiosity and action, it can still be used as an integral piece in helping build a more sustainable future.”
IMAGE TAKEN BY DAVID HODGE.
Today, Hollingsworth holds the title of health security specialist for civil-military relations in infectious disease outbreaks and biodefense, as well as the environment consultant and ocean campaign leader for Global Citizen. Meanwhile, Hollingsworth manages to find time to also operate her own nonprofit organization. As the founder of AquaAid International, she works with remote villages and local governments of Central America and Sub-Saharan Africa, helping to establish sustainable sources of, or access to, clean drinking water and basic sanitation needs. “I’ve been really fortunate to get out into these really remote places and experience cultures who have an alternative way of engaging with the planet,” shares the former Sarasotan. “I get that not everyone is interested in having these types of experiences, but I hope to encourage people to at least get out of their comfort zones, go outside more, slow down and see the world a little bit differently.”
HOLLINGSWORTH FEATURED IN OCEANOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE'S 'INTO THE WILD'
