Personal development happens when you’re faced with hardship and adversity. That’s true whether you’re embarking on an epic outdoor pursuit alone or waiting out a global pandemic. It forces you to battle your inner demons. To understand what it’s like to cope with that at an extreme level, we spoke to Captain Liz Clark, a surfer, sailor, and environmentalist. In 2006, she set sail from California, venturing south to Central America and into the Pacific aboard her 40-foot sailboat, Swell. Since then, she has surpassed over 20,000 nautical miles, more than half of which she completed solo. — as told to Wesley Grover