Bio
Juan Pablo Quiñonez is a mestizo Latino who has been ruminating for over a decade on the predicaments of modernity and civilization. His writing aims to bridge ancestral and Indigenous perspectives, psychology, spirituality, resilience, systems thinking, science, and deep ecology to explore where we are and our roles in facilitating what emerges.
He was born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico. And he studied at MRU in Canada, where he met his wife, Jennifer Ford. After graduating, they paddled into the boreal forest, where they spent six months isolated foraging to complement their minimal rations.
He has spent a hundred days in the forest foraging in the solitude of the boreal winter. In 2021, he won the ninth season of the survival TV series Alone after surviving solo for seventy-eight days in the subarctic lands of Labrador during the fall, where he underwent a multi-week fast. In addition to being an amateur collapse researcher, he is also a wilderness survival expert specializing in the boreal forest and has written the survival book Thrive: Long-Term Wilderness Survival Guide.
Drawing on research, life experiences, and insights, Juan Pablo urges us to challenge our assumptions and cultivate an openness to perceive and experience what is happening. He encourages us to stand on a deeper, more solid foundation, enhancing our ability to perceive uncomfortable thoughts and sensations without losing ourselves. He calls us to embrace our predicaments’ paradoxes, complexities, and magnitude. He believes the right insights will empower us to respond in our own ways with courage and wisdom, and that they will guide us in letting go of what’s unhelpful so that a more beautiful world can emerge. Juan Pablo lives in the boreal forest in Canada.
JP is a an outdoor professional with over 10 years of experience in outdoor recreation and survival. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Applied Ecotourism and Outdoor Leadership. His outdoor and survival experiences include backpacking the entire Pacific Crest Trail (2650 mi) in 99 days and paddling over 1,500 miles during numerous whitewater and flatwater trips (including the Hayes River to Hudson Bay).
Photo credit: Brendan George Ko/A+E
Juan Pablo, Alone Season 9
He loves adventure, enjoys type-2-fun activities, and is passionate about offgrid homesteading and living off the land. He believes it’s important to practice and share the skills and wisdom of our hunter-gatherer ancestors, that strengthening a genuine connection to the land is key for resilience in these times of disruption and decline. He lives at the edge of the boreal forest.
