Today we’d like to introduce you to Erika Schlick.
Erika, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
In 2012, I went to Yosemite on the 3rd camping trip of my life and became very ill after. I went from doctor to doctor for over two years and no one could figure out what was wrong with me until I was finally tested and diagnosed with Lyme Disease. I was relieved to finally have a diagnosis but had no idea the uphill battle I was facing of trying to heal from an incurable disease. I spent the next three years doing a variety of treatments including weekly IVs, herbals, detox, a strict and clean diet as well as immune support. In late 2016, I decided to get stem cell therapy using my own stem cells and that is what finally healed me from the insidious disease.
Since my recovery, I have made it my mission to be an advocate for Lyme Disease Awareness and living a healthy life. I had started my blog, The Trail To Health when I was very sick as a way to track my recovery from Lyme and what treatments I was doing, and as I healed it evolved to have more content around healthy living and diet. It continued to evolve as my own Trail To Health did and in the following year, I started adding healthy recipes and also released my first cookbook, Wandering Palate. In 2019, I started to also add a travel component and started writing gluten-free city guides for various cities. Before I was diagnosed with Lyme, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease and it can make eating out very challenging and travel even more challenging. I wanted to guide and show people that you can live a normal life after chronic illness and you can travel on a restricted diet and enjoy yourself, and eat really good food while you are at it!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Oh my not at all! The years I was sick with Lyme were the darkest days of my life. There were days I could not get out of bed, taking a shower would exhaust me and there were days I could not even walk or go up my stairs to my bedroom. You never realize how much you take for granted until you are chronically ill.
I am so lucky to be one of the ones that has recovered from Lyme and is thriving today but there are millions of people that are still trying to get their lives back.
Today all my Lyme symptoms have resolved but I am in remission, not cured and so it takes a lot of work to stay healthy and be very mindful of my health and how I am taking care of myself.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with The Trail To Health – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Now, this is the fun stuff. My brand is called The Trail To Health and as I mentioned, it started off as a blog for giving people hope to heal, which it still does but I also offer Health Coaching, I have all my blog content, recipes, my cookbook Wandering Palate and my travel section.
With my health coaching, I work with two kinds of clients. I have people that see what I went through and want to know what they can do now to stay healthy and not end up like I did and the other part of my practice is helping those with chronic illness like Lyme and Mold and also Autoimmune Disease (which I have 4!).
I have been doing a lot of press for my cookbook, Wandering Palate and have been on over 100 TV shows across the US and I am also planning out my second book which I hope to release in the next year so that has been very exciting to start working on ideas for.
It has been really fun to watch my brand evolve as I have healed and evolved and it really is my own trail to health and all the great things that I have been able to accomplish and share after such a horrific experience of being sick for so long.
I would love to one day turn my blog into a full-time career but for now, my days are filled with running my design agency that I started with my partner ten years ago called the UDDA.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Well, this is a tough one haha. 2020 has really put a damper on some of these things. After spending much of my last decade home and sick, I really wanted this year to be the year that I got back into lots of travel and getting out there, but alas that will be on hold a bit longer.
I have been taking this time to really focus on my blog and I recently started a YouTube channel and have been filming a lot of cooking videos which I never had the time to do. It has been really fun to play around with the different gear and lighting and perfect this piece that I think was really missing from my brand.
I am also really wanting to start a podcast soon as well so hoping to focus on that later this year.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thetrailtohealth.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetrailtohealth
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetrailtohealth
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/trailtohealth
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-trail-to-health-venice
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/thetrailtohealth
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