About - Patti Shales Lefkos

Patti Shales Lefkos is a Canadian writer and journalist. Her Himalayan adventure travel memoir Nepal One Day at a Time celebrates her creative non-fiction debut.

Patti’s articles, profiles, columns and travel writing have appeared in a range of Canadian and international publications. She was part of the San Francisco Chronicle team that won the Lowell Thomas Award for the best newspaper travel section in 2014.

Nepal One Day at a Time is the story of her first trekking trip on her own. Her secondbook, Grounded by Granite, a tale of family connection and personal resilience, serves as a sequel. It illuminates the childhood experiences that gave Patti the strength and resilience to excel at her outdoor pursuits and humanitarian efforts.

Born and raised in Toronto, she has also lived in Neuchatel, Switzerland and Vancouver. Following a rewarding career as a teacher, educational consultant, administrator and advocate for inner city children, Patti studied journalism at Langara University. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto, Toronto Teachers’ College, Simon Fraser University and the Wilderness Leadership Program at Capilano College.

In 2006 she set out to pursue international adventure travel. Whether canoeing the Yukon River, backcountry skiing in BC’s Monashee Mountains, hiking in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides or trekking in Tibet and Nepal, she embraces the culture and environment of wilderness areas. When not travelling, she skis downhill, nordic and backcountry from her home base at SilverStar Mountain Resort in BC’s Okanagan Valley. In summer she paddles canoe, kayak and stand up paddle board at her Ontario island cottage.

In April 2015, 9,000 people died and 22,000 were injured in a devastating earthquake in Nepal. As a result Patti and her husband, Barry Hodgins, founded BC non-profit Nepal One Day at a Time to support education in Gorkha province, Nepal, the epicentre of the earthquake. Nepal One Day at a Time partners with Kathmandu based NGO Sambhav Nepal and Vernon BC’s Kalamalka Rotary where Patti is chair of the International Committee.

Patti was Recently Awarded