By Erin Berger, Outside

You may have seen Ambreen Tariq’s selfies and peaceful tent shots in your feed, and you may have noticed that her account isn’t the usual outdoor-lifestyle Insta fare. The 33-year-old runs the Brown People Camping account, which has gained more than 2,000 followers since she started posting in August.

Tariq, who lives in D.C., uses the platform to share photos of her adventures, everywhere from Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park to New Mexico’s White Sands National Monument.

But just as important for her are the captions: Tariq talks about how her identities—as a woman, a person of color, an immigrant, and a Muslim—inform her experience outdoors.

We had a wide-ranging conversation with Tariq about why she created the account, how it’s been received, and why the outdoors community needs to be more welcoming toward newcomers or those who don’t fit the traditional mold of the outdoorsy type.

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