Who gets to belong in the outdoors? For Jeff Jenkins of Chubby Diaries, the answer is everyone

The air is unusually cool for a November morning in Florida. I glance down at the camera gear in the back of my car, excited for the day ahead at Revolution Adventures in Clermont, Florida. Then Jeff Jenkins steps out of his car smiling, like we’ve been friends for years. It’s impossible not to smile back. The plan is simple: Tear through Florida trails on ATVs, throw some axes, test our aim with archery, and leave covered in dirt by the end of it.

Jeff, who’s based in Miami, is the founder of Chubby Diaries, a platform centered around plus-size travel and helping people feel like they belong outdoors. In 2023, he hosted the National Geographic show Never Say Never, where he tried adventures people in larger bodies are often told they can’t do. From scuba-diving and horseback riding to ziplining and ATV trails, honesty, he addressed plus-size travel and accessibility through a lens that mainstream outdoor media has largely ignored. “I’m an average guy,” he tells me, “and for a long time, society told me what I could and couldn’t do.”

I started watching the show when it aired in 2023; the more I watched, the more I wanted to know about Jeff. Whether he was climbing up great heights or trying something unfamiliar like sumo wrestling, he approached every experience with curiosity, humor and curiosity—it didn’t feel polished or performative. We also seemed to share the same mindset about adventure: “Life begins where your comfort zone ends” is Jeff’s show slogan. And he actually lives it.

Jeff’s mission is to speak for people who haven’t always seen themselves represented in the outdoors. Through Never Say Never and Chubby Diaries, he’s showing plus-size travelers, people of color and others who’ve felt excluded from adventure spaces that they belong there too.

Watching him move through the world, whether he’s laughing on the trails, trying something new or talking openly about accessibility, it’s clear he’s not interested in pretending those barriers don’t exist. And if you spend your whole life being told adventure isn’t meant for people like you, he says, you eventually stop imagining yourself in those spaces altogether,

Jeff talks honestly about the questions that come before the adventure even begins: Will the gear fit? Will the seat be wide enough? Will I feel embarrassed if it doesn’t? Take scuba diving, as an example. What if they don’t have a wet suit that fits? What if any straps don’t fit around me? Jeff shares the same fears. “Every single time that I have gone to do something and I did not bring my own equipment, I get nervous,” he says.

“Before it was tough. Now they show size restrictions, weight limits, and dimensions. Before it used to be guesswork, calling the location or just showing up and hoping they could accommodate you.”

- Jeff Jenkins

According to research from MMGY Travel Intelligence and the Black Travel Alliance, Black travelers spent USD$145 billion on travel in 2023 alone. The outdoor industry is shifting too, with recent data from the Outdoor Industry Association found participation among Black Americans in outdoor recreation grew by 12.8 percent. The thing is, the interest has always been there; it’s the representation, accessibility and sense of belonging that haven’t always followed.

That’s part of why Jeff’s work matters. He’s not just encouraging people to get outside; he’s helping people imagine themselves there in the first place. “I don’t do this just for myself,” Jeff tells me. “Me stepping outside my comfort zone helps other people do the same.”

Things are improving though, and it seems the travel and adventure tourism industry are noticing that people are looking for answers. “Before it was tough,” says Jeff. “Now they show size restrictions, weight limits, and dimensions. Before it used to be guesswork, calling the location or just showing up and hoping they could accommodate you.”

Airline policies are another area which are often inconsistent for plus-size passengers. Since the 1980s, seats have shrunk by about 1-3 inches in width as airlines focus on fitting more people on an airplane to increase profits.

One issue is there isn’t a standardized policy for plus-size travelers. As an example, starting in 2026, Southwest’s move from open seating to assigned seats changed how plus-size passengers navigate flying. Under the airline’s updated policy, travelers who cannot comfortably fit within one seat may be required to purchase a second seat in advance. If adjacent seats are unavailable on a full flight, they can be rebooked onto another one. It demonstrates how, for many travelers, the stress starts long before the trip itself. It becomes another layer of planning, cost and anxiety—to an experience that’s supposed to feel exciting.

Even when the basics are technically covered, I wonder what the difference is between plus-size-friendly and a place being genuinely welcoming. Is it wider seats on airplanes? Gear that actually fits? Clear size information before booking an activity? Or maybe it’s simply not being made to feel like your body is an inconvenience before the adventure even begins?

When I ask Jeff, he pauses for a second. “Well, that’s a good question.” He says it made him think because, ultimately, true accessibility is still hard to come by in many spaces. “I’ve had a struggle at times finding plus-size friendly activities,” he says. “Truly plus-size friendly is the thought behind the design and how that activity or experience was created. It’s not a modification—it’s actually designed with plus-sized people in mind.”

So much of adventure marketing still centers the same types of bodies, experiences and people—even though the reality looks far more diverse. Out on the trails, in the water and around campfires, I see people of different sizes, races, ages, identities and experience levels showing up every day.

Jeff is just one of many people hoping to make travel and adventure spaces more welcoming. In Maui, Hawai’i, Kanoa Greene runs NAKOA Adventure, a company that designs outdoor experiences specifically for plus-size travelers. Greene works directly with outfitters and activity providers to consider aspects such as weight limits, properly fitting gear, seating, transportation and whether someone will physically feel comfortable participating without embarrassment.

Instead of simply accommodating people after the fact, Greene focuses on building experiences where plus-size travelers are considered from the start. That can mean smaller group sizes, transparent communication before booking, or choosing activities and partners that prioritize accessibility without making people feel singled out.

“For people who have spent their whole lives being told their bodies are not capable, having that experience without limits and without barriers is the whole point,” Greene tells me. “Adventure has no size limit. It never did. Our job is to make sure that plus-size people finally have the access to prove it.”

I’ve been an adventurer for a long time, but as a photographer, I’ve noticed how narrow the outdoor industry’s visual storytelling can sometimes feel. So much of adventure marketing still centers the same types of bodies, experiences and people—even though the reality looks far more diverse. Out on the trails, in the water and around campfires, I see people of different sizes, races, ages, identities and experience levels showing up every day.

Some outdoor brands, including REI and Columbia Sportswear, have started expanding inclusive sizing and featuring more diverse communities in their campaigns. But representation goes beyond simply placing different bodies into advertisements. It’s about showing people fully participating in adventure instead of treating them like exceptions to it. That way, more people can actually recognize themselves and think, ‘maybe that space was meant for me too’.

Representation matters because people notice when they’ve been left out of the frame. Jeff tells me he regularly hears from people who finally felt comfortable booking a trip, trying a new activity or stepping into outdoor spaces after seeing someone who looked like them doing it first.

What people like Jeff, Kanoa Greene and other advocates are pushing for isn’t performative diversity or a one-off campaign. They’re asking the industry to think differently from the beginning: wider size ranges, clearer accessibility information, properly fitting gear, more thoughtful design and imagery that reflects the people already showing up outdoors. “Representation matters. When people see themselves out there, they’ll go do it too,” Jeff says.

As Jeff and I chat about the show, he recalls one moment that stuck with him. “A producer once said to me that after a while watching the show, ‘All I saw was Jeff. I didn’t see a plus-size man’.”

It was something of a pivotal moment, Jeff tells me. “Even though the show was about me being a plus-size man traveling and doing all these crazy adventures. I remember thinking, ‘Oh, you finally see me. Cause this is how I see myself’.”

As I walk back toward my car, cameras covered in dust from the trails, I keep thinking about something he’d said earlier in the day: “Truly plus-size friendly is the thought behind the design.” Not an afterthought. Not a modification made later. Designed with people in mind from the very beginning. Maybe that’s where the outdoor industry goes next. Not just wider seats, extended sizing or more inclusive marketing campaigns, but experiences designed around the understanding that adventure was never meant for one type of person in the first place.

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Find out more about Jeff, his travels and his advocacy work at chubbydiaries.com

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