🚶✍️ Menna Emad Abdelrahman (LinkedIn) spent six years in venture capital before a 250-km solo trek along the Sinai Trail — from Nuweiba to St. Catherine on foot — changed the direction of her career. That walk, along with the writing that came with it, eventually became Papertrails: a retreat initiative that pairs long-distance hiking with structured creative writing workshops, set against landscapes in Egypt. The idea came from something she couldn’t find herself — a writing retreat built around bigger, wilder terrain — so she built it.

From venture capital to Kilimanjaro

Abdelrahman did what many couldn’t: leaving behind a structured office job for a life centered on movement, curiosity, and travel. An economics graduate, she spent years building a career across entrepreneurship, local angel investment, early-stage venture capital, and tech. On her days off, she escaped to the outdoors, taking on long-distance treks that began in Egypt before expanding her adventures abroad in Nepal, Tanzania, and beyond. A certified rock climber, a freediver, an avid analog photographer, and a writer, she had found her footing.

By 2020, after launching her own consultancy firm and gaining more flexibility over her schedule, she took on a second full-time job as an expedition leader with adventure travel company Life Happens Outdoors. There, she led hikes through Kilimanjaro, Nepal, the Alps, and along the Inca Trail and Salkantay in the Peruvian Andes. “It was kind of my first step out of the space. I was figuring out that there was room for me to be using my business and entrepreneurial skill set within an adventure travel context,” Abdelrahman tells EnterpriseAM.

“I started to really have a strong connection and love for the outdoors. The length and the perspective that you get to see the world when you’re walking on your own two feet and enjoying nature in this way changed something [within] me. It was a very gradual journey; it wasn’t overnight. I was stepping out of a career that I was very steady in and that I was very proud of. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy it anymore, just that there was a different calling,” she explains.

Like many successful ventures, Papertrails began as something Abdelrahman wished already existed. She recalls searching for writing retreats like the one she had in mind, only to find that most options in Egypt were either stretched over several weeks or lasted just a day. The idea for a writing retreat against bigger landscapes was already simmering in her head, and with years of guiding people through natural landscapes and having already organized casual treks with friends, she decided to launch the first Papertrails trial-run retreat in 2020. She picked it back up just last fall and hasn’t looked back since.

Papertrails at its core

For Abdelrahman, Papertrails was never about building a traditional business. She describes it as being built around what she calls “a combination between a creative pursuit, movement, and a natural landscape,” being born from a genuine passion for the outdoors. “There’s such a profound gratification in being able to hold that space for other individuals to step into, where they’re not only seeing themselves [but also] learning about our ecologies, learning about our landscapes, and engaging with a deeply creative process,” Abdelrahman says.

Papertrails, so far, takes place every season, with each retreat set in a different location. Lasting four to five days, the retreats welcome around eight to 12 participants, all selected through an application process. Every retreat revolves around a theme that Abdelrahman curates. The theme shapes an assembled reading pack, featuring fiction, non-fiction, essays, poetry, and often experimental works. These readings serve as the foundation for the retreat’s prompt-based generative workshops, where participants are then expected to share and discuss their writing.

Who does Papertrails cater to? In short, anyone looking for space to write — provided they’re also willing to embrace a physical challenge and immerse themselves in the outdoors: artist or non-artist, professional writer or hobbyist, creative or a pharmacist. The aim is to invite participants to experience the surrounding landscape not as scenery but as muse.

No drop-ins, no quiet observers

Abdelrahman does not take this immersion lightly. “Every now and then I’ll have someone ask me, ‘Can I come for one or two days?’ and I refuse. For the sanctity of the experience, for the respect and the privacy of the individuals who participate.” If you plan on sitting quietly through sharing circles and not sharing your writing, Abdelrahman says the experience is not for you. “There’s so much effort built into making it what it is, and I owe it to anyone who participates to do my best to deliver an experience that really gives them the entirety of what they can get out of this,” she clarifies.

It’s not just a click-and-book experience. Prospective participants first fill out an application, followed by a one-on-one interview with Abdelrahman herself where she gauges each individual’s expectations, looking for “the right feel” — people who understand the nature of the retreat from its physical demands (particularly on hiking-heavy trips) to the interpersonal commitment it requires.

Once participants are selected, she scouts each location in advance, hiking the routes before every retreat with the help of local guides and her own guidebooks. She also makes sure to spend time with the local people of different locations, building relationships with the Bedouin guides and caretakers of the destinations she returns to.

What’s next for Papertrails

For now, Abdelrahman is focused on preserving the flagship Papertrails experience rather than rushing to scale it. “Such a big part of endeavoring to work in this is that I’m following the pace of the experience. I’m not planning ahead and thinking ‘this is what it needs to be.’ It’s growing; it’s manifesting into new places [at its own pace],” she says. Looking ahead, the founder hopes to channel the creative output of Papertrails into an annual literary magazine. She also plans to introduce shorter urban retreats closer to the city, before eventually expanding Papertrails to other landscapes across the Arab world.

For Papertrails’ next retreat, Abdelrahman is planning a first-time coastal adventure in none other than Marsa Matrouh, running 1-5 September. Details can be found on Papertrails’ Instagram.