Searching for Hope

Sometimes it’s just out of reach. Sometimes it’s impossibly far away. But no matter the distance, hope moves us to remarkable places and soothes the darkest of our troubles.

In the summer 2025 issue of Hidden Compass, five storytellers — including both of our co-founders — are “Searching for Hope.” They chase it from the highways of American interstates to the expanse of the open ocean, facing disasters both natural and human, connecting with butterflies, midwives, and an insufferable historical hero. None emerge the same. Will you?

First, in the bougainvillea-filled courtyards of Oaxaca City, Mexico, Hidden Compass co-founder Sabine K. Bergmann threads herself into a remarkable network of midwives at an abortion training. Following these women to rural regions and cartel-controlled territories as they seek the girls and women who need them, Sabine’s Portrait feature, “Woven Together by Choice,” laces their stories into the legacies of Zapotec pyramids and bright Oaxacan textiles — revealing striking truths about the struggle and hope of grassroots reproductive care.

And from London, Kentucky to Horseshoe Beach, Florida, Hidden Compass co-founder Sivani Babu reports from her American Red Cross deployments to communities struck by a convergence of disasters — and threatened by a shift in federal disaster management. Inspired by a sign on a boarded-up window, Sivani’s Human & Nature feature explores the resilience of those in the path of destruction and the impact of their appeal: “Do Not Destroy.”

From land, we take to the sea. Inspired by a historic round-the-world ocean voyage, writer and photographer Jordan Winters joins a crew from more than 40 nations aboard the Oosterschelde, a tall ship following “In the Wake of Darwin.” Surrounded by scientists and rattled by the sea crossing from Tasmania to New Zealand, Jordan chronicles her Quest to tap into the young naturalist Charles Darwin’s years aboard the HMS Beagle, creating a photo feature that churns up insights on beauty, paradox, shortcomings, and triumph.

Then, for the summer issue’s Chasing Demons story and second photo feature, journalist Jodi Cash heads across the United States with her husband in an old Chevy van. In the storm of COVID-19 and a sudden death in the family, Jodi seeks the promise of the open road — as many have done before her. But on “The Gilded Road,” the hope and possibility of the American interstate is fractured, and the journey to Truth or Consequences is winding.

Finally, circling back from our spring 2020 issue, writer Martha Ezell’s “Journey of a Golden Soul” follows the multigenerational migration of millions across the North American continent. Her Portrait story takes us to Mexico’s Sierra Madre range, where she finds an astonishing kaleidoscope of wings, and chronicles the impressive yet fragile comeback of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve.

For our readers and storytellers who never stop reaching for hope,

Sabine K. Bergmann and Sivani Babu, Hidden Compass Co-founders

In the last few years, as we’ve expanded into global expeditions and documentary films, we’ve welcomed hundreds of thousands of new readers to Hidden Compass. Many of our newest readers are unfamiliar with our earlier stories, so we’re bringing some of them back. This year, every issue of Hidden Compass will feature an article from the archives — one that complements the brand-new stories in the issue.