An occasional blog on topics related to my work. For a behind-the-scenes look, subscribe to my Patreon page.
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Several years ago I was the bewildered yet lucky recipient of the Land Rover Bursary, an expedition grant then administered by the Royal Geographical Society. As well as a generous pile of cash, I also got to dream up and have built a specially modified expedition-ready Land Rover Defender 110. Pretty neat, right? Land Rover […]
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Exactly How Do You Fund Your Adventure Travel Lifestyle?
A reader writes: I would be very interested in how you fund your adventures / lifestyle. I know this is always a bit of an awkward one, but I think there are many people in the community that would be interested in ways to make extra income, source sponsorship and budget for adventures. Thanks so […]
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Introducing The Armenian National Trail: A New Village-To-Village Hiking Route
On May 16 2023, in the leafy surrounds of Yerevan Botanical Gardens, the Armenian State Tourism Committee and HIKEArmenia announced their intention to create the Armenian National Trail, a new national hiking route across Armenia. In attendance were government officials, tourism development representatives, long-time members of the hiking community… and the small crew of trail […]
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Breaking: Former Traveller Recreates Feeling Of Adventure At Home (Again)
The moment I decided to stop travelling, put down roots, and buy a house (on the pretext that I needed somewhere to store my bikes and camping gear), some deeply buried part of my brain started looking for ways to make it feel like I was actually still travelling. Iโm certainly not the first. And […]
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#FlightFree2020: Well, That Was Easy โ Or Was It?
When, on January 1st, I and many others committed to not flying for a year, none of us imagined 2020 would see 90% of air traffic disappear and the biggest reduction in aviation emissions since the invention of flight. Perhaps predictably, smug people on Twitter soon began making sarcastic jokes about how everyone might as […]
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New Interview Now Live On The Self-Propelled Podcast
I very much enjoyed chatting with Dave Cornthwaite a couple of weeks ago while recording a new episode for his Self Propelled Podcast. We travelled a meandering path of conversation on the theme of living life on oneโs own terms, from my early bicycle-mounted adventures, to finding creative expression through books and films, to sharing […]
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How To Fundraise For Your Expedition (Or Other Adventurous Project)
This article is based on a lecture I gave for the Royal Geographical Society at the 2019 Explore expedition planning conference. If youโve arrived here expecting an โultimate guideโ or โblueprintโ with three easy steps to finding funding for your expedition, then I am afraid I must disappoint you. Not only is your expedition unique, […]
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Trail Notes From The Stunning Zagros Mountains Of Iraqi Kurdistan
In December last year, just before my #FlightFree2020 began, I took a hike across northern Iraq, where my long-time collaborator in adventure Leon McCarron has been working with the Abraham Path Initiative on a nascent trail project in the region. Weโre talking about landscapes that were once part of ancient Mesopotamia, so the route traverses […]
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The story of the volunteers hacking a 3,000km path across the Caucasus Mountains
I recently penned this 1,500-word piece for Horizon Guides, whose founder Matt Iโve known for many years. Their mission is to expand our understanding of the world through guides, journals and curated travel experience โ a mission that has much in common with my own. There is no particular blueprint for creating a long-distance hiking […]
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#FlightFree2020: Travel Blogging And The Multiplier Effect
Thereโs an elephant in the room with my #FlightFree2020 pledge. My work is tied inextricably to the international travel industry, which in turn relies heavily on flying. In other words, if I continue to do my job well, I will increase overall aviation emissions โ whether or not I myself take any flights โ as […]