An occasional blog on topics related to my work. For a behind-the-scenes look, subscribe to my Patreon page.
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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 one’s 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 you’ve arrived here expecting an ‘ultimate guide’ or ‘blueprint’ 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. We’re 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 I’ve known for many years. Their mission is to expand our understanding of the world through guides, journals and curated travel experience – 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
There’s 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 – whether or not I myself take any flights – as […]
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Guest Post for Home Of Millican: Building The Transcaucasian Trail
Originally published at homeofmillican.com. In an obscure corner of Armenia, in the town of Dilijan, just shy of the central square, a rickety wooden staircase leads up from the street, through the trees, and into the unknown. If you climb these stairs and follow the red-and-white symbols, you’ll rise far above town along pathways etched […]
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#FlightFree2020: About The Time I Travelled The World Flight-Free For 4 Years (And Nobody Cared)
My Flight Free 2020 pledge hasn’t come out of nowhere. Call it a rekindling of a long-forgotten conviction that the example I set might actually matter. Because we are all participants, now, in this huge and never-ending conversation we call global society. Our impact is measured in terms of the number of people paying attention […]
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#FlightFree2020: Can Flight-Free Living & Adventure Travel Really Coexist? Let’s Find Out
Today, on this day of New Year’s Resolutions, I pledge to join the Flight Free UK campaign. Between now and the 1st of January 2021, I will not take a single flight. I’ve joined the campaign because, as a long-time advocate of adventurous travel and exploration, I can no longer ignore my own hypocrisy. I […]
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Five Of Armenia’s Most Spectacular Monastery Hikes
Many of Armenia’s most famous Christian monasteries are dramatically situated amid towering cliffs or on precipitous mountainsides with panoramic views across the rugged landscapes of the Lesser Caucasus. In ancient times, accessing these centres of study and worship required the laborious construction of steep footpaths and rock-hewn steps from neighbouring communities, and many such routes […]
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The Gegham Mountains: Exploring Armenia’s Volcanic Backcountry
The Gegham Mountains are an imposing chain of volcanic domes that bisects Armenia from north to south. For most of the year they are impenetrable due to a thick layer of snow. But come June, as snow starts to melt, the country’s tent-dwelling Yezidi nomads drive their cattle from lowland plains to graze beneath the […]