I took a break from posting over the summer holidays to give myself a breather as I pursue other projects. Just over a week ago Emma and I took a little impromptu adventure road trip. Starting out on Friday afternoon we drove down to the South Downs for the weekend.

I have mentioned a few times that my daughter is neither naturally sporty, particularly active or indeed fearless. She is perhaps the opposite. So I was especially proud that she decided on the Saturday morning, as we dithered whether to have an hour in the water at Buzz Active Cuckmere, that this was indeed the ideal opportunity for her to go solo in a kayak for the first time.

I was happy to let her go, happy to let her play around in the slow salt water that drifts towards the estuary and happy to “lose” a race back to base.

Of course in our excitement to get started before meeting an old friend and wandering down to Cuckmere Haven, we failed to find the time to change into appropriate clothing so, after our short adventure, there followed 15 minutes of wrangling in the back of the Land Rover as we struggled to get out of sopping wet clothes.

After returning from our walk out to look at the Seven Sisters chalk cliffs and lunch with an old friend of mine, Emma and I headed back for the hills and camped in a pub campsite.

The next day saw us up with larks (remember when there used to be larks?) and, hot chocolate in hand, we wandered up Black Down and then aimlessly in the early morning light between bright pink heather and wild blueberry bushes.

We took some time just lying in the sun, hiding from the cool breeze, and enjoying the peace of a Sunday morning in nature. Peace is a relative term of course - in truth it was incessant chit-chat to which I felt compelled to answer, what with being a parent and all that. But, it was special nevertheless.

Home… away from home.

The next day I found myself on a flight leaving the UK for a few days for work. It’s not often I cry on a plane packed with people - the only other occasion was almost exactly 10 years ago at the end of one relationship and the beginning of another but ....

I took the opportunity to finish watching Home: An Outward Journey Inward, Sarah Outen’s utterly compelling film about her human-powered round the world trip.

I first saw Sarah talking about her London 2 London: via the world trip at Kendal Mountain Festival a few years ago. I bought the book, read it, loved it and then had the good fortune to be able to speak to Sarah a year or so later.

Sarah is an extraordinary person and it’s because she appears to be a ordinary one, if you know what I mean. Like the rest of us, despite her feats of endurance she is a vulnerable human being. I often watch or read tales of adventure which are heroic and full of glory - I guess it’s just the way - and they focus on the physical struggles, the majesty of the terrain and more often than not, the victory of completion. They are often full of hyperbole and hubris. I don’t really mind too much - etc an often be a kind of fantasy and I enjoy living vicariously through other people’s courage and spirit of adventure as much as the next man. But Home is different. It is a mix of pain and joy, an exploration of the struggles of someone battling inner demons as much as the adversity of her mind-bogglingly difficult journey.

It wasn’t the escapism I often crave when watching adventure films. It was heart-wrenching at times and inspiring, not because it made me want to row the Pacific or cycle across North America but because it highlighted the strength and resilience of the human spirit - physically and mentally - in a way that other films don’t.

I thought back rather soppily to my own child, paddling alone for the first time at the weekend. She will probably never go around the world solo but I hope she will have the bravery to push herself, the understanding that her strength lies within herself and the awareness that failure is not trying things in life.

I feel like this film and Sarah’s book will at some point be part of her education.

You can find more information on Home here and dates of screenings here.

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Cleveland Way - Scarborough to High Hawsker

In October 2020, my friend Dave and I walked a section of the Cleveland Way in Yorkshire over a couple of days. We started from Scarborough and walked to Ravenscar (18 km). The next day we walked to High Hawsker (15 km).

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Packrafting the River Tamiš

In July 2020, in a brief respite from the worries of the covid pandemic, I had the good fortune to be able to escape for a little adventure, spending 3 days paddling down the Tamiš river in northern Serbia, in my packraft.

Interview with Emily Woodhouse - Founder of Intrepid Magazine

I recently had the pleasure to interview Emily Woodhouse, someone who is well known and someone who has been somewhat of a pioneer in giving a voice to many women in the adventure / outdoor sports world.

In this interview Emily gives me some insight into her whirlwind entrepreneurial journey and how much there is to learn from diving into a (business) adventure.

Not only has Intrepid Magazine provided something that was missing in the outdoor space but it is doubly satisfying to know it was the vision of someone who cares passionately about the subject matter, saw the importance of it and had the courage to go through with it… although I am not sure Emily herself see it as “courage”. As she says in the interview: “I looked at the hole in the magazine world and thought: I can do that”.

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Three Men in a Boat (to say nothing of the wallaby)

The loch was like a mirror as we set off from Luss on Friday to explore. Having walked to the high point on Inchtavannach to admire the views, and paddled around Inchmoan, watching the deer come down to the water’s edge, we agreed to spend the night on Inchconnachan for no other reason than it appeared absolutely idyllic as the sun began to sink and the evening light bathed the lake in a silvery light.

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Weekend Adventure - From lying in the sun to crying on a plane

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Canoeing the Wye: Happiness V Social Media [Video]

I had so much fun this weekend that I didn’t tell anyone about it. Imagine that! The moment was way more important to me than broadcasting about it. Yes, I know it should be, but if we are honest with ourselves, it isn’t alway, is it?

I spent Friday and Saturday canoeing down the Wye with my 7 year old daughter, from Hoarwithy to Symonds Yat. It is the first time either of us has done this kind of trip and to share this adventure together was the sort of experience that makes me go all mushy and emotional…

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Wild Night Out 2019: The Whining

Travelling in ultra lightweight style (we only carried four cricket stumps instead of the full compliment of six) Emma and I marched along the coast path, over the dunes and onto the vast sands of our beautiful coast for a perfect Wild Night Out 2019, until the high-pitched whining started…

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30 Days Wild: Suburban Springwatch

One thing I decided to do this year was leave one corner of the garden wild. I don’t know how long it will last as pressure builds from within the family to “do something” with that corner but while it does last it has had a positive effect in terms of wildlife.

Perhaps the best aspect of this experiment is the fact that every night around 9pm we have a fat hedgehog who comes through our front gate, wanders through the garden to this unkempt patch of land and roots around for a couple of hours before waddling off to check out what the neighbours have to offer.

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30 Days Wild: Freshwalks: Networking in the Outdoors

This filthy-wet month, I am trying to spend time outside in nature during my working day as part of the Wildlife Trusts 30 Days Wild. I cannot pretend it has been as easy as last year’s sun-drenched June when gently swaying flower meadows and deserted Norfolk beaches called out to me.

However, recently a client of mine drew my attention to an innovative and inspiring initiative getting business people into the outdoors, for Freshwalks. The benefits of which might surprise a few…

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30 days Wild: Welcome to my office

“Can you repeat that please sir?” I could hear a slightly exasperated tone on the other end of the line.

This morning, a few days into June and woefully short of what I hope to achieve during 30 Days Wild, I ventured out into the meadow to make a few phone calls. I took my office outdoors! The helpful assistant from Barclays Business Banking went off for a few minutes to find out some information, and probably to curse me as my microphone was buffeted by the breeze, that bent the tall flowers surrounding me and repeatedly flicked my hood over my head.

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30 Days Wild: Switch off with Nature

We are just a few days away from June and the start of 30 Days Wild; the Wildlife Trusts amazing initiative to get people outside, enjoying and appreciating nature.

This year, as part of 30 Days Wild I will be focussing on how nature can help alleviate the stresses and strains of work and how to get more of it into the working day.

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Do you want to live more adventurously?

The decision to change my life and live more adventurously was utterly instinctive, borne of exasperation, a last resort. I was burnt out, suffering from anxiety, depressed.

How I got to the point of changing the direction of my life was a couple of years of mental wrangling and torture, until I stumbled across some inspiration.