Real adventure isn't just for the pros. The award-winning Adventure Diaries brings you authentic stories of Adventure, exploration and the wonder of the natural world, specifically curated to inspire your next adventure.
Hosted by Chris Watson—an award-winning storyteller and Scottish micro-adventurer—this show bridges the gap between extreme feats and accessible everyday adventures.
Whether you are a seasoned mountaineer, a weekend adventurer, a solo traveler planning your next trip, or someone seeking the mental health benefits of nature, you have found your tribe.
We go beyond the standard interview to decode the "why" and "how" behind the world's greatest adventures.
What Makes This Show Different? Unlike other outdoor podcasts, every episode delivers three distinct promises to help you live a more extraordinary life:
Unique Adventure Stories: Immersive storytelling from National Geographic explorers, survivalists, ultra-athletes, and frontline conservationists. From the peaks of the Seven Summits to the depths of the Amazon, experience the thrill of the unknown.
Your Call To Adventure: Passive listening ends here. Each guest issues a practical challenge to inspire you to step out your front door and discover the wild places in your own backyard.
Pay It Forward: We believe in sustainable travel and stewardship. Every episode highlights a specific charity, wildlife project, or community cause.
Join our global community of explorers. Discover hidden gems, learn survival skills, and find the motivation to push your boundaries.
Subscribe now and start your next adventure today.
Making Birdwatching Cool Again:— Beginner Birding, UK Wildlife & Nature With Georgia Barker
Saison 4 · Épisode 14
jeudi 6 novembre 2025 • Durée 01:07:00
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This week, Chris sits down with Georgia Barker, the voice and lens behind Nature with Georgia. From growing up on a goat farm in Essex to rafting below Victoria Falls and rediscovering the beauty of UK wildlife, Georgia’s story proves that adventure is often right outside your door.
She’s built a fast-growing community of bird lovers and everyday nature enthusiasts by sharing her honest learning journey — proof that you don’t need to be an expert to inspire others. Georgia’s mission is simple: to make birdwatching cool again and show that the wild is never far away.
What You’ll Learn
🕊️ How Georgia fell in love with birdwatching during a random day out at an RSPB reserve 📸 Why photography helped her slow down and reconnect with nature 🌍 What seven years of solo travel taught her about happiness and purpose 💡 The importance of accessibility and community in conservation 🎙️ How she’s using storytelling to change perceptions of British wildlife
Guest Bio
Georgia Barker is a wildlife photographer and creator from Essex, UK. Through her platform Nature with Georgia, she documents her journey into birdwatching and outdoor storytelling, encouraging people to reconnect with their local environment. She’s passionate about community nature walks, ethical photography, and making the outdoors welcoming for everyone.
Follow her work here: 📸 Instagram → @naturewithgeorgia
🎧 Watch & listen on all major platforms. Subscribe to Adventure Diaries for weekly conversations about exploration, conservation, and what drives people to seek the wild — near or far.
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a comment and subscribe for more exciting content.
Please visit AdventureDiaries.com/GO For more authentic stories of Adventure Exploration and the natural world
The Adventure Diaries Podcast also covers a broad spectrum OF topics withIN the fields of Adventure, Exploration, Micro-adventure, Survival, Mental Resilience, Conservation, Scotland, Hiking, Solo Travel, Cycling, Nature, Storytelling, Mountaineering
Walking the Andes, 14,000km from Patagonia to Venezuela with Ollie Treviso
Saison 4 · Épisode 13
jeudi 16 octobre 2025 • Durée 01:34:43
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Overview
From a Swansea estate to the peaks of Patagonia, Ollie Treviso became the first person to walk the entire length of the Andes — 14,000 kilometres across seven countries, taking 20 months of near-continuous motion. His story isn’t about records or ego, but about endurance, kindness, and rediscovering humanity step by step.
In this episode, Ollie speaks openly about losing direction in his twenties, leaving behind a job in insurance, and how walking became his therapy. He reflects on the extremes of the Andes — from the Salar de Uyuni’s white infinity to the Venezuelan jungle — and the strangers who saved him time and again. Through fractured bones, altitude sickness, and moments of despair, he found that the world is still full of good people and that adventure, at its heart, is about carrying on when no one is watching.
Chris and Ollie talk about how walking can heal mental health, the beauty of simplicity, and what modern life has lost in the rush for comfort. It’s an episode about grit, humility, and gratitude — a reminder that you don’t need to be special to do something extraordinary.
What You’ll Learn
💡 How a lost young man from Swansea became a global adventurer.
🧭 The unseen kindness and generosity of South America’s rural communities.
🗣️ Lessons in endurance, patience, and humility from 14,000km on foot.
🌍 Why walking can be a powerful tool for mental health and reflection.
🔥 How simplicity and gratitude can rebuild connection and purpose.
Resources
Follow Ollie’s future projects: coming soon via Adventure Diaries updates.
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What if your next adventure wasn’t just a hike—but a journey into ancient traditions, mountain culture, and deep human connection?
In this episode, I sit down with Gilbert Moukheiber—Lebanese adventurer, wilderness guide, and founder of 33 North—to explore one of the world’s most unexpected adventure destinations: Lebanon.
From snow-covered peaks to ancient shepherd migration routes, Gilbert reveals how Lebanon’s dramatic geography lets you ski in the morning and swim in the Mediterranean by afternoon.
We dive into the Boukaat Loubnan Trails, a 400km network winding through forgotten Roman temples, Phoenician trade routes, and remote shepherd communities. But this is far more than a trek—it’s a cultural expedition where you walk alongside shepherds, share their meals, and even help tend their goats.
Gilbert also shares his vision for sustainable, community-driven tourism through his Wilderness and Adventure Academy, which trains guides and outdoor lovers in safe, respectful adventure practices—protecting both nature and heritage.
What You’ll Learn:
How human-powered adventure helps preserve Lebanon’s culture and landscapes
The magic of transhumance: shepherds’ seasonal migrations through the mountains
Why Lebanon remains an underrated but world-class adventure destination
How adventure tourism uplifts and sustains remote mountain communities
Practical ways to explore Lebanon responsibly, beyond mass tourism
Expect campfire stories, fresh-baked bread, and unforgettable moments of connection—this one is a true hidden gem.
Jeff Johns World Exploration in 48 Hours: A 'What Doesn't Suck' Guide To Adventure Travel
Saison 1 · Épisode 14
jeudi 8 février 2024 • Durée 51:17
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Jeff Johns once landed at an airport and genuinely had no idea what country he was in until the pilot announced it. That was deliberate. It's the philosophy behind everything he and his wife Anne have built with What Doesn't Suck — one of the most quietly brilliant adventure travel platforms on the internet.
Over a decade of 48-hour escapes from their Dubai base, Jeff and Anne filmed 25 episodes across the world on nothing but iPhone 7s — no tripods, no lights, no microphones. Just two people showing up somewhere new and figuring it out. The result was 15 million views and a blueprint for honest, high-quality travel storytelling. In this episode, Jeff reflects on what it truly takes to turn a life of wandering into meaningful content — and how to know when to put the camera down and just be there.
From being held at gunpoint in a Malaysian gambling den to getting detained by military police in Tajikistan, Jeff has navigated the kind of situations most travel bloggers carefully avoid mentioning. His advice on brand partnerships, audience trust, and the slow art of building something that actually lasts is as practical as it is refreshing.
What You'll Learn: • How Jeff and Anne built 15 million views on What Doesn't Suck using only iPhone 7s — and why they never outsourced the editing • The 48-hour weekend travel system they developed from Dubai: how to be at the Pyramids one week and in Tajikistan's Fan Mountains the next • What it actually feels like to be held at gunpoint in a Malaysian gambling den — and what Jeff learned from it • Why most sponsored content deals are a trap — and the Eastpak relationship that offset 50% of their six-month world trip • The single most important question any new content creator should ask themselves before posting anything • Why Jeff's memoir — Jet Lag Junkie — took over four years to write, and what two decades of unintentional expat life looks like when you finally put it on the page
JEFF JOHNS | Travel Filmmaker, Content Creator & AuthorWebsite: whatdoesntsuck.comYouTube: youtube.com/@WhatDoesntSuckInstagram: @whatdoesntsuckFacebook: facebook.com/whatdoesntsuckBook: Jet Lag Junkie: Unfiltered Tales of a Compulsive Wanderer (available now)Pay It Forward: All Hands and Hearts — disaster volunteer organisation operating worldwide allhandsandhearts.orgABOUT JEFF JOHNSJeff Johns is a travel filmmaker, documentary producer, and one half of the adventure travelplatform What Doesn't Suck, which he built with his wife Anne Mugnier. Born and raised in Washington, DC, he spent a decade in Los Angeles studying visual journalism before living two years in Thailand, four years in Dubai, and eventually settling in the Netherlands with his family. He has produced content for the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and the BBC. His memoir, Jet Lag Junkie: Unfiltered Tales of a Compulsive Wanderer, chronicles two decades ofunintentional expat life and global adventure.
Ray Zahab Beyond Limits: Conquering The Arctic, Deserts & Disease With A Smile
Saison 1 · Épisode 13
vendredi 2 février 2024 • Durée 47:42
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Ray Zahab was a pack-a-day smoker with no direction. Then his younger brother handed him a reason to go outside — and inside a decade he had run 7,500 kilometres across the Sahara Desert, broken the world record for the fastest unsupported trek to the South Pole, and launched a charity that takes teenagers on expeditions in some of the world's most remote corners, free of charge.
In this episode, Ray takes us from that first unlikely race — the Yukon Arctic Ultra, 100 miles in the frozen Canadian north, the first foot race he had ever entered, which he won — through to the philosophy he has built across 40 expeditions in places including the Gobi, Atacama, Death Valley and Baffin Island. He also speaks, with quiet defiance, about the incurable illness he was diagnosed with while in the middle of planning his next expedition — and why that only made him push harder.
Chapters
00:00 From pack-a-day smoker to ultra runner 01:21 Growing up on a horse farm — and how adventure found Ray 03:25 Winning the Yukon Arctic Ultra at his very first race 05:57 Running the Sahara — 7,500 km across Africa in 111 days 07:02 Expeditions over racing — why Ray stopped competing 08:27 Water crisis awareness and the Ryan's Well Foundation 09:12 Founding Impossible to Possible — free expeditions for young people 11:38 Youth expeditions: dinosaur digs in Utah and footprints in the Atacama 13:59 How young people join i2P — and Ray's role on every expedition 16:15 Gobi Desert solo — beauty, nomads and a random Korean explorer 17:33 Ranking his hardest expeditions: Atacama vs Gobi vs Death Valley 19:18 Planning an expedition — water, resupply and a year of preparation 20:56 Daily life on the Sahara — sleep, food and surviving the elements 22:38 South Pole 2009 — breaking the world record almost by accident 25:40 Team dynamics in the Arctic — and how to survive disagreements26:54 Breaking through Arctic ice: two minutes in a subzero river29:43 Mongolia: meeting a Korean explorer in the middle of nowhere34:00 Baffin Island through chemotherapy — turning the throttle up36:17 Living with an incurable diagnosis — maximum performance right now37:52 You have one life: talk yourself into it, not out of it38:44 Call to Adventure — Baffin Island, the Atacama, and your own backyard41:08 Pay It Forward — getting young people into the outdoors42:30 Where to find Ray Zahab
Ben Weber's 700-Mile, 58-Day Subzero Journey to Geographic South Pole
Saison 1 · Épisode 12
jeudi 25 janvier 2024 • Durée 52:24
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Ben Weber had never skied when he decided he wanted to reach the South Pole. He had no sponsor, no house, and a neck injury that would grow more painful with every passing day on the ice. He put his entire savings into the attempt. On 13 January 2023, after 58 days and nearly 700 miles alone in Antarctica, he reached the Geographic South Pole — and raised £5,000 for Cancer Research UK along the way.
In this conversation, Ben traces the whole arc: from a corporate office in São Paulo where adventure felt like a forgotten childhood dream, through a north-south cycle and ski crossing of Canada at minus 53, to training on Baffin Island with polar legend Matty McNair and her daughter Sarah, and finally the solo ski from Hercules Inlet to the Pole. He speaks candidly about self-financing an expedition that cost £70,000, the separation from his wife after five months alone in a tent, losing his mother to cancer, and the moment a Twin Otter waggled its wings and left him utterly alone on the ice.
Chapters:
00:00 Ben Weber: from Orkney to São Paulo and back to his polar dream 01:38 Corporate life in Brazil and rediscovering the adventure dream 03:41 Learning to ski and crossing Canada from south to north 05:30 Polar training with Matty McNair and Sarah McNair-Landry on Baffin Island 07:54 Five months across Canada — frostbite, minus 53 and a marriage under pressure 09:03 Why the South Pole? Shackleton, Scott and a goal he had to reach 12:54 Self-financing the expedition — two years of saving and planning 16:07 The cost: £70,000, a sled from Svalbard and no house 18:35 Tom Hardy, Christopher Nolan and the case for a documentary 23:10 Stepping off the plane in Antarctica — and the Twin Otter's wing-wave goodbye 26:30 Navigating 700 miles by sun, shadow and wind 28:52 The compass injury that lasted 54 of 58 days 30:11 24-hour daylight, sleeping in a greenhouse tent at minus 3035:03 Shockwaves through the ice and an albatross 700 miles from open water39:03 The best moment — when the sun appeared in the south41:35 Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Anton Bowring: a message before departure44:08 Raising £5,000 for Cancer Research UK in memory of his mother45:45 What 58 days alone in Antarctica taught him46:53 Advice for anyone inspired to try something like this49:04 Call to Adventure — cycle to the next city, use the seasons50:34 Pay It Forward — Cancer Research UK52:02 What's next: a full crossing of Antarctica52:59 Where to find Ben
Tahir Shah:100 Days in Morocco & 16 Days In Pakistan Torture Prison
Saison 1 · Épisode 11
jeudi 18 janvier 2024 • Durée 01:04:21
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Tahir Shah has been held in a Pakistani torture prison, stripped naked and interrogated under floodlights for 16 consecutive nights, while people in the cells around him were killed. He got out by sinking his fingernails into a trainee interrogator's face. A few months later, he went to Afghanistan anyway, to carry on making his documentary.
He is also the man who moved his young family from the East End of London into a supposedly haunted Casablanca mansion in the middle of a shantytown — complete with djinn in the walls, a guardian who refused to open the door to the police, and an exorcist dealer in Meknès who threw in four extra exorcists for free.
This is a conversation about storytelling as survival, Morocco as addiction, and the profound wisdom of Wilfred Thesiger: "What is the point of a mobile phone, with which you may never be lost?"
Chapters
00:00 Tahir Shah, author and storyteller — welcome to Adventure Diaries 02:00 Childhood at Langton House — Baden-Powell, Idries Shah, and the human stew 07:00 The power of stories — writing, filmmaking, and son Timur's first book 16:00 Arrested in Pakistan — 16 days in a torture prison 22:00 The Afghanistan documentary — director shot, lessons learned 24:00 Why Morocco? An Afghan grandfather in Tangier and the move to Casablanca 31:00 Dar Khalifa — djinn, exorcisms, and 12,000 books 40:00 Writing The Caliph's House — Morocco from the inside out 46:00 Casablanca vs Marrakesh — why the commercial heart of Morocco is addictive 52:00 Getting lost — Wilfred Thesiger, smartphones, and the art of going off-map 57:30 Future projects — Living with Djinn and the Scheherazade Foundation 01:01:00 Call to Adventure, Pay It Forward, and where to find Tahir
What You'll Learn: • What 16 days inside a Pakistani torture prison actually looks, smells, and feels like and what real fear does to your body chemistry• Why Tahir's Afghan father recreated Afghanistan inside a Tunbridge Wells house, and how that eccentric childhood hardwired him as a storyteller• How he bought a 35-room haunted mansion in a Casablanca shantytown, hired 20 exorcists from Meknès, and ended up in possibly the original building the city was named after• Why Casablanca — with no tourists, no safety nets, and some of the most terrifying driving on earth — is more addictive than anywhere else he has ever lived• What Wilfred Thesiger said about mobile phones that Tahir cannot get out of his head• Why getting lost — not found — is the greatest adventure philosophy he knowsTAHIR SHAH | Author, Documentary Maker, StorytellerWebsite: tahirshah.comInstagram: @tahirshah999Publisher: Secretum Mundi — secretum-mundi.comBook featured: The Caliph's House — available via tahirshah.com and major retailersUpcoming: Living with Djinn (sequel to The Caliph's House, in progress)Foundation: The Scheherazade Foundation — harnessing stories and folklore; empowering women and bridging culturesPay It Forward: Each One Teach One — eotoindia.org — free education from street-level Delhi to university, on a single condition: one day, pay it forward to someone elseABOUT TAHIR SHAHBorn into an Anglo-Afghan family in 1966, Tahir Shah grew up in a Tunbridge Wells house that also happened to be Lord Baden-Powell's childhood home, filled with visiting Nobel laureates, old army colonels, and Sufi scholars. He has since made documentaries for National Geographic, the History Channel, and Channels 4 and 5; searched for the lost Inca city of Paititi in 16 weeks of dengue-soaked Peruvian jungle; survived imprisonment in Pakistan; and moved his family into a djinn-haunted Casablanca riad that may be the original La Casablanca. He is the authorof more than fifty books and runs Secretum Mundi, his own publishing house.For full show notes and links, visit: adventurediaries.com/go
Bruce Luyendyk: Wild Antarctic Expeditions & Discovering A Hidden 8th Continent
Saison 1 · Épisode 10
jeudi 11 janvier 2024 • Durée 01:18:19
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Bruce Luyendyk once watched the sun set over mountains buried beneath an ice sheet the size of a continent — a landscape so alien he says it is genuinely impossible to describe. He was six people in a world with no neighbours for hundreds of miles. He was also, somewhere beneath his feet, standing on the evidence of an entirely undiscovered continent.
He didn't know that yet. That would come later.
In 1989, Luyendyk led a geology team into Marie Byrd Land — one of the most notoriously violent corners of West Antarctica — to test a hypothesis about how New Zealand had broken away from Gondwana millions of years ago. What they found in those frozen peaks would eventually lead him to coin the term "Zealandia": a submerged continent roughly the size of India, hiding in plain sight beneath the South Pacific. He didn't write about any of it for 20 years. This is that story.
Mighty Bad Land is part expedition memoir, part scientific revelation, part honest account of what it costs to lead a small team in one of the most unforgiving environments on Earth — where you can be pinned in a tent for six consecutive days while the canvas snaps like rifle shots, and where a warm, sunny afternoon is precisely when you need to be most afraid.
Chapters
00:00 Bruce Luyendyk & Antarctica — introduction 00:59 Why Antarctica? Shackleton, Gondwana & the New Zealand connection 04:23 Writing Mighty Bad Land — 10 years from field to page 06:20 First expedition goals: testing the Gondwana newspaper tear 09:04 First impressions: arriving on the ice 11:46 Into the deep field: survival school, ski drags & wilderness landing 14:39 Navigation near the pole: grid systems & inertial guidance 17:00 Fuel drops, logistics & the weight of leadership 21:24 Team dynamics, accidents & lessons from the Fosdick Mountains 25:43 Pinned down: six days inside a tent during Antarctic blizzards35:30 Shackleton's hut at Cape Royds — stepping into frozen history41:01 Coining "Zealandia" — the discovery of a hidden eighth continent48:06 Ice sheets, Gondwana breakup & the deeper scientific findings54:00 Ancient Antarctica: the fossil record, a tropical past & the ice sheet59:39 Mount Luyendyk — a summit named in Antarctica1:06:48 What readers should take away from Mighty Bad Land1:08:13 Call to Adventure: find a wilderness and let yourself feel alone1:09:54 Pay It Forward: World Wildlife FundWhat You'll Learn:• Why the most dangerous moment in Antarctica isn't the blizzard — it's the beautiful, sunny day when you let your guard down• How Bruce and his team detected hidden crevasses by reading shadows on the ice — and what a satellite photo years later showed they had unknowingly walked over• The fossil fern Glossopteris — how a single plant found with Scott's frozen expedition team proved that Gondwana existed• What "Zealandia" actually is, why Bruce coined the term, and why New Zealand's geologists ran with it decades later to stake a UN resource claim the size of India• How Antarctic ice sheets started retreating 7,000 years ago — 11,000 years after the Northern Hemisphere — and why that gap is still scientifically unexplained• What it felt like to step inside Shackleton's hut at Cape Royds, with his boots still set out and his private room intact, as if he'd simply stepped outside for a momentBRUCE LUYENDYK | Geologist, Explorer & AuthorWebsite: bruceluyendyk.comInstagram: @bruceluyendykLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/bruceluyendykBook: Mighty Bad Land: A Perilous Expedition to Antarctica Reveals Clues to an Eighth Continent(Permuted Press, 2023) — available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Simon & SchusterPay It Forward: World Wildlife Fund — wwf.org (UK: wwf.org.uk)ABOUT BRUCE LUYENDYKBruce Luyendyk is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Earth Science at the University of California Santa Barbara, elected Fellow of the Geological Society of America, the American Geophysical Union, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He ledmultiple expeditions to Marie Byrd Land in West Antarctica beginning in 1989, during which he and his team found evidence of a far larger ancient ice sheet and made discoveries about the breakup of Gondwana. He coined the term "Zealandia" for the submerged continental mass underlying New Zealand. In 2016, the US Board on Geographic Names honoured him by naming a summit in AntarcticaMount Luyendyk. His memoir, Mighty Bad Land, was published by Permuted Press in 2023.For full show notes and links, visit: adventurediaries.com/go
Ray Cash Care Mission: Navy SEAL Skills & CIA Strategies To Transform Your Life
Saison 1 · Épisode 9
jeudi 4 janvier 2024 • Durée 01:07:07
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Ray Cash Care grew up in Baltimore with his father murdered when he was 11, heading fast toward drugs, jail, and oblivion. At 17, he looked in the mirror, saw a reflection of everything he didn't want to become, and made one decision: join the Navy. He didn't just survive — he became a Navy SEAL, spent 14 years with the CIA, and built a career as one of the most sought-after performance coaches and motivational speakers in America.
This is a conversation about extreme self-reinvention. Ray doesn't deal in feel-good platitudes. He deals in what actually worked when everything was stacked against him — the discipline, the standing eight count, the four F-bombs — and why he believes the most dangerous thing you can do is tell yourself no before anyone else gets the chance.
Chapters 00:00 From Baltimore to BUD/S — what made Ray Cash Care join the Navy 03:01 How discipline took root — learning to listen instead of just hear 08:14 Finding your superpower — what dark places teach you 11:28 Discipline vs. motivation — the four F-bombs: Family, Fitness, Finances, Faith 14:09 Failure is an option — the standing eight count 17:01 Team player, trust, and the three battlefields of life 20:23 Mentors — Tim Grover, Wes Watson, and why you must invest in yourself 37:18 Family, roles, and raising the next generation 45:13 Coaching results — from 163 pounds lost to lives rebuilt 55:14 Navy to CIA — covert work and coming home 59:49 Call to Adventure — the self-reflection drill 01:01:18 Pay It Forward — DDS for Vets and service dogs for veterans
Adventure comes in many forms. Ray's is the daily war against the version of yourself that is choosing the easy path.
What You'll Learn: • Why Ray calls himself "the biggest quitter you've ever met" — and why that's entirely correct• The difference between failure and quitting, and why one is not just acceptable but required• What the "standing eight count" is, and why jumping straight back up after a knockdown makes you weaker, not stronger• How Ray moved from Navy SEAL to 14 years with the CIA — and what that transition actually looks like• Why discipline is internal and motivation is external, and what that distinction means in practice• The self-reflection drill Ray uses to help anyone identify and unlock their personal superpower• What happened when he met Tim Grover — the man who coached Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant — and what Grover said that changed everythingRAY CASH CARE | Navy SEAL Veteran, Performance Coach & Motivational SpeakerWebsite: raycashcare.comInstagram: @raycashcareCourses: Q Course, Couples Course — details at raycashcare.comPay It Forward: DDS for Vets — service dogs for veterans with PTSD (ddsvets.org)ABOUT RAY CASH CARERay Cash Care grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. His father was murdered when Ray was 11. By his mid-teens he was deep in drugs and heading toward jail — until a moment in front of the mirror changed the course of his life. He enlisted in the US Navy, became a Navy SEAL, and went on to serve 14 years with the CIA as a firearms instructor and security specialist, operating in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, and beyond. After retiring from covert service, he built a coaching business rooted in the same disciplines that saved his own life — combining SEAL Team methodology with hard-won personal experience. He works primarily with men, couples, and young people aged 11–16. He competes in pushup contests and still refuses to lose.
Terry Virts F-16 Fighter Pilot to NASA Astronaut & 200 Days in Space
Saison 1 · Épisode 8
jeudi 28 décembre 2023 • Durée 01:16:14
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Colonel Terry Virts has flown an F-16 over Iraq at night, laser-guiding bombs, with simulated MiG-29s on his tail and a wingman who nearly ran dry over enemy territory. He has sat in an Orion capsule on top of a rocket while a man with a red button could have blown him up. He has floated outside the International Space Station at five miles per second while watching the sun rise sixteen times a day — and nearly drowned inside his own helmet.
Two spaceflights. Three spacewalks. Commander of the ISS. 200 days in orbit. 300,000 photographs. And he learned to cut Italian women's hair before he was allowed to launch.
Chris sits down with Terry to go inside the life few humans have ever lived — from the single-seat, single-engine mentality of the F-16 cockpit to the profound silence of looking down at a border lit up in red at night and realising you're watching a war.
Chapters:
00:00 From fighter jets to the final frontier — who is Terry Virts? 01:33 F-16s, Korea, and the limits of human busyness 03:59 Low on fuel over Iraq — and a wingman who barely made it 05:49 A bird strike in Texas and 0.1 hours of flight time 07:52 The astronaut dream — applying when your classmates wouldn't 09:29 Sir Alex Ferguson at Harvard and a conversation about football 12:41 Shuttle vs. F-16 — Mach 2 to Mach 25 15:20 The STA — flying a Gulfstream like a space shuttle 18:00 Docking with the ISS and seeing Earth for the first time 20:12 The politics of the International Space Station 22:46 The view from space — borders, lights, and what wealth looks like from orbit 27:05 Squid boats and green fishing lights in the Andaman Sea 29:51 Daily life on the ISS — hair cuts, zero-gravity digestion and computer networks 36:28 Installing the Cupola — bats or moles? 44:15 Three spacewalks and nearly 20 hours outside 45:28 Seeing God's view of creation — between greasing the bolts47:53 The water in the helmet and the near-drowning that changed spacewalking50:01 Ammonia leak — when we thought the station was going to die53:50 The Russians, the Duma and watching war from orbit57:59 The future of space — Artemis, Starship and the road to Mars01:04:40 One More Orbit — Guinness World Record and Hamish Harding01:06:46 Books, Call to Adventure (sea kayaking in Alaska), and Pay It ForwardWhat You'll Learn:• What it actually feels like to pilot a space shuttle — why pulling the nose up during landing first makes you descend, and why your brain has to stay several steps ahead of the vehicle• The real story behind the ammonia leak that made NASA tell the crew the space station was going to die — and why it turned out to be a false alarm• What Terry saw from orbit over eastern Ukraine in January 2015 — red flashes in the dark — and what became of the cosmonaut who was standing beside him• Why the International Space Station is one of America's greatest foreign policy achievements, and how it passed Congress by a single vote• The night Luca Parmitano almost drowned in his spacesuit — and the snorkel system NASA installed in response that Terry put to the test on his second spacewalk• Why Terry believes the only path to Mars is a public-private partnership, what the real cost of SLS is per launch, and what Elon Musk's Starship lander has to do before humans walk on the MoonTERRY VIRTS | NASA Astronaut, Author & FilmmakerWebsite: terryvirts.comInstagram: @astro_terryTwitter/X: @AstroTerryLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/terry-virts-146a5939Books: How to Astronaut; View From Above (National Geographic); An Astronaut's Guide to Leaving the PlanetPay It Forward: Guide Dogs for the Blind — documentary Pick of the Litter tells the story; guidedogs.orgABOUT TERRY VIRTSColonel Terry Virts (USAF, retired) is a former F-16 fighter pilot, test pilot and NASA astronaut. He piloted the Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-130, where he installed the Cupola module and took his first photographs of Earth. He returned to the ISS on Expedition 42/43, commanding the station for 200 days, conducting three spacewalks totalling nearly 20 hours, and shooting approximately 300,000 photographs — many of which became the National Geographic book View From Above and the IMAX film A Beautiful Planet. After leaving NASA he co-directed the feature documentary One More Orbit, circumnavigating Earth over both poles in a Gulfstream jet and setting a Guinness World Record. He speaks and consults internationally on leadership, exploration and decision-making under pressure.For full show notes and links, visit: adventurediaries.com/go
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If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a comment and subscribe for more exciting content.
Please visit AdventureDiaries.com/GO For more authentic stories of Adventure Exploration and the natural world
The Adventure Diaries Podcast also covers a broad spectrum OF topics withIN the fields of Adventure, Exploration, Micro-adventure, Survival, Mental Resilience, Conservation, Scotland, Hiking, Solo Travel, Cycling, Nature, Storytelling, Mountaineering
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a comment and subscribe for more exciting content.
Please visit AdventureDiaries.com/GO For more authentic stories of Adventure Exploration and the natural world
The Adventure Diaries Podcast also covers a broad spectrum OF topics withIN the fields of Adventure, Exploration, Micro-adventure, Survival, Mental Resilience, Conservation, Scotland, Hiking, Solo Travel, Cycling, Nature, Storytelling, Mountaineering
Chapters 00:00 Jeff Johns & What Doesn't Suck — introduction 01:15 How it began: Dubai, a pinky promise & a trip to Thailand 02:33 Background: Washington DC, LA, Southeast Asia & life in Dubai 04:24 The 48-hour guide format & filming on iPhone 7s 08:38 Inspiration: Anthony Bourdain, The Layover & cultural perspective 12:55 Dicey moments: Malaysia gunpoint & Tajikistan military detention 15:36 TV career, life in the Netherlands & work-life balance 18:50 Bucket-list trips before settling down: Everest, Bolivia & Greenland 26:44 Pausing What Doesn't Suck — strategy, COVID & content quality 30:08 Advice for new adventure content creators 35:59 Brand partnerships: Eastpak, Hertz & what makes a good deal 40:19 The book: Jet Lag Junkie — two decades of travel on the page 43:28 Call to Adventure: go somewhere you know absolutely nothing about 45:22 Pay It Forward: All Hands and Hearts disaster volunteering
For full show notes and links, visit: adventurediaries.com/go
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Please visit AdventureDiaries.com/GO For more authentic stories of Adventure Exploration and the natural world
The Adventure Diaries Podcast also covers a broad spectrum OF topics withIN the fields of Adventure, Exploration, Micro-adventure, Survival, Mental Resilience, Conservation, Scotland, Hiking, Solo Travel, Cycling, Nature, Storytelling, Mountaineering
This is a conversation about what happens when you stop talking yourself out of things and start talking yourself into them.
What You'll Learn: • How Ray went from a horse farm in Canada to winning the Yukon Arctic Ultra — a 100-mile race in the frozen Canadian wilderness — as his very first foot race • Why running across the Sahara with Matt Damon's documentary crew led him to create Impossible to Possible, a charity giving teenagers free expeditions around the world • The moment he broke through Arctic ice and was swept into a subzero river current — and the piece of gear that saved his life • How to navigate Antarctica without GPS: using the sun's angle, shadow direction and prevailing wind to stay on course for 700 miles • What it is actually like to cross the Gobi Desert solo — and why Ray considers it one of the most culturally beautiful places he has ever been, not one of the hardest • How Ray continued leading expeditions through six months of chemotherapy, and why an incurable diagnosis made him raise the bar, not lower it
RAY ZAHAB | Explorer, Ultra Runner & Founder of Impossible to Possible Website: rayzahab.com Instagram: @rayzahab Charity: impossible2possible.com Guiding company: CAPEC1 [CHECK: verify CAPEC1 website/link] Royal Canadian Geographical Society: Explorer in Residence
ABOUT RAY ZAHAB Ray Zahab is a Canadian explorer and ultra-distance runner who transformed himself from a pack-a-day smoker into one of the world's leading expedition athletes. He is best known for co-running 7,500 kilometres across the Sahara Desert — documented in the Matt Damon-narrated film Running the Sahara — and for setting a Guinness World Record for the fastest unsupported trek to the South Pole. He has now completed 40 expeditions across the world's most extreme environments, from Death Valley to Baffin Island. In 2008 he founded Impossible to Possible (i2P), a non-profit that sends young people aged 16–21 on fully funded expeditions and links them live to 70,000 students in 14 countries.
For full show notes and links, visit: adventurediaries.com/go
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a comment and subscribe for more exciting content.
Please visit AdventureDiaries.com/GO For more authentic stories of Adventure Exploration and the natural world
The Adventure Diaries Podcast also covers a broad spectrum OF topics withIN the fields of Adventure, Exploration, Micro-adventure, Survival, Mental Resilience, Conservation, Scotland, Hiking, Solo Travel, Cycling, Nature, Storytelling, Mountaineering
This is a story about what happens when you stop waiting for the right circumstances and start building towards the dream instead.
What You'll Learn: • How Ben went from never having skied to skiing 1,000 kilometres across Canada — at minus 53 — as training for an even harder polar push • What a solo South Pole expedition actually costs (spoiler: about £70,000, entirely self-funded) • How to navigate 700 miles across Antarctica using the sun's arc, wind direction and a waist-mounted compass — and why that compass injured him for 54 of his 58 days • What happens inside a tent at minus 30 when the Antarctic sun acts like a greenhouse — and why the inside temperature reached 20 degrees Celsius • The unexplained bird — what appeared to be an albatross, circling 700 miles from open water — and the underground shockwave that shifted the ice beneath his tent • Why the best moment of the entire expedition came not at the Pole but on the final push, when the sun appeared in the south for the first time and he realised he was at the bottom of the world
BEN WEBER | Polar Explorer & Adventurer Website: polarweber.com Cancer Research UK fundraiser: linked at polarweber.com Supported by: Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Anton Bowring [CHECK: verify Anton Bowring — possibly Anton Bowing of Transglobe Expedition Trust] Training mentors: Matty McNair and Sarah McNair-Landry, Iqaluit, Baffin Island Logistics: Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions (ALE) Pay It Forward: Cancer Research UK
ABOUT BEN WEBER Ben Weber is a polar explorer originally from Orkney, Scotland, now based in Carrbridge in the Scottish Highlands. After years working in Brazil, China and India, he retrained as a polar traveller from scratch — no skiing background, no climbing experience — and built systematically towards his childhood dream. In January 2023 he became one of a small number of people to solo ski from Hercules Inlet to the Geographic South Pole, covering approximately 700 miles in 58 days entirely unsupported, raising funds for Cancer Research UK in memory of his mother. He is planning a full solo crossing of Antarctica.
For full show notes and links, visit: adventurediaries.com/go
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a comment and subscribe for more exciting content.
Please visit AdventureDiaries.com/GO For more authentic stories of Adventure Exploration and the natural world
The Adventure Diaries Podcast also covers a broad spectrum OF topics withIN the fields of Adventure, Exploration, Micro-adventure, Survival, Mental Resilience, Conservation, Scotland, Hiking, Solo Travel, Cycling, Nature, Storytelling, Mountaineering
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a comment and subscribe for more exciting content.
Please visit AdventureDiaries.com/GO For more authentic stories of Adventure Exploration and the natural world
The Adventure Diaries Podcast also covers a broad spectrum OF topics withIN the fields of Adventure, Exploration, Micro-adventure, Survival, Mental Resilience, Conservation, Scotland, Hiking, Solo Travel, Cycling, Nature, Storytelling, Mountaineering
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a comment and subscribe for more exciting content.
Please visit AdventureDiaries.com/GO For more authentic stories of Adventure Exploration and the natural world
The Adventure Diaries Podcast also covers a broad spectrum OF topics withIN the fields of Adventure, Exploration, Micro-adventure, Survival, Mental Resilience, Conservation, Scotland, Hiking, Solo Travel, Cycling, Nature, Storytelling, Mountaineering
For full show notes and links, visit: adventurediaries.com/go
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a comment and subscribe for more exciting content.
Please visit AdventureDiaries.com/GO For more authentic stories of Adventure Exploration and the natural world
The Adventure Diaries Podcast also covers a broad spectrum OF topics withIN the fields of Adventure, Exploration, Micro-adventure, Survival, Mental Resilience, Conservation, Scotland, Hiking, Solo Travel, Cycling, Nature, Storytelling, Mountaineering
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a comment and subscribe for more exciting content.
Please visit AdventureDiaries.com/GO For more authentic stories of Adventure Exploration and the natural world
The Adventure Diaries Podcast also covers a broad spectrum OF topics withIN the fields of Adventure, Exploration, Micro-adventure, Survival, Mental Resilience, Conservation, Scotland, Hiking, Solo Travel, Cycling, Nature, Storytelling, Mountaineering
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