Living Adventurously – Details, episodes & analysis

I spent a glorious summer month cycling around Yorkshire, the county where I grew up.

I wanted to feel how exploring locally compared to exploring distant continents. 

And I was interested in the idea of ‘home’ - and whether it is possible to have a proper adventure — make a REAL journey — close to home.

It turned out to be such a fantastic experience — riding through mile after mile of beautiful landscapes, discovering so many places I had never seen in all my life, and sleeping out under the stars for weeks on end. It was genuinely one of the adventuring highlights of my life. 

But the best part of this journey — by a long way, was the privileged opportunity of learning from so many ordinary people who have chosen to live extra-ordinary lives. This then is not a podcast about adventure or cycling or camping. 

I met students and parents and pensioners. Poets, artists, athletes, teachers. An IT expert and someone who earns a living from making fancy sandcastles. A man who lived out of a van; another whose castle had been in the family for 800 years. I met a self-confessed lazy chef, and a woman midway through running 100 barefoot marathons. I interviewed a gold medal Paralympian cyclist, a couple who had cycled round the world together, and a retired lady who takes old, homebound, lonely folk out on a modified electric bicycle for a taste of freedom, adventure and feeling the wind in their hair once again. 

In each episode you’ll hear an un-edited conversation about the guest’s slant on living a curious, adventurous, fulfilled life. 

I also had a deck of blank playing cards on which I’d written some of the big questions from life — about finding a balance between work and play, the barriers that stop us doing what we dream of, overcoming fears, and where you sit on a scale of weirdness from 1 to 10. Asking very different people an assortment of similar questions created some fascinating answers.

The interviews will all be released in the order that I recorded them, mirroring my own journey on the bike and the lessons I learned from each guest along the way. 

Every character I spoke to was good company and a thoughtful guest. But inevitably you’ll find one person more interesting than another. If someone doesn’t float your boat just skip on to the next episode: there are over 40 interviews in this series. Life’s too short to listen to a chat you’re not that keen on!

I had never recorded interviews like this, never done a podcast before. For Many of the people I chatted to it was their first time being interviewed. I liked that very much. Ordinary people pursuing their own version of out-of-the-ordinary. I really wanted to speak to normal people, not famous people.  It made the experience fresh and surprising and honest. I hope that you agree.

The podcast world is a crowded one — there’s so much good stuff out there clamouring for your ears. So if you do like the sound of this Living Adventurously podcast, could I ask you to help me by subscribing to the podcast (it’s free of course) on the podcast provider of your choice. 

If you can be bothered it would also be a great help if you left a review, or mentioned Living Adventurously on your own social media channels.

Thank you, and welcome to Living Adventurously — I really, really hope that these conversations give you some ideas of your own towards living more adventurously every day.

SPONSOR:
Your very own outdoor experiences are waiting for you. Go explore more with komoot. Use the voucher code ADVENTUROUS to claim your free region maps bundle.

The personalised planning and navigation tools ensure you plan the adventure that’s perfect for you. Komoot is Europe’s number 1 outdoor app, with route planning and navigation functionality, and strong community-driven inspirational features in the form of recommended Highlights and inspirational route Collections. It is used by nearly 10 million adventurers worldwide. Komoot is becoming the app of choice for cyclists and hikers the world over, with rapid community growth in the UK, the US and other parts of Europe.
You can see my ride’s route on komoot here.

Claire Fuller is training to be an occupational therapist. She loves wild swimming and getting out onto the North Yorkshire moors for overnight camps. Finding the balance between being a busy working woman and a carefree adventurous soul can be difficult.

I spent a month cycling around Yorkshire, interviewing people along the way about their perspectives on trying to live more adventurously. I'd never interviewed anyone for a podcast before; Claire had never been interviewed.

But she did bake me flapjack and take me on a walk to the birthplace of Captain Cook. So I deemed this opening foray into the world of podcasting to be a success!

I was interested to talk to Claire about learning to commit, about adapting to a new career after many years roaming and dabbling, and the ups and downs of being a busy 27-year-old woman who loves the outdoors and adventure.

Please Subscribe to the Living Adventurously Podcast

(It's completely free, zero hassle to do, but really helpful for me trying to get a new podcast off the ground. If you're feeling extra kind, please leave a review on the app - that really helps.)

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn ("Alexa, play the Living Adventurously podcast") or on your favourite podcast platform such as Overcast, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Breaker, Soundcloud, Castbox, Castro.

• www.alastairhumphreys.com/podcast

This podcast is brought to you by Komoot.

Your very own outdoor experiences are waiting for you. Go explore more with komoot. Use the voucher code ADVENTUROUS to claim your free region maps bundle.

The personalised planning and navigation tools ensure you plan the adventure that’s perfect for you. Komoot is Europe’s number 1 outdoor app, with route planning and navigation functionality, and strong community-driven inspirational features in the form of recommended Highlights and inspirational route Collections. It is used by nearly 10 million adventurers worldwide. Komoot is becoming the app of choice for cyclists and hikers the world over, with rapid community growth in the UK, the US and other parts of Europe.
You can see my ride’s route on komoot here.

Show Notes

• If you enjoy listening to this episode over a cup of coffee and think it might be worth the price, you can buy me a coffee here: www. ko-fi.com/al_humphreys
• Keep up to date with future episodes (and my other adventures, projects and books) with my free monthly newsletter: alastairhumphreys.com/more/subscribe
• Say hello on Twitter and Instagram: @al_humphreys
• Follow Claire on Instagram: soon to be occupational therapist making the most of the UK & Ireland’s natural wonders, wild dipping along the way...
• Learning to slow down and choose priorities
• Travelling the world made her realise that to be a true traveller she needed to know what was on her doorstep
• Hitch-hiking round Ireland as a student pushed her boundaries but showed her so many amazing places

Transcript

Below is the transcription of our conversation. It's done by AI so is perhaps a wee bit ropey here and there. If these transcripts prove sufficiently useful then I will make the effort to clean then up and make them better. Do let me know if you think it's worth my time to do that. (Or, better still, do it for me...!). If you'd like to listen as you read along you can do that here:

https://otter.ai/s/aBVxKYX0RYqonZTQQMFkuw

Alastair Humphreys
Hello. This is the first time I've ever recorded a podcast.
Literally just take it out of the box and press go. And of course I want to start my podcast with a major hard hitting celebrity interview.
So, would you like to introduce yourself?

Claire Fuller
And yeah, my name is Claire. I live in Middlesbrough. And I thought that it would be great to meet Alastair to talk about living adventurously.

Alastair Humphreys
The reason I wanted to meet you is because you're NOT a hard hitting celebrity, which is exactly what I wanted. I want to try and find normal people living interesting lives. And you live two minutes away from where Captain Cook was born. A Great Yorkshire adventurer. And that seemed like a good, good place to start. So what is your what's your day job?

Claire Fuller
My day job is I'm a student, I'm training to be an occupational therapist.

Alastair Humphreys
And you like it?

Claire Fuller
I do. I love it. I love working with people and I love the flexibility and variety that we have for like peaceful therapists, the kind of people we work with.

Alastair Humphreys
Okay, but when when you first got in touch with me, one of the things she said was that you sometimes find it hard to be stuck indoors. So what have you done about being stuck indoors?

Claire Fuller
Yeah, so being a student means lots of time in the library or working in a hospital. And so basically every bit of free time I gotta try and get outdoors. Thanks to the concept of micro adventures I get I try and do the overnight camps when I can find a hill somewhere and company. I love wild swimming so I swim down in the river Tees just down the road whenever possible, not in the bit where there's loads of pollution and industry but some nice bits further down. And in the sea when I can.

Alastair Humphreys
And you were out last night.

Claire Fuller
I was out last night. Yeah, yeah, I camped up by Roseberry Topping with beautiful views between there and Captain Kirk Cook's monument. And the stars. I saw shooting stars. And it was a gorgeous night.

Alastair Humphreys
practising what you preach. So you also told me that you struggle a bit with trying to do too much in life, because life is so amazing. And you want to go here and there and do this and see this and do that. So how do you go about trying to find some sort of balance between work and play, earning money, being with your friends, balance,

Claire Fuller
I find the balance really hard. It's something I'm really working on. But I'm a bit too excited and enthusiastic about life. Lots of my friends and family will tell you that. And yeah, I have a part time job to see me through my studies, I have money. I study a lot of my time. I volunteer. I've obviously got friends I want to see a lot. I've got a boyfriend and my family live far away. And I'm all about adventure. And so basically, there's not enough hours in the day to do what I want to do. And I have to prioritise, which is unfortunate as studying is my priority. But whenever I've got their free time I do try and get out as much as possible and make sure that I go for a swim once a week and that keeps me keeps my head straight

Alastair Humphreys
So how do...

Tomo Thompson is Chief Executive of the charity Friends of the Peak District who work to safeguard the landscape of Britain’s first national park. Tomo is a retired Army Officer, with a recent background in business management consultancy. He also enjoys and instructs outdoor pursuits and is an encyclopaedia of knowledge about expeditions, equipment and fine places to unroll your bivvy bag for the night.

I asked Tomo whether the word 'adventure' was inappropriate for a career in the military. One similarity in our lives was that military life gives you restlessness and an appetite for uncertainty. Now caring for one of the most beautiful corners of Yorkshire, Tomo believes that a small thing which greatly improves life is to go to the top of a hill, sit down, turn off the phone, accept what the weather's doing, and accept both how big and how small you are. Wise words indeed.

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE LIVING ADVENTUROUSLY PODCAST

(It’s completely free, zero hassle to do (click here), but really helpful for me trying to get a new podcast off the ground. If you’re feeling extra kind, please leave a review on the app – that really helps.)

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn (“Alexa, please play the Living Adventurously podcast”) or on your favourite podcast platform such as Overcast, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Breaker, Soundcloud, Castbox, Castro.

• www.alastairhumphreys.com/podcast

THIS PODCAST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY KOMOOT

Your very own outdoor experiences are waiting for you. Go explore more with komoot. Use the voucher code ADVENTUROUS to claim your free region maps bundle.

The personalised planning and navigation tools ensure you plan the adventure that’s perfect for you. Komoot is Europe’s number 1 outdoor app, with route planning and navigation functionality, and strong community-driven inspirational features in the form of recommended Highlights and inspirational route Collections. It is used by nearly 10 million adventurers worldwide. Komoot is becoming the app of choice for cyclists and hikers the world over, with rapid community growth in the UK, the US and other parts of Europe.
You can see my ride’s route on komoot here.

SHOW NOTES

• If you enjoy listening to this episode over a cup of coffee and think it might be worth the price, you can buy me a coffee here: www. ko-fi.com/al_humphreys
• Keep up to date with future episodes (and my other adventures, projects and books) with my free monthly newsletter: alastairhumphreys.com/more/subscribe
• Say hello on Twitter and Instagram: @al_humphreys
• Tomo is on Twitter.
• Friends of the Peak District on Twitter.
• A video of our curry in a cave.
• The Army was a way to get lots of climbing, walking and paddling expeditions in far-flung places.
• Developmental role of challenging expeditions in the outdoors.
• When you've been in put in situations where risk are involved (military / expeditions), you become better placed to deal with risk in normal life.
• One thing that military life gives you is restlessness, and an appetite for uncertainty.
• A small thing that greatly improves life is to go to the top of a hill, sit down, turn off the phone, accept what the weather's doing, and accept both how big and how small you are.
• Leaving a decision for too long you just stew in it. Don't stand on the edge of the diving board with your toes over the edge for hours.
• The importance of looking after yourself so that you can radiate that in your engagements with family and friends.
• Therefore self-improvement need not be deemed selfish.
• Goodbye Things - Fumio Sasaki
• How to Connect with Nature - Tristan Gooley

Jon Barton is the founder of Vertebrate Publishing. It sits at the very heart of British adventure writing and outdoor sports. Jon says that "we publish books to inspire adventure. It’s our rule that the only books we publish are those that we’d want to read or use ourselves. We endeavour to bring you beautiful books that stand the test of time and that you’ll be proud to have on your bookshelf for years to come."

I asked Jon about the lessons he's learned from starting a company, the discrepancy between male and female authors in the outdoor world, and his scorn for self-titled 'Adventurers' (like me) who spend a lot of time talking about themselves on the internet...

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE LIVING ADVENTUROUSLY PODCAST

(It’s completely free, zero hassle to do (click here), but really helpful for me trying to get a new podcast off the ground. If you’re feeling extra kind, please leave a review on the app – that really helps.)

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn (“Alexa, please play the Living Adventurously podcast”) or on your favourite podcast platform such as Overcast, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Breaker, Soundcloud, Castbox, Castro.

• www.alastairhumphreys.com/podcast

THIS PODCAST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY KOMOOT

Your very own outdoor experiences are waiting for you. Go explore more with komoot. Use the voucher code ADVENTUROUS to claim your free region maps bundle.

The personalised planning and navigation tools ensure you plan the adventure that’s perfect for you. Komoot is Europe’s number 1 outdoor app, with route planning and navigation functionality, and strong community-driven inspirational features in the form of recommended Highlights and inspirational route Collections. It is used by nearly 10 million adventurers worldwide. Komoot is becoming the app of choice for cyclists and hikers the world over, with rapid community growth in the UK, the US and other parts of Europe.
You can see my ride’s route on komoot here.

SHOW NOTES

• If you enjoy listening to this episode over a cup of coffee and think it might be worth the price, you can buy me a coffee here: www. ko-fi.com/al_humphreys
• Keep up to date with future episodes (and my other adventures, projects and books) with my free monthly newsletter: alastairhumphreys.com/more/subscribe
• Say hello on Twitter and Instagram: @al_humphreys
• Vertebrate Books - website and Twitter
• Vertebrate Books also have a podcast - Inspiring Adventure
• "If a book is the sort of thing we'd use ourselves, we'd publish it."
• Books we chat about:
• Tilman books
• Nan Shepherd
• Gwen Moffat
• Waymaking
• Brown Hares in the Derbyshire Dales
• Joe Brown
• Don Whillans
• Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage
• We didn't know the first thing about publishing when we began.
• I just employ people who are brighter than me and then stuff happens.
• On Sunday night I am excited to go back to work on Monday morning, whereas my wife dreads it.
• Just because you have done a good book in one niche doesn't mean you can leap into a different one.
• Whenever we go out of our niche we haven't done very well.
• The calm after the calm. (Phrase about book writing and launching)
• When we are putting together we think, "is Hannah [regular customer] going to read this?"
• Women and men, in general, write about their adventurous experiences in different ways
• Waymaking: The book would have failed (regardless of sales) if it didn't change the participation of women in adventure.
• We get 10x more submissions from men and women. Men are risk-takers - leads to epic stories and also they don't mind writing a book and getting a rejection.
• An adventure is just having an experience and how you feel afterwards.
• I got more from climbing with people who were better than me than trying to be the best myself
• Done is better than perfect

TRANSCRIPT

Below is the transcription of our conversation. It’s done by AI so is perhaps a wee bit ropey here and there. If these transcripts prove sufficiently useful then I will make the effort to clean then up and make them better. Do let me know if you think it’s worth my time to do that. (Or, better still, do it for me…!). If you’d like to listen as you read along you can do that here:

https://otter.ai/s/ot2psvHsSraJCsG6Jd-dKg

Sophie Stephenson was living the life she’d always wanted. She had a well-paid dream job in Australia, lived in a beautiful place and felt secure in the knowledge that this could go on, indefinitely. But she was, she realised, unfulfilled. She was not, it turned out, truly happy with this life at all.

By chance Sophie came across a reference to Nancy Kline’s book Time to Think. She described a way of being with one another that is both incredibly simple, and incredibly rare. We don’t give ourselves, or others, the freedom to think without interruption, or judgment, or time limits, or an obsession with outcomes. We limit our thinking, our conversations, our relationships and our entire lives by confining our minds.

Sophie began to question the life she had chosen. She began to ask what she really wanted, to explore the ‘authentic’ me, her instinctive mind, and gradually, she began to reclaim what really mattered. Sophie left corporate life, moved back to the UK, and met the man who is now her husband and father to her two children.

We need to reclaim time to think in our life if we are to do meaningful things with our life.

I was struck by how deeply Sophie listened and quickly figured me out. It was almost bizarre, in a nice way. I asked her how I could become a better listener, and how to ask better questions - both pretty crucial things for a novice podcaster to get to grips with...

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE LIVING ADVENTUROUSLY PODCAST

(It’s completely free, zero hassle to do (click here), but really helpful for me trying to get a new podcast off the ground. If you’re feeling extra kind, please leave a review on the app – that really helps.)

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn (“Alexa, please play the Living Adventurously podcast”) or on your favourite podcast platform such as Overcast, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Breaker, Soundcloud, Castbox, Castro.

• www.alastairhumphreys.com/podcast

THIS PODCAST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY KOMOOT

Your very own outdoor experiences are waiting for you. Go explore more with komoot. Use the voucher code ADVENTUROUS to claim your free region maps bundle.

The personalised planning and navigation tools ensure you plan the adventure that’s perfect for you. Komoot is Europe’s number 1 outdoor app, with route planning and navigation functionality, and strong community-driven inspirational features in the form of recommended Highlights and inspirational route Collections. It is used by nearly 10 million adventurers worldwide. Komoot is becoming the app of choice for cyclists and hikers the world over, with rapid community growth in the UK, the US and other parts of Europe.
You can see my ride’s route on komoot here.

SHOW NOTES

• If you enjoy listening to this episode over a cup of coffee and think it might be worth the price, you can buy me a coffee here: www. ko-fi.com/al_humphreys
• Keep up to date with future episodes (and my other adventures, projects and books) with my free monthly newsletter: alastairhumphreys.com/more/subscribe
• Say hello on Twitter and Instagram: @al_humphreys
• The Thinking Project helps exceptional purpose-driven women create time and space so they can consciously create lives they love & businesses where everyone thrives.
• On Twitter
• Nancy Kline’s book Time to Think
• We need to reclaim time to think in our life if we are to do meaningful things with our life.
• Don't just fill the time with nothing: it needs to be a bit more conscious and structured than that.
• Ruminative thinking - we just go over and over the same thoughts time and again (often negative)
• Our brains try to keep us safe by just thinking the same stuff over and over
• Thinking with someone else rather than ourselves helps keep it focussed rather than distracted. Having someone listen to us makes it easier.
• Usually we come up with lists of all the things we don't want
• First big question: "what do you really want?"
• We jump to assumptions that stop us doing what we want to do, largely without evidence, largely unexamined.
• At root there are a couple of major assumptions that stop us: a sense of worthiness, belonging and being enough.
• We all have a need for safety, connection and autonomy, but they manifest in different ways for each of us.
• Thinking is like a seed - it needs the right conditions to thrive
• Consciously choose what it is that you want and do not want in life.
• We need to warm up to thinking well and more deeply. Ask "so what?" to your answers lots of times.
• Being a better listener starts with talking less, and choosing to become a better listener. Stop interrupting. Get really interested in other people.
• Get interested in other people. Not necessarily in the subject they are interested in, but in the fact that they are interested in that.
• To ask better questions, think about what is the purpose of your question?
• The best questions are ones that you do not know the answer to.
• Ask either very broad or very specific questions. For example, "what do you want to think about?"
• Her decision-making has changed. It used to be about challenge and proving what a well-lived life entailed.
• Often we lead the life that we think we Should live, rather than the life of our choice.
• Change your motivations from being fear-based to doing things that you love.
• When making a big change some people leap into the unknown, others establish some breathing space and time and security to cushion the leap.
• You don't have to make enormous changes and drastic switches - it can be small steps that are transformative and life-changing.
• The experiences when we are vulnerable are often those that transform our lives
• The relationship between vulnerability and trust
• Meditate, drink lots of water, and remove social media from the phone - all simple but not easy and beneficial things.

TRANSCRIPT

Below is the transcription of our conversation. It’s done by AI so is perhaps a wee bit ropey here and there. If these transcripts prove sufficiently useful then I will make the effort to clean then up and make them better. Do let me know if you think it’s worth my time to do that. (Or, better still, do it for me…...

Professor Ian Rotherham is an expert on a range of environmental issues, including urban wildlife, extreme weather, flooding and climate change. He has published extensively in academic journals, and has released a number of books on UK wildlife and the environment. Ian is a man positively bursting with enthusiasm and knowledge and ideas.

Ian poured forth a cheerful stream of lessons on the environment, eco-tourism and rewilding.
We talked about the cultural severance between cities and wildness, and the reassuring dictum that you can change the world, a little bit at a time: perhaps by beginning with rewilding your back garden.

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE LIVING ADVENTUROUSLY PODCAST

(It’s completely free, zero hassle to do (click here), but really helpful for me trying to get a new podcast off the ground. If you’re feeling extra kind, please leave a review on the app – that really helps.)

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn (“Alexa, please play the Living Adventurously podcast”) or on your favourite podcast platform such as Overcast, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Breaker, Soundcloud, Castbox, Castro.

• www.alastairhumphreys.com/podcast

THIS PODCAST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY KOMOOT

Your very own outdoor experiences are waiting for you. Go explore more with komoot. Use the voucher code ADVENTUROUS to claim your free region maps bundle.

The personalised planning and navigation tools ensure you plan the adventure that’s perfect for you. Komoot is Europe’s number 1 outdoor app, with route planning and navigation functionality, and strong community-driven inspirational features in the form of recommended Highlights and inspirational route Collections. It is used by nearly 10 million adventurers worldwide. Komoot is becoming the app of choice for cyclists and hikers the world over, with rapid community growth in the UK, the US and other parts of Europe.
You can see my ride’s route on komoot here.

SHOW NOTES

• If you enjoy listening to this episode over a cup of coffee and think it might be worth the price, you can buy me a coffee here: www. ko-fi.com/al_humphreys
• Keep up to date with future episodes (and my other adventures, projects and books) with my free monthly newsletter: alastairhumphreys.com/more/subscribe
• Say hello on Twitter and Instagram: @al_humphreys
• Ian Rotherham's blog
• Ecotourism should not only be "take only photographs, leave only footprints", but we also need to try to help people in a benign way.
• Adventure literature is often about "defeating nature" rather than pausing for a while or caring for the landscape.
• We need more respect and awareness when dealing with the vulnerable resource of the natural world.
• How best to minimise your damage and maximise your positive impact
• Rewilding, in all its guises, (including rewilding the mind) can save the NHS millions, as well as all the other benefits.
• Sheffield Trees Action Group
• The communities that are able to protest about their environment are usually the most affluent ones.
• Trees give you a sense of place and seasonality. They are therapeutic and spiritually uplifting.
• The new urban wild and bringing wild to the people
• Cultural severance in urban landscapes - a broken connection between cities and wildness
• Feral - George Monbiot
• Shadow woods - Ian Rotherham
• You can change the world, even incrementally and a bit at a time. Rewilding your garden is a good start.
• Globally and in Britain, in terms of nature conservation, biodiversity and sustainability we are indeed in a very bad way – essentially the ecosystem is broken and we need to mend it
• The problems are not as simple as carbon = climate change = plant lots of trees! Such naïve thinking is actually dangerously misconceived
• Rewilding offers a radical new approach to resolving many of the issues in ways which are, paraphrased from Lawton (2010), bigger, bolder, better, more joined …..However, this idea needs to connect with a far wider community especially in urban areas
• Additionally, approaches have to be paid for and not just with ‘ecosystem services which are community goods’ – but with MONEY ….. (This is a fact not popular with politicians for example!)
• I suggest that farmers & farming have to be part of the SOLUTION and are not, as often portrayed, the problem

TRANSCRIPT

Below is the transcription of our conversation. It’s done by AI so is perhaps a wee bit ropey here and there. If these transcripts prove sufficiently useful then I will make the effort to clean then up and make them better. Do let me know if you think it’s worth my time to do that. (Or, better still, do it for me…!). If you’d like to listen as you read along you can do that here:

https://otter.ai/s/4mbmzPCyRr2gYKfRXYdvbQ

Thom Barnett runs Mamnick, a clothing brand passionate about cycling. The tagline is "one thing at a time, as beautiful as possible". I cajoled Thom out of bed at early o'clock and we cycled out of Sheffield together, nipping down the back alleys and cycle paths he knows so well. 
Over breakfast I asked the fine arts graduate about life as a fashion designer, loving what you do, and Thom's love for exploring the hills and lanes of the Peak District.

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE LIVING ADVENTUROUSLY PODCAST

(It’s completely free, zero hassle to do (click here), but really helpful for me trying to get a new podcast off the ground. If you’re feeling extra kind, please leave a review on the app – that really helps.)

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn (“Alexa, please play the Living Adventurously podcast”) or on your favourite podcast platform such as Overcast, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Breaker, Soundcloud, Castbox, Castro.

• www.alastairhumphreys.com/podcast

THIS PODCAST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY KOMOOT

Your very own outdoor experiences are waiting for you. Go explore more with komoot. Use the voucher code ADVENTUROUS to claim your free region maps bundle.

The personalised planning and navigation tools ensure you plan the adventure that’s perfect for you. Komoot is Europe’s number 1 outdoor app, with route planning and navigation functionality, and strong community-driven inspirational features in the form of recommended Highlights and inspirational route Collections. It is used by nearly 10 million adventurers worldwide. Komoot is becoming the app of choice for cyclists and hikers the world over, with rapid community growth in the UK, the US and other parts of Europe.
You can see my ride’s route on komoot here.

SHOW NOTES

• If you enjoy listening to this episode over a cup of coffee and think it might be worth the price, you can buy me a coffee here: www. ko-fi.com/al_humphreys
• Keep up to date with future episodes (and my other adventures, projects and books) with my free monthly newsletter: alastairhumphreys.com/more/subscribe
• Say hello on Twitter and Instagram: @al_humphreys
• "One thing at a time, as beautiful as possible". Fine products manufactured in the UK and Japan: Mamnick
• Mamnick on Instagram
• I'm a fashion designer, but I also make the cups of tea and post my own clothes.
• Do one thing at a time, as beautiful as possible.
• If it was all about money I'd have a proper job.
• I wanted to make a living doing something that I enjoy.
• When cycling you do more chatting than in other sports, and some of the conversations you have can be fantastic.
• I managed to make a living from my brand after about six months.
• A lot of the challenge of turning dream into reality is about confidence
• Story-telling is really important, but the narrative around this brand just wrote itself and was natural.
• You don't want anything to feel phony. You don't want to have to blag it.
• Yomping - your own marching pace - less about training and more about riding your bike, being in the moment, and living at your own pace
• I've made life hard for myself at times by being so outspoken
• Real things, real places, real people resonate more with real people.
• My brand has basically become an extension of my own life
• I can ride so much in the Peaks without going on the same road twice, so I don't feel much desire to load up my bike and cycle round the world. A friend of mine cycled round the world and told me that the Peak District has the best roads.

TRANSCRIPT

Below is the transcription of our conversation. It’s done by AI so is perhaps a wee bit ropey here and there. If these transcripts prove sufficiently useful then I will make the effort to clean then up and make them better. Do let me know if you think it’s worth my time to do that. (Or, better still, do it for me…!). If you’d like to listen as you read along you can do that here:

https://otter.ai/s/8KjD2nB9Q3y8K5xZUsuWrA

Ben Cummins is on a mission to deliver a piano from Liverpool to London. On a home-made raft. That he propels himself. Within 25 years... So far it has taken Ben seven years to push his raft the 127 miles along the canal from Liverpool to Leeds!
This adventure / art project / way of life began when Ben asked himself a brilliant question, "what is it that I want from my life?"
Ben invited me onto his charming, quirky, stylish canal boat-cum-raft (built from locally-salvaged and donated materials), cooked me lunch, and told me his story.

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE LIVING ADVENTUROUSLY PODCAST

(It’s completely free, zero hassle to do (click here), but really helpful for me trying to get a new podcast off the ground. If you’re feeling extra kind, please leave a review on the app – that really helps.)

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn (“Alexa, please play the Living Adventurously podcast”) or on your favourite podcast platform such as Overcast, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Breaker, Soundcloud, Castbox, Castro.

• www.alastairhumphreys.com/podcast

SHOW NOTES

• If you enjoy listening to this episode over a cup of coffee and think it might be worth the price, you can buy me a coffee here: www. ko-fi.com/al_humphreys
• Keep up to date with future episodes (and my other adventures, projects and books) with my free monthly newsletter: alastairhumphreys.com/more/subscribe
• Say hello on Twitter and Instagram: @al_humphreys
• Piano Raft - A floating centre of excellence. @pianoraft on Instagram. Website here.
• Focus on "allow" not "how" - let stuff happen rather than worrying too much.
• Nick Weston, who lived in a treehouse.
• Ben Parry, artist.
• I didn't want to be a numpty, to be irresponsible or unsafe. They were my concerns. 
• Having an anchor or a framework to the project is helpful, even when allowing possibility and serendipity into your life.
• A 'purposeless mission' allows all the good stuff to happen once you have started.

THIS PODCAST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY KOMOOT

Your very own outdoor experiences are waiting for you. Go explore more with komoot. Use the voucher code ADVENTUROUS to claim your free region maps bundle.

The personalised planning and navigation tools ensure you plan the adventure that’s perfect for you. Komoot is Europe’s number 1 outdoor app, with route planning and navigation functionality, and strong community-driven inspirational features in the form of recommended Highlights and inspirational route Collections. It is used by nearly 10 million adventurers worldwide. Komoot is becoming the app of choice for cyclists and hikers the world over, with rapid community growth in the UK, the US and other parts of Europe.
You can see my ride’s route on komoot here.

Imran Mughal was the first British-Pakistani to cycle round the world. Over a delicious curry cooked by his mum the proud Yorkshireman told me how going out to explore the world was not encouraged within the Pakistani community. But the decline in health of his dad was a wake-up call to Imran that good health is not a given, nor does it last for ever. That, combined with redundancy, spurred him into action.
Imran didn't tell his family he was going to cycle round the world, only that "I'll be gone for a few months, then I'll be back..."!
The similarities and the differences between Imran's story of cycling around the world and my own fascinated me.

Going round the world, says Imran, is an education. It halts time. You learn more on a journey like that than you will in the rest of your life. A bicycle helped take Imran away from his problems, away from the challenges in the local area such as drugs and hanging around with a bad crowd. Nowadays Imran feels that all he needs in life is God, family and a bicycle...

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE LIVING ADVENTUROUSLY PODCAST

(It’s completely free, zero hassle to do (click here), but really helpful for me trying to get a new podcast off the ground. If you’re feeling extra kind, please leave a review on the app – that really helps.)

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn (“Alexa, please play the Living Adventurously podcast”) or on your favourite podcast platform such as Overcast, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Breaker, Soundcloud, Castbox, Castro.

• www.alastairhumphreys.com/podcast

THIS PODCAST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY KOMOOT

Your very own outdoor experiences are waiting for you. Go explore more with komoot. Use the voucher code ADVENTUROUS to claim your free region maps bundle.

The personalised planning and navigation tools ensure you plan the adventure that’s perfect for you. Komoot is Europe’s number 1 outdoor app, with route planning and navigation functionality, and strong community-driven inspirational features in the form of recommended Highlights and inspirational route Collections. It is used by nearly 10 million adventurers worldwide. Komoot is becoming the app of choice for cyclists and hikers the world over, with rapid community growth in the UK, the US and other parts of Europe.
You can see my ride’s route on komoot here.

SHOW NOTES

• If you enjoy listening to this episode over a cup of coffee and think it might be worth the price, you can buy me a coffee here: www. ko-fi.com/al_humphreys
• Keep up to date with future episodes (and my other adventures, projects and books) with my free monthly newsletter: alastairhumphreys.com/more/subscribe
• Say hello on Twitter and Instagram: @al_humphreys
• Watch Imran's videos on YouTube.
• Imran thinks Yorkshire is the best place in the world to live, better even than California.
• The solitude and peace of the mosque five times a day
• The unification of cultures
• We have so much on our doorstep that you don't necessarily need to go on a massive global journey to experience great places.
• You hear of people who have been to the other side of the world but have not experienced Cornwall or the North Coast 500 or the Lakes.
• Britain is one of the best cultures of the world: The variety, the amalgamation of cultures and all the foods in Britain.
• Redundancy committed him to action
• The decline in health of his father was a wake-up call to Imran that good health is not a given, nor does it last for ever.
• Going out to explore the world was not encouraged within the Pakistani community so this was an additional layer of 'barrier' that Imran faced
• Imran didn't tell his Mum he was going to cycle round the world, just "I'll be gone for a few months, then I'll be back..."!
• "I had the intention to cycle round the world, but I didn't believe that I would do it."
• Going round the world is an education. It halts time. You learn more in it than you will in the rest of your life.
• When he got home everyone's attitude had changed and they were very proud of what he had done.
• Praying is like 'hitting the reset button'
• A bicycle helped take Imran away from his problems, away from the bad stuff in the area such as drugs and hanging around with a bad crowd.
• God, family and a bicycle...

Tim Frenneaux is a former martial arts instructor, nine to fiver and audio visual artist, turned ethical entrepreneur, microadventurer, climate activist and punk philosopher. 
His redemption started when the brief and fragile nature of existence became painfully real as he hit the big 40 in the same month that his Dad died. Unhappy conjunctures like that are a great way of forcing you to focus on what you want from “your one wild and precious life” (to quote the dear departed Mary Oliver)

Tim decided to return to the outdoor life that had brought him so much happiness growing up, and that the best way to make the difference he wanted to see in the world, was to start a business founded on social and environmental principles: Gather Outdoors.

Now he’s on a mission to encourage and enable folk to make the most of their fleeting presence on planet earth by spending more time outdoors. In doing so he hopes that great teacher, Mother Earth, will help them to reach their own understanding of the immense value of nature.

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE LIVING ADVENTUROUSLY PODCAST

(It’s completely free, zero hassle to do (click here), but really helpful for me trying to get a new podcast off the ground. If you’re feeling extra kind, please leave a review on the app – that really helps.)

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn (“Alexa, please play the Living Adventurously podcast”) or on your favourite podcast platform such as Overcast, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Breaker, Soundcloud, Castbox, Castro.

• www.alastairhumphreys.com/podcast

THIS PODCAST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY KOMOOT

Your very own outdoor experiences are waiting for you. Go explore more with komoot. Use the voucher code ADVENTUROUS to claim your free region maps bundle.

The personalised planning and navigation tools ensure you plan the adventure that’s perfect for you. Komoot is Europe’s number 1 outdoor app, with route planning and navigation functionality, and strong community-driven inspirational features in the form of recommended Highlights and inspirational route Collections. It is used by nearly 10 million adventurers worldwide. Komoot is becoming the app of choice for cyclists and hikers the world over, with rapid community growth in the UK, the US and other parts of Europe.
You can see my ride’s route on komoot here.

SHOW NOTES

• If you enjoy listening to this episode over a cup of coffee and think it might be worth the price, you can buy me a coffee here: www. ko-fi.com/al_humphreys
• Keep up to date with future episodes (and my other adventures, projects and books) with my free monthly newsletter: alastairhumphreys.com/more/subscribe
• Say hello on Twitter and Instagram: @al_humphreys
• Gather Outdoors website
• Starting a business was an excuse to get outdoors more and meet interesting people
• He feels guilty that his work doesn't feel like hard work and a struggle
• Compartmentalising work and not-work is an important thing
• Trying to rewild myself by reading lots of books
• The first step in changing direction is realising that things are not quite right.
• The imposter syndrome is how everyone feels and shouldn't be a burden and a barrier
• What you don't know you can learn by doing
• The modern day life experience cocoons us from the natural world
• The importance of reading on paper versus a screen
• We all have time; we just need to make time. 
• Turn off the screens and embrace boredom
• Barefoot running has made a big beneficial change to his life
• Starting a business saw his income plummet, but also taught Tim and his family what is enough. It taught him about balance.
• Recognise when you are slipping into a fur-lined rut, and then clamour to get out.