Ben grew up in Barry’s Bay, Ontario in the Ottawa Valley, cycling and paddling. Growing up being self sufficient and self propelled became a focus for Ben and after convincing his parents, he took his first big bike trip as a teen from Pembroke, Ontario to Niagara Falls which kick started his desire for cycling long distances.

He wanted to find a way to still do what he loved and make a career out of it so after a Guiding course, he was off and running. He saw that TDA Global Cycling was offering a Silk Road expedition and sent them his resume. His persistence paid off and soon he was guiding a trip from Istanbul, Turkey to Beijing, China on the Silk Road.

For Ben, one of the most meaningful parts about being a guide is witnessing his guests grow and learn on tour. He said, people don’t give themselves enough credit. They are resilient and he finds seeing them progress very rewarding.

Ben works for Wilderness Tours and is a lead instructor of a two year Outdoor Adventure Guide Diploma Program through Algonquin College. Ben practices what he preaches and trains guides to help them find their path in the world Adventure Guiding.

We discuss his path to becoming a guide and instructor as well as some of the adventures he’s been on. We chat about balancing a busy career in outdoor recreation with satisfying his own adventurous drive along with fatherhood. And finally Ben shares some fun stories from his trips.

If you want to learn more about what Ben has been up to, please checkout his website, benshillington.com and sign up for his newsletter. Ben also wrote the book Winter Backpacking: Your Guide to Safe and Warm Winter Camping, which you can find on Amazon.

I hope you dig it!

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