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.

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SHOW NOTES

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• 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