Living Adventurously

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...

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.

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

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

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…...

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

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

Louise McMahon is a climber, caver, diver, occasional photographer and a trans woman she/her. So says her Twitter bio, and I like the order she has chosen to list things in.

Once Louise had unpicked and identified the problems she faced, the big change of committing to transition was a sudden release and huge relief. Committing was, in the end, easier than hiding. And none of the worries she had beforehand came to pass.

I began this podcast to ask people about worlds that overlap with my own but are also very different. Louise's open, thoughtful explanations of realising that she was not living the life she wanted to lead - and then summoning the boldness to make a massive change - are the very epitome of what I wanted on this living adventurously podcast. 

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
• Louise is on Twitter.
• Neither climbing or caving is scary - if you're scared you're probably doing it wrong.
• High consequence actions versus the low risk of those high consequences.
• The notion of consequences versus likelihood of happening are different things and useful in business
• Once Louise had unpicked and identified the problems she faced, the big change of committing to transition was a sudden release and huge relief.
• Committing was, in the end, easier than hiding.
• None of the worries she had beforehand came to pass.
• Humans are cautious creatures and we tend to focus a lot on the worries beforehand. Yet we don't realise what all the benefits might be until we have committed.
• Spin-off benefits and enhanced self-confidence.
• Living an authentic life is one less thing to worry about
• "Sometimes I think 'oh, I'd quite like to do it one day', then just say 'oh, sod it, and do it!'"

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/AIc7-qqzRgiT6zgYLoOhcQ

Alastair Humphreys 
we met via Twitter originally and on there you say you're a climber and a caver. which is more scary.

Louise McMahon 
I don't think either is scary.
If you getting scared you're probably doing it wrong or doing taking too many risks. Or not managing the risks well enough as like caving. If you get it wrong, it can be really dangerous.

Alastair Humphreys 
But you're not doing it for the adrenaline.

Louise McMahon 
no. I do the climbing because I enjoy it. So I like being out in the hills and the caving is exploration often find new cave and new new things

Alastair Humphreys 
Have you gone somewhere No one's ever been before?

Louise McMahon 
not no one's ever been before. But never in the last several hundred years. We do a lot in 17th century mines.

Alastair Humphreys 
Wow. That's a Amazing, isn't it? Well within an hour of massive city. how did you get into caving?

Louise McMahon 
I was a climber before that. And then so driving around the Peak District to these kind of moody people with harnesses with the equipment that looks a bit like climbing and I thought I'll give it a go. And so I found my newest book, to me is a technical psychological group and consultant. I went along and loved it just and just carried on doing it. And so I've been doing it unit now.

Alastair Humphreys 
decliners in cave is like each other.

Louise McMahon 
Hmm, interesting. I do both. There are the climbers in our club. And they don't tend to mix too well, because climbers like to get up quite early and got climbing and cables don't care what time of the day is and will drink until four in the morning because it's going to be dark anyway. So I'm a headphone, you know, having my in?

Alastair Humphreys 
what's the what's the difference in mindset between someone who is a good cave and somebody who's a good climate.

Louise McMahon 
I think good cavers are happy to suffer but also a doing it for a different reason. Often, we're doing it to extra, whereas a lot of climbers are just doing it because they like climbing and and that's fine.

Alastair Humphreys 
So it's okay. So it's more of a

bit more of a mission to Yeah, baby and purpose perhaps Yeah,

Louise McMahon 
yeah. You know, I am, before I started taping, I build things, I'll do th...

Sarah Lister was drifting through her twenties until a 'doorstep mile' moment of commitment saw her quit her unloved job and begin again. Today Sarah lives in a cosy cottage at the foot of beautiful fells in the Peak District National Park. She works as a coach these days and this has given her a new way of thinking, teaching her that a fresh perspective comes from asking open, non-judgemental questions.

I arrived at Sarah's house in a torrential storm. I was soaking wet and a bit fed-up. So when Sarah invited me to join her for a swim in the stream cascading down the mountain behind her village I was not particularly keen. But I remembered one of life's immutable rules: you never regret a wild swim.

And, sure enough, the hills were beautiful, the waterfall was bracing and bouncing and we galloped back down the hill happy, and hungry for homemade pizza.

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
• Sarah's website: careers coaching for those who don't know where to begin.
• Sarah's Instagram: @about.the.adventure
• Busy London routine meant Sarah had lost her zest for life. She did not like who she was and the negative way she was complaining about everything.
• Sarah began using small escapes from London as a way to escape the city life she no longer enjoyed.
• For a while it felt acceptable to use adventurous weeekend escapes as a counter to the job she no longer liked.
• Admitting to herself that she had been drifting through her twenties felt very daunting.
• Whilst she knew what she did NOT want to do, Sarah did not know for a while what she DID want to do.
• Sarah wanted to pay off her debts, to be financially stable before leaving her job and making the change. But in the end an evening of adventure talks plus a ticking off from her boss sparked her into resigning.
• In her coaching work Sarah sees a lot of people who are heavily swayed by the amount of time and effort they have put into something, even if they don't like it. (The only important part of the runway is that in front of you). "I've come this far so I might as well keep going with it."
• Sometimes it feels easier to keep going with the devil you know rather than risking the uncertainty and newness and pressure of change.
• Coaching has been helpful for guiding Sarah that it is OK to change, it's OK to be upset by it sometimes, and it's not always easy.
• Coaching gives a new way of thinking and a fresh perspective through open, non-judgemental questions.
• Don't just ask yourself what the barriers are, but also break them down and think about what stories you are telling yourself about them.
• It would be good to give more attention and voicepieces to the unsung heroes of society who are helping to solve various problems.
• University felt like a wasted experience for Sarah (and me).

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/qR4Tiji2QpKAn_tR8-UO6Q

Alastair Humphreys
How did you go from being a
young woman
working hard in London, to living a little cottage in the middle of nowhere, spending your days running in the hills?

Sarah Lister
Well, it started really
wanting to get out a little bit more. So I was in London and became very dissatisfied and not really thinking very, very critical. And I noticed that I didn't have not realised
you know, something, my office paradise. And looking in the mirror I didn't like who I was. And the way that I'm talking, I'm saying negative complaining about my job and complain about everything really, even though I had quite nice job in my class, I wouldn't really keep making it or enjoying it. And it does come through just a little tiny mini adventure in a living. And I was asked to see what was around me, and then say that that I hadn't known before. And that made me start
to work, roll and see more. And it's just like going outside of London.
so I'm coming here on Monday 10 on the safer dog on a Friday, go home, packing my bags ready for the next morning, coming up at five and six o'clock in the morning whenever it started. And get on the train, set them on the street. So I did get back on a Sunday evening. And then go back to work Monday. I thought I've got it. I've got it down about a week. Yeah, I thought if I can say this. And I say my family hated me....

Hetty Key combined her industry experience of the Outdoor / Adventure world with her academic background to investigate issues surrounding women in adventure. Hetty is passionate about using data to increase diversity and improve accessibility within the outdoors.
Women in Adventure offers a collective voice for women, empowering others through the sharing of information, inspiration and advice.

We took refuge from the torrential rain in a cafe to chat. I asked Hetty what she believes limits women getting more involved with the outdoor community. She is an adventurer, an endurance athlete, and a massive data geek. It's a good combination!

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
• Women in Adventure is an independent research-based organisation focused on empowering women through the sharing of information, inspiration and advice
• Hetty Key is on Instagram as @mudchalkandgears
• Making a pact with a friend to do a weekly 7am swim - began only going in up to her knees
• Adventure of moving from a proper job to pursue her research
• When curiosity and a hobby grows organically into something bigger
• Eventually she was doing so much with her passions that it reached a tipping point to quit her job and go it alone.
• Women in Adventure survey around the inspirations and limitations of women getting into the outdoors
• Mental wellbeing is unanimously improved by being in the outdoors doing sports
• Life satisfaction, happiness, anxiety, worthwhile - different sports help different aspects of these better than others.
• Women worry about looking out of place, about being beginners and looking fools
• A lack of knowledge and information is a common barrier for women wanting to get into adventure
• The importance of relatable role models

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/vaVwYEmITsekx_MWHnU2Lw

Alastair Humphreys 
what does living adventurously mean to you?

Hetty Key 
That's, that's a big question. I mean, I think that it is being out of your comfort zone. And so living adventuroulsy for me is... it's not, you know, the types of fun. So type one, type two, it's not always being sort of uncomfortable. But it's consistently trying to push yourself just out of the comfort zone into that. I think it's quite an exciting, I think the definitely challenging moments, really enjoyable moments, but it's just being out of your comfort zone and kind of going and doing the things that when you first think of them, you think, I don't know if I can do that. Okay, so give me an example of your life of adventure you had that does not include being in the mountains, etc. I think so. About two years ago, I was quite short on time, I was doing a lot of work and my kind of work life balance have gone down the drain pipe, so to speak. And friend and I made a pact the 7am once a week, we're going to try and slowly get into a river near because both of us are actually quite nervous about the concept. I like water fascinates me, don't get me wrong. But I would not have jumped in a river like open water was terrifying. It was like, you know, all the monsters on the bottom, like, the feeling of the ground with your feet, like the whole thing, like completely. It was it was very out of my comfort zone. But actually, every every week we went through at seven in the morning. And just gradually the first time I think I went like up to my knees and I was like I'm good enough. And actually we kept going and starting in started in October. And actually we by February, we were we went through the whole winter and it totally changed my outlook and perception on on water and actually something I still do a lot and really, really enjoy. But that was definitely adventure.

Alastair Humphreys 
Okay, I agree. What about 
moving from having a proper job to not have a job? Tell me what you've done

Hetty Key 
So recently, I took the decision to leave my full time joband actually pursue my research through a company called Women and adventure.

Alastair Humphreys 
Okay, so we're going to talk about adventure a lot but to pick you up here on the leaving your full time job to go into the freelance ...