Episode 207 of The Adventure Podcast features runner and author, Elise Downing. Elise is, by her own admission, not your typical adventurer. She didn’t grow up wild swimming or scrambling ridgelines. In fact, she used to hate the outdoors. But in her early twenties, during a time of deep personal disquiet, she made a decision. She laced up a pair of running shoes and pointed herself at the coastline. What followed was a slow, vulnerable, and deeply human odyssey, running 5,000 miles around the coast of Britain with no real experience, very little money, and only the kind of faith that says ‘I’ll figure it out when I get there.' In this conversation, Elise talks with extraordinary honesty about imposter syndrome, crying in graveyards, running through grief, and the strange awkwardness of coming home after something that should have changed everything, but somehow didn’t. She also speaks to what comes next, how she’s slowly built a life that holds adventure in its everyday edges, and how she’s learned that the most powerful journeys often start not with courage, but with not knowing what else to do. This is a conversation about the long way around. About patience. About learning to move slowly, and gently, and with kindness toward yourself. And about the beauty of having no idea what you’re doing, but going anyway.

For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @‌theadventurepodcast.

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Episode 206 of The Adventure Podcast features adventurer and amputee, Luke Tarrant. In 2024, Luke was travelling from the USA to Antarctica on his motorbike when he crashed in Colombia. He had to have his leg removed after contracting sepsis and was left fighting for his life. Matt got in touch with Luke after seeing his dad's update post on Instagram, and they quickly became friends and started filming together. All while this was happening, Luke blew up on social media and has gathered a massive following that has completely changed his life in lots of ways. In this episode, they go into the full story. Who was Luke before the crash? What happened? What changed? How has he changed? This episode is raw and honest, and it’s a fascinating blend of two different sides of our world. Luke wasn’t interested in fame before his accident (and spoiler alert, he kind of isn’t now). He just wanted to ride his motorbike around the world get into (mis)adventures. But, as Luke puts it, what’s happened has happened, and now he gets recognised walking down the street. What will he do next? Who knows, but it’s bound to be special.

For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @‌theadventurepodcast.

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Episode 205 of The Adventure Podcast features adventurer, researcher and storyteller, Lise Wortley. Lise has spent the last few years following in the footsteps of forgotten women. She retraces their paths, as faithfully as she can, right down to the scratchy tweeds and antique kit. No Gore-Tex. No modern boots. Just a deep curiosity for how these women moved through the world, and what they had to say about it. In this conversation, Lise talks about how the project began, the strange intimacy of stepping into someone else’s shoes, literally, and the complicated task of honouring legacy without romanticising the past. They explore what it means to adventure on your own terms, to go slowly, and to find strength in stories that were almost lost to time. This isn’t just about history. It’s about reclaiming the narrative. About softness and solitude and wildness, and about how the most powerful journeys aren’t always the noisiest ones. Sometimes they’re the ones that make space. For memory, for change, and for other people to follow.

For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @‌theadventurepodcast.

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Episode 204 of The Adventure Podcast features former Royal Marine, adventurer and mental health advocate, Paul Harris. Paul is more commonly known as 'The Warrior Walker' and uses huge walking challenges, covering thousands of miles, to raise awareness for veterans and others battling issues like PTSD. In this episode, Matt talks to Paul about his decision to walk around the UK and how it came from a place of fairly serious trauma. He looks at his life before the walk, as a Royal Marine, a barman and a private soldier. They also talk about why, at the end of his entire circumnavigation of the UK he decided to put his backpack on and do it all again, probably making him the only person to have walked all the way around the UK twice.

For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @‌theadventurepodcast.

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Episode 203 of The Adventure Podcast features writer, photographer, and documentary filmmaker, Kim Frank. Kim has spent the past seven years immersed in an incredibly complex and emotionally charged story centred around human/wildlife conflict. Her project follows the lives of people and elephants in North Bengal, India—where deforestation, migration, and survival all collide. In this episode, Kim talks to Matt about creative risk, the emotional weight of telling other people’s stories, personal transformation, and the quiet power of persistence. They also discuss the importance and rarity of following through on a wild idea that won’t let you go.

For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @‌theadventurepodcast.

Photo credit: Jeremy LaZelle

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Episode 202 of The Adventure Podcast features, long distance runner and construction worker, Jack Scott. Over the past few years Jack has grabbed the attention of the British ultra running scene for some stellar achievements that most people in the know thought were literally impossible. In 2024 Jack won the infamous Spine Race, a 268-mile ultramarathon along the Pennine Way, shattering the previous course record by over 10 hours. This isn't a conversation discussing trail shoes or favourite energy gels, instead this episode gives an insight into Jack's mind, attitude and where he finds his motivation. He talks to Matt about his previous gambling addiction and the 'dark and dangerous' place he has learnt to use, his Spine Race losses and win, his training mentality, and the importance of giving yourself time to grow.

For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @‌theadventurepodcast.

Photo credit: Wild Aperture Photography

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Episode 201 of The Adventure Podcast features cave scientist, climate researcher, and expedition leader, Dr Gina Moseley. Gina's paleoclimatology work has taken her to some of the most remote and extreme parts of the planet. In this episode, Gina talks to Matt about how she started caving as a kid in the Midlands, saving up her pocket money to go underground in the school holidays, and how this turned into a career in science along the way. They cover her groundbreaking expeditions to caves in Greenland, sailing through sea ice, getting stuck in storms, and chasing fragments of climate history hidden in stalagmites and flowstone. Or as they call it, ultimate treasure hunting.

For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @‌theadventurepodcast.

Photo credit: Robbie Shone

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Episode three of The Far Reaches features journalist, podcaster, and founder of the Looking Sideways podcast, Matt Barr. In this conversation, we unpack Matt's latest project: a multi-episode documentary podcast called 'The Announcement', which explores the fallout of Patagonia’s now-famous announcement that "Earth is our only shareholder." On the surface, it looked like a bold, revolutionary move. But dig deeper, and you're into thornier territory—philanthropic capitalism, tax implications, the role of billionaires in shaping our futures, and whether good intentions can ever truly escape the systems they’re trying to fix. This is a conversation about nuance, values, and why asking better questions might matter more than finding neat answers.

For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @‌theadventurepodcast.

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Episode 200 of The Adventure Podcast features adventurer, firefighter, martial artist and author, Stephan Kesting. In 2015, Stephan was dying from polycystic kidney disease. He underwent a transplant that saved his life, and in the fog of pre-surgery uncertainty, he made a promise: if he survived, he’d complete a journey he’d dreamed of for decades. Four years later, he set off on a solo canoe expedition across 1000 miles of the Canadian Arctic. Stephan talks to Matt about that journey, but also about trauma, grief, parenthood and risk. This is a story about survival, transformation, and what the wilderness can teach us not just about the world, but about ourselves.

For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @‌theadventurepodcast.

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Episode 199 of The Adventure Podcast features one of the most successful British climbers of all time, Shauna Coxsey. Shauna is a World Cup champion, an Olympian, and a true pioneer in the sport. But this conversation isn’t just about climbing, it’s about what it takes to build a professional athletic career from the ground up when the path doesn’t even exist yet. Shauna talks to Matt about her journey to become a world-class athlete; challenging what it meant to be a professional climber, fighting injury after injury, and helping to reshape the sport. They also discuss her competition retirement, becoming a mother, and how she's still pushing herself as a professional rock climber. This episode is full of honesty, insight, and that rare ability to reflect on ambition, success, and what comes after.

For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @‌theadventurepodcast.

Photo: Maja Hitij

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