The Outdoors Fix

The Outdoors Fix is a podcast to inspire you to make the outdoors a bigger part of your life. It’s hosted by Liv Bolton.

My guest in this episode is mountain leader, hiker and trail runner Jack Williams. Jack’s outdoors life has had many different chapters.

In his twenties, Jack was gripped by pursuing expeditions all around the world, including to the Himalayas and the Sahara Desert. He worked in hospitality and retail in between trips to finance them.

But five years ago, he found out he had testicular cancer. Going through that experience led to changes in his relationship with the outdoors and adventure goals.

He’s now a qualified mountain leader, leading groups and courses in Snowdonia and he’s also focused on family, creating outdoor adventures with his two young sons.

In the summer, I met up for a beautiful walk with Jack in Llangollen in North Wales, where he now lives. I was keen to hear all about his outdoors story but particularly how getting outside helped him cope with his illness as well as how he’s now shaping an adventurous life for his family in the UK.

I hope you enjoy this episode of The Outdoors Fix and don’t forget to listen out for Jack’s tips and advice for those interested in becoming a mountain leader or making the outdoors a bigger part of your life!

Also don’t miss the birdsong at the end of this podcast episode for a short, calming escape from your busy day.

Liv x

If you’re affected by any of the issues in this episode, there are links to help and support on The Outdoors Fix website.

The Outdoors Fix is a podcast produced and hosted by Liv Bolton @liv_outsideuk

You can find photos of the guests on Instagram @TheOutdoorsFix

This episode of The Outdoors Fix was supported by outdoor footwear brand Merrell.

The post Jack Williams: The Himalayas, cancer and mountain leading in Snowdonia appeared first on The Outdoors Fix.

The Outdoors Fix is a podcast to inspire you to make the outdoors a bigger part of your life. It’s hosted by Liv Bolton.

Elise Downing was in her early twenties and sitting miserably in an office when she decided to do something more than a little out of the norm. She looked at a map of Great Britain and wondered if anyone had ever run around the coast. As you do. A search online suggested not many had. A big running adventure like that would be a good reason to quit her job, she thought.

Scoot to 2016 and Elise became the first woman and youngest person to run around the coast of Britain. A distance of 5,000 miles (!). She’s now written a book, Coasting, about that epic adventure.

I met Elise for a walk in Leigh Woods near Bristol on a warm but blustery day in August. I wanted to find out what it really takes to get to the start line of a huge challenge like hers, how her body coped covering up to 40 miles a day, and what life has been like since she stopped running around the coast. Post-adventure life is a part of the story that we don’t often hear about.

Elise is keen to share the message that anyone can go on a big adventure, you just have to be the one who actually does it.

I hope you enjoy this episode of The Outdoors Fix and don’t forget to listen out for Elise’s tips and advice for those interested in trail running or making the outdoors a bigger part of your life!

Also don’t miss the birdsong at the end of this podcast episode for a short, calming escape from your busy day.

Liv x

The Outdoors Fix is a podcast produced and hosted by Liv Bolton @liv_outsideuk

You can find photos of the guests on Instagram @TheOutdoorsFix

This episode of The Outdoors Fix was supported by outdoor footwear brand Merrell.

The post Elise Downing: Life after running 5,000 miles around the coast of Britain appeared first on The Outdoors Fix.

The Outdoors Fix is a podcast to inspire you to make the outdoors a bigger part of your life. It’s hosted by Liv Bolton.

Has the outdoors helped you during a difficult time in your life?

My guest in this episode is Frankie Butler.

Frankie used to be an England hockey player, but in 2019 she suffered a devastating injury during a match. It left her unable to walk and needing to use a wheelchair.

In this episode, Frankie speaks incredibly powerfully about how the outdoors helped her in her darkest times as she came to terms with the changes in her life.

She’s taken up trail wheeling all over the UK (think trail running but in a wheelchair) and she recently completed a half marathon!

Frankie’s new mission is to inspire other wheelchair users to get outside and explore nature. She also wants the outdoors community to help make the British countryside more accessible.

Frankie Butler’s story truly sums up the power of the outdoors - a place that can give hope and joy even amid the most difficult of circumstances.

I hope you enjoy this episode of The Outdoors Fix and don’t forget to listen out for Frankie’s tips and advice for those interested in trail wheeling, or just how we can bring a bit more nature into our lives!

Also don’t miss the birdsong at the end of this podcast episode for a short, calming escape from your busy day.

Liv x

The Outdoors Fix is a podcast produced and hosted by Liv Bolton @liv_outsideuk

You can find photos of the guests on Instagram @TheOutdoorsFix

This episode of The Outdoors Fix was supported by outdoor footwear brand Merrell.

The post Frankie Butler: From England hockey to outdoor wheelchair adventures appeared first on The Outdoors Fix.

Has the outdoors ever helped your mental health? Wondered why? Listen on to find out!

My guest in this episode is Dr Lucy Loveday.

Lucy is a GP and medical educationalist, fell runner and wild swimmer who lives on Dartmoor.

Her life is focused on the benefits of nature for mental wellbeing. And through her work as a doctor, she’s developed evidence-based Wellbeing Toolkits and a green prescription to show how nature can help mental health. She’s also the founder of Movement and the Mind - a conference exploring the connection between mind, body and planet.

The outdoors has played a pivotal role throughout Lucy and her family’s life, most importantly because of her father’s struggles with severe depression.

She’s determined to spread the message about why if you get moving outdoors in nature, the benefits to your mental wellbeing can be profound.

The Outdoors Fix is a podcast produced and hosted by Liv Bolton @liv_outsideuk

This episode of The Outdoors Fix was supported by outdoor footwear brand Merrell.

The post Dr Lucy Loveday: The wild swimming GP championing mental wellbeing in the outdoors appeared first on The Outdoors Fix.

What big outdoors adventure would you want to do if you really put your mind to it?

For my guest Preet Chandi, her dream involves Antarctica.

Preet is an officer and physiotherapist in the British Army. She’s also a Nordic skier and endurance runner and she is preparing for the biggest trip of her life in November - a solo expedition to the South Pole.

She’ll be on skis, pulling her kit on a sled for over 6 weeks and travelling 700miles on her own.

While her training for the Antarctica mission recently has included pulling tyres around London parks, it has also taken her to Norway, Iceland and Greenland.

But Preet is not a professional adventurer - she had little expedition experience until a couple of years ago and she fits her adventures around her job in the Army.

She’s determined to inspire people to push their boundaries, particularly women from diverse backgrounds, by showing how the outdoors can help achieve big dreams.

The Outdoors Fix is a podcast produced and hosted by Liv Bolton @liv_outsideuk

This episode of The Outdoors Fix was supported by outdoor footwear brand Merrell.

The post Preet Chandi: The Army Officer on her way to Antarctica appeared first on The Outdoors Fix.

What do you do when your sporting career, which has been your life since you were nine years old, comes to an end?

For my guest Jamie Neill, the answer was to put on a pair of hiking boots.

Jamie was a professional badminton player travelling the world and playing for Scotland in the World Championships. But when his playing career had to stop, he swapped the indoor courts for the outdoors and he hasn’t looked back.

He’s now summited over 200 Munros, climbing 40 of them in just one week; hiked the West Highland Way and summited the three highest peaks in North Africa. He also joined a walking group which led to him meeting his partner Nikki and starting a family.

Getting outside has truly helped Jamie’s mental and physical transition from a sport that so dominated his life.

Jamie and I met 18 months ago on a group walk on Blencathra in the Lake District. He started telling me about his story then, and I’ve wanted to get him on the podcast ever since!

The Outdoors Fix is a podcast produced and hosted by Liv Bolton @liv_outsideuk

This episode of The Outdoors Fix was supported by outdoor footwear brand Merrell.

The post Jamie Neill: How Scotland’s Munros saved me when my badminton career ended appeared first on The Outdoors Fix.

For those of you who have ever dreamt about moving your job and home to the countryside, this one’s for you!

My guest in this episode is Laura Doling. She’s a postwoman in the Lake District, as well as a hiker, paddle boarder and wild swimmer.

Laura used to live in a town in Essex, work in healthcare and she says she spent many of her weekends getting dressed up and going out.

But after a camping trip in the Lake District in May 2018, she made the huge decision of moving her life and job to the countryside.

Plans like these can often take years to pull off, but extraordinarily Laura managed to do it all within 2 months and by July 2018 she was working and living there!

I met Laura at her new home near the village of Wennington in Lancashire, 20 miles from the Lake District, where she is converting an old barn with her partner Chris. They are hoping to turn it into their own smallholding and complete their countryside dream.

I wanted to find out more about why Laura wanted to move from Essex to the Lake District, how she made it happen when moves like these can seem incredibly daunting, her outdoorsy life, and what it’s like doing the postal round in the Langdale Valley!

The Outdoors Fix is a podcast produced and hosted by Liv Bolton @liv_outsideuk

It is proudly supported by Ellis Brigham Mountain Sports – stores nationwide and online offering everything you need to equip you for the best outdoors experience.

The post Laura Doling: Moving from Essex to be a postwoman in the Lake District appeared first on The Outdoors Fix.

My guest in this episode is Oge Ejizu - a hiker and the London regional leader for Black Girls Hike, a walking group for black women.

Growing up in London, hiking wasn’t something that Oge’s family was interested in and as she puts it, she didn’t see anyone like her in the outdoors, so she assumed it wasn’t for her.

But a few years ago, a friend persuaded her to start going on walks together and then took her to Dartmoor. She became hooked on hiking.

Oge’s now often found exploring London’s lesser known green spaces and championing the city as a place where you can still enjoy nature, as well as encouraging other black women to join her hikes and diversify the outdoors.

I met up with Oge near her home in Enfield in north London and we went on a 9 mile walk together to Epping Forest - a beautiful ancient woodland on the edge of the city. I live in London too, so this was a lovely local route that I’m definitely going to do again!

I wanted to find out more about Oge’s outdoors life, how she fits hiking around work as a project manager, how she got involved in Black Girls Hike and why she’s thinks the outdoors has had such a powerful impact on her life.

The Outdoors Fix is a podcast produced and hosted by Liv Bolton @liv_outsideuk

It is proudly supported by Ellis Brigham Mountain Sports – stores nationwide and online offering everything you need to equip you for the best outdoors experience.

The post Oge Ejizu: Adventuring in London with Black Girls Hike appeared first on The Outdoors Fix.

I’m absolutely thrilled that my guest in this episode is James Rebanks.

He’s a shepherd, farmer and writer and the author of the bestselling book The Shepherd’s Life and new book English Pastoral.

James’ farm is in the Matterdale Valley near Ullswater in the Lake District and his family has farmed in that stunning area for 600 years

He owns a large flock of Herdwick sheep, some belted Galloway cows, pigs and chickens.

In his new book English Pastoral, James passionately calls for farming to become more sustainable and nature-friendly. He speaks about how in the past 50 years, technology and fertilisers used on farms have had a hugely detrimental effect on nature and wildlife.

So he’s been changing the way he manages his land, by planting more hedgerows and trees in his fields, abandoning fertilisers, building ponds, allowing the river to flood some of his farmland and focusing on the health of his soil.

His efforts are paying off and he’s seeing a wonderful return of wildlife to his farm, including more otters, fish, herons, wetland birds, insects and wildflowers.

While the outdoors has been a pretty constant feature in his life, James is now making nature and wildlife a bigger part of it.

I spent a morning with James exploring his beautiful farm and seeing the changes he’s implementing - we then recorded the episode in an old sheep barn!

I wanted to find out more about James’ outdoors life, the realities of being a farmer and shepherd, and why he thinks it’s so important to have nature thriving alongside farming.

The Outdoors Fix is a podcast produced and hosted by Liv Bolton @liv_outsideuk

It is proudly supported by Ellis Brigham Mountain Sports – stores nationwide and online offering everything you need to equip you for the best outdoors experience.

The post James Rebanks: The life of a shepherd and farmer in the Lake District appeared first on The Outdoors Fix.

My guest in this episode is Tolga Aktas. His story is one for those of you who are thinking of changing your career to be outdoors and in nature more.

Tolga is a conservation biologist, writer and photographer who has just finished his degree in Animal Biology.

His studies and love of animals and nature have taken him to Africa, Borneo and all over the UK, doing field work and volunteering on conservation projects.

But his current life is a complete transformation from what it was a few years ago.

Tolga grew up in south London and admits that he got involved with gang culture and left school with poor grades

He then trained to be an electrical engineer and spent years working in a 9-5 job in London.

I travelled to Highnam Woods, near where Tolga’s now living in Gloucestershire, to find out how he completely changed his life and career.

The Outdoors Fix is a podcast produced and hosted by Liv Bolton @liv_outsideuk

It is proudly supported by Ellis Brigham Mountain Sports – stores nationwide and online offering everything you need to equip you for the best outdoors experience.

The post Tolga Aktas: How I moved from electrical engineering to working in conservation appeared first on The Outdoors Fix.