The Pursuit Zone

She's trekked across the wilderness of Arctic Sweden, walked 1,600 km along ancient pilgrimage routes in France and Spain, summitted Mt. Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa, paddled a tandem kayak 4,000 km from London to the Black Sea coast in Romania, and most recently completed an adventure she calls The Green Ribbon, a 1,000 km solo trek along the length of the mountains between Norway and Sweden. You can learn more at her website annablackwell.co.uk. Anna Blackwell, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.

He lived in western New York and Hawaii before moving to Cambodia in 2015 where he explored the country by motorbike. During his time in Cambodia he suffered a stroke and luckily fully recovered from it. But the experience made him think he needed to go on a long adventure. His first big cycle tour was in 1990 across the United States. Now, he's on an even longer cycle trip he calls Strokes to Spokes. Starting in Cambodia his travels have taken him through SE Asia, India, Nepal, and currently Australia. And as a photographer his camera keeps pulling him in directions he wouldn't otherwise have gone. You can learn more at his website adventuresofaregularguy.com. Scott Sharick, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.

Scott's book on Blurb

She had an ordinary life as a geography teacher before setting out to live a life of adventure. She is passionate about traveling and human powered exploration and spent 13 months cycling the length of Australia and New Zealand and then from Indonesia to Nepal. The journey opened her eyes to the kindness of strangers, but also to the harmful effects humans have on the environment. She also spent a month paddling the rivers of rural Bangladesh and recently returned home from walking the length of Iceland. You can learn more at her website alicebowers.com. Alice Bowers, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.

He is an Eagle Scout, a former military aviator, and an avid traveler who has explored over 35 countries. He rode a recumbent bicycle across the US using the Race Across America route and in July 2018 began rowing from Neah Bay, Washington to Australia, making landfall 11 months later at Trinity Beach, Queensland – a journey of over 7,000 statute miles in a custom-made rowboat and the longest solo, non-stop row from North America in the history of modern ocean rowing. He is also raising funds for Water Mission - a non-profit that builds and implements safe water, sanitation, and hygiene solutions for people in developing countries and disaster areas. You can learn more about him at his website jacobadoram.com. Jacob Adoram, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.

With his dog Saku, he explores the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. In 2017 they crossed Newfoundland - 700 km by foot, snowshoe, and packraft. In 2018 with the support from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and Mountain Equipment Coop, they began a crossing over the Labrador Peninsula on foot and by canoe. It was a 1,700 km dream project and a way to share some of these last undeveloped wilderness areas. In the end, their goal of reaching the shores of Hudson Bay fell short by 700 km as high winds pinned them down for 28 days. You can learn more about these journeys at newfoundlandexplorer.com. Justin Barbour, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.

• Show Notes
• Justin Barbour's YouTube Channel
• Justin Barbour's Instagram

The cycling books he read fueled his passion for travel and adventure. The mountains of South America, the deserts of Africa, the freezing tundra of Siberia became the backdrop of his daydreams. In 2018, after 12 years in the British Army, he left that life behind to begin cycling to these far way places. Since then, his desire to tell his story through video has grown and he's steadily improving his filmmaking craft as he cycles his way around the world. You can learn more at his website adamhugill.com and at his YouTube channel Adam Hugill – Cycling the World. Adam Hugill, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.

• Show Notes
• Scott Sharick Photography
• Adventures of a Regular Guy
• mrpumpy.net

In the summer of 2018, Chris Haag and Sophie George began cycling south from Homer Alaska toward their goal of reaching Ushuaia Argentina. With North America behind them they are currently in Colombia. You can follow the adventure at their website theplacesipee.com. Chris and Sophie, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.

Ian and Jamie. Photo credit to Will Saunders

After the Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson in 1830, the US government began a series of relocations of Native Americans from their ancestral lands in the southeast to areas west of the Mississippi River. The 5 civilized tribes consisting of Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Chickasaw and Choctaw were all part of the forced removals. In 1838 the Cherokee people were removed, via a series of land and water routes, from their ancestral homelands in the Great Smoky Mountains to Tahlequah Oklahoma. It's estimated that of the 16,000 removed, between 4-8000 Cherokee died from hunger, exposure and disease. This journey was known amongst the Cherokee as the "The Trail Where They Cried", today known as the "The Trail of Tears". Beginning in mid-March 2019, Photographer Ian Finch and Jamie Barnes retraced the original trail from The Smokey Mountains into Tahlequah Oklahoma. Over 81 days they descended flooded rivers, canoeing close to 1000 miles, then continuing on foot for 400 miles. You can learn more about their journey at Ian's website www.ianefinch.com, and at www.sidetracked.com where you can learn more about their upcoming feature article in Sidetracked Magazine's October issue. Ian Finch and Jamie Barnes, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.

Ian previously appeared in Episode 129.

For Tim and Linda, it's been over 400 days on the road so far since cycling away from Europe in the spring of 2018. Some of the highlights include a month through Turkey, riding through the Pamir mountains in Tajikistan, and cycling for 3 months in China. You can learn more about their adventure at pedallingtheplanet.wordpress.com. Tim and Linda, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.

• The Adventure Cycle Touring handbook
• Why Don't You Fly? Backdoor to Beijing by Bicycle

After working and hitchhiking around Australia for 2 years, he bought a bike and spent 3 months cycling around New Zealand. He then cycled back to his home in England starting in Papua New Guinea where he came down with Dengue fever and was chased by men wielding machetes. After working 16 months in England, the cycling adventure continued through Northern Europe before riding south into the Balkans. In December 2018 he rode into the Middle East and onward into North Africa. Currently in Tanzania, he is just over halfway to his goal of cycling 100,000 km through 100 countries on 6 continents. Part of his adventure is to raise funds for Build Africa, a UK charity working to fight poverty in Kenya and Uganda by using education to combat inequality. You can learn more about his adventures at his website tristanridley.com. Tristan Ridley, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.