hello!

After 13 years in mechanical engineering, I’m taking myself off for a year to explore some more of the world. Since watching the Long Way Round in 2004, I’ve had a wanderlust for Siberia and the draw of survivalist adventure. I spend as much time as I can under canvass or sky, and hatch implausible schemes to push myself and coerced friends to join me around the UK, Europe and beyond. This time I’m doing it solo, but wanted to find a way to share it with family and friends whilst I’m on the road - no one wants to sit through a 3 day slideshow of holiday snaps when I’m back!

Run

At uni I ran rather unsuccessfully but managed the Keswick half marathon then stopped. A couple of years ago I got back into it and although I’m not particularly fast, I seem to be consistent whether it’s up or down! Having done several long distance walks over the years (Coast to Coast, West Highland Way, Four Inns, Great Glen Way, Hadrian’s Wall), and more recently pushed myself to run further and harder than I thought I could - I’ve decided to attempt the Wainwright Route of the Coast to Coast again, approx. 192 miles across England from St Bees Head to Robin Hood’s Bay, but run it in 7 days.

Ride

I learned to ride a Honda C70 in a field aged nine, and spent a fair bit of time messing around with dirt bikes, trials bikes and enduro bikes then sports tourers and adventure bikes. I’ve been round the Green Lanes of England and Wales, ridden in Scandinavia, most of Europe, a ride to Alaska from Vancouver and a few others by adventure bike - and now I want something bigger. The current geopolitical climate makes getting to Magadan pretty tricky at the moment so I’m going to head to Eastern Kazakhstan and back instead, via the Norwegian Coast (because that’s on the way isn’t it?).

Backpack

After all that running and breaking down, I’ll need something more straightforward for a bit. Whilst I’m not just trying to bag all the continents, Antarctica and South America are the last two I’ve not visited. I’ll save the driest continent for another day, but I’m keen to explore Patagonia and walk the Inca Trail, see the salt flats of Bolivia and explore as much of South America as I can, whilst I can.