Podcast appearances and mentions of Alastair Humphreys

Join the email list to get a FREE private finger training clinic with Dr. Tyler Nelson (normally $10) www.thestruggleclimbingshow.com/strong   Support the Show on Patreon Get access to all Pro Clinics, bonus episodes, and more. https://www.patreon.com/thestruggleclimbingshow   - Adventurer and Author, Alastair Humphreys, explores: Why humans crave adventure  Easy ways to create and embrace discomfort An adventure anyone can do this weekend The magic ingredient is uncertainty  Leaving a positive trace Environmental handprint vs footprint  Our favorite books on nature His new book, Unwilded Shifting Baseline Syndrome The incredible benefit of 15 mins in nature   Books Mentioned: Shop Alastair's books: https://alastairhumphreys.com/books-by-alastair-humphreys/ The Path by Chet Ramo: https://a.co/d/0iOU9Gsa Forest Unseen by David George Haskell: https://a.co/d/0ijwNBYp A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold: https://a.co/d/0h8May0H   Alastair playing violin badly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LviLfvkZeAM - BIG THANKS TO THE AMAZING SPONSORS OF THE STRUGGLE WHO LOVE ROCK CLIMBING AS MUCH AS YOU DO: Honnold Foundation: Bringing solar energy to marginalized communities around the world. Learn more and support their incredible work with a monthly donation at HonnoldFoundation.org   And check out ALL the show's awesome sponsors and exclusive deals at thestruggleclimbingshow.com/deals   - Shoutout to Aiden Schlatter, Michael Martin, and Kent Olmstead for supporting at the Hero level on Patreon. So mega!  - Here are some AI generated show notes (hopefully the robots got it right) 00:00 Big Adventure Question 00:32 Earth Day Introduction 03:03 Meet Alastair Humphreys 06:00 Struggle And Comfort 10:05 Defining Adventure 13:53 Micro Adventures Explained 16:25 Micro Adventure Mindset Shift 19:33 Violin Trip Uncertainty 22:58 Earth Day Partner Spotlight 26:13 Solo Versus Group Micro 29:00 Backyard Adventure Starter 31:56 Pay Attention Tell It 34:51 Bad Adventuring Ethics 36:38 Leave Positive Trace 40:11 Handprint Over Footprint 41:23 Personal Positive Actions 43:10 Type Two Fun Stories 47:46 Fifteen Minute Nature 51:11 Nature Books Rabbit Hole 54:02 Unwinding From Screens 57:55 Politicians Need Camping 01:01:09 Next Adventures Ahead 01:02:55 Earth Day Wrap Up   - Follow along on Instagram @thestruggleclimbingshow and YouTube /@thestruggleclimbingshow - The Struggle is carbon-neutral in partnership with The Honnold Foundation, whose mission is to promote solar energy for a more equitable world. - This show is produced and hosted by Ryan Devlin, and edited by Glen Walker. The Struggle is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a diverse group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry. - The struggle makes us stronger! I hope your training and climbing are going great.  - And now here are some buzzwords to help the almighty algorithm get this show in front of people who love to climb: rock climbing, rock climber, climbing, climber, bouldering, sport climbing, gym climbing, how to rock climb, donuts are amazing. Okay, whew, that's done. But hey, if you're a human that's actually reading this, and if you love this show (and love to climb) would you think about sharing this episode with a climber friend of yours? And shout it out on your socials? I'll send you a sticker for doing it. Just shoot me a message on IG – thanks so much! 

Kickstarter has become a key part of the author business for those who want to make more money per book, connect directly with readers, and produce beautiful editions they're proud of. In this episode, I share excerpts from interviews with Oriana Leckert, Head of Publishing at Kickstarter, Russell Nohelty, and Sacha Black, alongside my own hard-won lessons from six campaigns that have now made over $140K combined. Whether you're considering your first campaign or looking to refine your process, we cover everything from overcoming your fears to rewards, fulfilment, shipping, marketing, and why I keep coming back for more. In the intro, Writing StoryBundle; Spotify Expands Audiobook Features and Printed Books; Draft2Digital Activation and Maintenance Fees; comment by Kevin McLaughlin; and Barnes & Noble Press change to Minimum Retail Price for Printed Books; AI-Assisted Artisan Author webinars. This show is supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn  Joanna Penn is an award-winning New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers, dark fantasy, short stories and travel memoir under J.F. Penn and also writes non-fiction for authors and hosts The Creative Penn Podcast. What Kickstarter is and why it works differently from a normal book launch The fears that held me back for almost a decade — and whether they were justified Starting small: Why you don't need sprayed edges and special hardbacks to run a successful campaign. Creative reward ideas beyond merch: digital rewards, experiential rewards, naming rights, and bundling your backlist Common mistakes that sink campaigns: overestimating your reach, getting shipping costs wrong, and not allowing enough time Fulfilment realities, printing timelines, and reinvesting profit into future stock Marketing your campaign: pre-launch signups, content marketing, email lists, social media scheduling, and Facebook/Meta ads My update for campaign #7, Bones of the Deep: what's changed, what I'm doing differently, and how AI tools are part of my process now Why I now love Kickstarter campaigns and how the spike income model fits a sustainable creative career You can find my Kickstarter campaign for Bones of the Deep here (until 5 May, 2026) and all my previous campaigns here. Introduction Jo: In this episode, I've included excerpts from my own previous solo show about Kickstarter, as well as excerpts from interviews with Oriana Leckert, the Head of Publishing at Kickstarter; Russell Nohelty, who has done lots of successful Kickstarter campaigns and teaches direct sales; and Sacha Black, who did a six-figure campaign last year. I've also added my updates to the end of the episode filling in any last thoughts. You can listen to the full episodes here: Kickstarter for Authors with Oriana Leckert The Mindset and Business of Selling Direct with Russell Nohelty Lessons Learned and Tips from Pilgrimage, My First Kickstarter Campaign Two Different Approaches to Selling Direct with Sacha Black and Joanna Penn What is Kickstarter, and why use it instead of a normal book launch? Here's Oriana Leckert, Head of Publishing at Kickstarter — and the numbers she shares will be higher now, as the episode is from February 2025. Oriana: Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform. We are unique in the crowdfunding landscape for a few reasons. We are only for creative projects, so you can't use Kickstarter for medical bills, investment funding, or charitable donations. Every project has to create something new to share with the world. Jo: Have you got any numbers on how big the Kickstarter industry is now with publishing, or anything you can share around that? Oriana: Yeah, I would love to. First I'll tell you Kickstarter overall by the numbers. Since our inception, there have been 273,000 projects funded, eight and a half billion — with a “b” — billion dollars pledged, from more than 24 million backers. In publishing specifically, we've had 69,000 projects launched, 3.2 million unique backers, and over $380 million pledged to campaigns. I have lots of other stats, but a few things I'll share. The publishing category keeps growing The publishing category has grown year over year, every year since 2017, in terms of number of projects launched, number of projects successful, and the overall success rate. There has never been a dip since 2017. Another stat I really love about the publishing category: if you look at campaigns that have at least 25 backers, the overall success rate is 84%. I think that's really telling, because 25 backers is a little bit more than your mum, your best friend, the folks who are essentially obligated to support anything you do. So if you can get a little bit beyond that inner circle, your chances of succeeding on the platform are tremendously high. Backers are paying more — and waiting longer Another thing I wanted to call out — I just got some new numbers around this. The average backing amount per backer across the whole category has nearly doubled since 2020. We used to see an average backing around $40, and it's currently at $72 per backer. I think this is clearly around the trend of special and deluxe editions, but it's a great indication that backer behaviour on Kickstarter is just very different from your general book-buying public. People don't come here looking for 99-cent ebooks — the lowest bargain-basement prices. Folks are really willing to pay more because they understand this is a different kind of thing. It's not exactly a purchase. It really is supporting, bringing a strange and wonderful new thing into the world that wouldn't exist before. People are also much more forgiving about timelines. If you buy something from most online booksellers, you're expecting to have it in your hands within a couple of days. People wait months and sometimes years to get their Kickstarter rewards, and they don't mind if the creator is clear and transparent. You're also doing the work of demystifying the publishing process. Why does it take so long? Where are books printed? How long does it take them to ship via freight over the ocean? What do all these things really look like? So it's really interesting just figuring out what your backers want and will bear versus the general book-buying public out in the world. Kickstarter is not just for “desperate” authors anymore Oriana: People used to think Kickstarter was just for desperate folks who couldn't get a book deal through the traditional systems. The change has been so dramatic — people now understand that Kickstarter can be transformative for an author's career, and that it can work for traditional publishing, indie publishing, hybrid publishing, all kinds of authors. Kickstarter is really about collapsing the boundaries between a writer and their readers, a publisher and their fan base, any creative person and their audience. And there are so many benefits to doing that. You get to really thrill your backers with new and exciting rewards. You get to turn what can be a standard book release into a moment. You get to build your brand, your profile, get press, test out ambitious projects. You get to understand so much more about your audience and what they want and how you can give it to them. It's been really marvellous seeing the great success that people can have on our platform and outside of it. Why do a Kickstarter campaign? Jo: Why Kickstarter and not a usual book launch? Benefits for backers If you back a Kickstarter, you get special editions, bonus content, interesting merchandise, bundles, digital specials, print specials, early access. All of them pretty much are really cool books from creators you either already love or those you've never heard of, because you just want to see their cool stuff. I've started buying books from people I have never heard of because I think their books are really cool. Once you start supporting campaigns on Kickstarter, the algorithm will recommend campaigns for you. It's essentially a different way of shopping for great books and other products, and it's just another part of my ecosystem for how I shop. It's a form of direct sales, so you also have a closer connection with the creator. You can message them, for example, and they get it — rather than buying through an online retailer or bookstore. Benefits for creators In terms of benefits for creators, you get to know people in a more personal way through the campaign, messaging with people and connecting more than you would when selling through a retailer, when you don't know who is buying your books. As an author, you can make more money more quickly and retain a higher percentage of the royalties, rather than wait months or years to get paid and have a large percentage taken out by everyone down the chain — publishers, platforms, distributors, and retailers. Brandon Sanderson's $41 million Kickstarter was clearly the pinnacle of what can be achieved, but many authors are happy making a few thousand for their book project upfront and use campaigns multiple times during the year. Kickstarter takes 5% for their fee, although of course you have to factor in the cost of production and marketing. But even then, I make more profit on my book sales through selling ebooks and audiobooks direct, and also printing with BookVault, than I do with KDP Print or IngramSpark print on demand. Higher average order and faster payment Another way you make more money is that the average order per customer is higher with Kickstarter than sales on the usual stores. The average order on my campaign was £37.24 — that's around $45 US — which is at least four times higher than I might have made selling Pilgrimage in the usual way on the major retailers. You get paid two weeks after the campaign finishes, so the money is in your bank account much faster than if you sell on retailers. In terms of cash flow, make sure you time your campaign so you get the money before you have to pay for printing, shipping, and other significant bills. Spike income vs monthly income There are many creators who now make Kickstarter the core of their business. It's a spike income model rather than a monthly income, which most indie authors are used to. The monthly income model is fantastic — I love getting money every month — but it also has the effect of making indie authors behave as if this is a normal job: work every month, get paid every month, put out another book so you get paid in another few months' time. With the Kickstarter model, you can get a bigger chunk of money in one go, so you could potentially move to a big launch and then take more time off before ramping up to the next launch months later. And amusingly, this sounds a bit more like traditional publishing. It's just that as an indie author, when you get that amount of money, it's much bigger. So that kind of launch tempo is an attractive prospect if you think about it: if I just get this big spike of money even once a year, that's really cool. And then of course you can sell it later. What are some of the fears that might stop you? Jo: I held back from doing a Kickstarter for years — almost a decade, in fact — where I backed campaigns and resisted doing a campaign for my own books. Here are some of my fears. Prepare to face your fears Jo: This entire experience thrust me out of my comfort zone and into a new way of creating, launching, and connecting with readers. Pilgrimage is my first memoir, my first special hardback with colour photos, and my first Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. So I had a lot to learn. The book is very personal and I bare my soul about some dark times, so that was terrifying in itself, let alone trying a new product edition and publishing platform. On the evening I clicked the launch button — and yes, you have to actually click an actual launch button — my heart was hammering out of my chest. I have not felt that nervous since probably the first time publishing on Amazon. I was afraid of failure. I was afraid of being embarrassed if my campaign didn't fund. I wrote a book on marketing — how to market a book — so I would be mortified if I had not funded. In fact, I even changed my target from £5,000 to £1,000 the night before, as I was so terrified it wouldn't fund. I was afraid of getting something terribly wrong and ending up out of pocket through issues with printing and shipping. I was afraid of letting backers down by promising something I might not be able to deliver. I was afraid I had overcommitted myself to a whole load of work I might even resent doing. I am a one-person business, and although I work with freelancers, I still do pretty much everything myself. I am a control freak — you might have noticed. So yes, there was a lot of apprehension and fear. You don't have to go huge Another fear might be the fear of failure — that you'll put up a campaign and no one will buy from you. But one answer is just to do a modest campaign. You don't have to do special hardbacks or merchandise. As Russell says: Russell: Somehow all of the teaching that we have given over the last two years has been executed in a way that makes it seem like you have to do this enormous campaign with sprayed edges and big, beautiful hardcovers and interior illustrations and vellum and all of that stuff. And I want to say first: that is absolutely not true. You don't have to do any of those things. If you look at two of the last three campaigns I've done, all I was offering was paperback books and ebooks, and then audio commentary for one of the campaigns. You can do a Kickstarter — and I often will tell people, especially if they're not an already successful author — do a campaign that is small and easy to get data on before you do something big. The direct connection is actually the point Jo: One of my resistances to this was a sort of, “Oh, I'm actually going to have to do a more higher-touch thing.” But as you say, the reframe is: oh my goodness, this is amazing, because I actually do get to connect with people. Just yesterday I sent a signed book — Pilgrimage, which I did my last Kickstarter on — and this guy was like, “I bought it for myself. Can you sign it to me, because I'm going to do the Camino in a wheelchair?” And I was just so touched. Emailing him back, I just felt, oh my goodness, I'm having a connection with this person that if they'd just bought a book on Amazon, I would not have had. So now it's almost like — it's this totally different view of my business, which is that direct-first means a much more personal way. It really is like we're in that thousand true fans moment that we first talked about 20 years ago. Were my fears realised? Jo: Just to recap, I was afraid of failure and embarrassment if I failed to fund, of getting something wrong and being out of pocket, of letting backers down, and of overcommitting myself and resenting the workload. Really, the only thing that happened was overcommitment and a lot more work than I expected. But the time I put in was also likely the reason for the campaign's success and the reason that the other things didn't happen. I had to learn a new platform and a new approach to publishing and book marketing, so it was kind of a mini degree at the same time. So yes, I will do another Kickstarter — but only for special projects that are suited to this kind of intensive campaign. Tips for campaigns In this section, Oriana shares her thoughts on rewards, and then I'll go into some more of my tips. Thinking beyond merch Oriana: The rewards are really at the heart of the Kickstarter proposition and what makes this kind of fundraising so interesting and thrilling. Basically, your process is you're inviting people on a creative journey. You're saying, “I'm going to make this cool thing. I want your support, and in exchange, you're going to get stuff, you're going to get to be part of my process.” Obviously your main reward is going to be your book, or your series, or if you're a publishing company, your season — whatever it is. That's your main tier. Then you're going to build everything else out above and below that. A lot of people think rewards means swag and merch. Which is fine, but merch can add a lot to your production costs. It's causing you to learn how to produce all kinds of things that maybe you've never done before. So that's not the only way to do it. If you're going to do some merch, I think it's nice to come up with some custom items that feel really related to the work that you're doing. If you've got a romance novel with a pivotal scene on the beach, maybe you'd make some candles that smell like the ocean. Maybe you do some kind of handkerchief that's printed with the pattern of the dress your heroine is wearing. Digital and experiential rewards Oriana: But you can really think beyond merch into digital rewards and experiential rewards. There are a lot of parts of the writing process that can be pulled out and packaged as rewards — things like notes from the field, outtakes, deleted scenes. I've had people write bloopers, as if it were a comedy movie, added new scenes or novellas, other pieces from different works that you've done. Certainly your backlist and other books you've written can all be included. We've seen people do tours of the writer's studio, things like that. Also think about what skills you have in addition to your writing. Perhaps you're excellent at marketing or social media or poetry — you can offer webinars on those sorts of things. Other kinds of ways that people can experience your creative practice. High-end and naming rewards Oriana: Then you can get into high-end, one-off, crazy rewards. One whole section of rewards I love is naming rights. We've seen all kinds — “We'll name the dragon after your dog, or after your mother-in-law. We'll name the hero after your son.” There's a LitRPG novelist named Matt Dinniman who does this really well. He writes these big-cast novels — there are dungeons, and you're in an intergalactic reality TV show with hundreds of characters. In his last campaign, for $666 he would kill you off in his next book, and for $777 he'd let you live and write a whole scene around you personally. You can also do book release parties. You can do book clubs. If you're writing children's books, you can do colouring pages or supplemental material for teachers or other educators. The sky is really the limit, and it is based on your creativity and the things that both you can make and that your audience wants. This is another opportunity — talk to them. Ask them: if I'm going to do a piece of swag, would you rather have an enamel pin or a makeup bag? If I'm going to do alternate covers, would you like the blue cover or the red cover? See what your people are interested in, and then figure out whether it's possible for you to deliver it to them. Learn about the platform from experts Jo: I've been publishing and selling books through online retailers, as well as my own store, since 2008. I know what I'm doing, but I still had a lot to learn. With Kickstarter, it's essentially a completely different ecosystem, with different rules and a different audience, so you have to learn the ropes. Even if you're super successful in other places, you might crash and burn on Kickstarter unless you understand how it works and change your approach accordingly. Start backing campaigns Jo: See how it feels to back Kickstarter campaigns and discover what draws you in as a reader and a fan of specific things. You might find projects you love outside of books — there's plenty of other projects outside of books. You can browse the publishing category to find new books, and also use the search to find things you might like. In this way, you can support fellow creators and learn how the Kickstarter site works for discoverability and marketing. Make sure you go through the Kickstarter.com resources — they have a creator pack which will give you direction on the campaign. Also, their terms of use are really important to read, as there are some assumptions you'll have because you've published on another platform that are incorrect. So do not assume you know what you're doing if this is your first campaign. Ask for feedback before launch Jo: Once you have a draft of your campaign, ask specific people to review it before it launches. You can share a preview prior to launch and get feedback on your page. This helps you refine your story and the rewards, answer any questions before the campaign goes live, and it can also help pique the interest of your audience. I asked specific people who had done Kickstarter campaigns for help at different stages of the process, and this was really useful too. Review common mistakes from other campaigns Jo: If you examine how others made mistakes, you can learn from them. The most common seem to be: Not finishing the book before the campaign Getting the financials wrong for production, shipping, and any other rewards. I know some authors who have ended up breaking even, or sometimes even out of pocket from campaigns. Don't do that. Not making the most of the story sales page and not including everything necessary, so backers don't understand and don't want to support the campaign — essentially, not being clear enough Setting unrealistic goals, like expecting to make six figures on a first campaign Not allowing enough time for everything Not seeking feedback from people who have done it before Not marketing the campaign enough Overpromising and under-delivering Poor communication with backers about the status of rewards Set aside more time than you think you need Jo: The campaign ended up being far more significant than I expected in terms of workload and time to complete. Everyone told me that beforehand, but it was still a surprise. It took time to prepare the multiple editions for the rewards. I usually produce an ebook, paperback, and a large print edition, and I narrate my own nonfiction audiobooks. But for this Kickstarter, I also wanted to do this special hardback with colour photos, a flyleaf cover and silver foil. I wanted to create a special print product I could be proud of. I'm proud of all my books in terms of the content, but the usual paperback print-on-demand books are more about the content than the true beauty of the product. For Pilgrimage: A Book of My Heart, I wanted a special edition, so I worked with Jane on the design, going through my photos from the various pilgrimages to find those that resonated with the content — for example, the cadaver tomb at Canterbury, and my Compostela from the Camino de Santiago. Once we finished, I had that proof copy rushed so we could turn around everything. And I love, love, love the hardback. It has a silken-finish cover and it feels lovely and weighty. The pictures came out well, as the paper is of a higher quality and weight to allow for colour printing. Overall, I am incredibly proud of the finished product. I even sent a copy to my mother-in-law, which I have never done before. And yes, she thinks it's good. I definitely should have allowed more time, as I spent most of the Christmas and New Year period working on the book, recording and editing the audiobook, and preparing for the campaign. I also didn't have time to prepare, record, edit, and produce the Writing Setting and Sense of Place course until after the campaign, and it was really hard to find the energy to do this afterwards. Building the campaign page Jo: It took time to build the Kickstarter campaign page, create the video, and incorporate feedback. Most authors don't write sales pages anymore. Sure, we write a sales description for the book page on the retailers, but we don't often do a whole page for multiple editions. On Kickstarter, you are basically writing a sales page for your campaign, which they call a “story.” Some of your existing audience might just click through and back the campaign without reading it, but most backers will check out the details to find answers to any questions they have. It is a very long page, and you also need a video — or you don't need one, but it's highly recommended. It's best to record the video at the last stage when everything else is done. You can still see my Kickstarter video on my campaign page, so I won't go through everything in detail. But the key aspects are: Who the campaign is aimed at Why the campaign is important to me and the book What products are available Pictures of everything — the page should be really visual — and I included the images in the video as well Sample chapters and sample audio Specifications, with weight, pages, listening time, table of contents About me, the author Stretch goals Add-ons Any questions, risks, and challenges So it's pretty long. Then the reward levels have to be set up carefully for each pledge level with shipping costs, and specific details about what's included. Eventually, I felt like my page had way too much information, but since I didn't really get many backer questions, I guess it did what it was supposed to do. I rewrote and edited that page so many times — adding and changing the order of things, responding to feedback, switching things around. But hopefully I can use that as a template for other campaigns. Marketing takes time too Jo: It took time to prepare the marketing for the campaign. I'm pretty low-key for most launches these days — I publish a book, send a few emails to my lists, announce it on the podcast, do a little social media, update my websites, and move on to the next book. So this was probably my biggest effort in terms of a launch since my first novel back in 2011. I only had a two-week campaign, so I needed to make the most of that window. I'm going to detail the marketing in a separate section, but it took a lot of time to prepare the various things and execute them, as well as keep the energy up for promotion during the campaign. Two weeks was definitely the longest I would want to do — I was really over it by the end. Delivering stretch rewards Jo: It took more time to create and deliver the extra stretch rewards I promised. Since I had pretty low expectations of funding, I set my first stretch goal at £10,000 for “Lessons Learned from Writing a Travel Memoir.” When I promised it, I thought it might be a few pages of tips, and I didn't even think we would get there. But I'm incapable of delivering something that is half done. So when we did hit £10,000, I wrote essentially a short book on the topic, which I then formatted as an ebook and recorded as an audiobook. I'm actually going to turn that into a proper book at some point, so the content will get reused. But that definitely took more time than I expected, because I hadn't prepared it in advance. The backer spreadsheet and fulfilment Jo: It took time to figure out the backer spreadsheet and check all the fulfilment details. Once you finish your campaign, you send out surveys for mailing addresses and to fulfil rewards. I also needed to turn the backer report into a printing order for BookVault, and that was nerve-wracking. The spreadsheets were different formats, and then we spot-checked the orders to make sure people got the right books based on their orders. I was petrified that some people might get the wrong book, and I checked and checked and checked — both on the spreadsheet, and then once the orders were loaded, I checked BookVault as well. I was worried I'd have to resend the right book, which would end up with me out of pocket because they'd have to do double printing and shipping. But thankfully, all the checking made everything good, and I haven't heard from anyone who got the wrong book. Following up with backers Jo: It took time to follow up on failed payments and address issues. Most backers were easy to deal with — they received the updates and Kickstarter emails, they filled in the surveys, and I didn't have any problems. But there were problems with about 5% of backers, most of which were not their fault. There were failed payments when banks thought Kickstarter might be fraud. There were missed emails because of issues with deliverability, so backers didn't receive the rewards, or they didn't fill in the survey and return their address, which meant I couldn't do the order with BookVault — I had to do it later or manually. I had to follow up with every single one of these, some of them multiple times, and I slowly reduced my list of outstanding backers. A tip: If you back a Kickstarter campaign, please log on to Kickstarter a few weeks after the campaign has finished and check for updates. It's possible that you're not receiving the emails from Kickstarter, and the creator may need details from you in order to fulfil your pledge. Tax implications Jo: It took time to figure out the tax implications. This is not legal or financial advice, and your taxes will vary by jurisdiction. Please ask your accountant how you need to treat Kickstarter or any other book-related income. Wherever you are in the world, you will need to pay tax on the income, because we all have income tax, but the complicating factor is whether you also need to consider sales tax. And this definitely differs by jurisdiction. I went to my accountant, who said we should handle it as per any other book sales. I followed my accountant's advice, which treats backers the same way as my customers who buy on Shopify. Ask a professional in your jurisdiction about taxes and finances, even if you are in the UK. I cannot answer any questions. I'm not an accountant. Closing the loop Jo: I haven't had much time to do anything else, as I felt like I couldn't start anything new until everything in the campaign was finished. As soon as the campaign window closed, I felt like I had an open loop in my brain. I desperately wanted to close it in order to say the project was done. I have now delivered all the book and course rewards, and these lessons learned are really the last part of it. I've talked before about the different kinds of energy you need as an author — starting energy, pushing-through energy, and finishing energy. Once the campaign was funded, my finishing energy kicked in and I was driven to get everything finished as soon as possible. I sent the digital rewards out within a few days of the campaign closing, and also shipped the unsigned books, ordered the print books, then went and signed them, and then recorded the course. It has been my primary focus for the last few months, and I haven't been able to do much else except the podcast, which is my weekly commitment to you. Once again, I should have blocked out the time. Bonus tip: Don't plan an international speaking and book research trip during the campaign. International shipping and fulfilment Jo: Be careful with international shipping and fulfilment of signed books or products. Shipping costs can sink your campaign if you get them wrong, so be very careful with this area. I have sold books in 175 countries, and this podcast has a listenership in 228 countries, so I really wanted to have a completely international campaign. I wanted to ship Pilgrimage in any format to any country. Originally I thought I would just charge a bit extra for the book and include shipping. But once I set the book editions up at BookVault and I had the weight and dimensions sorted, I started checking the shipping costs to different countries. For example, we lived in New Zealand for seven years — my husband is a New Zealander, so we go back — so I definitely had to sell in New Zealand. And of course the shipping to New Zealand is very, very different to the US, for example. It is crazy how much shipping costs vary. I discovered I couldn't just assume it would all wash out and I'd end up making a profit somehow. I had to be a lot more careful with the calculations. So I focused on my biggest markets, which in terms of my book sales are the US, UK, European Union, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. I added a note on the campaign to say I would add any other country for print shipping if people contacted me. As it turned out, no one asked for any other countries, so that was the best way to go in the end. If you're in a country where the shipping is outrageous — if you're willing to pay for the shipping, then that's absolutely fine. It's just that for the campaign, I had to focus. When the unexpected happens Jo: Of course, you can try to prepare for everything and then something unexpected and out of your control happens. A big spanner in the works for my campaign was the Russian hack, which took down the UK Royal Mail just before my launch. If you're not in the UK, you wouldn't have heard about this, because in some ways it's a very small issue — but it basically took down Royal Mail and a lot of shipping went into flux. It specifically hit the international side, and other shipping firms ramped up to take the slack. But it made planning for the launch difficult, as the prices were shifting and I didn't know how delivery was going to work. Even for posting in the UK it was hard, because the mail offices were getting backed up. Once again, I'm grateful for BookVault's adaptability, because I could check different addresses and shipping prices even as things changed, and they added new providers for shipping. About 95% of my shipping ended up being within an acceptable range of what I charged. So do your research, weigh and measure your items so you can get exact quotes for each. Check what kind of packaging you need. If you're doing your own shipping, you have to actually type in the shipping costs per reward and per country — it's a lot of manual setup to get it right. But this is critical, so check and double-check — and in fact, I triple- and quadruple-checked, then went to sleep, and then the next day checked again. Having spent 13 years as an IT consultant prior to this career as an author, I will always remember and have learned from the fact that something just might not be working, and then literally if you just go away, go to bed, come back the next day, it'll probably just be working. Sometimes it actually works. So yes, I did that, and every time I checked, pretty much I found something I'd typed in that didn't quite match, because you also have to retype — if you include all the books in the add-ons, you have to type it again. I didn't stop checking until the day before the launch, and then it was right. I was happy, and everything seemed to be fine. Shipping is always a moving target Jo: Revisiting this section made me laugh, because as I record this, in the week before I launch Bones of the Deep, international shipping is disrupted again — by the war in Iran, and the Strait of Hormuz being closed, which is affecting fuel prices. This underscores yet again how important it is to check your shipping. Of course, you can add shipping on later — Kickstarter allows this, as does BackerKit and other services. But as a backer, a customer of people on the platform, I hate being asked to pay shipping later. And since I hate that myself, I don't want other people to feel the same way. So just add a little buffer in, as asking people to pay an extra dollar in their pledge is not that big a deal, but you being out of pocket for every book shipped may well be. Sacha Black on pre-launch and fulfilment In an interview I did with Sacha Black, who writes as Ruby Roe, in December 2025, we talked about her issues with fulfilment. Sacha does a lot of complex printing, shipping, and custom book boxes and more. Her last campaign made over six figures, but of course it had its challenges. Here's Sacha with some of her tips, and then Oriana to close out this section with some other mistakes. Sacha: The first thing is — even before you start your Kickstarter — the pre-launch followers are critical. A lot of people think, “Well…” I guess there's a lot of loud noise about all these big numbers about how much people can make on Kickstarter, but actually a lot of it is driven by you, the author, pushing your audience to Kickstarter. You need more pre-launch followers than you think you do. Lots of people don't put enough impetus on the marketing beforehand. Almost all of our Kickstarter marketing is beforehand, because we drive so many people to that follow button. The other thing we do is early-bird pricing. We get the majority of our income on a campaign on day one. I think it was something wild, like 80% this time was on day one, so that's really important. Fulfilment takes longer than you think Sacha: The second thing is, it takes so, so very much longer than you think it does to fulfil a campaign, and you must factor in that cost. Because if it's not you fulfilling, you're paying somebody else to fulfil it. And if it is you fulfilling it, you must account for your own time in the pricing of your campaign. The other thing is that the amount of time it takes to fulfil is directly proportionate to the size of the campaign. So you do have to think about that. The other lesson we have learned is that overseas printing will drag your timelines out far longer than you think. So whatever you think it's going to take you to fulfil — add several months more onto that, and put that information in your campaign. Reinvesting profit and exclusive rewards Sacha: The last thing — if you have some profit in the Kickstarter, because not all Kickstarters are actually massively profitable. They either don't account enough for shipping, or they don't account enough in the pricing. Thankfully, ours have been profitable, but we've actually reinvested that profit back into buying more stock and more merchandise, which not everybody would want to do if they don't have a warehouse. However, we do have one. We are stockpiling merchandise and books so that we can do mystery boxes later on down the line. It's probably a year away, but we are buying extra of everything so that we have that in the warehouse. So it depends on what you want to do with your profit. For us, it was all about buying more books, basically. The other thing to think about is: what is it that you're doing that's exclusive to Kickstarter? Because you will get backers on Kickstarter who want that quirky, unique thing that they're not going to be able to get anywhere else. But what about you? You've done more Kickstarters than me — what do you think is the biggest lesson you've learned? Tiers, bundles, and AI for planning rewards Jo: Well, I think all of mine together add up to the one you just did. Although I will comment — you said something like £75 per pre-launch backer. That is obviously dependent on your tiers for the rewards, so most authors won't have that amount. My average order value, which I know is slightly different, but I don't offer things like book boxes as you have — so a lot of it will depend on the tiers. Some people will do a Kickstarter just with an ebook — just with one ebook and maybe a bundle of ebooks — so you're never going to make it up to that kind of value. So this is important too: have a look at what people offer on their different levels of Kickstarter. In fact, here's my AI tip for the day. What you can do — what I did with my Buried and the Drowned campaign recently — is, you know, I'm happy uploading my book. I uploaded it to ChatGPT and said, “Tell me, what are some ideas for the different reward tiers that I can do on Kickstarter?” And it will give you some ideas for what you can do, what kind of bundles you might want to do. So bundling your backlist is another thing you can do — as upsells, or you can just do it like I did for Blood Vintage, where I did a horror bundle of four standalone horror books in one of the upper tiers. Bundling is a good way to do it, and also upselling your backlist is a really good way to up things. And also, if you do it digitally — for ebooks and audiobooks — there's a lot less time in fulfilment. Oriana on the biggest mistakes Jo: What are some of the top mistakes you see that mean the campaign doesn't fund, or there are other issues? Oriana: Totally. I mean, the biggest mistake I think authors make — or any creator — is overestimating their ability to reach their crowd. Making sure that your ambition matches your reach is the number one most important thing to come close to guaranteeing that you will be successful. If you're an emerging writer and you're still building your audience and you don't have that many followers or subscribers out in the world, you should not try to fund a multi-volume leather-bound omnibus. Do a real honest assessment of who's in your crowd, how to find them, what percentage of them are likely to support what you're doing, and then find a project that feels realistic based on those numbers. That's really the biggest thing, conceptually. Building a strong project page Oriana: As far as tips for a project page — again, back campaigns and look at what other people are doing. A project page can be either as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. You definitely want to talk about the book: what is in it, what you're writing. Do a trope card if you want — we're seeing those all over the site. Say what kind of book it is, and the specs: page count, trim size, cover design. Obviously if you're doing a special edition, exactly what sorts of bells and whistles, with a prototype if you can. But you can be really expansive from there. What are your inspirations? Who are your collaborators? What brought you to this work? What are some of the things that make you excited about your writing practice, your timeline, your budget? What made you choose these rewards and how you're going to produce them? All those sorts of things will make backers feel both more trusting that you will do the things you're promising, and just more excited to be part of your journey. Marketing your Kickstarter campaign Let's talk about marketing. First, a snippet from Oriana, and then I'll share specifics around marketing tips — many of which are useful if you're launching in any other way. Kickstarter's algorithm rewards attention Oriana: Being on Kickstarter will help you grow your audience, but it's definitely not everything. You really do need to bring your people first. Our algorithm works on attention, so any project that's getting clicks, getting backings, getting comments — our algorithm says, “Oh, people want to look at this. We will expose it to more and more people.” That means raising it up in search results, slotting it into various of the macros and carousels around the site. Our recommendation engine powers recommended projects on the top of campaigns and at the bottom of emails. We are doing a lot to make sure that projects are being surfaced to folks who want to see them. Talk about the book while you're writing it Jo: Talk and share about the book while you're writing it, even though you might not know what it will turn into. I always share my book research and projects in progress, so this was nothing new. But Pilgrimage was years in the making, so I had years of sharing aspects of it. I've shared pictures from every pilgrimage walk on Instagram at @jfpennauthor and Facebook at J.F. Penn Author, and sometimes Facebook The Creative Penn. I've talked on this podcast about each walk, and I've done solo episodes and blog posts about each on my Books and Travel podcast and blog. I also did a poll and shared my book cover design process, and then I did an article on why I ignored target-reader feedback in the end. All this meant that many in my community — including you listening — became aware of my solo walking and also my ecclesiastical interest, my architecture interest, and you enjoyed my photos along the way if you follow me on social media. So when I announced the launch, it was the culmination of years of build-up. Use the pre-launch page early Jo: Set up the Kickstarter pre-launch page as early as possible, and keep promoting it. You can launch a pre-launch page once Kickstarter has approved your project, and you don't have to have finished everything to make it available — just complete the personal and business setup, and fill in enough detail so they can verify your identity and judge the campaign to be real and within the guidelines, and not a scam or spam campaign. I started to promote my pre-launch page, and by the time we went live, I had people signed up on launch. Those people get an email from Kickstarter. Those people were responsible for my campaign funding within the first few minutes, and then taking it to 5x the target within the first 24 hours. Then I started to email my lists, and all of this type of thing. But it was those pre-launch signups that really kick-started — see what I did there? — the whole thing. The benefit of using Kickstarter for multiple projects is that previous backers are notified of your new project. This compounds the effect over time, and is why those who use Kickstarter successfully do multiple campaigns. Kickstarter SEO and on-platform marketing Jo: Kickstarter has its own ecosystem. There's a discovery algorithm that can help you find projects you might like as a backer, and there are different ways to search, but only certain aspects appear in the search. So your title, subtitle, and your header image need to be optimised so people can find you. Your story sales page needs to be clear, with a compelling pitch. People also have to want your rewards, so marketing has to be baked into the products you're offering and who you're trying to attract. Your video doesn't need to be a professional-level product, but it does need to connect with potential backers, so take the time to make a good one. If you've never made a video before, you will need time to upskill. Kickstarter also has social media. Use #KickstarterReads and tag @KickstarterReads. If your project funds quickly and has a good trajectory, you might get picked for the “Projects We Love” badge, which also gives you better discoverability. I got that pretty fast. You can also tag Kickstarter on social media and inform them of your campaign. Content marketing Jo: Content marketing is offering something useful or interesting or inspiring or funny or entertaining for free, in order to attract your target market so they buy your book. This might be an article or blog post, video, audio, podcast, social media, whatever. For fiction, it's usually a free book or a short story or other free examples of your writing that draw people in. Content marketing is my favourite form of marketing, as it is about attraction, not interruption. It also involves creating something in the world that lasts over time, as opposed to an ephemeral spike ad or a social media post that quickly disappears. Each has its place, of course, and I use them all. This podcast is content marketing, although it now also provides direct revenue in the form of corporate advertising and Patreon support. Thank you, patrons and advertisers — and I consider this to be part of my creative body of work. My Books and Travel podcast is also content marketing. Guest appearances for the launch Jo: For this launch, I did content marketing on my own sites and shows, as well as other people's, which I arranged and recorded in advance. I've also mentioned the campaign in the introduction to every one of these shows leading up to the launch and during the launch. I was on some podcasts: Sacred Steps with Kevin Donahue, Wish I'd Known Then… For Writers with Sara Rosett and Jami Albright, Travel Writing World with Jeremy Bassetti, and Into the Woods with Holly Worton. I also did several of my own. I did one on this feed. I did another on the Books and Travel feed. I also included two chapters from the audiobook on the Books and Travel podcast. All of these took time to prepare and produce, but each is a chance for another person to hear about the book. Plus, they're evergreen, and Pilgrimage is available for everyone to buy now, so I can point people at Pilgrimage on other stores. Use a redirection URL Jo: For all my marketing, I used JFPenn.com/pilgrimage, which I can redirect using the Pretty Links plugin on WordPress and point to wherever I want it to go. Before the launch, it went to the pre-launch page; then the campaign itself; and now it goes to the book page. Once I build a special landing page, it will go there. Depending on where you're listening will depend on where it goes, but that's JFPenn.com/pilgrimage. The URL needs to be easy to say out loud for use in podcast interviews and audio-first media. Email your list multiple times Jo: Some things change in book marketing — like the emergence of new platforms like TikTok — but one thing has stayed the same for decades: if you have an email list, you can always sell books. Your email list consists of people who have opted in to hear from you, so you can email them about normal launches as well as your Kickstarter campaign. I have two email lists: one for The Creative Penn around writing, and the other around J.F. Penn for my fiction. I emailed both lists multiple times at different times in the campaign. I use ConvertKit for my email, but there are other options for authors. Use referral links for tracking Jo: Use specific referral links for different aspects of the campaign for tracking returns. Kickstarter allows you to create different tracking links so you can link revenue to specific marketing events. For example, I used one link for my Creative Penn email list, another for my J.F. Penn email list, and yet another for my Facebook advertising. You can also add the Meta pixel and Google Analytics code to the campaign, which can also help with figuring out advertising. And if you don't know what those are, don't worry — you don't have to use them. Book images and social media Jo: I initially mocked up the book using cover images on MockupShots.com, and then resized them in Canva in order to create social media images. I later did a book photo shoot with the hardback in different places to give me more marketing assets to play with — all of which I will use over time as part of ongoing marketing. I prepared and scheduled social media posts to go out every day, and I did that in advance, primarily for Twitter at @thecreativepenn, my Instagram and Facebook at J.F. Penn Author, and also Facebook at The Creative Penn. It was a lot of work, but I really enjoyed it — weirdly — and I need to do more of this for my other books, especially as with Shopify, Facebook, and Instagram link directly into my store, so I can tag books. These days social commerce is a lot smoother through mobile, so someone can see an image on social, click through, and buy immediately. I also did some quotes from the book — so I did pictures, I also did quotes — and I blatantly used our cute British Shorthair cats, Cashew and Ramen, for marketing reasons. I use Buffer to schedule my social media, but there are other tools. I also asked some friends who are travel influencers to share the book, and I sent them the hardback in advance so they could review if they liked. Thanks to Sarah Baxter and Alastair Humphreys for sharing the book, and especially a big thank you to Anna McNuff, who gave birth to twins that week and still managed to share about Pilgrimage. Backer engagement and stretch goals Jo: Let's be clear — it was not natural for me to push a book every day for two weeks. I also felt awkward about engaging with backers multiple times, let alone the wider community who I was sure was sick of my book, but I did it anyway, as it was only a short campaign of two weeks. I sent four updates during the campaign to backers, some of which are visible to the public on my Kickstarter, and then I sent updates afterwards with delivery of the rewards. Although I did resist the stretch goals, as I mentioned earlier, I went with “Notes on Writing a Travel Memoir” and the backer live Q&A. I did scramble to decide on and deliver those, as I really didn't think I would need them — which is crazy. I had such low expectations of what I might achieve. But next time I would definitely plan stretch goals in advance and in more detail. Facebook advertising Jo: I did some Facebook ads for the campaign — although I should call them Meta ads, because they're also on Instagram. I primarily aimed them at my email lists and people who follow my pages, but also some wider reach using lookalike lists and walking interests. I used a tracking link, so I know that the revenue that came in through people backing it more than paid for the ads. So I would do more of this next time. Marketing things I didn't do Jo: I didn't try to get any press or traditional media attention, mainly because I would have had to approach outlets much earlier in the process. I didn't have the hardback finished until a few weeks before the campaign, rather than a few months before, which is when pitching for press is a better idea. I also didn't collaborate with other creators on Kickstarter, even though I knew other authors doing campaigns at the same time. A couple of people asked me about cross-promotion, but their campaigns were not at all related to Pilgrimage. As with all book marketing, there is only a point to cross-promotion if you target the same readers. I had intended to do some Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube Live videos, but I struggle with live videos in general — and especially when I'm tired — so I didn't go ahead with those. I might consider more of those next time. Do a survey for everyone Jo: My tip is — do a survey for everyone. As part of a campaign I previously backed, I noticed that I didn't actually need to do a survey for the digital backers, because they could just get the rewards if I emailed through Kickstarter. And sure enough, you can just email the BookFunnel links, the course discount code, etc., through the campaign. But this was a mistake. I should have done a survey for everyone. If you do a survey, you can get the real email, as some people use a cloaked email. You can also include a checkbox asking people if they want to sign up for your email list. Respecting backer data Jo: So while you do get the email addresses of everyone who backs your campaign in your backer report, you cannot just upload them to your email provider and start emailing them about your other books. Kickstarter's terms of use include the following: When you use Kickstarter, and especially if you create a successful project, you may receive information about other users, including things like their names, email addresses, and postal addresses. This information is provided for the purpose of participating in a Kickstarter project. Don't use it for other purposes and don't abuse it. This is about data protection and privacy laws. Basically, Kickstarter is the platform in this instance, and people have signed up to receive emails from Kickstarter, but not from you. All emails about the campaign go through Kickstarter, and you don't have permission to just upload that list to your own email system and start sending more emails. They have not specifically said they want that, unless they have in a survey with opt-in — which I didn't do. Of course, there are indirect ways to attract people to sign up for your list. My book Pilgrimage includes ways to hear from me further, so some backers will go on and sign up for my free thriller ebook at JFPenn.com/free, or my Author Blueprint at TheCreativePenn.com/blueprint. You can also do updates later, for example when you have a new campaign, and in this way Kickstarter acts as a different ecosystem for email. Should you consider a Kickstarter campaign for your book? Jo: To be honest — only if you consider this to be a career you want to invest in, and a platform you want to do more than one campaign with. If you just have one book or a couple of books, or you're just starting out, or you don't want to do marketing and connect with readers, then definitely don't do a Kickstarter. It is not some magic button that will make you money — like uploading to Amazon is not a magic button that will make you money. It takes time and effort to have a successful campaign. But if you do want to build a long-term author business, then selling direct should have some part to play, and Kickstarter is a great way to make more money per book and connect with readers. It's really only the beginning of the trend of authors selling direct, so don't worry — you can learn how to do this over time. Update for Bones of the Deep, my 7th campaign in April 2026 Jo: It was interesting to revisit my lessons learned and other people's tips, and really, there are only a few things that have changed. I love doing Kickstarter campaigns now Firstly, I absolutely love doing Kickstarter campaigns. I am not nervous at all anymore, and I am just so thrilled to produce gorgeous hardback editions of my books this way. I love delivering beautiful books and new stories or nonfiction to my readers. I love doing the discovery writing webinars and the coaching, and just in general, I appreciate the opportunity to publish this way. I feel like a “real author” — with beautiful hardbacks, doing a signing, getting photos and emails from readers who receive the books. Custom printing keeps expanding In terms of other changes, over the last few years since Pilgrimage, BookVault has expanded their custom printing, so now I have custom endpapers, sprayed edges, different kinds of foil, as well as the silken paper and the ribbon and photos inside. These gorgeous editions are my personal creative reason to keep doing campaigns. I love saying “I made this!” And over time, I would love to get all my backlist into special editions. A repeatable process I'm still doing similar kinds of rewards — the book in all editions — and it's all finished so it's lower stress. Even the audiobook narration is done, so I can fulfil immediately. There's just the live discovery writing webinar to do, and stretch goal Q&A and consulting sessions. I'm also doing bundles, and all my backlist gets bundled in the add-ons, so I have a repeatable process, which makes things easier. Using AI in production I'm using more AI, specifically in the images and video. I love making book images with ChatGPT and Gemini's Nano Banana, and story images with Midjourney, and I use ElevenLabs with my voice clone for audiobooks. I fill in all the details in the AI section of the Kickstarter page, so you can go have a look at that and model it as you like. Spike income, realistic expectations I still like the spike income — but to be clear, my campaigns have varied in terms of financial success, as would be expected given they are all so different. My highest was Writing the Shadow at over £36,000 ($48,000), and my lowest was The Buried and the Drowned, a short story collection, at just under £8,000 ($10,700) — not a surprise at how different they are, given the audiences. Together my campaigns have now made £105,868 (just over $140,000), which I am very happy with. And of course, that's just the beginning, as then I put the books on my stores — JFPennBooks.com and CreativePennBooks.com — and on the usual platforms. A sustainable launch rhythm I still like the project approach — the short-term campaign focus — as I am good at sustaining marketing energy for a short period, and then I can drop off again. As I discussed with Sara Rosett last week as well, it feels sustainable for my career, unlike constant social media or ads. Lower-key marketing this time around I'm putting a lot less energy into marketing in general, relying on pre-launch signups over months of build-up as I talk about my writing process on the podcast, then emailing my lists, announcing it here, and scheduling some social media. It's pretty low-key these days, and that is a happy thing. However, for this campaign, I am planning to run some Meta ads direct to the campaign page, since I have Claude Code/Cowork to help me set them up and run them and crunch the data — and that takes the strain off considerably. More campaigns to come I will definitely be doing more Kickstarter campaigns, most likely a nonfiction one next. I am so glad I was able to get over my fears and do that first one, and I hope that encourages you to consider what might be possible for you and your book. So, if you'd like to check out my campaign for Bones of the Deep — even if you don't want the book, you can always model the sales page, or check out the book trailer — it's at JFPenn.com/bones. That link will go to the Kickstarter campaign from 20 April until early May 2026, and will then redirect. The post Kickstarter Tips for Authors: Rewards, Shipping, Marketing, and Lessons Learned first appeared on The Creative Penn.

In this solo episode, I'm talking about post-adventure blues. The experience of coming home after a big journey and finding it so much harder than you ever expected. It's a theme that has come up again and again across three years of conversations on this show, and one I've been deliberately exploring with guests for the past year.The prompt for this episode was a brilliant piece of research by previous guest Alee Denham of cyclingabout.com. Alee fed every transcript from Seek Travel Ride into AI and surfaced the seven biggest lessons bike touring teaches you across 170 podcast guests. The findings are genuinely fascinating and I'd really encourage you to go and read the full article here:But when I read it, one thing was missing and it was dealing with post adventure blues.In this episode I dig into why it might not have surfaced in the data, share what I've picked up when interviewing guests and beyond them, and lay out my own three-part hypothesis on why it hits some people harder than others.Guests referenced in this episode include Steph Devery, Luke Grenfell-Shaw, Alastair Humphreys, Daragh Cronin, Mark Gresser, Claire Wyatt, Paul Edkins, Samer Abouhamad, Tristan Ridley, Madeline Hoffmann and Jesus Estrada.And if you haven't read Alee's previous article ranking the top cycling destinations by podcast guest, that one is worth your time too and you can check it out here. Check out the Manzanita Cradle from Old Man Mountain Support the showBuy me a coffee!I'm an affiliate for a few brands I genuinely use and recommend including:

Discover the joy of micro-adventures—small, spontaneous outdoor escapes that recharge your spirit without requiring weeks off or expensive gear. Adventure is closer than you think! Plus we talk about the woes of surviving Winterizing your RV/Camper. Join radio hosts Rebecca Wanner aka ‘BEC' and Jeff ‘Tigger' Erhardt (Tigger & BEC) with the latest in Outdoors & Western Lifestyle News! Micro Adventures Finding Big Joy in Small Adventures Sometimes, the best adventures don't require plane tickets or elaborate packing lists—they just need a free afternoon and a willingness to step outside. Over the past year, I've become obsessed with what's known as micro-adventures. They're quick, local, and wildly rewarding. What Exactly Is a Micro-Adventure? A micro-adventure is a small, simple trip close to home that brings a sense of exploration and refreshment without the logistics of a full-blown vacation. Think sleeping under the stars in your backyard, kayaking before work, or driving an hour to hike a new trail. British adventurer Alastair Humphreys popularized the idea, but honestly—it's for anyone who loves the outdoors and wants to break out of their daily routine. For me, a micro-adventure might mean grabbing my binoculars, a thermos of coffee or hot cocoa, and watching the sunrise over the Knife River. It's not far, but it feels like a reset button for my brain. Why Micro-Adventures Matter We often treat adventure as something we have to “earn” through vacation time, money, or elaborate plans. But in reality, our need for nature and novelty is daily—not annual. Here's what I've found after making micro-adventures part of my monthly rhythm: They recharge your mental batteries. Even a two-hour nature break can shift your mood dramatically. They're accessible. You don't need fancy gear or tons of time. They spark gratitude. Exploring nearby landscapes reminds you how beautiful “ordinary” places can be. Winterize RV / Camper Tips  Tis the season to winterize that RV if you haven't already. Hopefully you have! However if not, here is a tip that's not shared, talked about... Creating Your Version Of An Owners Manual Hopefully your RV or Camper came with an owners manual, and if not... Now is the time to go online to print it off. Place it in a binder that stays with it. Why to do this? We all have lapses in memory but how you will build upon this owners manual will help with the selling of your RV / Camper too. Now that the camping season has ended, look back - and write or type up things such as: "What Needs To Be Done" before using again, in say the spring.  Maintenance, Replacements and/or Modifications performed. Include dates of oil changes, tires, water pump. Add Insight: every unit operates differently and comes with its own challenges, make it headache free for yourself trying to remember or give that next owner the understanding to confidently feel ready to roll down the road. We began our version the day our RV was purchased and continue to add to the binder which never leaves the camper. Constantly we are referring to updated Owners Manual, and thankful as it proves how easily we forget. OUTDOORS FIELD REPORTS & COMMENTS We want to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or stories to share about bighorn sheep, outdoor adventures, or wildlife conservation, don't hesitate to reach out. Call or text us at 305-900-BEND (305-900-2363), or send an email to BendRadioShow@gmail.com. Stay connected by following us on social media at Facebook/Instagram @thebendshow or by subscribing to The Bend Show on YouTube. Visit our website at TheBendShow.com for more exciting content and updates! https://thebendshow.com/ https://www.facebook.com/thebendshow WESTERN LIFESTYLE & THE OUTDOORS Jeff ‘Tigger' Erhardt & Rebecca ‘BEC' Wanner are passionate news broadcasters who represent the working ranch world, rodeo, and the Western way of life. They are also staunch advocates for the outdoors and wildlife conservation. As outdoorsmen themselves, Tigger and BEC provide valuable insight and education to hunters, adventurers, ranchers, and anyone interested in agriculture and conservation. With a shared love for the outdoors, Tigger & BEC are committed to bringing high-quality beef and wild game from the field to your table. They understand the importance of sharing meals with family, cooking the fruits of your labor, and making memories in the great outdoors. Through their work, they aim to educate and inspire those who appreciate God's Country and life on the land. United by a common mission, Tigger & BEC offer a glimpse into the life beyond the beaten path and down dirt roads. They're here to share knowledge, answer your questions, and join you in your own success story. Adventure awaits around the bend. With The Outdoors, the Western Heritage, Rural America, and Wildlife Conservation at the forefront, Tigger and BEC live this lifestyle every day. To learn more about Tigger & BEC's journey and their passion for the outdoors, visit TiggerandBEC.com. https://tiggerandbec.com/

Every month on Pathways, host Aaron Millar and producer Jason Paton crack open a few stories, play their favorite clips, and take you on a whirlwind preview of what's coming up this month on Armchair Explorer. It's part travel hangout, part behind-the-scenes, and a whole lot of part “wait, you did what?” Special Offer: we've revived our ⁠NEWSLETTER!⁠ (scroll to the bottom of our homepage to signup) And contact us for a free copy of our fearless leader Aaron Millar's ebook:  ⁠The 50 Greatest Wonders of the World⁠ Award-winning travel journalist Aaron Millar reveals the greatest wonders of the world and the insider secrets on how to see them. From where to catch the perfect sunrise over the Grand Canyon to how to swim up to the very edge of the Victoria Falls, this is a road map for discovering the greatest experiences of your life.  This Month on Pathways: Stargazing with the Bedouin in the Arabian DesertNight has fallen over the Arabian desert, pillows and blankets are laid out in the sand, and our guide, Badrea, begins to share the secrets of bedouin stars ‘Giggly Landings' in a Hot Air BalloonEver wondered what it feels like to crash land a balloon in the middle of a UNESCO heritage site? Turns out it's surprisingly funny. In the Footsteps of J.R.R Tolkien in SwitzerlandDiscover the hike that inspired Tolkien's Lord of the Rings … and a swiss mountain hut, that might just be the coolest place to stay in the alps. Hamming it up in a Kyrgyzstani JailCurious how to survive in a Kyrgyzstani prison? In the middle of his 16,000-mile trek around the world, Arjun Bhogle learns how …  Busking for your Supper in SpainCelebrated adventurer Alastair Humphreys takes on his most daunting challenge yet: 500-miles across Spain with nothing but busking and bad violin playing to pay for his food. SPONSORS: This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at ⁠⁠⁠betterhelp.com/ARMCHAIR⁠⁠⁠ and get on your way to being your best self. This week's show is supported by the new Smart Travel Podcast. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Check out Smart Travel at the link below: Ready to Explore? If you're into real stories of epic places told by the people who've lived them, make sure to subscribe—that way you choose the adventure, not the algorithm.  Instagram: ⁠@armchairexplorerpodcast⁠ Facebook: ⁠@armchairexplorerpodcast⁠ ⁠Armchair Explorer⁠ is produced by ⁠Armchair Productions⁠. Aaron Millar and Jason Paton presented the show, Charles Tyrie did the audio editing and sound design.

Every month on Pathways, host Aaron Millar and producer Jason Paton crack open a few stories, play their favorite clips, and take you on a whirlwind preview of what's coming up this month on Armchair Explorer. It's part travel hangout, part behind-the-scenes, and a whole lot of part “wait, you did what?” Special Offer: we've revived our ⁠NEWSLETTER!⁠ (scroll to the bottom of our homepage to signup) And contact us for a free copy of our fearless leader Aaron Millar's ebook:  ⁠The 50 Greatest Wonders of the World⁠ Award-winning travel journalist Aaron Millar reveals the greatest wonders of the world and the insider secrets on how to see them. From where to catch the perfect sunrise over the Grand Canyon to how to swim up to the very edge of the Victoria Falls, this is a road map for discovering the greatest experiences of your life.  This Month on Pathways: Stargazing with the Bedouin in the Arabian DesertNight has fallen over the Arabian desert, pillows and blankets are laid out in the sand, and our guide, Badrea, begins to share the secrets of bedouin stars ‘Giggly Landings' in a Hot Air BalloonEver wondered what it feels like to crash land a balloon in the middle of a UNESCO heritage site? Turns out it's surprisingly funny. In the Footsteps of J.R.R Tolkien in SwitzerlandDiscover the hike that inspired Tolkien's Lord of the Rings … and a swiss mountain hut, that might just be the coolest place to stay in the alps. Hamming it up in a Kyrgyzstani JailCurious how to survive in a Kyrgyzstani prison? In the middle of his 16,000-mile trek around the world, Arjun Bhogle learns how …  Busking for your Supper in SpainCelebrated adventurer Alastair Humphreys takes on his most daunting challenge yet: 500-miles across Spain with nothing but busking and bad violin playing to pay for his food Ready to Explore?If you're into real stories of epic places told by the people who've lived them, make sure to subscribe—that way you choose the adventure, not the algorithm.  Instagram: ⁠@armchairexplorerpodcast⁠ Facebook: ⁠@armchairexplorerpodcast⁠ ⁠Armchair Explorer⁠ is produced by ⁠Armchair Productions⁠. Aaron Millar and Jason Paton presented the show, Charles Tyrie did the audio editing and sound design. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alastair Humphreys is a legend in the world of adventure. If you haven't heard of him, here's a few of things he's gotten up to over the years … “Aged nine, he completed the 20 mile Yorkshire 3 Peaks challenge, then the National 3 Peaks in 24 hours aged 13. At 15 he cycled off-road across England … Then after leaving school, he cycled from Pakistan to China, Land's End to John O'Groats, Turkey to Italy, Mexico to Panama and across South America. He ran a charity project in the Philippines and the London marathon dressed as a rhino.” And that was before he left school! This episode picks up the story after he graduated university - and don't worry it doesn't stop.  Our ‘CONNECTION' episodes are deep dive interviews with some of the most inspirational and influential people in the world of travel and adventure.  Whether you're looking for an epic saga about a cross-continental bike trip or the wildest story about playing the violin you've ever heard, you're going to enjoy this episode about the many types of adventure that exist, how we can have them, and why we need them. FIND ALASTAIR Follow him on Instagram @Al_Humphreys. Find his latest book, Local, wherever books are sold (though we recommend ordering from your local bookshop!). Follow him on Instagram @Al_Humphrey to see what he's up to now, and sign up to his free newsletter at AlastairHumphreys.com where you can also find information on all his books, podcasts and more. SOCIAL Share the show with your friends! Subscribe to the podcast wherever you're listening, follow @armchairexplorerpodcast on Instagram and Facebook, check out Armchair Explorer's website, armchair-explorer.com, and learn more about APT Podcast Studios on their website at APTpodcaststudios.com. SPONSORS: This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at ⁠⁠betterhelp.com/ARMCHAIR⁠⁠ and get on your way to being your best self. This week's show is supported by the new Smart Travel Podcast. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Check out Smart Travel at the link below: https://link.chtbl.com/r7CGsP51 This week's show is supported by the new Smart Travel Podcast. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Check out Smart Travel at the link below: ⁠⁠https://link.chtbl.com/r7CGsP51⁠ CREDITS This episode was produced by Armchair Productions. Find our other shows at armchair-productions.com. Aaron Millar presented the episode and Charles Tyrie did the audio editing and production.

Alastair Humphreys is a legend in the world of adventure. If you haven't heard of him, here's a few of things he's gotten up to over the years … “Aged nine, he completed the 20 mile Yorkshire 3 Peaks challenge, then the National 3 Peaks in 24 hours aged 13. At 15 he cycled off-road across England … Then after leaving school, he cycled from Pakistan to China, Land's End to John O'Groats, Turkey to Italy, Mexico to Panama and across South America. He ran a charity project in the Philippines and the London marathon dressed as a rhino.” And that was before he left school! This episode picks up the story after he graduated university - and don't worry it doesn't stop.  Our ‘CONNECTION' episodes are deep dive interviews with some of the most inspirational and influential people in the world of travel and adventure.  Whether you're looking for an epic saga about a cross-continental bike trip or the wildest story about playing the violin you've ever heard, you're going to enjoy this episode about the many types of adventure that exist, how we can have them, and why we need them. FIND ALASTAIR Follow him on Instagram @Al_Humphreys. Find his latest book, Local, wherever books are sold (though we recommend ordering from your local bookshop!). Follow him on Instagram @Al_Humphrey to see what he's up to now, and sign up to his free newsletter at AlastairHumphreys.com where you can also find information on all his books, podcasts and more. SOCIAL Share the show with your friends! Subscribe to the podcast wherever you're listening, follow @armchairexplorerpodcast on Instagram and Facebook, check out Armchair Explorer's website, armchair-explorer.com, and learn more about APT Podcast Studios on their website at APTpodcaststudios.com. CREDITS This episode was produced by Armchair Productions. Find our other shows at armchair-productions.com. Aaron Millar presented the episode and Charles Tyrie did the audio editing and production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alastair Humphreys defined a micro adventure as “short, simple, local, and cheap.” When you're short on time, but still want an outdoor excursion, try a microadventure!Today's episode breaks down my recent afternoon hike micro adventure. Microadventures are an accessible way for busy persons to get outdoors and are still a potent catalyst for growth. Microadventures build confidence, capability, and reset both our nervous system and our perspective. I share some examples of micro adventures, some tips to prepare, and encourage everyone to get out on one this week.As always, connect with me on Instagram @cactusmoose, on my website gregveregin.com or at cactusmoose [aT} protonmail {d0t] com with questions, comments and guest suggestions. Have a wonderful day!

Summer is coming soon, and for many that means vacation. While traveling far and wide can be an amazing experience, the carbon cost of traveling is significant. But what if we could rekindle a sense of awe in our own neighborhoods?  After years of extreme expeditions all over the world, adventurer Alastair Humphreys spent a year exploring the detailed local map around his home. His new book “Local” is an ode to slowing down, as well as a rallying cry to protect the wild places on our doorstep. Guest:  Alastair Humphreys, Author; Adventurer This episode also features field reporting from producers Austin Colón and Megan Biscieglia. Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you'll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Summer is coming soon, and for many that means vacation. While traveling far and wide can be an amazing experience, the carbon cost of traveling is significant. But what if we could rekindle a sense of awe in our own neighborhoods?  After years of extreme expeditions all over the world, adventurer Alastair Humphreys spent a year exploring the detailed local map around his home. His new book “Local” is an ode to slowing down, as well as a rallying cry to protect the wild places on our doorstep. Guest:  Alastair Humphreys, Author; Adventurer This episode also features field reporting from producers Austin Colón and Megan Biscieglia. Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you'll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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To celebrate a new year and new ideas, we bring you a conversation with Alastair Humphreys, adventurer, writer, and connoisseur of the microadventure. His new book, Local, flips the idea of what it means to explore on its head. Sometimes, you can go bigger by going smaller. Submissions for The Shorts are open through January 19, 2025. Learn more or submit your essay today. Support comes from Kuat Racks  Diaries+ Members-- Their support is powering the Diaries- thank you! You can join today. Our book, States of Adventure, 30 stories adapted from The Diaries, is out in the wild. See if it's available on your local shelves or order it here: geni.us/StatesofAdventure

In this inspiring episode of The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast, host Ginny Yurich sits down with National Geographic Adventurer of the Year Alastair Humphreys to explore how to break free from the constraints of everyday life and embrace adventure in meaningful ways. Alastair shares his insights into the barriers that often stand in our way—like money and time—and dismantles the myths that adventures have to be expensive or extravagant. From setting up a simple adventure fund to savoring the benefits of traveling cheap, Alastair highlights how small, intentional steps can lead to extraordinary experiences. Whether it's camping close to home or embarking on a low-budget global trek, he emphasizes that adventure is more about mindset than resources. The conversation is packed with wisdom, humor, and practical advice for anyone looking to enrich their life. Alastair reflects on how cheap adventures offer a unique perspective on gratitude, the fleeting nature of time, and the richness of life's experiences. With anecdotes of walking, biking, and even wild camping, he invites listeners to think differently about what's possible with what they already have. This episode is a powerful reminder that life is ticking by, and the best adventures are often within reach when we choose to do more with the life we've been given. ** Get your copy of Grand Adventures here Get your copy of MicroAdventures here Learn more about Alastair here ** Download your free 1000 Hours Outside tracker here >> https://www.1000hoursoutside.com/trackers Find everything you need to kick off your 1000 Hours Outside Journey here >> https://www.1000hoursoutside.com/blog/allthethings Order of copy of Ginny's newest book, Until the Streetlights Come On here >> https://amzn.to/3RXjBlN Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this special bonus episode of the This is Money Podcast, Simon Lambert catches up with Alastair Humphreys about his quest to find adventure close to home. Alastair, a genuine global adventurer, who featured on our Making The Money Work Podcast series in 2020, recently published his book Local: A Search for Nearby Nature and Wildness. It told the story of his year spent swapping travelling the world for exploring the grid squares of the Ordance Survey map centred on his home location. In this extra podcast episode, we find out more about why he did it, what he learnt and how you could start your own money saving adventure on your doorstep right now.

Accomplished Writer and Adventurer Alastair Humphreys shares his insights and experiences from over two decades of exploration. From his four-year journey cycling around the world, to busking his way across Spain, to championing the concept of microadventures, Alastair has inspired countless people to embark on their own adventures.In this episode, Alastair talks candidly about the emotional highs and lows of adventuring, the challenges of returning to normal life, and the importance of mental health specifically when dealing with post-adventure blues. While his impressive Grand Adventure CV speaks for itself, Alastair has also shown the value of taking local adventures. He believes the thrill of grand journeys can be found in smaller experiences, such as ‘spending a night sleeping on a local hill.'We reflect on how seeking beauty and excitement close to home can fill the void left by big adventures, while also sparking a deeper commitment to advocating for our local environments. As Alastair shares, ‘Think global, act local.'Find out more about Alastair via his website, check out his books and follow him on instagram - @al_humphreys During this episode I mentioned the following guests and you can check out their episodes here:Claire WyattPeter GostelowDavid McCourtBig thanks to Old Man Mountain for supporting this episode of Seek Travel Ride. If today's stories have you dreaming of your own bikepacking or touring adventure, check out Old Man Mountain's tough, reliable bike racks—designed to handle any journey. Visit Old Man Mountain to learn more. Support the showEnjoying Seek Travel Ride? Buy me a coffee and help support the show!Thank you to RedShift Sports for supporting the show! - Check them out here Sign up to the Seek Travel Ride NewsletterLeave me a voicemail messageJoin the Seek Travel Ride Facebook group - Seek Travel Ride Music Playlist available now on both Spotify or Apple Music Follow us on Social Media!Instagram - @SeekTravelRideTwitter - @BellaCyclingWebsite: Seek Travel Ride Facebook - Seek Travel Ride

Et si l'aventure était plus accessible que vous ne le pensez ? Et si vous pouviez créer des souvenirs inoubliables sans partir à l'autre bout du monde ? Dans cet épisode, nous partons à la rencontre de Paul, un Français installé depuis 10 ans à Los Angeles, qui nous montre comment transformer notre quotidien en micro-aventures.Oubliez l'image de Santa Monica et son côté bling-bling. Paul (@ _easyadventures_ ) nous emmène dans les montagnes qui entourent la ville, son terrain de jeu favori où il alterne entre petites sorties et trails de 100km entre amis. De Yosemite au camping sous la neige, en passant par le vélo dans la Vallée de la Mort, Paul nous prouve qu'on peut vivre de belles aventures tout en jonglant avec une vie professionnelle active et une vie de famille.Car Paul n'est pas un aventurier professionnel. C'est un père de deux enfants qui travaille, se déplace parfois à vélo au bureau, et cumule finalement assez peu de kilomètres de course sur l'année. Mais il a compris comment s'offrir des parenthèses d'aventure qui créent des souvenirs mémorables.Inspiré par Alastair Humphreys, le roi de la micro-aventure, et Jesse Itzler, Paul nous partage sa vision accessible de l'aventure et comment il l'intègre dans sa vie quotidienne.

Join us for a woodland wander with adventurer, author and tree lover, Al Humphreys. The 2012 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year has cycled round the world, rowed the Atlantic and walked across India, but now focuses on pursuits closer to home. Pioneering the concept of microadventures, Al explains how exploring small pockets of nature in our neighbourhoods helps us to better connect with and care for the environment. He speaks of enabling young people to embrace wild places, and encourages us to take time to be curious and astonished as we discover new places on our doorstep. Don't forget to rate us and subscribe! Learn more about the Woodland Trust at woodlandtrust.org.uk Transcript You are listening to Woodland Walks, a podcast for the Woodland Trust presented by Adam Shaw. We protect and plant trees for people to enjoy, to fight climate change and to help wildlife thrive. Adam: Today I am off to meet an author and adventurer, and there's a title you don't get to say, or indeed hear very much. He's the author of a whole ton of books, including Microadventures, which I want to talk to him specifically about, but also books called the Doorstep Mile, Local, There Are Other Rivers, Grand Adventures, Moods of Future Joys, Midsummer Mornings, Thunder and Sunshine, and I could go on and on. And I'm meeting him at a Woodland Trust site called Ashenbank Wood. It's a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is teeming with extraordinary wildlife. So we'll be talking a bit about the woods and a bit about the sort of adventures he's been on and the sort of adventures we might all be able to go on. Anyway, I'll let him introduce himself. Al: My name's Alastair Humphreys. I'm an adventurer and a writer and tree lover. Adam: Which sounds very exciting. So when you say you're an adventurer, what does that sort of mean? Al: Well, I was slightly hesitant to say that because I confess I feel more like an ex-adventurer, but I have spent pretty much all my career going off doing big adventures and then coming home and writing and speaking and making films about them. So they've gone ever smaller. I began by spending four years cycling around the world, I've rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, walked across the Empty Quarter desert, played my violin incredibly badly through Spain, and then gradually smaller onto what I call microadventures. So, encouraging people to find short, simple, affordable adventures close to home and squeezing around their busy daily lives. Adam: So that's interesting. You talk about the mini adventures. On a previous podcast we talked to the natural navigator, I don't know. Al: Ohh yes, Tristan. Well, he could tell you a lot more intelligent things than I can. He's great. Adam: No, but I think he took very much the similar view of yours. He went, I've done all these big adventures. But actually when you're doing these big adventures, it's all about tech, you know, and I needed satellite link ups and all sorts of stuff. And actually I wasn't, I was really looking at screens all the time. And he was going, the smaller adventures are actually much more revolutionary, because if you go low tech, that's a proper adventure. Just trying to find your way through a wood is a real adventure in a curious sort of way, even more challenging than doing something which sounds really flash. Al: Yes. And what Tristan's done fantastically is taking those skills from bigger journeys down to his literal daily life, hasn't he? If you, I get an e-mail from him, I think it's weekly or so and it just essentially says, where am I now and which way am I facing? And from his little clues in the local park, he can tell whether it's north, south, east, and west. Adam: Yes. No, you're right. I tried. I was very bad at that. And what I've learned, I've already forgotten. So tell me a little bit about why your connection to nature, then, how important that is to you, if at all. Al: So I had a nice, happy childhood growing up in the countryside, so as a kid I spent a lot of time running around the fields and woods and streams and things, so I suppose that hammers something deep into your subconscious, although you don't really notice it necessarily as a kid. Adam: Where whereabouts was that? Al: In the Yorkshire Dales. Adam: Ohh, God's own country. Amazing place. Al: Yes. Lovely part of the world. Yeah, so I really enjoyed that, and then my big expeditions, I've spent a lot of time in some of the world's really wild places and that's a fantastic backdrop to your adventures. But actually my – oh, and I also did a zoology degree. Although I found it incredibly boring, and now looking back I find it amazing that you can find something like that boring. But it's taken me stopping the big adventures, slowing down, paying attention to my local area to build a deeper connection with nature. And I don't know if that's partly just me getting old as well, I suspect there is an aspect of that. But whereas in my youth I was sort of cycling moderately quickly across continents and now pottering around small little parks and I have time to be astonished in a way that you don't necessarily when you're on a big A to B kind of journey. Adam: Yes, yes, there's the mechanics of getting you somewhere so challenging. Al: Yes, and you're on a mission. The mission is to go from A to B and not die, and to succeed. And that's all quite, and the backdrop of it all is this wonderful nature. But the things I've been doing more recently, then nature has come to the forefront. I'm not really doing any big, exciting mission. And therefore the paying attention to the small bits of nature and the changing seasons comes to the forefront. Adam: Yes, I did, I was just going to stop here. We're by one of the Woodland Trust sign posts about fungi and deadwood and the importance of that. We can talk a bit about that. But I was just thinking about what you said. I did an expedition across the Gobi in Outer Mongolia. I was working in Outer Mongolia, and it was, you're right, it was more interesting in retrospect. Because when I was there, we were just very concerned about the mechanics of the day. Getting through the day, making sure we weren't lost, getting food, all of that, rather than go ‘this is quite an interesting place'. Al: Yes. Adam: Whereas, because we didn't meander, you go, I think the importance of meandering and almost lost time, and in a way, I think, boredom. I mean, it was interesting to talk about kids, you know, I don't know if you've got kids, but I think there's a lot of pressure on people to keep the kids busy, get them to this class, to do this, do this, do this. Actually the importance of just going, you know, ‘they're bored now, they'll just go do something', is quite interesting. Al: Yeah. And I think that's a fantastic aspect of it, a bit of woodland like this, isn't it? Is to bring some kids here and essentially say there is nothing to do here, but equally you can do whatever you want. So go on, clear off. Off you go, go climb some of these trees, pick up some sticks, rummage around, see what you find. And that's the great thing of a woodland like this. Adam: Yeah. Do you have kids? Al: I do, yes. Adam: Well, how old are they? Al: Well, they are entering the dreaded teenage phase. So the um, it's really interesting, actually, because they're completely addicted to their screens and that would be their preferred choice would be to live in a damp, dark, smelly cave and never emerge. But when I drag them by their hair kicking and screaming into a wood like this, they're grumpy for a couple of minutes and then I just say clear off, go away and then they love it. And there's a real physical and mental transformation that's clear, when you can, once they get out here. Adam: Yeah. So I think that's interesting. And as a parent and everything, I just wonder what your take is on trying to engage a younger generation with nature and whether that's difficult, how you do it and whether we should be doing that, is that a concern of us or just, you know, let people do what they want? Al: I think it's a massive, massive concern and I also think it's extremely difficult. These screens are deliciously alluring. That's how they're designed. You know, if I was a kid today, I'd love to be just scrolling mindlessly through a thousand videos of people falling off their bikes. If it's endlessly addictive. So I think it's very, very hard and being a parent is exhausting. It's quite easy to not bother with the kicking and screaming, going to the woods, but I think it's really, really vital to do and the reward of when you get them out is of seeing how transformative that is for them, but also for yourself is really good. So yeah, I think screens are a massive problem. I think the nature disconnection of our society is a huge problem, both in terms of our physical health, our mental health, but also with our ignorance to the decline of species and the loss of wild places. So I think it's an enormous problem. Adam: And I mean you know, you're a broadcaster, you create a huge amount of content yourself. So I think there's an interesting question about how to frame that, because I fear then talking about all the trees are disappearing and wildlife is dying and that it turns, well, everybody, but perhaps especially younger generations off. They go, well if it's that blooming terrible, well, I'd just rather be on my screen. So how do you get that tone right, do you think? Al: That's a question that I've been thinking a lot about, particularly over the last year or so. I've just finished writing a book, which is all about exploring your local area, and when I wrote the book, in the early months of it, it was very much a moaning, ranting disaster book that everything's doomed and that it's all ruined. But as I was reading through my drafts, I was thinking, geez, this is this is, well, no one's going to read it for a start. But also, it's not going to encourage anyone. But as the project went on, I realised that I didn't need to frame it like that, because I could look at it another way, which was how much I personally was loving getting out into these small pockets of nature, what benefits I was getting and how much I was enjoying it. And then the more that I personally enjoyed it, the more I start to become connected and the more I start to care and the more hopefully I start to take action. So I think you're exactly right to try and frame it as a positive thing of saying hey, get out into X, Y and Z for these fantastic reasons and then hopefully the fixing the planet part will take care of itself, once there's enough people enthused. Adam: Yeah, interesting. Well, look, we'll carry on, but I said we stopped at this post. So the many dead and decaying trees you find here play a vital role in Ashenbank Wood's ecosystem. And that's a theme you'll see in lots of Woodland Trust places where deadwood is actually allowed to stay. In fact, it's not just allowed to stay, it's positively encouraged because of the fungi and the invertebrates, and then all the way up to the different sorts of animals that can live off that. So what looks like sort of untidiness is sometimes a real sort of oasis of life. Al: And this woodland here was completely smashed by the huge hurricane in 1987. So I think more than most woodlands, there's a lot of fallen down trees in this wood, which I suppose previously would have been carted off and chopped up for firewood or something. Adam: So let's, I mean, we're walking down this idyllic sort of dappled light, coming through the canopy of the still full roof of this of this woodland. So this is really idyllic, but take me somewhere else. So tell me about those adventures that you've had in these distant lands. Were there any particular that stand out for any particular reason? Al: Well, given that we're talking about trees, I spent 10 weeks, I think it was, on the frozen Arctic Ocean, up near the North Pole, which was a fantastic expedition itself, but the small detail that sticks with me now is that to get up there, you fly to Canada, then you fly to some smaller place in Canada and the planes gradually get smaller and smaller and the safety regulations get more and more lax till you're on the plane with people with rifles and harpoons and stuff. But up to this tiny little community right up in the north of Canada and the people - I went to visit the primary school there in the morning just to chat to the kids about my adventures and stuff. And they were chatting about my adventures and they were, the little kids there were amazed that I'd never seen a polar bear. And my riposte to them was along the lines of but you've never seen a tree! Where they where they lived, there were no trees, literally none above the tree line, and that really struck me, what it would be like to grow up in a place with zero trees. I mean, you get polar bears, which is pretty cool, but I'd be sad to have no trees. Adam: Yes, yeah, yes. And what was their view of that? Do they go well, I've never seen that, don't miss. Or were they interested in that? Al: Yeah, well, I guess everyone's normal is normal, isn't it? You know, they're going to school on skidoos and things like that. And so, yeah, it's just fascinating to see the different people's views of normal in the world. And before I started my big adventures, one of the motivating factors for me wanting to go off around the world was that I found where I lived incredibly boring, as a lot of young people do. Oh my goodness, where I live is the most boring place in the universe. I need to go far, far away. And it took me going far, far away to realise that actually the stuff I'd left behind is pretty fascinating in its own way. If only you're willing to pay attention to it. Adam: Yes, gosh, it sounds almost like a line from one of Tolkien's books. There you do a long adventure to find true interest is nearer to home. So I know you've written lots of things, but you've got a book just come out. So yeah, tell me, what's that book about then? Al: So I've written a book that's called Local, and it's about spending a whole year exploring only the single Ordnance Survey map that I happen to live on. So, the whole of Britain's divided up into about just over 400 Ordnance Survey maps. So wherever you live, you could go to your local bookshop and buy your local map. And what I'm trying to do is encourage people to do that and to realise how much new, undiscovered stuff is on their doorstep. Woodlands, footpaths, hills, fields but also towns, villages. What's behind the industrial yards? Like a proper exploring curiosity to your own backyard. Adam: And how much area does one of those maps cover then? Al: It's the orange Ordnance Survey maps. They're more detailed. So it's roughly 20 kilometres by 20 kilometres. Adam: Right. So a fair amount. Al: It's a fair amount, but I've also in previous time spent a year crossing an entire continent, so in that sense it felt incredibly tiny to me. And when I began the project, I thought ‘this map is so small, it's going to be so claustrophobic and so boring'. But actually, by the end of the year, I realise, wow, actually it's enormous. I haven't even begun to cover everything on the map. Adam: So what sort of things did you find there that was a surprise to you, then? Al: So what I did every week, I would go out once a week for the whole year and my rule was to explore one grid square a week. So a kilometre square chosen at random and the random was really important because if it wasn't random, all I would do is just choose all the nice bits of woodland around my map. But by making it random, it sent me off to towns and suburbs and motorway junctions and all sorts of random stuff. And I discovered a few things. The first thing I discovered was how little I knew this area that I thought I knew very well indeed. The second thing that I realised was that, yeah, of course it's nice to go out to woods and hills and streams and stuff, but also I was surprised how much I loved the forgotten grid squares, the abandoned bits, the broken down, fallen down, behind the warehouse kind of landscapes. Like what's behind the supermarket car park? And I found in these forgotten edgelands a real sense of wildness and solitude that I didn't get in somewhere lovely. And this wood we're in now is lovely, but you're not going to get much solitude. There's a lot of dog walkers wandering around. And whereas if you're sort of behind some factory and some regenerating thicket, you think, wow, no one comes here. This feels adventurous. This feels wild. No one on the planet knows where I am. I'm only 20 minutes from a massive city, so I really was surprised how much I liked the forgotten corners of my map. Adam: Well, it sounds romantic the way you describe it, but behind a dumpster or a big factory? I don't really want to go there. Al: Why not? Adam: Because it's not pretty. It's probably got some unsavoury characters hanging around there. It might be more dangerous than crossing, you know, at some wild tundra, so it doesn't attract. I mean, but it does attract you, genuinely? Al: I think I'd have agreed with you entirely beforehand. It seems much nicer to come to a pretty woodland and stroll around there. What surprised me was how rarely I saw people when I was out and about, and we live in a very crowded country. I live in a crowded corner of the country, and yet once I was off meandering, once you're slightly off the beaten track, it felt like I often had the place to myself. In terms of being scared, I never had any problems at all. But I was very conscious that I'm a six-foot-tall white man who's quite good at running and that the countryside in general is not equally accessible to everyone. That really struck home to me in the year, how the sort of privilege I have of being able to essentially wander wherever I want. And the worst thing that's happened, someone will say go away and I go, oh, I'm terribly sorry and be all sort of posh and cheerful and it'll be fine and that's not fair, and it's not right that there's that inequality. Adam: I wonder what you feel because we're talking now, a little after there was a big fuss in newspapers about Kirsty Allsop as children or a child who went off travelling and I think he was 16 or something like that. And it raised the debate whether that's right or wrong and people have their own views, it raised the debate about adventure, what it is, how much freedom we should give younger people. And there were lots of comments, you know, look back a generation, my parents' generation, you know, people of 17, 18 were fighting in wars. You know, the idea of going on Eurorail doesn't sound that adventurous by comparison. But it does engage with the natural world, doesn't it? You've done very adventurous things. What do you think about our position on safety now? The sort of vibe about that? Al: I think a relevant aspect of that discussion what we're talking about today is if you look at the roaming distances that kids have from home and you can see statistical maps of this online of how far our grandparents are allowed to go from home, you know, they'd get on their bicycle with a pickled egg and off they'd go for a month and then come home for their tea. All that sort of stuff. When I was a kid, I was basically in the Yorkshire Dales. I was basically allowed to go wherever I wanted, and then I'd just come home when I was hungry. And of course, I had no cell phone. And then kids today would not be generally allowed that sort of thing, and they're kept very much closer to home. And I think that trusting young people in wild places is an important thing to do. Adam: Well, on that note of wild places and adventure, we talked a lot about maps and if you want to visit Ashenbank Wood and are looking for a map, it is grid reference TQ 675692, map reference explorer 163, and OS land ranger 177. Good luck with finding this particular wood. I hope you enjoy it. And until next time, of course, happy wandering. Thank you for listening to the Woodland Trust Woodland Walks. Join us next month when Adam will be taking another walk in the company of Woodland Trust staff, partners and volunteers. And don't forget to subscribe to the series on iTunes or wherever you are listening. And do give us a review and a rating. If you want to find out more about our woods and those that are close to you, check out the Woodland Trust website. Just head to the visiting woods pages. Thank you.

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. In this episode, Liv Bolton goes for a walk in Swanscombe Marshes by the River Thames in Kent with the adventurer and author Alastair Humphreys. Al's relationship with the outdoors has changed a lot over the years - he's been on extraordinary expeditions all around the world, travelling through over 80 countries by bicycle, boat and on foot, but more recently he's focused on spreading the message about embracing the outdoors and adventure where we all live, through his concept of Microadventures. Al's latest book, Local, which has been shortlisted for the 2024 Wainwright Prize in the nature writing category, saw him spend a year exploring a map of his neighbourhood - one grid square at a time. His passion about outdoors adventures that are accessible to all of us and possible within our current routines, is totally infectious and I've wanted to chat to him for years, so I hope you enjoy the episode! The Outdoors Fix is a podcast produced and hosted by Liv Bolton @liv_outsideuk Episodes in each series are released fortnightly. The next episode will be released on Sunday 13 October. You can find photos of the guests on Instagram @TheOutdoorsFix The Outdoors Fix book is out now: http://bit.ly/3GJDLJc This episode of The Outdoors Fix is kindly supported by outdoor footwear brand Merrell. The post Alastair Humphreys: Author and adventurer getting more Local appeared first on The Outdoors Fix.

Alastair Humphreys returns!!!!! In this exciting sixth appearance on The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast, National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, Alastair Humphreys, joins host Ginny Yurich to discuss his latest book, Against the Odds as well as his book Ask an Adventurer. This episode dives deep into the stories of 20 great adventurers who encountered failures and the lessons learned from their journeys. Plus, be inspired to live a creative life and walk your own path. Alastair redefines failure, highlighting that true adventures often deviate from plans and the possibility of failure is an inherent part of the adventure itself. He shares personal insights on living a life outside the box, balancing the romanticism of adventure with the reality of behind-the-scenes work. From his economical world tour to life lessons inspired by Henry David Thoreau, Alastair offers practical advice on living frugally to maximize freedom and time. He emphasizes the importance of being motivated by passion rather than money and the value of trying new things, even as adults. Alastair also explores the vulnerability of embracing new challenges, the joy of being a beginner, and the importance of efficiency in his current adventures. He touches on the power of reading, the randomness of an adventurer's life, and how to focus on controllable aspects while letting go of what can't be controlled. Tune in to gain inspiration from Alastair's two decades+ of incredible experiences, learn how to integrate adventurous living into daily life, and discover why failing is just another step towards success. This episode is a must-listen for anyone living a creative life and chasing their own path. ** Get your copy of Alastair's book Against the Odds here Get your copy of Ask an Adventurer here Learn more about Alastair here ** Download your free 1000 Hours Outside tracker here >> https://www.1000hoursoutside.com/trackers Find everything you need to kick off your 1000 Hours Outside Journey here >> https://www.1000hoursoutside.com/blog/allthethings Order of copy of Ginny's newest book, Until the Streetlights Come On here >> https://amzn.to/3RXjBlN Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Summer is coming soon, and for many that means vacation. While traveling far and wide can be an amazing experience, the carbon cost of traveling is significant. But what if we could rekindle a sense of awe in our own neighborhoods? After years of extreme expeditions all over the world, adventurer Alastair Humphreys spent a year exploring the detailed local map around his home. His new book “Local” is an ode to slowing down, as well as a rallying cry to protect the wild places on our doorstep. This episode also features field reporting from Producers Austin Colón and Megan Biscieglia. Guest:  Alastair Humphreys, Author, adventurer It's time for our annual spring appeal! At Climate One, we believe in the power of open conversations to drive positive change. Through our thought-provoking discussions and interviews, we strive not only to raise awareness of climate issues and solutions, but to also empower individuals — like each of our valued listeners — to take tangible steps toward a more sustainable future.  You can show your support for Climate One by contributing to our spring fundraising campaign. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

National Geographic Adventurer of the Year uncovers how to culture a mindset for adventure without breaking the bank. Alastair Humphreys is the author of my all-time favourite books on the topic of adventure and getting more out of life. He spent 4 years cycling around the world, and has rowed the Atlantic, ran the Marathon de Sables, and walked across India amongst numerous other adventures. Perhaps his greatest success, however, is pioneering the concept of micro-adventures, encouraging anyone to experience the outdoors and thrillseeking within an hour of their doorstep. Sponsor - Cozy Earth Luxury Bamboo sheets and Loungeware that become softer the more you use them. 35% off code 'GROWTH' - CozyEarth.com Connect with Alastair: Website - AlastairHumphreys.com Instagram - @Al_Humphreys Twitter - @Al_Humphreys Growth Mindset pod Sam Webster Harris explores the psychology of happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and growth through the lens of self-improvement. Success and happiness is a state of mind unique to ourselves and is our responsibility to create. Watch the pod - YouTube (Growth Mindset) Mail - GrowthMindsetPodcast(at)gmail.com Insta - SamJam.zen Chapters 00:00 Intro 03:10 Quick fire questions 05:11 How do you define success and happiness 06:03 What are your internal measures 07:13 Adventures 07:55 Why should we be adventurous 09:49 What were the things people need to hear on how to start an adventure 11:15 Microadventures 12:19 Hardest part of adventure is daring yourself to get out 13:24 3 biggest questions when it comes to time - calendar, routines, little margins of time 16:12 Money-to-adventure ratio 21:16 Follow up on other advice about money for adventure - Just GO 22:26 How does Alistair help people address those questions on expertise to be an adventurer 25:57 Mindset framework around finding a sustainable adventure and career 29:18 Going back, would Alastair done something different 32:25 Essay - A Thousand True Fans 34:32 Physical Flabbiness 35:02 Mental Flabbiness 35:20 Moral Flabbiness 36:38 How does Alastair deal with Mental Flabbiness 37:27 Habit Calendar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Summer is coming soon, and for many that means vacation. While traveling far and wide can be an amazing experience, the carbon cost of traveling is significant. But what if we could rekindle a sense of awe in our own neighborhoods? After years of extreme expeditions all over the world, adventurer Alastair Humphreys spent a year exploring the detailed local map around his home. His new book “Local” is an ode to slowing down, as well as a rallying cry to protect the wild places on our doorstep. This episode also features field reporting from Producers Austin Colón and Megan Biscieglia. Guest:  Alastair Humphreys, Author, adventurer It's time for our annual spring appeal! At Climate One, we believe in the power of open conversations to drive positive change. Through our thought-provoking discussions and interviews, we strive not only to raise awareness of climate issues and solutions, but to also empower individuals — like each of our valued listeners — to take tangible steps toward a more sustainable future.  You can show your support for Climate One by contributing to our spring fundraising campaign. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back, Pathfinders! In today's show I sat down with Cory Mortensen. He is a best-selling author of three books. During this podcast, we discussed his first book “The Buddha and the Bee” and how a month long bike road across the United States changed the trajectory of his life. It was an inspirational show with tons of knowledge and insight from a very experienced traveler. Sources Cory's Website and Books ·        https://www.thebuddhaandthebee.com/ Applicable Blogs from Cory ·        https://www.thebuddhaandthebee.com/post/how-do-you-pack-for-a-trip-around-the-world References ·        https://www.sporcle.com/ Books Mentioned ·        The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer: https://amzn.to/3yptMs4 ·        Micro Adventures by Alastair Humphreys: https://amzn.to/4dDg2K9 ·        On The Road by Jack Herouac: https://amzn.to/44GfShd ·        Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer: https://amzn.to/3wMjotH ·        Blue Highways by William Least: https://amzn.to/44LunA7

Alastair Humphreys is an author and adventurer who has walked 600 miles across Southern India, ran an ultra marathon through the Sahara Desert, and hiked and rafted across Iceland. Alastair's newest wild idea is to embrace the concept of "microadventures," an adventure that is short, easily accessible, and affordable while still being fun, challenging, refreshing, and rewarding. Connect with Alastair: WebsiteInstagramOrder Alastair's new book, Local: A Search for Nearby Nature and WildnessThank you to our sponsors: Capital One: Check out the REI Co-op Mastercard program and learn about local REI Fund granteesBirkenstockCheck out:REI Re/SupplyOutside in 5REI Co-op Adventure Travel

In this episode, we're excited about two new books: Piglet by Lottie Hazell and Local: A Search for Nearby Nature and Wildness by Alastair Humphreys. Then Dave tells us about the awesome Stanfords bookshop. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/StrongSense and get on your way to being your best self. Links Piglet by Lottie Hazell — audiobook Piglet by Lottie Hazell — print Local: A Search for Nearby Nature and Wildness by Alastair Humphreys Stanfords Map and Travel Bookshop Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2024 Wikipedia: Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards Transcript of this episode. The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.com Do you enjoy our show? Want access to fun bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon. Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside - https://www.patreon.com/strongsenseofplace As always, you can find us at: Our site Instagram Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to the 10 Adventures podcast! This week, I had an incredible chat with Alastair Humphreys, a true adventurer who's cycled around the world, walked across India, and rowed the Atlantic. Named National Geographic Adventure of the Year in 2012, Alastair has also championed microadventures and recently authored the book "Local," where he explores the 20-kilometer map around his home. It was a delight having Alastair on the podcast.   We dive into Alastair's evolving motivations over the 20 years of his adventures as he shares insights like the interesting contrasts between cycling the world solo and rowing the Atlantic with a team. His concept of microadventures encourages everyone to find small, achievable adventures in their daily lives, fostering a sense of exploration and curiosity. If you're intrigued, be sure to check out Alastair's website to learn more about his extraordinary journeys and his latest book "Local." Happy listening!   Explore Alastair's captivating book, available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Local-Search-Nearby-Nature-Wildness/dp/1785633678 Delve deeper into his adventures on his official website: https://alastairhumphreys.com/ Connect with Alastair on Instagram for a visual journey: https://www.instagram.com/al_humphreys/   About Us

Join host Ginny Yurich and renowned adventurer Alastair Humphreys in this captivating episode of The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast. Against the backdrop of Humphreys' remarkable journey exploring a 20 km by 20 km grid square for an entire year, discover the magic of slowing down, embracing solitude, and finding adventure in the ordinary.  From the challenges of daily life to the joy of homemade soups and the beauty of micro-seasons, explore how nature's wonders are waiting to be uncovered right in your own backyard. Humphreys shares insights on fostering a deeper connection with your surroundings and infusing curiosity into the familiar. Tune in for an inspiring conversation that encourages you to seek the extraordinary in the simplicity of nearby nature. This episode is a celebration of the unexpected adventures that await, even when life seems routine. ** Purchase your copy of Local here >> https://amzn.to/3Iz0aKF Learn more about Alastair here >> https://alastairhumphreys.com/ ** Download your free 1000 Hours Outside tracker here >> https://www.1000hoursoutside.com/trackers Find everything you need to kick off your 1000 Hours Outside Journey here >> https://www.1000hoursoutside.com/blog/allthethings Order of copy of Ginny's newest book, Until the Streetlights Come On here >> https://amzn.to/3RXjBlN Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Unless we explore our neighborhood, we can't imagine what might be right under our noses, nor be able to celebrate it, mourn its demise, or take action.” –Alastair Humphreys In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Alastair Humphreys discuss the concept of his new book Local: A Search for Nearby Nature and Wilderness (1:30); what Alastair found on his close-to-home adventures in England (7:00); the surprises he found in industrial and post-industrial environments (13:00); how he learned to pay better attention to the natural environment in the areas he explored (19:30); “rights of access,” and how it affects hiking in Europe; and the idea of the “big here” versus the “small here” (25:00); how Alastair sought to embrace “stillness” during his experiment (33:30); how the changing of the seasons affected his experience of the local environments (40:30); and the role that imagination plays in having adventures close to home (48:00). Alastair Humphreys (@Al_Humphreys) is an English adventurer, author and motivational speaker. He is responsible for the rise of the idea of the microadventure – short, local, accessible adventures. His newest book, out this year, is Local: A Search for Nearby Nature and Wildness. Notable Links: Microadventure (local travel initiative) Industrial farming (agriculture practice) Souvenir, by Rolf Potts (book) Rewilding (conservation biology) Korean DMZ (rewilded demilitarized zone) Seek (nature identification app) Merlin Bird ID (birdsong identification app) On Looking, by Alexandra Horowitz (book) Henry David Thoreau (naturalist and essayist) Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard (book) Mary Oliver (naturalist and poet) Right of way (public right to hike on private land) A Journey Around My Room, by Xavier de Maistre (book) Traveling in Place, by Bernd Stiegler (book) An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris, by Georges Perec (book) Dustsceawung (Old English term for “contemplating dust”) Black Death (14th century pandemic) The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel's 2017 album Lumber. Note: We don't host a “comments” section, but we're happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.

“Unless we explore our neighborhood, we can't imagine what might be right under our noses, nor be able to celebrate it, mourn its demise, or take action.” –Alastair Humphreys In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Alastair Humphreys discuss the concept of his new book Local: A Search for Nearby Nature and Wilderness (1:30); what Alastair found on his close-to-home adventures in England (7:00); the surprises he found in industrial and post-industrial environments (13:00); how he learned to pay better attention to the natural environment in the areas he explored (19:30); “rights of access,” and how it affects hiking in Europe; and the idea of the “big here” versus the “small here” (25:00); how Alastair sought to embrace “stillness” during his experiment (33:30); how the changing of the seasons affected his experience of the local environments (40:30); and the role that imagination plays in having adventures close to home (48:00). Alastair Humphreys (@Al_Humphreys) is an English adventurer, author and motivational speaker. He is responsible for the rise of the idea of the microadventure – short, local, accessible adventures. His newest book, out this year, is Local: A Search for Nearby Nature and Wildness. Notable Links: Microadventure (local travel initiative) Industrial farming (agriculture practice) Souvenir, by Rolf Potts (book) Rewilding (conservation biology) Korean DMZ (rewilded demilitarized zone) Seek (nature identification app) Merlin Bird ID (birdsong identification app) On Looking, by Alexandra Horowitz (book) Henry David Thoreau (naturalist and essayist) Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard (book) Mary Oliver (naturalist and poet) Right of way (public right to hike on private land) A Journey Around My Room, by Xavier de Maistre (book) Traveling in Place, by Bernd Stiegler (book) An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris, by Georges Perec (book) Dustsceawung (Old English term for “contemplating dust”) Black Death (14th century pandemic) The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel's 2017 album Lumber. Note: We don't host a “comments” section, but we're happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.

On this episode: our favorite episodes of 2023, format change, dogs, and another year in the books. It's our reflections on the year past, and a look ahead at what's next. In this Episode Top 3 Most Downloaded episodes from 2023 3 – Episode 86 – Carol Coyne on Thru-Hiking and Community 2 – Episode 87 – Nicole Antoinette on Writing, Hiking, and Self-Awareness 1 – Episode 83: Alicia Baker on Exploring Utah, Hiking with Dogs, and Guidebooks Our 2023 Highlights – A few of our favorite episodes Episode 78: The Knoth Family on Bikepacking Year-Round Episode 85: Benny Braden on Backpacking, Photography and Responsible Stewardship Episode 91: Elizabeth Person and the Art of Maps Episode 90: Kristen & Ville Lost the Map Episode 95: Alastair Humphreys and Adventures from Big to Micro Programming Changes for 2024 We are changing things up for our fourth year, switching to two “seasons” of episodes each year — one this spring launching in April and the second in September. And we're reserving the option of sneaking in a bonus episode in-between. What We Are Doing in 2024 Saveria with Adventurus Women has a bunch of trips, including the Tour du Mont Blanc at the end of September, and a trip to the Dolomites, AND their first “plus one” trip to Africa. Jeff is organizing the 10th year for the Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge Series— a series of 17 regional, self-paced, self-guided hiking challenges. Plus he is leading his first big group trip… to Patagonia this March. Plus, getting together with Jason and friends to hike the Timberline Trail this summer. One of Jason's big film projects Free Outside is now out to rent and watch on Apple TV, Amazon and elsewhere. Check it out. Favorite Memories from 2023 For Jason, his highlight was backpacking to Miter Basin with friends (sans Jeff), and he's looking forward to spending more time on his photography in 2024. Saveria's 2023 highlight was her group trip to Africa, where she also leveled-up her camera gear. She's looking forward to the Tour du Mont Blanc. Jeff's highlight? Hiking the 192-mile Coast to Coast Walk across England (with no rain over 17 days!), and he's looking most forward to Patagonia next. Become a Patron The Almost There Adventure Podcast is and will always be free. If you'd like to help us keep the lights on, we are now on Patreon, where you can support our work with a buck or two (or more) each month. Send us some green and help us keep the pod rolling!  Connect with us! Like Almost There on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/almostthereadventurepodcast/ Follow Almost There on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/almostthere_ap/  Send us a voice message! https://www.speakpipe.com/AlmostThere Our Co-hosts Jason Fitzpatrick – IG: @themuirproject Saveria Tilden – IG: @adventuruswomen  web: AdventurUsWomen.com Jeff Hester – IG: @thesocalhiker  web: SoCalHiker.net Theme song by Opus Orange. Courtesy of Emoto Music.  The Almost There Adventure Podcast is a celebration of outdoor activities both local and epic. Discussing the big topics and talking to adventurers, artists, legends and activists within the outdoor community.

Alastair Humphreys is a British adventurer and author who famously spent over 4 years cycling round the world, a journey of 46,000 miles through 60 countries and 5 continents. This was followed by a walk across India, rowing across the Atlantic Ocean, running six marathons through the Sahara desert, a crossing of Iceland, busking through Spain and an expedition in the Arctic. Despite these massive adventures, Alastair is most famous for coining the concept of “microadventures” which earned him National Geographic Adventurer of the Year and numerous awards for his book of that name. The whole point of microadventures is that you do not need much time, money or specialized gear. A microadventure can be anything that feels fresh, new and challenging for you. This was the subject of our last conversation with Alastair back in 2019. You can listen to that here. Today we're talking about taking the concept of microadventures to a whole new level. Most recently Alastair has spent a whole year exploring the land within 10 kilometers of his home. Every week, he would pick a new place within that range to explore and camp. The change and perspective shift that he experiences through this adventure has caused a massive shift in his outlook, which we'll get into today.  Learn more about this experience through his new book, Local: A Search for Nearby Nature and Wilderness. You can also purchase Local here: Learn more about Alastair at alastairhumphreys.comPartnership Announcement! Adventure Sports Podcast is now part of the Outdoors.com podcasting network. Outdoors.com was founded by legendary outdoorsman and adventurer Bear Grylls. We believe that life is an adventure best lived boldly, with curiosity and eagerness to discover new places and follow the path less trodden.As a trusted voice for all things Outdoors, you will find news, product reviews, guides from experts, local hangouts, and more from top adventurers.Learn more about Outdoors.com here: https://outdoors.com/about-outdoors/Our Sponsors:* Check out Tecovas: http://www.tecovas.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/adventure-sports-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

How well do you know the outdoor areas near your home? I don't just mean the obvious spots, I mean all of the spaces. And what would happen if you took the time to truly and deeply explore them? That's something British adventurer and author Alastair Humphreys set out to discover as part of a personal project that turned into his new book, Local. Dividing the region into one-kilometer grid squares, Alastair systematically experienced all of the outdoor spaces near his urban home, and in the process became not only more familiar with where he lived, but also grew a deep appreciation for the nature around him found in some of the most unlikely places. In this episode you'll hear all about Alastair's truly local adventure, plus some of the simple benefits of taking time to enjoy everything -- the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful -- that nature has for you close to home. Listen now! Connect with this episode: Follow Alastair Humphreys on Facebook Follow Alastair on Instagram Visit Alastair's website Buy Alastair Humphrey's new book, Local (affiliate link) Join the Humans Outside Challenge Follow Humans Outside on Instagram Follow Humans Outside on Facebook Some of the good stuff: [3:08] Alastair Humphrey's favorite outdoor space [4:02] Alastair's outdoor story [5:46] What “Local” is about -- project and book [8:37] What is “nearby nature?” [10:35] For the record, I don't have this outside my window [11:38] What did Alastair find during his project that surprised him? [15:21] Embracing technology to make outside time better [17:59] The inspiration to fix problems [21:55] A mind shift to gratitude and curiosity [26:12] Taking the time for adventures big and small [28:36] How anyone can get started on a project like Local [34:03] Alistair's favorite outdoor moment

Welcome to "The Freedom Project," a podcast that celebrates the spirit of adventure and those who live it to the fullest.  Today, we're honoured to welcome Alastair Humphreys, a man whose name has become synonymous with adventure and exploration.  Alastair, recognized as a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, has inspired countless individuals through his incredible journeys and his advocacy for the natural world.  His adventures, which began in his youth, include the remarkable feat of cycling around the world and pushing the limits of human endurance and curiosity. He's not only an adventurer but also a storyteller, author, and filmmaker, capturing the essence of exploration in various forms.  His books have opened up new worlds to readers, and his monthly newsletter shares insights and inspiration from his travels.  Alastair's concept of 'microadventures' has encouraged people to find adventure in the everyday, challenging the notion that you need to travel far to experience the thrill of exploration. In this episode, we will dive deep into Alastair's life, exploring his early adventures like the Yorkshire 3 Peaks challenge at just nine years old, and his transformative cycling journey across continents.  We will also delve into his philosophies on living adventurously, caring for the environment, and finding joy in the small things.  His collaborations with brands to promote the concept of microadventures showcase his commitment to making adventure accessible to all. Join us as we journey through Alastair Humphreys' inspiring life, discovering how he has turned every challenge into an opportunity for growth and how he continues to inspire others to embrace the unknown.  Whether you're an avid adventurer or just someone looking for a little inspiration to step outside your comfort zone, this episode is for you.  

If you've been keeping your outdoor habit for awhile just like me, you might be looking for a way to give it a little boost. Or maybe you're new to this, but want to add a little spice or specific outings to your outdoor life. If that's you, this easy new outdoor habit I'm trying this year is probably the perfect fit. It's a simple, low time commitment and interesting option and I can't wait to see how it goes over the coming months. Want to join me? Learn all about it in this episode of Humans Outside. Listen now! Connect with this episode: About Alister Humphrey's “year in a tree” Join the Humans Outside Challenge Follow Humans Outside on Instagram Follow Humans Outside on Facebook Some of the good stuff: [:28] I was worried about getting stuck in a rut [:54] I was curious about forest bathing [1:22] And then I heard this idea from Alastair Humphreys -- brilliant! [2:19] How I picked my own version [3:24] Here's what I picked [4:05] Here's what I did while I was there [5:04] You should do this, too!

Author and National Geographic Adventurer of the Year Alastair Humphreys stops by the studio to share adventures, insights, and stories with Doc. Settle in and buckle up as Al and Doc cover a lot of ground (and water!), discussing accidental cold soaking, rowing across the Atlantic after an invitation from a stranger, Caveman TV, cycling 46,000 miles across the world, banana sandwiches, pragmatic recklessness, the importance of being present, microadventures, and the curse and tyranny of the digital age. Epic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alastair Humphreys, the acclaimed British adventurer, inspires with his bold expeditions and passion for exploration. From cycling the globe to rowing across oceans, he champions "microadventures," urging us to find thrill in everyday life. His talks and writings ignite curiosity, showing that adventure isn't just about far-off places but lies in embracing the unknown nearby. He's a guiding voice, encouraging us to step beyond comfort zones and discover the extraordinary in the ordinary. Connect With Alastair Humphreys! instagram.com/al_humphreys Visit His Website to Learn More! alastairhumphreys.com CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Introduction 01:51 - Alastair's Book: "Grand Adventure" 02:15 - Alastair's Adventure Heroes 04:03 - Alastair on Managing His Social Media Accounts 06:00 - How Does an Explorer Obtain Sponsors? 07:41 - What Does Alastair's Post-Adventure Life Look Like? 09:24 - Alastair on Preparing for Work and Adventure 11:41 - Rowing the Atlantic Ocean 12:29 - Alastair's Relationship with Death and Deathclock.com 15:29 - Alastair on Engaging in Dangerous Adventures 18:48 - Alastair on Staying Calm in Any Situation 20:45 - How Does Alastair Balance Fatherhood and Exploration? 23:45 - Alastair on Incorporating Fashion into His Adventures 25:50 - Exploring Your Own Locale 29:00 - Alastair on Discovering the Denehole in His Area 31:44 - Alastair's Thoughts on Sponsored Adventures 35:43 - Alastair on Managing Leisure Trips 37:22 - How Does Alastair Handle Work-Related Content? 40:42 - Alastair's Purpose and Goals in His Adventures 46:21 - Intentions in Every Adventure 48:35 - Pursuing Adventure as You Age 51:21 - Alastair on Sustaining Momentum in His Career 55:29 - Forging Your Path to Success 58:13 - Alastair's Weekly Newsletter 01:00:15 - What Books Is Alastair Currently Reading? 01:01:10 - Alastair's Bucket List Destinations 01:02:18 - Alastair's Recent Life Discoveries 01:04:27 - Alastair's Goals for the Next 6 Months 01:05:14 - Connect with Alastair Humphreys! 01:05:54 - Outro

When Alastair Humphreys was young, he craved something unknowable. That something - adventure, excitement, wisdom, whatever it was - was close. But he suspected that in order to find it, he'd have to step outside of the familiar shapes of his routines. He'd have to break free from the expectations of his friends and family, of advanced degrees and office jobs and apartment living. In his search for something, he moved to a rural village in Africa at 18. And after university, he cycled across 6 continents and pedaled the circumference of the globe. But he still hadn't quite found that something - and his quest for it would reveal a truth that would change everything. Whether you're looking for an epic saga about a cross-continental bike trip or the wildest story about playing the violin you've ever heard, you're going to enjoy this episode about the many types of adventure that exist, how we can have them, and why we need them. FIND ALASTAIR Learn more about Alastair, his adventures, and his books at his website, AlastairHumphreys.com, or follow him on Instagram @Al_Humphreys. Find his latest book, Local, wherever books are sold (though we recommend ordering from your local bookshop!). SOCIAL Share the show with your friends! Subscribe to the podcast wherever you're listening, follow @armchairexplorerpodcast on Instagram and Facebook, check out Armchair Explorer's website, armchair-explorer.com, and learn more about APT Podcast Studios on their website at APTpodcaststudios.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Alastair Humphreys was young, he craved something unknowable. That something - adventure, excitement, wisdom, whatever it was - was close. But he suspected that in order to find it, he'd have to step outside of the familiar shapes of his routines. He'd have to break free from the expectations of his friends and family, of advanced degrees and office jobs and apartment living. In his search for something, he moved to a rural village in Africa at 18. And after university, he cycled across 6 continents and pedaled the circumference of the globe. But he still hadn't quite found that something - and his quest for it would reveal a truth that would change everything.Whether you're looking for an epic saga about a cross-continental bike trip or the wildest story about playing the violin you've ever heard, you're going to enjoy this episode about the many types of adventure that exist, how we can have them, and why we need them.FIND ALASTAIRLearn more about Alastair, his adventures, and his books at his website, AlastairHumphreys.com, or follow him on Instagram @Al_Humphreys. Find his latest book, Local, wherever books are sold (though we recommend ordering from your local bookshop!). SOCIALShare the show with your friends! Subscribe to the podcast wherever you're listening, follow @armchairexplorerpodcast on Instagram and Facebook, check out Armchair Explorer's website, armchair-explorer.com, and learn more about APT Podcast Studios on their website at APTpodcaststudios.com.CREDITSThis episode was produced by Armchair Productions. Find our other shows at armchair-productions.com. Jenny Allison wrote and produced this episode, along with host and producer Aaron Millar. Charles Tyrie did the audio editing and sound design. Theme music written by the artist Sweet Chap.

Tune in for a brand new style of bonus episode! Doc gives you a fascinating glimpse into the personality of some of your favorite guests by asking . . . The Last 10!  This week's guest is author and adventurer Alastair Humphreys! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alastair Humphreys is a man who has the word adventurer on his business card. He's adventured to the most incredible remote places, cycled across the world on a modest budget, crossed the ocean in a rowing boat, run across a desert, though his view of exploration changed as he sat in a small red tent in a remote part of Greenland. Now he champions micro-adventures, writing about and photographing more 'achievable' life experiences. Also today, fascinating Gambian traditions, a Nat Geo photographer's quote that nails, possibly, why making photographs is important and does adversity lead to stronger creativity? Links to all guests and features will be on the SHOW PAGE as always and my sincere thanks to mpb.com who sponsor this show and the Extra Milers without whom we wouldn't be walking each week.

On this episode: sheds, map grids, busking in Spain, and 5-to-9 adventures. We are talking with Alastair Humphreys, named as National Geographic Adventurer of the Year for his work on the concept of microadventures. He's had some big adventures, too, from cycling completely around the world in four years to canoeing 500 miles down the Yukon River. And along the way, he's authored 14 books inspiring people to find room for adventure in their daily lives. The funny thing about going all the way around the world is it makes you realize how little of the world you've actually seen. Alastair Humphries In this Episode Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle – Dervla Murphy Sir Ranulph Fiennes – explorer and author Benedict Allen explorersweb.com A single map In the US, you can download your map from the USGS for free Episode 25 – Kolby Kirk Seek and Merlin – apps to identify plants and birds The Coast to Coast Walk Episode 24 – Jesse Blough and The Big Lonely Anna Brones – papercut art As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning – Laurie Lee, and the book that inspired Alastair to busk his way badly across Spain Connect with Alastair Humphreys Website: alastairhumphreys.com Instagram: @al_humphreys Become a Patron The Almost There Adventure Podcast is and will always be free. If you'd like to help us keep the lights on, we are now on Patreon, where you can support our work with a buck or two (or more) each month. Send us some green and help us keep the pod rolling!  Connect with us! Like Almost There on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/almostthereadventurepodcast/ Follow Almost There on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/almostthere_ap/  Send us a voice message! https://www.speakpipe.com/AlmostThere Our Co-hosts Jason Fitzpatrick – IG: @themuirproject Saveria Tilden – IG: @adventuruswomen  web: AdventurUsWomen.com Jeff Hester – IG: @thesocalhiker  web: SoCalHiker.net Theme song by Opus Orange. Courtesy of Emoto Music.  The Almost There Adventure Podcast is a celebration of outdoor activities both local and epic. Discussing the big topics and talking to adventurers, artists, legends and activists within the outdoor community.  

Join adventurer Alastair Humphreys on the Silvercore Podcast as he takes us on a thrilling exploration of micro adventures and inspiring journeys. From walking across Iceland to cycling around the world, Alastair shares his earliest memories of adventure and what drives him to push boundaries. Discover the transformative power of solo travel, the importance of teamwork in extreme challenges, and how to embark on your own micro adventure closer to home. Get ready to be inspired and embrace the magic of exploration. Tune in now!     Website: https://alastairhumphreys.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/al_humphreys YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsTMxQP7HUCRTuNEEQWLww   Order Local Here: https://alastairhumphreys.com/product/local/ International Book Sales:    ______ Silvercore Club - https://bit.ly/2RiREb4 Online Training - https://bit.ly/3nJKx7U Other Training & Services - https://bit.ly/3vw6kSU Merchandise - https://bit.ly/3ecyvk9 Blog Page - https://bit.ly/3nEHs8W Host Instagram - @Bader.Trav https://www.instagram.com/bader.trav Silvercore Instagram - @SilvercoreOutdoors https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreoutdoors ____

Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 2:00 Welcome Alastair 10:17 The Book's Project 24:56 A Stronger Connection to Local Land 29:07 Sitting Still for an Hour 33:12 Right to Roam 42:51 Tensions on the Land 52:33 Coffee! 56:03 Lessons from the Project 1:03:52 A Reading from the Book Subscribe to our beautiful printed quarterly, whose stories are only found in print, at http://www.subscribetoaj.com Watch video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/S8GwuhsUplE FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/adventurejournal/ Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/adventurejournal Pinterest — https://www.pinterest.com/adventurejournl Tiktok — https://www.tiktok.com/@adventurejournal/ Adventure Journal is supported primarily by readers who subscribe to our printed quarterly and from small commissions received when you purchase through some of these links. AJ's reviews are not influenced by affiliates, nor do we accept sponsored content or paid placements or reviews. Opinions expressed here are solely our own.

Alastair Humphreys is a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year who decided to trade in his grand adventures for spending an entire year roaming the local map he lived on, measuring just 20km. He's cycled around the world for four years, raced a yacht across the Atlantic, canoed 500 miles down the Yukon River, and walked the length of the Holy Kaveri River in India (just to name a few!). So why would someone like Alastair want to explore a single map, just one tiny area at a time near their home? You'd be surprised to discover the kind of impact this could have on someone. In this episode, you'll hear about his unexpected adventures and the lessons from his experience, learn why adventure really is a mindset, and get practical advice for exploring your own local map. How did this conversation change your perspective on travel? Will you explore your local grid? Use #singlemap on social media if you do! I'd love to hear your thoughts and hope you'll share them by sending me an audio message. Premium Passport: Want access to the private Zero To Travel podcast feed, a monthly bonus episode (decided on by YOU), exclusive content, direct access to me to answer your questions, and more? Click here to try Premium Passport for only $1. Tune In To Learn: How his attitude toward adventure has changed throughout the years The notion of “flight shame” and his thoughts on traveling with a low footprint  The framework he set in his quest to slow down and what it taught him about paying attention The awakening he had about our natural environment and how it shifted his passions and perspectives (plus a lesson on making lifestyle changes) Why anything can be interesting if you're interested Why it's possible to have serendipitous moments locally and his biggest regret from the project  How this allowed him to connect with his home despite not liking where he lives  Why this was an exercise in mindfulness, and what sitting on a log has to do with knowing your priorities  How you can find the same fulfillment with your local map (no matter where you live) Advice on carving your own path and why he's optimistic for the world's future And so much more Resources: Join Zero To Travel Premium Passport Subscribe to our FREE newsletter Today's Sponsors - Airbnb, US Bank, Land Rover Visit Alastair's website Grab his book, Microadventures: Local Discoveries for Great Escapes Listen to the 99% Invisible podcast  Download Seek by iNaturalist, Merlin Bird app Use #singlemap for your local adventure Want More? Travel With Intention And Be A Local Everywhere Top 5 Reasons For “Slomading” + The Benefits Of Boredom With Tim Marting From Citizen Remote Finding Meaning Through Travel w/ Dr. Christopher Daniels Thanks To Our Sponsors Sometimes, it just makes more sense. Book your next group stay with Airbnb! This episode is also sponsored by US Bank's Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card, with the ability to earn up to 5x the points on travel-related expenses like hotels, and rental cars, this card will get you the most return on your next trip.  You're up for any challenge that comes your way, and the Land Rover Defender 110 is too. Learn more at landroverusa.com/defender. 

Alastair Humphreys is an adventurer and author. In the past, he has embarked on huge adventures, such as cycling around the world and rowing the Atlantic, but he has found a new passion in micro-adventures and challenges closer to home. In this classic 'cool conversation', Al tells Kenton about walking across Spain and busking with a violin, sleeping on his local hill, and most recently exploring every inch of his local Ordnance Survey map over the course of a year. Al is an eccentric adventurer and this is a fascinating conversation.

What not to do is often the best guide and you don't want to fall into the incredibly common spiral discussed in this episode. We incrementally fall into bad habits that creep up on us and just when we have the option to do something we instead blame everything else.Learn how to build mental strength and resilience and escape the trap of victimization and depression.This episode features the writing from the adventurer and philosopher Alastair Humphreys, his post "The Three Stages of Flabiness" from the book "There are Other Rivers"On the growth mindset podcast with Sam Webster Harris, we explore the psychology of happiness, satisfaction, purpose, and growth through the lens of self-improvement. Success and happiness is a state of mind unique to ourselves and is our responsibility to create.Through a process of honest self-reflection of what is holding us back and what is driving us forward, we can lose the ego and build awareness of how to be the best we can be.- - -Sponsor - NetsuiteThe #1 business software.6 months without paying.https://netsuite.com/GROWTHMINDSET- - -Connect with Alastair Humphreys (and buy his books)

After years of pushing himself to go as big and far as he could, Alastair Humphreys realized that the most valuable trips we take are usually the ones right out our doors. Back in 2011, he coined the term “micro adventure” and ever since he's been extolling the many upsides of doing things that we can squeeze in around the margins of real life: biking to a nearby hill and sleeping there for a night, an afternoon creek hike, even just climbing a tree. The point is to embrace simple, pure outdoor fun wherever we can find it, which can do wonders for us.

Alastair Humphreys is the author of my all-time favourite books on the topic of adventure and getting more out of life.He was awarded the National Geographic Adventurer of the Year award for his work. He cycled around the world over four years and has since rowed the Atlantic, ran the Marathon de Sables, and walked across India amongst numerous other adventures.Perhaps his greatest success, however, is pioneering the concept of micro-adventures, encouraging anyone to experience the outdoors and thrillseeking within an hour of their doorstep.- -Sponsor - HostingerLaunch a WordPress blog, site, or online shop in minutes.Go to Hostinger.com/GROWTH to get everything you need to create your website for less than $3/month, plus 10% off with promo code GROWTH.- -Sponsor - Better HelpThe Growth Mindset is sponsored by BetterHelp. Therapy to get you on your way to being your best self.Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/GROWTHMINDSET for 15% off. - -Connect with Alastair:Website - AlastairHumphreys.comInstagram - @Al_HumphreysTwitter - @Al_Humphreys- -Connect with Sam:Sam's newsletter on creativity - Explosive Thinking Watch the pod - YouTube - Growth MindsetTwitter - @samjamharrisInstagram - @SamJam.zen- - -Chapters00:00 Introduction03:34 Quick fire questions05:12 How do you define success and happiness06:04 What are your internal measures07:14 Adventures07:56 Why should we be adventurous09:50 What were the things people need to hear on how to start an adventure11:15 Microadventures12:19 Hardest part of an adventure is daring yourself to get out13:24 3 biggest questions when it comes to time - calendar, routines, little margins of time 16:13 Money-to-adventure ratio21:18 Just GO22:31 Overcoming sense of inadequancy26:01 SPONSOR - Hostinger27:33 SPONSOR - BetterHelp29:15 Mindset framework around finding a sustainable adventure and career32:36 Lessons to younger self35:50 A thousand true fans37:02 GeoWizard Tangent38:33 3 stages of flabbiness39:47 Physical Flabbiness40:17 Mental Flabbiness40:38 Moral Flabbiness42:16 Dealing with Mental Flabbiness43:05 Habit Calendar44:35 Pull-up or Press-up challenge46:32 Hardest cultural difference Alastair navigated during an adventure49:01 Maintaining relationships and adventures50:44 Kindest thing54:11 Earliest memories55:07 Advice to your 20 yr old self56:14 What's Sam's next adventure Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/growth-mindset-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alastair Humphreys left his cozy home in Yorkshire in August, 2001 on his bicycle. He returned home 4 years later, having cycled 46,000 miles across the world. Since then, he has played the violin on the streets of Spain, rowed across the Atlantic, pulled a cart through the desert, walked through India, canoed the Yukon and much, much more. He joins us for this episode to share how living an adventurous life is a possibility for everyone. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-unmistakable-creative-podcast.