It was a sunny summer Sunday when we loaded our car with a picnic and headed off to the Cotswolds.We paid a princely pound to the parking attendant and took our space in a field with an ice cream van.Friends and families feasted and frolicked on the banks of the Thames and we made our way amongst them.Like them we had come out to enjoy nature. Like them we sat in the grass to enjoy some lunch. And unlike th ...

By the time we've wrestled our bikes from the carriage and re-mounted our baggage, the platform has deserted and begun to refill with passengers boarding the next departure. Wheeling our vessels against the flow of the crowd feels like the perfect metaphor for a return to the city. Clothes still a little grubby, eyes still a little wild.The air is warmer here and the streets are lit - not like the hill we h ...

Masirah island sits in the Indian Ocean just off the east coast of Oman. It is around 50 miles long and 10 miles wide. It has a single town called Hilf on its north western coast and little else besides 90 miles of ring road; somewhere off which lies our tent. "Well, the speedo said 20km when we left it and now it's on 93km. So that means we just re-trace the road for 73km" Easy were it not for the fact tha ...

Excitement quickly penetrates lethargy as the alarm sounds early on Christmas morning. Waking swiftly not to open presents but to ensure we have enough time for a 90 mile bike ride. And it wasn't actually an alarm that woke us first but the sound of fishermen and the cacophony of seabirds outside the tent we've pitched on the beach. We're on a desert island with the intention of completing a circumnavigatio ...

I've written somewhere between 150 and 200 posts on this website over the course of the year. I started off with a high output (four posts a week) but have tried latterly to focus on quality rather than quantity; producing articles that will still be interesting or useful this time next year and beyond. I hope to continue the same next year with more How To articles and 10 Tips from the pros, as well as doc ...

This is a little egotistical and very indulgent but I've enjoyed flicking back through some old pieces on my website to select a few lines that have made me smile on re-reading.   "Heaven opens the sluice gates and eight pairs of knuckles turn white as they cling to poles in an attempt to keep the tent earthbound." - Should we abort?   "A subtle epiphany that strikes with the alacrity of treacle off a spoon ...

When I tell people that my girlfriend and I have been spending many of the last eight months’ precious weekends running tens of miles along transport lines through Greater London, they invariably ask “Why?”. If not with words then with silence.Well, I don’t have an answer that is both meaningful and succinct but I guess it was to explore the city that I so easily take for granted. To have an adventure in ou ...

Question: How good is a spatula at digging a car out of sand? Answer: Better than a coolbox lid but not not as good as Tupperware It was fine last night. The black-top had turned to dirt-track and the dirt-track had turned to sand-track but we weren't too bothered because we knew there was a short stretch of unsealed road leading to the camp. It was, after all, the only camp you could reach without a four w ...

Unclip harnesses. Unstrap boots from skis. Unzip pulk bags and unpack tent. A good camping routine can be the highlight of any adventurer's day (OK, it can be the highlight of my day) but there is nothing quite like the ritual of preparing a campsite in Svalbard. First you dig a platform of snow. This ensures a level ground for sleeping and gives you large piles of white paperweight with which to secure you ...

First stop? The rifle range. “100 yards... 80 yards... 60 yards...! 50 yards”, and the air fills with screeches, pops and, finally, a booming noise that wrenches your gut and shakes the ground as smoke trickles from the barrel, the rifle's wry acknowledgement of its attention grabbing action as the imaginary bear gets too close for comfort. Polar bears require constant vigilance in Svalbard. Last time I was ...

If you think that climbing mountains takes years of experience, requires a penchant for suffering and is the preserve of the athletic elite then think again.If a television programme in high definition featuring presenters with mud splattered faces talking in superlatives about the severity of the situation and the extremity of their environment gives you the impression that an expedition is a terrifying ex ...

I'll admit to being a little confused. It's to be expected after any international flights – losing track of time as you cross different zones and spend infeasible periods in queues and uncomfortable seats – but I'm pretty sure it should be dark by now. Stepping out of the airport gates the first thing that strikes me are my nasal hairs. They're frozen. The second realisation is the confusing one. Why is th ...