What is The 100 Club?
A collection of cheap and simple expeditions for people who are low on money, short on time and lacking in expertise.
Why?
It is my firm belief that adventures are available to everyone and specifically that money is not a prerequisite for having one, nor time, nor expertise.
I set out to test and demonstrate this idea last year by giving myself a £100 budget for a week-long adventure. There was no science involved but I managed to hitch-hike my way to Ireland and back, had a great a time and came come with £35 change.
As such, I’ve compiled a list of adventures that I’ve had for under £100 in the hope that it will help convince you that money is not necessary for an expedition.
I appreciate that it’s not always money holding people back. You may look at me as self-employed and leading an “alternative lifestyle” and think that it’s easy for me to find the time for these things. True, my work is more flexible than most but that doesn’t mean I’m forever taking extended holidays. On all the trips below I’ve written down how long they took and how many days off work they required. I often combine them with public holiday.
Lastly, because I have a website filled with stories about me climbing big mountains and doing lots of running, you might think that you couldn’t do the same yourself. Most likely that is nonsense. I keep reasonably fit and know a bit about expedition life but most of my recent projects are very simple. I’ve listed below what “expertise”, if any, were required for each trip.
How to Join
If you’ve had an adventure that was cheap, quick or easy then go ahead and share your story in the comments below. Help show the world that expeditions are for the masses, not just the privileged or elite.
Here are some of my current qualifying projects…
£100 Hitch-Hiking Adventure
Having an adventure on a £100 budget by hitch-hiking around the UK. The inspiration for this series.
- Cost: £65 (£35 change)
- Expertise: None
- Duration/Days Off: 1 week / 4 days
The Mile
Trying to run to the end of my road as fast as I can in a nod to Roger Bannister
- Cost: None
- Expertise: None
- Duration/Days Off: Ongoing / None
Crossing the Wahiba Desert
Walking across the Wahiba Sands carrying all our water and supplies (I was based in Oman for this one)
- Cost: About £20 for food and fuel
- Expertise: Good fitness, basic outdoor savvy
- Duration/Days Off: 3 days / None
A Trip From Tim’s To Thom’s
A triathlon from my house in London to my friend Thom’s on the Isle of Wight
- Cost: Food, ferry and favours only
- Expertise: Can swim 3 miles (I started from scratch)
- Duration/Days Off: 15 hours / None
Dhofar Mountains
Exploring the mountains of southern Oman near the Yemen border (I lived in Muscat at the time)
- Cost: About £50 for food and fuel
- Expertise: Basic outdoors savvy
- Duration/Days Off: 1 week / 3 days
Running the Tube
Running the route of every London Underground line over the course of a year. 3 – 45 miles each.
- Cost: About £50 for food and Tube fares
- Expertise: Ability to jog 13 miles at start
- Duration/Days Off: 9 months / None
Everyday Adventures
Easy and accessible adventure ideas to help escape the mundanities of everyday life
- Cost: From nothing upwards
- Expertise: None
- Duration/Days Off: Lifelong / None
Everest Run
Running up 2,650 flights of stairs to the height of Mount Everest before work and during lunch breaks
- Cost: None
- Expertise: Moderate fitness
- Duration/Days Off: 5 days / None
Cycling Through France
Two weeks’ cycle touring on the continent. A five day trip in Wales only required one day off.
- Cost: ~£100 for ferries and food
- Expertise: Ability to ride a bike
- Duration/Days Off: 13 days / 9 days
Walking the South West Coastal Path
Covering the 600-mile long distance path in sections over a series of years
- Cost: Train fare, food and occasional campsites
- Expertise: None
- Duration/Days Off: 3-5 day trips over 8 years so far / 1-2 days each trip
Swimming the Thames
Swimming the length of the Thames from source to city over an English summer. To be completed…
- Cost: Food, fuel and train fares anticipated
- Expertise: Basic ability to swim
- Duration/Days Off: Anticipated 6 months / None
Do you have an adventure that qualifies for The 100 Club? Share your story in the comments section below.
4 Comments
alastair humphreys
My contribution:
Walking a lap of M25
Duration: 1 week
Cost: £70-ish. Mostly spent on chips and cups of tea.
Expertise: zero. You don’t even need a map.
More at:
lee hughes
I hitched to Prague a couple of years ago. The total cost was hardly anything. Ferry crossing and food etc. I could have done it much cheaper if I had hitched back and took a cooking stove etc. Think I spent about £40 on ferry and food. Took about 2 days and slept in lorries and petrol stations.
Robbie Britton
My lift to a 6hr track race fell through for the Saturday just gone, 2nd April, on the Friday afternoon. Not to be dismayed I printed off seven A4 Maps for the 61 Mile Weavers Way that goes between Great Yarmouth and Cromer in Norfolk, packed a little back of lunch and borrowed a camelbak and jumped on the first train at half 6 to take me to Yarmouth. Having previously walked the Weaver’s Way with a mate on a very cold November weekend, without a sleeping bag or much kit I felt like I owed it a proper beasting and that’d I’d run it this time.
Needless to say it was the little adventure that I needed, plenty of llamas, some angry cows and seagulls and a rather nice spot of cake and ice cream in the fanciest pub I’ve been in in a long while (whilst wearing short shorts and sweating profusely, I think I shocked some of the other guests). It managed to get to the end about half 8 at night, just under twelve hours from when I started, and straight into the local shop for a massive bit of sugary love!
Although its no crossing of a continent or sailing of an ocean, its still proof that you need little more than a bit of get up and go to have a wee adventure of a weekend. Needless to say I wasn’t the first to volunteer to take abseil sessions the next morning (although still more able than some after their Saturday exertions in the local town), but what the hell, if nothing else its a story for down the pub.
Duration: 1 day
Cost: £15 (mostly on sweets at the finish and a train down)
Expertise: Nowt, just one foot in front of the other.
Pingback: How To Get Ideas and Inspiration For An AdventureThe Next Challenge | The Next Challenge