Stories from winners of The Next Challenge Grant and my own adventures…
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I have now been running this website for over 10 years. That seems hard to believe, but what I find even more surprising is that my grant has been going for almost half of that time. This year will be…
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Swimming the Sardinian Coast
This video makes me green with envy every time I watch it. It just looks stunning. In 2015, Sebastian Schweizer applied to The Next Challenge Grant for his planned expedition to swim part of the Sardinian coast. His one key…
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Paddle Boarding Lough Neagh
The 2020 Next Challenge Grant opened for applications today. And to the mark the occasion, we have a story from 2017 grant winner Joanne McCallum, who took a paddle board across Lough Neagh. One of the great things about Jo’s…
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Running a Marathon at Marathon (in full Greek garb)
Grant winner Joshua Powell describes his attempt to run a marathon at Marathon dressed as a Greek soldier. Running a Marathon at Marathon by Joshua Powell It was October 2016 and I was approaching the end of English Heritage’s ‘1066…
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Cycling to the Most Northerly Inhabited Part of the UK to Perform a One Woman Mythological Opera in a Lighthouse
Without doubt, this is the best title I have ever had on my blog. When I read it on the application form for my grant, I knew I had to support it. In fact, it’s such a good title that…
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Cycling to the Åland Islands (via the Baltics)
Laura and I are currently on our way to the Baltics and the Aland islands on a cycling trip. You can see our very rough route plan on the map above. Two things are making this trip more interesting for…
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How to Build an Adventure Career from Scratch – Interview with Bex Band
When Bex Band won a Next Challenge Grant to ride a kick-scooter 150 miles around London, it was her first big adventure. In her application for the 2016 grant, she wrote: “Myself and my husband have never done anything like…
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What is the best brand of camping gas canister?
I was recently asked about whether the brand of butane/propane canister used on a camping stove makes a difference. In other words, are MSR or JetBoil canisters better than Primus and Colemans? Or are they all the same, just with…
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The Winners of the 2019 Next Challenge
I am delighted to announce the winners of the 2019 Next Challenge Grant. There are 11 fantastic adventure ideas ranging from prison island “swimming escapes” and fat-biking across a frozen plateau, to crossing a mountain range in northeastern Russia and…
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Kids go free at this year’s Cycle Touring Festival
The UK’s only cycle touring festival is returning for its fifth year this May. Started in 2015 by round-the-world cyclist Laura Moss, the Cycle Touring Festival brings together cyclists of all types, from experienced veterans to those who have never…
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Why Tyre Dragging is the Perfect Preparation for Parenthood
When I was a care-free bachelor, I used to spend my spare time dragging tyres: Ostensibly, this was in preparation for a North Pole expedition which never happened. But really I think I just liked hard physical labour. After getting…
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Walking Sweden’s Largest Island
Matus won a Next Challenge Grant for his idea of circumnavigating Sweden’s largest island, Gotland, on foot. He hit some trouble along the way though which meant he couldn’t complete his trip. When he got back home, he tried give…
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