The Next Challenge

Author: Tim Moss

  • Winners of the 2020 Next Challenge Grant

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    Tim Moss
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    I am delighted to announce the winners of this year’s Next Challenge Grant. Every year it’s inspiring to read about so many amazing expedition ideas and hard not being able to support them all. But we have 13 fantastic and deserving winners to announce today. Thank you to everyone who donated to the grant, including…

  • Walking Around Scotland with a Pony

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    Tim Moss
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    65 year old architect and Perthshire resident Sue Manning recently went walking in the mountains with her pack pony Kirsty. She won a Next Challenge Grant in part because she wanted to show that it is possible to have an adventure at any age, travelling slowly and without going too far from home. Traveling with…

  • Crossing the Kolyma Mountain Range in the Russian Arctic

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    Tim Moss
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    I tend to call the winning ideas from my grant “adventures” rather than “expeditions” because I don’t like to throw around the term “expedition” lightly. Like the word “epic”, I think it gets over used and there is a risk of diluting its meaning. Grant winners Wyatt Stevens and Tully Henke recently completed an epic…

  • Cycle touring, without the flights

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    Tim Moss
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    For its sixth year, the Cycle Touring Festival is focussing on the near abroad: bicycle adventures that don’t involve flying. The festival is organised by my wife, Laura. It is the only festival in the UK aimed specifically at cycle touring (which is basically any bike trip that lasts more than a day). Every year…

  • Walking the Length of New Zealand

    Walking the Length of New Zealand

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    Tim Moss
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    Next Challenge Grant winner Chase Lewine and his partner, Eve, recently completed the Te Arora Trail, a 3,000km walk that runs the full length of New Zealand’s two main islands. They encountered mud baths, cyclones, cheeky Kea birds and wild pig hunters. But, as with so many tales of adventure, it is the stories of…

  • Teenager Walking from the Lakes to the Dales

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    Tim Moss
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    The Next Challenge Grant is open to applicants of all ages but I especially like receiving applications from young people. I never stop being impressed by the ambition and boldness of youth, and today’s grant winner is no exception. At first glance, a few days of walking in the UK may not immediately seem like…

  • Hiking the Year: Walking 2,019 Miles in 2019

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    Tim Moss
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    When I started going on expeditions, I was a student and had all the time in the world for travelling over the long summers. I disappeared to Central Asia for a month, around the world for two months and the Americas for 10 weeks. Then I got a job (and a wife with a job),…

  • Outdoors Station Podcast

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    Tim Moss
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    I was interviewed last week for The Outdoors Station podcast. Started by Bob Cartwright in 2005, it is the longest running podcast of its type. We discussed my approach to expeditions (cheap and simple), my ethos (adventuring is no better or more noble than working in an office) and my grant (open for applications now).…

  • Paddle-Boarding the Longest Lakes in England, Scotland and Wales

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    Tim Moss
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    We all know about the British Three Peaks Challenge: climbing up the highest mountain in each of Scotland, England and Wales. But what about a Three Lakes Challenge? Crossing the largest lake in each of the British nations. Grant winner Jo Laird set out to do just that with a stand-up paddleboard (albeit without the…

  • EasyJet Expedition #2: Moroccan Mountains

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    Tim Moss
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    Three years ago, Laura and I walked across Ibiza and called it an “EasyJet expedition”. The idea was to do a trip somewhere you wouldn’t normally associate with adventure (Ibiza = clubbing, right?) and somewhere that you could get to easily and cheaply by budget airline. It was a great trip. I loved the illicit…

  • Five Years of The Next Challenge Grant

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    Tim Moss
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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 the sixth year in which I offer expedition grants to aspiring adventurers, yet it still…

  • Swimming the Sardinian Coast

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    Tim Moss
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    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 expense was for a desalinator so that he could get drinking water from the sea.…