Adventures Ideas & Inspiration

Top expedition websites and inspiring stories for aspiring adventurers

Links to motivativational articles are scattered below and my favourite links are marked with an asterisk*.

Quick Links:

Easy Adventure Ideas | Inspiring Non-Adventure Websites | Adventurer-Bloggers | Amazing Expeditions | Books & Films

“If you want to go for a run in the morning but lack the motivation, just start tying your shoe laces…” – Start! >>

Top Recommendations

There’s a lot of stuff below to look through but you could do worse than start with these three:

1. Alastair Humphreys

The best adventurer out there. Not for the expeditions he has done (which are many) but for the way he shares them and the efforts he makes to get other people out there. Check out his Microadventures.

2. Explorers Connect

The home for people interested in expeditions. A great place to meet other like-minded people to get help, join on expeditions or just talk shop. They have regular meetings around the UK too. I used to organise their London events.

3. Escape the City

A website dedicated to people who want to “Do something different”. Sometimes that means changing jobs and sometimes it’s going on a big adventure. Good place for getting inspired.

Need an excuse to get started on your expedition? Consider this your excuse >>
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Easy Adventure Ideas

Concepts to knock down the excuses and get you started on your next adventure.

Everyday Adventures

Adventure need not require time, money, expertise or sweat. You can do it on your lunch break or after. I ran a campaign throughout 2010 with ten different ideas for squeezing some adventure into your daily routine.

MicroAdventures

One step up from Everyday Adventures. Al Humphreys spent a year conducting a new miniature adventure every month. They are a great place to start for inspiration.

The 100 Club

A whole heap of adventures conducted for less than £100. Motivation enough to get started?

Adventure 1000

Save £20 a month for a year and – hey presto – you’ve got a grand for your next expedition.

“How can you get that thrill of freedom in your everyday life…?” – Here’s how >>

Inspiring Non-Adventure Websites

Great websites to get you thinking about life, that just happen not to be about expeditions.

Zen Habits

All about focusing on the important things in life and minimising everything else. If you like this, then try also The Minimalists and Be More With Less.

The School of Life*

A wonderful “concept store” in London with great talks and workshops, and with the unique offer of “Bibliotherapy” in which you are given a prescription of books to read to help with your problems in life. The website has great articles on everyday philosophy.

Escape the City

A website dedicated to people who want to “Do something different”. Be that changing jobs or going on a big adventure. Good place for getting inspired. I started The Next Challenge around about the same time Rob and Dom started “Esc” (they are slightly more successful than me now!)

Tim Ferris’ 4 Hour Blog

Based on his best-selling book the 4-Hour Week, it’s all about trying to get the most out of life in a way that’s a bit like finding cheats in a computer game. If you like this then you should also try the more thoughtful author and blogger Seth Godin and perhaps the more travel-oriented Art of Non-Conformity.

“Can I give you one small piece of advice?” – Start running >>
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The Top 10 Adventurer-Bloggers

Adventurers who actively maintain good and interesting blogs. The closest thing I’ve got to work colleagues.

Alastair Humphreys*

The first and best. Al is as dedicated to his excellent blog as he is to his expeditions.

Emily Chappell*

Cycle courier turned cycle tourists (and back again) who writes really well.

Leon McCarron

Leon emailed me a few years ago before planning his first big bike trip. He’s since cycled 14,00 miles and joined Rob Lilwall on a 3,000 mile walk through Mongolia.

Dave Cornthwaite

Long distance skate-boarding, canoeing, stand-up paddle boarding and 22 other 1000-mile human-powered trips.

Andy Kirk-Patrick

“Hull’s second best climber”. Accessible and entertaining writing about climbing.

Alex Hibbert

Polar guy who has completed the longest ever polar journey and various other hard, cold trips.

Tom’s Bike Trip

Tom Allen spent several years cycling all over the place and has produced the most amazing film of his journey: Janapar.

Sarah Outen

First woman to row the Indian Ocean. Currently on a human-powered journey around the world. I organised the logistics for her trip from London to Tokyo.

Mark Kalch

Walked across Iran, rafted the Amazon and planning to run the longest river on every continent. He is Australian but otherwise fine.

“What defines an adventure?” – Learn how to have an adventure every day >>

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Amazing Expeditions

People who have completed genuinely impressive expeditions.

Jack LaLanne: Swam 1.5 miles towing 70 boats, whilst handcuffed and shackled, aged 70. What a legend.

Borge Ousland: crossed Antarctica on his own and walked to the North Pole, unsupported, in winter amongst other things.

Martin Strehl: swam the length of the Danube, Yangtze, Mississippi and Amazon rivers.

Benoit Lecomte: swam across the Atlantic ocean.

Ed Stafford: walked the entire length of the Amazon river.

Jason Lewis: spent 13 years travelling around the world by human power alone.

Heinz Stucker: been cycling around the world for 48 years.

Historic Ocean Rows: the 12 people who rowed across oceans before satellite phones, GPS or water-makers were invented.

Rosie Swale-Pope: spent four years running 20,000 miles around the world

Two Blind to Ride: legally blind couple cycle length of the Americas.

“You don’t need an event to train for” – Start Training for Life >>
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Books and Films

There are far too many books and DVDs to list but here are a few highlights: