Episode 172 of The Adventure Podcast features climber, route setter, and 'Britain's Manliest Man', Jason Pickles. Jason is a proper underdog and a climber’s climber. He's proudly northern, and grew up climbing in Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cumbria before the climbing scene really exploded and turned into what it is now. In this episode, Jason explores his life as a climber, and how we went from young weekend warrior to full time, talented dirt bagger. He speaks to Matt in detail about first...

Episode seven of our specialist series, Explore: How To Plan An Expedition, focuses on Ethical Fieldwork. In this episode, Matt speaks with Dr Alasdair Harris about getting started in field research and expeditions, the moral dilemma around travelling for fieldwork, and the critical need to forge meaningful partnerships with host communities and countries. Al also speaks passionately and thoughtfully about the impacts of environmental conservation on communities who depend on nature. Alasdair...

Episode 171 of The Adventure Podcast features journalist, writer and climber, Andrew Bisharat. Much of Andrew's career has been focussed on writing about climbing, mountains and adventure. He is a leader in adventure journalism. Andrew is of Palestinian heritage, and was the subject of the film 'Resistance Climbing', which documented his first visit to Palestine in 2020 and a local climbing programme there. The focus of this episode is Palestine, and it's not a bright and breezy episode. It's...

Episode 170 of The Adventure Podcast features a legend of the mountain biking world, Lee Craigie. Lee is a bike adventurer, director of The Adventure Syndicate, outdoor therapist and storyteller. In this episode, Lee talks to Matt about her champion-winning mountain biking career, competing in the Commonwealth Games, and the pro's and con's of winning. She goes into detail on her role as Scotland's Active Nation Commissioner, and the challenges she faced in this position. She also covers what...

The sixth episode of our specialist series, Explore: How To Plan An Expedition, continues our Camp Life mini series, where we speak to a single individual about a specific type of expedition terrain. In this Polar episode, our guest is Felicity Aston. You may recognise her from our Five P's episode. In this episode, Matt talks to Felicity about polar accessibility, navigation, managing water, avoiding injuries, and her tips and tricks for dealing with extreme temperatures.  Felicity is a...

Episode 169 of The Adventure Podcast features journalist and author, Taran Khan. Taran's work covers intricate themes of conflict, identity, displacement and belonging. The focus of this episode is her book, 'Shadow City: A Woman Walks Kabul'; over a series of long visits, Taran documents Kabul's changes as it begins to heal from conflict, before the Taliban regained control and she observed the cycle of transformation all over again. Her book shares intimate experiences and keen observations...

Episode 168 of The Adventure Podcast features long-distance cyclist, and 'back-half' of SteLa tandem, Laura Massey-Pugh. Alongside her husband Stevie, Laura holds the record for riding a tandem bicycle around the world. Niche but impressive. Together they've also completed several ultra-cycling events, like All Points North and the Mille Pennines Audax. In this episode, Matt talks to Laura about and how she transitioned from being a commuter cyclist to a long-distance tandem cyclist, how the...

The fifth episode of our specialist series, Explore: How To Plan An Expedition, focuses on leadership, teamwork, and competence. In this episode, Matt speaks with Lucy Shepherd, James Dyer, and Emily Penn about different leadership styles, what being a 'leader' involves, and the responsibilities that come with it. They also discuss female leadership, teamwork, the importance of showcasing vulnerability, and ultimately, if you have to be born a leader or if you can learn to become one. Lucy...

Episode 167 of The Adventure Podcast features animal and wildlife photographer, sailor, and grandparents, Karen and Mark Bennett. They recently sailed from their home in the South of England, up past the Hebrides, through Northern Scotland and on to the Faroe Islands, all in pursuit of free-roaming wild ponies. In this episode, Karen and Mark talk about combining their two individual passions together, and integrating Karen's photography into their sailing adventures. They discuss how the...

The fourth episode of our specialist series, Explore: How To Plan An Expedition, focuses on Camp Life, and specifically Deserts. Camp Life is a mini series within our series, and will feature five different experts on the subjects of deserts, oceans, mountains, rainforests and polar regions. In this episode, Matt speaks with Mark Evans MBE on the nuances of desert travel, how you navigate, source and carry water, mitigate against heat, as well as discussing Mark's top tips for camp craft,...

Episode 166 of The Adventure Podcast features ultra-endurance cyclist, James Mark Hayden. James started by riding fixie bikes around London, before finding deep purpose in athleticism and training. He shifted his focus from road racing to unsupported ultra-endurance racing, and after two failed attempts, won back-to back wins in The Transcontinental Race. Pushing his limits again, he now focuses on off-road ultra-endurance racing, and events like the Silk Road Mountain Race in Kyrgyzstan....

Episode 165 of The Adventure Podcast features adventurer and author, Miriam Lancewood. Miriam grew up in Holland and travelled around Africa and India, before meeting her now husband, Peter. Peter was a 'modern nomad' and they spent the next few years hiking across mountain ranges, before ending up back in Peter's home country of New Zealand. After questioning the life they were living and the life they wanted to live, they gave up their possessions and moved into the wilderness with a tent...

The third episode of our specialist series, Explore: How To Plan An Expedition, focuses on the reality of funding, and who's paying. Money is one of the least favoured things to talk about when it comes to expedition planning but it's unavoidably essential, as without it, your grand plan is very little more than an idea. In this episode, Matt speaks with Dr Eleanor Drinkwater, Ben Saunders, Tom Allen, and Shane Winser. They go deep into grant applications - how to write them, what to include,...

Episode 164 of The Adventure Podcast is a special live episode recorded at Kendal Mountain Festival 2023. This is a definite deviation from our standard episode format, and instead of focussing on a single individual, this is the recording of a live panel discussion in front of a crowd. Matt co-hosted this discussion alongside Matt Barr, who runs the Looking Sideways podcast, and is joined by guests Adam Raja, Soraya Abdel-Hadi and Lauren MacCallum. The theme of this roundtable was The Power...

Episode 163 of The Adventure Podcast features world-class geologist and polar explorer, Bruce Luyendyk. A marine scientist, Bruce expanded his interests over four decades into the geology of California, New Zealand, and primarily, Antarctica. In this episode, Matt and Bruce talk about his background and early inspirations, various field expeditions, and the global significance of geology. They also go into detail on the exploration efforts of Bruce and his team of geologists, which revealed...

The second episode of our new specialist series, Explore: How To Plan An Expedition, focuses on The Five P's - Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance. In this episode, Matt speaks with Nigel Winser, Felicity Aston, and Stephen Jones about the importance of proper planning. The vast majority of the time, expeditions are won or lost in the planning stage, and often, the moment you step into the field isn't the start of your expedition, it's half way. Matt, Nigel, Felicity and Steve discuss...

Episode 162 of The Adventure Podcast features alpinist, climber, adaptive athlete, and kindergarten teacher, Kimber Cross. Kimber is an adaptive climber who was born with one hand, and now uses a custom prosthetic ice tool. She is compassionate, resilient, witty, and candid. In this episode, Kimber talks to Matt about her early life; when did she realise she was different, and how did that impact her? They go on to discuss how she got into ice climbing and alpinism, and the importance of...

Episode 161 of The Adventure Podcast features lawyer and photographer, Rupert Grey. Rupert is, by his own admission, of a world that has now disappeared. His father and grandfather were both colonial governors overseas, and in this episode Matt and Rupert discuss his lineage and how his upbringing and that world impacted him. They travel through a number of Rupert's careers, and explore how his origins and travels shaped him. Rupert also explains how and why he fell in love with Bangladesh,...

The first episode of our new specialist series, Explore: How To Plan An Expedition, focuses on Designing A Successful Field Research Project. In this episode, Matt speaks with Dr James Borrell and Professor Katie Willis about how to plan a field research project. They go into detail about their own experience getting into the world of field science, as well as explore and explain what makes a good research project. They also touch on the associated ethics and responsibilities. Dr James...

Welcome to our new specialist series; Explore: How To Plan An Expedition. This series has been created for the Royal Geographical Society and, at its core, is an introduction to how to plan an expedition and fieldwork project, and how to get involved in these worlds. Our hope is that it will encourage you to undertake your own expeditions - be it big or small in scope, long or short in duration, and personal or altruistic by nature.  In this introductory episode, Matt gives an overview on...

Episode 160 of The Adventure Podcast features adventurer and writer, Al Humphreys. For those of you who have been around for a while, you'll recognise Al as our first ever guest on the podcast. He was the originator of the 'micro-adventures' movement, and after many years adventuring further afield, now focuses on pursuing journeys a little closer to home. In this episode, Al talks about his Seven Summits (but not as we know it) expedition, his latest challenge involving an Ordnance Survey...

Episode 159 of The Adventure Podcast features climber, alpinist and high altitude mountain guide, Jon Gupta. Jon's made a name for himself as a Himalayan high altitude expert, and is responsible for organising and guiding multiple records and world firsts. He's spent most of his adult life in the greater ranges. In this episode, Matt and Jon chat about the world of high altitude, and how the niche of guided mountaineering has changed due to recent media hype. Jon was extremely open and was...

Episode 158 of The Adventure Podcast features mountaineer and filmmaker, Matt Sharman. Matt was on the podcast back in 2020 to talk about his life and experiences in the mountains, but this episode focuses on his recent trip to Pakistan. His latest expedition followed the trail of Shipton and Tilman in the Shaksgam mountains of the Karakoram. Adventures don't always go to plan, and this one derailed pretty spectacularly. They ask: does that matter? Does it make it better? And ultimately, was...

Episode 157 of The Adventure Podcast features Pip Stewart. Pip is a journalist, explorer, neglected disease campaigner, and mother. In 2013, after working as a political and travel reporter in Hong Kong, she decided she wanted to recalibrate her life and cycled 10,000 miles home to London. A few years later and she was heading to the Essequibo River in Guyana for a world-first source to sea expedition. On her return from the rainforest, she discovered she had a flesh-eating parasite. In this...

Episode 156 of The Adventure Podcast features the first person to travel to every country in the world unbroken without flying, Thor C. Pedersen. Originally Thor's trip was meant to take 4 years, but it went on for more than a decade. His story is full of determination, ambition and perseverance. Matt goes deep on Thor's motivations and the big 'why'. Did he do this for himself, or is he trying to live a life he wants to be seen living? Support this show...