‘Creatively Adventurous’ 25 ways to travel 1,000 miles

Mark Pawlak    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts     Adventure Travel, america, australia, expeditions, explorer, Kayaking, skateboard, South America, SUP, World record

Being adventurous is just not enough for some people. Take Dave Cornthwaite: he’s set up Expedition1000, a series of 1,000-mile challenges each using non-motorised transport. With world records falling along the way and the media knocking on the door, we thought we’d grab a word with the man (he just paddled the Mississippi on a SUP!)

Best described as ‘creatively adventurous’, Dave is bringing fresh ideas to the world of expeditions and endurance challenges – and a considerable amount to his growing charity pot. Read on and find out what it’s taken to get this far, and where this remarkeable journey is headed.

Dave on the Mississippi

SUP is fairly new to the UK but increasingly popular, as long distance transport how does it compare to kayaking or canoeing?

In 2009, I kayaked over 1500 miles along the length of Australia’s Murray River, at the time it was easily the most enjoyable journey I’d ever made. Now I can safely say that I will never travel by kayak again. Not only is SUP a much better form of all-round exercise, it’s a more rewarding experience. The vantage point is better, it’s more simple, less impact. People will be travelling long distances by SUP until the end of time, it’s glorious.

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Would-be explorers, join the Ice Warrior Project

Mark Pawlak    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts     Adventure, explorer, exploring, north pole, Overlanding, trekking

One of the most inspiring things is learning that there are still places to be discovered. I really thought that we’d pretty much been there, done it and got the T-shirt, but I was very wrong!

Ahead, the Northern Pole of Inaccessibility

‘The Northern Pole of Inaccessibility’ is still waiting for the first batch of explorers to arrive, and in early 2012 a team led by experienced polar explorer Jim McNeil will be gathering data from this most remote region.

They will be visiting the furthest point from land on the Arctic Ocean – 270 miles from the Geographic North Pole.

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Can female explorers save us from extinction?

Mikael Strandberg    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts, Our Experts     expedition, explorer

The other night I went to the monthly lecture at Travellers Club and again the talk was by a young male explorer. Sad to say I’ve heard his story before, and each time it was the same: The hero conquering the earth. The male hero conquering the earth, to be more precise.

So why is it male explorers need to declare themselves the best, the fittest and the strongest adventurers on earth? And why, oh why do they only talk about themselves?

We definitely need more female explorers, because without them we could become extinct. read more

Making your expedition a success, it can be done!

Mark Pawlak    Our Experts     Adventure, everest, explorer, Kathmandu, trekking

Mikael explains how to prepare for success:

“Mikael, I had to abandon my expedition! My idea was to cycle through Africa, but I had to give up after just three months. I lost it along the way. What did I do wrong?”

My answer to this email was simple and direct: “You lost motivation and you hadn’t prepared enough!”

Mikael: "Resting and eating are vital to your success."

His email was similar to hundreds I have received in the last 25 years. After reviewing all of them at length, I realised these failed expeditions often had three things in common: Explorers had lost motivation, and they had failed to understand the need for good sleep, and the benefits of good food.

When the going got too tough, they proved not tough enough to keep on going! Key to any successful expedition is understanding why you go through all these hardships – at the most difficult of moments remember what it is that drives you, and draw on this, it can be your motivation.

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Securing Sponsorship: It can be done!

Mark Pawlak    Our Experts     Adventure, Adventure Sports, explorer, Kathmandu, Travel

“Mikael, can you please tell me how to get sponsorship?”

I must have heard this question a thousand times from potential explorers and adventurers. I think a quarter of all emails I receive today ask this. They are mainly from young people, the world over, who want to organise their first adventure and just don’t have the means.

Believing you are the perfect prospect for a sponsor is not enough. Most bids fail. No matter how good your idea, sponsorship comes with time and a good track record.

Even then it is not easy: I spend a lot of my time looking for my sponsors. So, to help, I have put together three tips for all those budding explorers keen to get out there. read more

Teen Explorer takes on North Pole: Why?

Mark Pawlak    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts     arctic, explorer, north pole, Skiing

Explorers, they’re everywhere. That’s the point. But it is rare when a teenager joins their ranks.

Instead of the stamina, experience and the beard growth capabilities of his much older contemporaries, Parker Liautaud will bring youthfulness and fresh legs to a new expedition.

At just 15-years-old, Parker is now attempting to ski the last degree of the North Pole. read more

Mikael Strandberg: An Adventurer’s Life

Mark Pawlak    Our Experts     Adventure Travel, explore, explorer, Mikael Strandberg

Some people enjoy travel, others love it. For an adventurer, travel is everything. It’s their route from one place to the next, a journey that never ends.

For some, it is about conquering and claiming, proving oneself against the elements. But for the adventurer Mikael Strandberg, it really is more to do with understanding and reaching out to others.

Considered as one of the world’s 50 most important and famous explorers by The Royal Geographical Society, and now blogging here, he shares with us his remarkable experiences so far: read more