Living Adventurously Don't stand on the edge of the diving board with your toes over the edge for hours - Living Adventurously #10
Tomo Thompson is Chief Executive of the charity Friends of the Peak District who work to safeguard the landscape of Britain’s first national park. Tomo is a retired Army Officer, with a recent background in business management consultancy. He also enjoys and instructs outdoor pursuits and is an encyclopaedia of knowledge about expeditions, equipment and fine places to unroll your bivvy bag for the night.
I asked Tomo whether the word 'adventure' was inappropriate for a career in the military. One similarity in our lives was that military life gives you restlessness and an appetite for uncertainty. Now caring for one of the most beautiful corners of Yorkshire, Tomo believes that a small thing which greatly improves life is to go to the top of a hill, sit down, turn off the phone, accept what the weather's doing, and accept both how big and how small you are. Wise words indeed.
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE LIVING ADVENTUROUSLY PODCAST
(It’s completely free, zero hassle to do (click here), but really helpful for me trying to get a new podcast off the ground. If you’re feeling extra kind, please leave a review on the app – that really helps.)
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn (“Alexa, please play the Living Adventurously podcast”) or on your favourite podcast platform such as Overcast, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Breaker, Soundcloud, Castbox, Castro.
THIS PODCAST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY KOMOOT
Your very own outdoor experiences are waiting for you. Go explore more with komoot. Use the voucher code ADVENTUROUS to claim your free region maps bundle.
The personalised planning and navigation tools ensure you plan the adventure that’s perfect for you. Komoot is Europe’s number 1 outdoor app, with route planning and navigation functionality, and strong community-driven inspirational features in the form of recommended Highlights and inspirational route Collections. It is used by nearly 10 million adventurers worldwide. Komoot is becoming the app of choice for cyclists and hikers the world over, with rapid community growth in the UK, the US and other parts of Europe.
You can see my ride’s route on komoot here.
SHOW NOTES
- If you enjoy listening to this episode over a cup of coffee and think it might be worth the price, you can buy me a coffee here: www. ko-fi.com/al_humphreys
- Keep up to date with future episodes (and my other adventures, projects and books) with my free monthly newsletter: alastairhumphreys.com/more/subscribe
- Say hello on Twitter and Instagram: @al_humphreys
- Tomo is on Twitter.
- Friends of the Peak District on Twitter.
- A video of our curry in a cave.
- The Army was a way to get lots of climbing, walking and paddling expeditions in far-flung places.
- Developmental role of challenging expeditions in the outdoors.
- When you've been in put in situations where risk are involved (military / expeditions), you become better placed to deal with risk in normal life.
- One thing that military life gives you is restlessness, and an appetite for uncertainty.
- A small thing that greatly improves life is to go to the top of a hill, sit down, turn off the phone, accept what the weather's doing, and accept both how big and how small you are.
- Leaving a decision for too long you just stew in it. Don't stand on the edge of the diving board with your toes over the edge for hours.
- The importance of looking after yourself so that you can radiate that in your engagements with family and friends.
- Therefore self-improvement need not be deemed selfish.
- Goodbye Things - Fumio Sasaki
- How to Connect with Nature - Tristan Gooley