Making the Money Work: Alastair Humphreys on how to fund a life of adventure:

How do you decide to become an adventurer? For Alastair Humphreys, the decision in his twenties stemmed from his love of a challenge, the outdoors and curiosity about the world.

The decision led to a life of adventure, in which Alastair has spent four years cycling round the world, run six Sahara Desert marathons, been on an Arctic expedition, busked his way round Spain, spending only money he could earn, and has written 13 books.

But Alastair’s adventure philosophy isn’t about big expensive trips, he would rather do things on a shoestring - and wrote a book encouraging others to have their own cheap ‘microadventures’ close to home.

Alastair joins Andi Peters and Simon Lambert on the third episode of the Making the Money Work podcast to tell us about funding the life of an adventurer and building a career out of his exploits.

He also explains why he wants to help people live more adventurously – even if that’s just heading out of town and sleeping under the stars on a hillside.

As well as talking microadventures - and encouraging Andi to try out sleeping in his garden - Alastair reveals how he comes up with ideas and money for his feats, whether it is walking a desert or rowing the Atlantic.

He tells Andi and Simon about how he once headed for Spain without a euro in his pocket and no bank or credit cards, with the aim of busking his way round and only spending the money that he could earn from playing the violin.

Alastair also reveals how he manages his money and saves, shares his thoughts on writing books and why self-publishing can pay off, and explains why being told he was an idiot for not having a pension - after a talk to a pensions firm - spurred him into saving for retirement.