The Adventure Podcast

Reza Pakravan is an explorer, filmmaker and writer. In a past life Reza was working the 9 to 5 but today he documents his epic adventures. From travelling the full length of Africa via the Sahel region to earning a Guinness World Record for crossing the Sahara Desert by bicycle. In this episode Reza is incredibly frank about the commercialisation of exploration, his attitude to breaking world records and how he deals with the necessary risks associated with his work. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

George Butler is an award-winning artist and illustrator who specialises in documenting reportage and current affairs in ink rather than with a camera. In 2012 he walked into Syria from Turkey where he started to capture the war-damaged town of Azaz as a guest of the rebel Free Syrian Army. Since then, his work has taken him to Afghanistan, Ghana, Yemen, Belarus and Myanmar, and in this episode George speaks about the extraordinary moments he has witnessed, the pressure to get his art ‘right’ and how he struggles with the concept of bravery.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Describing himself as a "biologist with a lot of other interests", Dr Niall McCann works on the frontline of conservation, and in his spare time has skied across Greenland, rowed the Atlantic and cycled through the Himalayas. In this episode Niall talks to Matt about the accessibility of adventure if you're willing to look for it, his recovery from a near fatal speed flying accident, and the importance of conservation for the future of our planet.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steph Jeavons is an author, journalist and adventurer from Wales. The first person to circumnavigate the globe and ride a motorbike on all seven continents, Steph has always led an unconventional and adventurous life, embracing even the ‘darker adventures’ from her youth. At the age of twenty she found herself in prison – looking out of her cell window and making herself a promise: get off drugs, get out of jail, travel the world. And that’s exactly what she did.In this episode Steph talks to Matt about her round-the-world journey by motorbike, how to start again and what it means to travel alone as a woman.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Leon McCarron is a writer, broadcaster and adventurer - originally from Northern Ireland, he now calls Iraq home. Leon’s championing of ‘slow travel’ has taken him across China on foot, walking through the Empty Quarter Desert and riding across Patagonia on horseback. Now based in Iraq, he uses storytelling to address the myriad misconceptions around this country and its people, and in this episode Matt and Leon get philosophical discussing what ‘home’ really means, the importance of relationships and the responsibility of telling someone else’s story.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Swan is the first person in history to reach both the North and South Poles on foot, and undertook both of these pioneering expeditions in an era before GPS or satellite phones. He has gone on to dedicate his life to protecting Antarctica, and to preserving it as a unique natural reserve for science and peace. In Episode 061, Robert shares his extraordinary experiences of the polar regions, the promise he made to Jacques Cousteau 26 years ago, and how he appears to have a knack for staying alive against all the odds.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cal Flyn is a writer and journalist who lives on Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland. Her latest book tells the story of a dozen abandoned places around the world, from Chernobyl to the volcanic Caribbean, and particularly at how nature reclaims and rebounds after humans leave.Cal’s conversation with Matt explores the peculiar connection humans have to abandoned spaces, as well as the concept of ‘jolie laid’ – or ‘ugly beautiful’ – and how awe and wonder can be found in the bleakest and most desolate of landscapes. We apologise for the audio quality in this episode, recorded remotely via an online app. The conversation is extraordinary, but the sound quality leaves a little to be desired at times. We’re already working on improving this for future episodes that we’re unable to record in the same room.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Acclaimed journalist and author Ed Ceasar has written on subjects as varied as gorillas in the Congo, an imprisoned Russian billionaire and the world’s longest tennis match. Most recently, his book 'The Moth and the Mountain' tells the extraordinary tale of Maurice Wilson's 1935 attempt on Everest. In Episode 059, Ed shares his stories – and his love of stories – from the quirkier and less conventional corners of the world.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are many reasons to venture into the mountains. Matt Sharman is the antithesis of the ‘conqueror’. A gentle but accomplished mountaineer, this episode of the podcast details Matt’s life as a mountain guide, and the formative experiences he’s had at high altitude, and how they’ve changed him. He also tells the story of his personal attempt at Mount Everest and his views on the ever-changing mountain.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Explorer, endurance athlete and renowned speaker, Ben Saunders holds the record for the longest polar journey on foot, and has skied more than 7,000km in the polar regions. In this episode he tells the story of these vast journeys on foot, and of the parallel journey of internal exploration over two decades. Ben shares what inspired him at the outset of his career, and what continues to motivate him now.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.