The Pursuit Zone: Recent Episodes
Paul Schmid
Adventure travel show Interviewing people that dream big, get out of their comfort zones, and take on ambitious pursuits. People that have positive and interesting stories to tell. Travelers, adventure athletes, authors, filmmakers, or volunteers in remote parts of the world. These are just a few of many examples. The Pursuit Zone serves to inspire and challenge people to escape their comfort zones by combining their dreams and ambition with a healthy dose of pursuit.
Ryan Wichelns is the founding editor of Trails Magazine. It is the only independent, quality-over-quantity, and print-only magazine for backpackers and those who love to sleep in the dirt. He is also an outdoor-adventure and environmental freelance writer and journalist. His work has appeared in Backpacker Magazine, Outside Online, Gear Junkie, and more. Ryan first appeared in episode 12 and again in episode 100. You can learn more about Trails Magazine at trailsmag.net. Ryan Wichelns, welcome back to the show.
At the age of 22 she had a spinal injury that ended her dreams of becoming an athlete. Through a lot of pain, disappointment and treatment she slowly got better. Two years later she wanted to prove to herself that she could still achieve big goals so she set out to cycle the Iron Curtain Trail also known as Eurovelo 13. The route took her from Norway on the Barents Sea through 19 countries ending on the Black Sea at the Turkish-Bulgarian border. It was 5 months and 5,600 miles of cycling a diverse range of landscapes, cultures, and climates. You can read more about her adventure at cyclingtheironcurtain.wordpress.com. Laura Scott, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In 2015, with his friend Tarran, he completed a kayaking adventure along the Amazon River, traveling from the headwaters of the Rio Mantaro, high in the Peruvian Andes, to the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil. It was 400 miles of trekking followed by 3,600 miles of kayaking for 4.5 months. You can learn more about Olie and his adventures at oliehuntersmart.com. Olie Hunter Smart, welcome back to the show.
Olie appeared first in TPZ episode 204 about his walk across India
I interviewed West Hansen about his Amazon adventure in TPZ episode 038
The first part of his 40,000-kilometer cycling journey took him from England to Tbilisi Georgia. After a winter break in England earning money, he reunited with his bike and continued through central Asia along the Pamir highway and into the Whakan Valley. He was denied a visa to China so he chose to cycle India from south to north. His adventure continued into Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and down Australia from Darwin to Adelaide enduring the relentless heat of the Outback. It was 775 days on the road with a budget of $5.40 a day. Check out Josiah and his other adventures include sailing across the Indian Ocean and hiking across Europe at josiahskeats.com. Josiah Skeats, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In the summer of 2019, Anna Welch traveled from New Zealand to San Francisco to begin cycling across the United States. She was inspired by the Kate Harris book Lands of Lost Borders – A Journey on the Silk Road. She wanted to see a cross-section of American culture and geography in a way that tested her mental and physical limits. She followed the Western Express and Trans Am routes, using maps from the Adventure Cycling Association completing her journey to Yorktown Virginia in 83 days. Anna says the best thing about the whole adventure was how cycling facilitated a connection to the landscape and the people. You can learn more at thesevariousadventures.wordpress.com. Anna Welch, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Anna's presentation on YouTube
My Kate Harris interview - Episode 162
In 2018 they began a long cycling adventure, heading east from their home country the Netherlands. Some of the places they have cycled include Turkey, Iran, Oman, and Japan. They’ve experienced the extremes of the high mountain passes through central Asia and the heat and humidity of SE Asia. Along the way they captured these moments with their cameras and created some of the best cycling videos on YouTube. Their channel is called Wheels to Wander and you can find them at their website wheelstowander.com. Eric and Maudi, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
The Big Africa Cycle - Peter Gostelow's blog
Earthships
He lives a life of adventure as a travel writer and broadcast journalist, reporting from over 100 countries in the past decade. Back in 2016 he sailed and cycled from China to London in 133 days. The main legs of this journey were a 28-day yacht race across the North Pacific then cycling across the USA in 49 days before getting back into the race on a different crew and sailing 11 days across the North Atlantic from New York to Derry/Londonderry in Northern Ireland. His latest creation is a video series titled Earth Cycle. In the first season he cycles 2000 miles in Norway and Sweden, interviewing locals and shining a light on environmental issues. You can learn more about Simon at simonwparker.co.uk. Simon Parker, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Simon's TedX Talk
BBC Radio Documentary for the Sailing & Cycling Adventure
Christine Ka’aloa runs the YouTube channel GrrrlTraveler. It’s a channel that takes you inside her solo travel adventures around the world. Before YouTube, she lived in New York City for over 8 years, working in tv and video production including working with MTV. When the economy slowed in 2009, she decided to take a gap year to travel abroad. She spent time living in South Korea teaching English before spending 7 months backpacking in India and SE Asia. She also runs a companion travel blog at GrrrlTraveler.com where you can learn more about her travels. Christine Ka’aloa, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Photo credit: Susanna Oreskovic In the late 1920s, the husband-and-wife duo Don and Phyllis Munday believed there was an undiscovered peak in the Coast Range about 200 miles north of Vancouver which was an uncharted part of the province. They called it Mystery Mountain and set out to find it. They achieved their goal in 1928, reaching the lower summit of Mystery Mountain which became known as Mount Waddington, the highest peak inside British Columbia at 13,186 ft. About 90 years later, a team of six set out to retrace the Munday’s expedition to Mystery Mountain using only 1920s era equipment. Greg Gransden directed the documentary film about the adventure titled The Mystery Mountain Project which is available to view online. You can learn more about the film and the team at canadianehsociety.ca. Greg Gransden, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
View on Amazon
View on Vimeo
View on Reelhouse
View on Adventure Sports TV
Don and Phyllis Munday
Photo credit: Museum of North Vancouver
Her travels have taken her all over the world. Her first big adventure was traveling solo through parts of East and West Africa using public transportation. She is also into cycle-touring and spent 2.5 months in SE Asia, 5 weeks in Patagonia, and most recently was back in Africa cycling from Luxor Egypt to Khartoum Sudan. In 2019 she competed in the first Bike Nonstop US race from Portland Oregon to Washington DC. It was her first experience in an ultra-distance cycling race and she completed it self-supported on her Surly Long Haul Trucker. Alissa writes about these experiences and more at exploringwild.com. Alissa, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Her adventure began in Ushuaia Argentina in late January 2013. Nearly 7 months later she cycled into Santiago Chile after 4,600 km accomplishing her goal of unicycling through Patagonia. But the goal was more than just a cycling challenge. It was a way to meet people from different cultures and a way to discover herself at the same time. In 2016, she received the Kris Holm Evolution of Balance award that supports riders seeking creative and self-supported mountain unicycle adventures in remote places. She was granted this along with Kelli Carley for their adventure in the Alps on the Haute Route. You can learn more about Anne-Sophie at her website annesophierodet.com. Anne-Sophie Rodet, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
At the end of 2016 he left his job to begin 2 months of planning for a walk across India from Turtuk in the north to Kanyakumari in the south. The walk would begin in 2017. The year marking 70 years of Indian independence. The goal of the expedition was to learn about how Independence and Partition affected the people that lived through it as well as to demonstrate that with careful planning and determination it is possible to walk over 7 months and 4,500 km through high altitude, extreme heat and monsoon rains with a 50-year-old rucksack. He also made a film about the journey titled The Road to Independence. You can learn more about the film and his adventures at oliehuntersmart.com. Olie Hunter Smart, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
When she was little, she dreamed of becoming a writer. But by her early forties, after dozens of jobs from teaching to real estate to selling insurance, she wondered why she had lost sight of that dream. So, in 2011 she set out from Belgrade Serbia on an old 8-speed mountain bike with a budget of 5 euros per day to begin cycling around the world. Along the way she overcame many hardships. But she took time off when needed to rest, earn money, and most importantly to begin writing books about her journey. Nine years later she has cycled in over 40 countries and is currently in South America with plans to cycle to Alaska. You can learn more at her website snezanaradojicic.com. Snežana Radojičić, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
She left her job as a graphic designer and traveled to New Zealand to start her first bicycle tour. But when it was over, she knew she wanted more. A few years later in 2015 she cycled away from her home in Sweden with the plan to ride back to New Zealand. The journey took her through Europe, Turkey, and Iran before ending with an injured foot on the Pamir highway in Tajikistan. Back in Sweden after 4 months of recovery, she began again on a new route that would take her across Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, and Australia. Near the end of 2017, after 36,000 km, she cycled into Wellington New Zealand marking the end of her amazing adventure. You can learn more at her website mairawa.com. Ann Johansson, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Karma is from Sweden and Scott from New Zealand. They have a passion for long-distance hiking and exploring the world. Not wanting to be owned by their stuff, they sold everything but the packs on their backs and in 2019 began a multi-year trek from North Cape at the top of Norway toward Bluff at the bottom of New Zealand. So far, their journey has taken them through 8 countries. They traveled through the UK during winter then into France and Spain where the adventure was paused in March 2020. You can learn more about them and their adventures at rebootlife.me. Karma and Scott, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Enjoy this bonus episode in celebration of reaching 200 episodes. 24 previous guests sent in recordings of what they are doing now.
Back in 2006 while snowboarding in the French Alps, he met some backpackers and became fascinated with their lifestyle and tales of travel and adventure. Soon after, he quit his job and spent a year working and traveling Australia. A few years later, while backpacking and volunteering in Central America, he decided to retire the backpack and begin traveling in other ways. First, he built a bike-car that seats two cyclists in the front and two in the back. Its maiden voyage was from the UK to Italy and after some modifications he cycled it across Canada and partway down the west coast of the US. Since then he has gone on to do many more adventures including kayaking the Inside Passage. You can learn more about Paul and his adventures at going-solo.co.uk. Paul Everitt, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
At age 15 he emigrated with his parents from Romania to Montreal Canada. He studied software engineering at University, but after graduation he decided to take another path in life. He left on a 9-month adventure to cycle the Americas from the top of Alaska to the bottom of South America, a 34,000 km journey that ultimately lasted more than 3 years. For this he was awarded the European Adventurer of the year in 2018. You can learn more at his website radupaltineanu.com. Radu Păltineanu, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In August 2019, he began a 780 km trek across Madagascar. Joined by three team members, the goal was to walk east to west along Madagascar’s longest river, the Mangoky. The journey was 29 days through jungles and across mountain ranges while avoiding crocodiles and the threat of armed bandits. Part of the adventure is to raise funds and awareness for the loss of wildlife and wild lands across Africa by working with the African Wildlife Foundation. You can learn more about Chaz and his adventures at thewildestjourney.com. Chaz Powell, welcome back to the show.
He is on a mission to use human power to reach the peaks of the seven summits. After cycling to Nepal and summiting Mt. Everest in 2016, he set out on a new adventure to reach the top of Carstensz Pyramid, the highest peak of Mount Carstensz in the Popua Province of Indonesia. He began on bicycle from Nepal, crossing India, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and ending 9,000 km later in East Java Indonesia. From there he continued by rowboat another 4,000 km to Papua Province, but because of local violence, he had to hitch a helicopter ride with a climbing expedition team to cover the final 70 km. It was 2.5 years of training, preparing, cycling and rowing to reach the summit. You can learn more about his adventures at his website jelleveyt.be. Jelle Veyt, welcome back to the show.
They saved their money and quit their jobs to begin traveling the world with the goal of reaching all seven continents. Their fourth continent, Antarctica, is an expensive place to get to so they applied for jobs at McMurdo station, a US Antarctic research base with a summer population of about 1,200 people. You can learn more about their 5 months at McMurdo and their other travels at their website peregrination-travel.com as well their YouTube channel Peregrination. Zach and Leah, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
His passion is undertaking expeditions through the mountains, thousands of kilometers long, on foot and usually alone. These journeys provide an opportunity to look within and ponder life’s most profound questions. For more than 2 decades he has walked over 20,000 km through mountain ranges in Europe and Asia. In 2004 he did a first ever solo thru-hike of the Carpathian Mountains and in 2014 he hiked through the Zagros mountains in Iran. Inspired by a summer adventure in Iceland, he returned to Iceland in 2020 to complete an east to west crossing in winter. You can learn more at his website lukaszsupergan.com. Lukasz Supergan, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
The North Sea Cycle Route extends along the coastline of eight countries bordering the North Sea. It’s about 6,000 km long and is also known as EuroVelo 12. It’s a diverse route covering land below sea level in the Netherlands to cliffs over 1,000 meters high in Norway. Laura Kennington completed this journey over 70 days in the summer of 2018. She has also recently authored a book titled Kairos, an ancient Greek word meaning the supreme moment, where she shares the stories and lessons learned from her adventures. You can learn more at lauraexplorer.com. Laura Kennington, welcome back to the show.
In February 2018, architects Guylee Simmonds and David Schnabel bought a marine survival lifeboat and spent a year converting it for a four-month, 5000 km voyage to the Arctic. Along with a dog named Shackleton, they traveled from the UK to Tromsø, the largest city in the Arctic, situated far north in the Norwegian Fjords. The aim of the expedition was to design a self-sufficient boat capable of taking on the harsh environments, explore the wild and isolated Arctic landscape, and document the adventure through photography and film. You can learn more at the website arctic-lifeboat.com. Guylee and David, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Over the past decade she has done many adventures which have taken her to the Arctic, the Haute route, Bolivian high peaks, Denali, and Iceland to name a few. Her first time in the Amazon jungle was a short trip to Guyana in 2014. She went back in 2020 with the mission to cross the Kanuku mountain range. With a small group of Amerindian tribe members, the team completed the crossing after a few weeks in the mountains. They encountered jaguars, bushmaster snakes and bullet ants. You can learn more about Lucy and her adventures at lucyshepherd.net. Lucy Shepherd, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
She is a Swiss outdoor explorer that likes the challenge of winter adventure. She has competed in 2 arctic winter races in Finland, the Rovaniemi 150 and 300, as well as the Arrowhead 135 winter endurance race in northern Minnesota. In February 2019 she set out on an expedition called Arctic 1000, a 1000 km solo and unsupported trek in Lapland, the northern most region of Finland. Her planned route was from the Lapland capital Rovaniemi to Lake Inari and back, but due to equipment troubles her journey ended at 700 km on day 20. You can learn more about her adventures at her website thestridersadventures.blogspot.com. Rachel Frei Bandieri, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In the summer of 2012, while working a regular job and in search of a creative outlet, she decided to combine her passion for writing and travel to create the blog WonderfulWanderings.com. Little did she know less than 3 years later, she would quit that regular job to focus on the blog full time to serve a community of travelers. Beginning this year, she left her home base in Belgium and set off on an adventure to visit a new destination every month to try the location-independent lifestyle and perhaps in the end discover a new home base. You can learn more at her website WonderfulWanderings.com. Sofie Couwenbergh, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Sofie's article on Chris Guillebeau's site
Sofie on the Side Hustle School podcast
While in Kyrgyzstan in 2018 he bought a Russian-made 1987 UAZ-452 van. After converting it into a campervan he drove off to explore central Asia, Iran, and Pakistan. After Pakistan, he shipped the van to Argentina where he has begun a multi-year road trip to Alaska. But before all of this, he lived on sailboats, cycled the length of New Zealand, and rode a motorcycle through Vietnam. You can learn more about these adventures at his YouTube channel Huub Vlogs. Huub van der Mark, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
She is one of the UKs most accomplished female adventurers whose achievements include summitting both Ama Dablam and Mount Everest, racing 1000 km across Mongolia on horseback, and completing the 243 km Kathmandu Coast to Coast race on New Zealand’s South Island. She is also the founder of How Many Elephants. An organization which raises the awareness of the plight of elephants in Africa and raises funds for anti-poaching projects. You can learn more at her website hollybudge.com. Holly Budge, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Starting in Spain, she cycled 10,000 km across 13 countries to reach Ghana on a bike she built from recycled components. It was an adventure she called Ready Steady Slow in an effort to remind herself not to rush and to patiently take in everything going on around her. But going slow can be a difficult challenge when the setbacks begin to mount like colliding with a taxi in Senegal and injuring a knee to cycling through the desert in extreme heat to not having the correct tools to fix a disintegrating wheel. You can learn more about her journey at her website readysteadyslow.wordpress.com. Nikki Ray, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
She’s trekked across the wilderness of Arctic Sweden, walked 1,600 km along ancient pilgrimage routes in France and Spain, summitted Mt. Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa, paddled a tandem kayak 4,000 km from London to the Black Sea coast in Romania, and most recently completed an adventure she calls The Green Ribbon, a 1,000 km solo trek along the length of the mountains between Norway and Sweden. You can learn more at her website annablackwell.co.uk. Anna Blackwell, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
He lived in western New York and Hawaii before moving to Cambodia in 2015 where he explored the country by motorbike. During his time in Cambodia he suffered a stroke and luckily fully recovered from it. But the experience made him think he needed to go on a long adventure. His first big cycle tour was in 1990 across the United States. Now, he’s on an even longer cycle trip he calls Strokes to Spokes. Starting in Cambodia his travels have taken him through SE Asia, India, Nepal, and currently Australia. And as a photographer his camera keeps pulling him in directions he wouldn’t otherwise have gone. You can learn more at his website adventuresofaregularguy.com. Scott Sharick, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Scott's book on Blurb
She had an ordinary life as a geography teacher before setting out to live a life of adventure. She is passionate about traveling and human powered exploration and spent 13 months cycling the length of Australia and New Zealand and then from Indonesia to Nepal. The journey opened her eyes to the kindness of strangers, but also to the harmful effects humans have on the environment. She also spent a month paddling the rivers of rural Bangladesh and recently returned home from walking the length of Iceland. You can learn more at her website alicebowers.com. Alice Bowers, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
He is an Eagle Scout, a former military aviator, and an avid traveler who has explored over 35 countries. He rode a recumbent bicycle across the US using the Race Across America route and in July 2018 began rowing from Neah Bay, Washington to Australia, making landfall 11 months later at Trinity Beach, Queensland – a journey of over 7,000 statute miles in a custom-made rowboat and the longest solo, non-stop row from North America in the history of modern ocean rowing. He is also raising funds for Water Mission - a non-profit that builds and implements safe water, sanitation, and hygiene solutions for people in developing countries and disaster areas. You can learn more about him at his website jacobadoram.com. Jacob Adoram, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
With his dog Saku, he explores the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. In 2017 they crossed Newfoundland - 700 km by foot, snowshoe, and packraft. In 2018 with the support from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and Mountain Equipment Coop, they began a crossing over the Labrador Peninsula on foot and by canoe. It was a 1,700 km dream project and a way to share some of these last undeveloped wilderness areas. In the end, their goal of reaching the shores of Hudson Bay fell short by 700 km as high winds pinned them down for 28 days. You can learn more about these journeys at newfoundlandexplorer.com. Justin Barbour, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
- Show Notes
- Justin Barbour's YouTube Channel
- Justin Barbour's Instagram
The cycling books he read fueled his passion for travel and adventure. The mountains of South America, the deserts of Africa, the freezing tundra of Siberia became the backdrop of his daydreams. In 2018, after 12 years in the British Army, he left that life behind to begin cycling to these far way places. Since then, his desire to tell his story through video has grown and he’s steadily improving his filmmaking craft as he cycles his way around the world. You can learn more at his website adamhugill.com and at his YouTube channel Adam Hugill – Cycling the World. Adam Hugill, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
- Show Notes
- Scott Sharick Photography
- Adventures of a Regular Guy
- mrpumpy.net
In the summer of 2018, Chris Haag and Sophie George began cycling south from Homer Alaska toward their goal of reaching Ushuaia Argentina. With North America behind them they are currently in Colombia. You can follow the adventure at their website theplacesipee.com. Chris and Sophie, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Ian and Jamie. Photo credit to Will Saunders
After the Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson in 1830, the US government began a series of relocations of Native Americans from their ancestral lands in the southeast to areas west of the Mississippi River. The 5 civilized tribes consisting of Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Chickasaw and Choctaw were all part of the forced removals. In 1838 the Cherokee people were removed, via a series of land and water routes, from their ancestral homelands in the Great Smoky Mountains to Tahlequah Oklahoma. It’s estimated that of the 16,000 removed, between 4-8000 Cherokee died from hunger, exposure and disease. This journey was known amongst the Cherokee as the “The Trail Where They Cried”, today known as the “The Trail of Tears”. Beginning in mid-March 2019, Photographer Ian Finch and Jamie Barnes retraced the original trail from The Smokey Mountains into Tahlequah Oklahoma. Over 81 days they descended flooded rivers, canoeing close to 1000 miles, then continuing on foot for 400 miles. You can learn more about their journey at Ian’s website www.ianefinch.com, and at www.sidetracked.com where you can learn more about their upcoming feature article in Sidetracked Magazine’s October issue. Ian Finch and Jamie Barnes, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Ian previously appeared in Episode 129.
For Tim and Linda, it’s been over 400 days on the road so far since cycling away from Europe in the spring of 2018. Some of the highlights include a month through Turkey, riding through the Pamir mountains in Tajikistan, and cycling for 3 months in China. You can learn more about their adventure at pedallingtheplanet.wordpress.com. Tim and Linda, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
- The Adventure Cycle Touring handbook
- Why Don't You Fly? Backdoor to Beijing by Bicycle
After working and hitchhiking around Australia for 2 years, he bought a bike and spent 3 months cycling around New Zealand. He then cycled back to his home in England starting in Papua New Guinea where he came down with Dengue fever and was chased by men wielding machetes. After working 16 months in England, the cycling adventure continued through Northern Europe before riding south into the Balkans. In December 2018 he rode into the Middle East and onward into North Africa. Currently in Tanzania, he is just over halfway to his goal of cycling 100,000 km through 100 countries on 6 continents. Part of his adventure is to raise funds for Build Africa, a UK charity working to fight poverty in Kenya and Uganda by using education to combat inequality. You can learn more about his adventures at his website tristanridley.com. Tristan Ridley, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In late October 2018 she traveled to New Zealand to begin a 4-month southbound thru-hike of Te Araroa, a 3,000 km walking track across the north and south islands. It’s a challenging hike that took her across various landscapes including beaches, cities, forests, and volcanoes. You can read more about Te Araroa and her other adventures at her website blissfulhiker.com. Alison Young, welcome back to the show.
She cycled away from her hometown of Sundsvall Sweden in the early spring of 2015 with the goal to cycle around the world and to experience foreign lands and cultures. She wanted to overcome the personal challenges of riding into the ruthless headwinds, the freezing cold, the tormenting heat and be able to say in the end, “Girl. You actually did it.” But this bike ramble was also something bigger – a fundraiser in support of ActionAid, an organization defending the human rights of the world’s most vulnerable girls and woman. After 33 months, 51,000 km, and 45 countries she accomplished her mission and you can learn more about it at thebikeramble.com. Fredrika Ek, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Photos by Martijn Doolaard at espiritu-libre.com.
Trekking to Everest base camp at 5,380 meters is not an easy adventure, but the reward is spending time in the incredible mountain landscapes of the Himalayas. Russ Hepton began his 2-week trek starting in Kathmandu Nepal. After an exhilarating 45-minute helicopter flight to Lukla he set out with his guide toward Namche Bazaar at 3,340 meters and spent a day acclimating. The trek continued toward Dingboche at 4,410 meters and another rest day. After reaching Everest base camp he attempted a challenging hike toward the top of Kala Patthar which stands at 5,643 meters. You can learn more at his YouTube channel called The Trail Hunter and his website thetrailhunter.com. Russ Hepton, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
The guide service Russ used: Magic Expedition Trekking and Tours
Death Valley National Park on the California Nevada border is the hottest, driest and lowest of all the US national parks. It is also the largest National Park in the lower 48 with a diverse environment of sand dunes, salt flats, mountains and valleys. For three years beginning in 2015, Roland Banas tried and failed 4 times to cross the park solo and unsupported. In December 2018 he began his 5th attempt. Starting out with a 85-pound pack of food, water and gear, Roland finally completed the trek in 6 days, 23 hours and 55 minutes covering a distance of 166 miles. Roland has written about his adventure at explorersweb.com. Roland Banas, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
From his home in Reading England to the finish line in Reading, PA it was a journey of 46,500 km spanning over 3 years. On a bicycle he built for less than 500 pounds he cycled through 39 countries experiencing the stunning vistas of Kyrgyzstan and the soul-crushing roads of the Atacama Desert. In El Salvador he was hit by a car and hospitalized, but continued on with a new bike. As part of the adventure he is raising funds for The Royal Berks Charity and SOS Children's Villages and you can learn more at his website reading2reading.com. Tim Millikin, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In June 2016, Oscar Scafidi and teammate Alfy Weston assembled the 1960s era Klepper Aerius II foldable kayak and set out on the Kwanza River in Angola – which flows 600 miles from its source on the Bié Plateau to the Atlantic Ocean. During their roughly 4-week journey they experienced many unexpected delays from dangerous hippos and fishing dams that nearly capsized their boat to government authorities that attempted to deport them. Part of their adventure was to raise funds for The Halo Trust - the oldest and largest humanitarian landmine clearance organization which has been working for over two decades in Angola, a country heavily contaminated with landmines as a result of the 27-year civil war following independence from Portugal. You can learn more about the adventure in Oscars book Kayak the Kwanza - Source to Sea Along Angola’s Longest River and at kayakthekwanza.com. Oscar Scafidi, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Donate to The Halo Trust
Kayak the Kwanza movie
Joel is the pilot and Keegan is the copilot. They are the first team in the world to drive a solar powered, 100% electric camper van from Alaska to Argentina. The adventure is called Route del Sol and the goal is to make it to the bottom of South America by the summer of 2020. The first part of Route Del Sol has taken them through the landscapes of Alaska, the Yukon Territory and British Columbia. Now they’re in part two and making their way down the west coast of the United States. You can learn more at routedelsol.com. Joel Hayes and Keegan Taccori, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Located between India and Myanmar, Bangladesh is a country about the size of England and Wales, but with three times the population. From January through March 2019, Ian Packham was on a self-supported trek across Bangladesh. It was 665.8 miles on foot starting in Saint Martins island in the south and ending in the country’s northernmost point. His plan is to uncover the stories of one of the world’s hidden destinations. You can learn more about Ian and his adventures at his website encircleafrica.org. Ian Packham, welcome back to the show.
Song of the Little Road by Graham Finch http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/7360
A lifelong love of sailing and adventure has taken Katherine Knight all over the world, from Iceland to Canada, the arctic and Cape Horn. Her home, with her partner Eric, is a 50ft expedition yacht called Narwhal. This past year they set sail on an amazing journey from Scotland across the arctic circle to Norway. Their expeditions also devote time to Clean Up the Arctic, removing large amounts of trash from the beautiful arctic waters. Katherine is also passionate about empowering people to get beyond their doorstep and fall in love with adventure. You can learn more about the Narwhal and their sailing expeditions at narwhalexpeditions.com. Katherine Knight, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Film link ‘The Adventure Itinerary’ https://vimeo.com/306564120#at=2
In January 2019, Chaz Powell and Tim Roberts set off on a 1,120 km trek of the Gambia River from its source in the Fouta Djallon highlands of central Guinea to the coastal city of Banjul in The Gambia. It was a challenging 46 days through extreme temperatures and harsh landscapes, with constant hunger and dehydration as a companion along with the wildest of animals. With unending hospitality and kindness from the locals they were able to reach the Atlantic ocean, becoming the first people to document a full source-to-sea trek of the Gambia River. For this expedition, Chaz partnered with the African Wildlife Foundation, one of the oldest and largest conservation organizations focusing on the protection of African wildlife and wildlands. You can learn more about Chaz and his adventures at thewildestjourney.com. Chaz Powell, welcome back to the show.
www.justgiving.com/TheWildestJourney
William Shears on left
Having never ridden a motorcycle, William Shears traveled to Vietnam to begin a roughly 1,200-mile motorbike adventure from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh. He bought a second hand 110cc Honda he called Black Rose and set off on the Ho Chi Minh Highway with a camera to capture the journey. You’ll find it on YouTube in a video titled How to Motorbike Vietnam and you can learn more about William at his website williamshears.co.uk. William Shears, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Out of almost 200 applicants, Hollie Woodhouse along with 3 other young explorers were selected to take on the 2018 Antarctic Heritage Trust Inspiring Explorers’ Expedition – a 560-kilometer crossing of the Greenland ice cap on skis in tribute to Fridtjof Nansen, the renowned polar explorer and humanitarian, who completed the first crossing of Greenland 130 years prior. Their team battled hurricane conditions, heavy snowfalls and illness, but after starting on the west coast on May 4th they arrived in the east coast village of Tasiilaq on June 1st. Hollie is also the creator of Say Yes To Adventure magazine. It's filled with inspiring adventure stories and photos. You can learn more about Hollie and her adventures at holliewoodhouse.com. Hollie Woodhouse, welcome back to the show.
The Volvo Ocean Race is an around the world sailing race over nine months and 45,0000 nautical miles. Within each race team is an embedded multimedia journalist whose job is to give the fans on shore a taste of what the race is really like. It’s one of the toughest jobs in sports media and Jen Edney was one of the ten journalists embedded this year. Jen is a traveler and adventure storyteller using photography and video and you can learn more about her at www.edneyap.com. Jen Edney, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Adam Sultan first appeared in episode 117 where he talked about his project called #LifeYears aimed at making every single year of his life memorable and unique. Two years ago, Adam began a multi-year cycling adventure called #RideTheWorld and he’s here to talk about how the adventure has unfolded so far. You can learn more about Adam at his website adamtsultan.com. Adam Sultan, welcome back to the show.
In 2011 Kate Harris and her friend Mel set off from Istanbul to begin a journey on the fabled silk road trading route. It was an adventure that lasted 10 months and covered nearly 10,000 km as they cycled in 10 different countries as well as the forbidden Tibetan plateau where they skirted checkpoints and did their best to avoid Chinese authorities ultimately completing their journey in the city of Leh in the Indian Himalayas. You can read about this self-supported adventure in Kate’s new book Lands of Lost Borders – A Journey on the Silk Road and check it out online at cyclingsilk.com. Kate Harris, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Kate's website...
Jeff Commissaris goes on hitchhiking and cycling adventures. He’s cycled from San Francisco to Seattle and from Colorado to Nashville. He’s hitchhiked around America and from Colorado to Argentina and most recently hitchhiked Europe then cycled from Tanzania to South Africa. You can learn more about his adventures at his Facebook page named hitchhiking the world with a guitar. Jeff Commissaris, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Every year since 2014 George Maurer has gone on an epic bike ride to raise funds for cancer research in memory of his friend Carolyn Held who died from cancer in 2012. In that time he has raised 45,000 dollars for research at the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. George names his cycling adventures using his age and the destination so in 2016 it was 50 across Iceland and in 2017 it was 51 across Sri Lanka. This year it will be 52 across Canada. You can learn more about his adventures at georgemaurer.com. George Maurer, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In the middle of the Karakorum range in Pakistan is a place called Concordia. It’s where the Baltoro glacier meets the Godwin-Austen glacier. It’s a place known as the throne room of the mountain gods because it’s surrounded by four 8,000-meter peaks, one of those being K2 the second highest peak in the world. In 1994 Alison Young found herself in Islamabad visiting her father who was stationed at the US embassy. Wanting to trek to Concordia, she was able to tag along on an overland journey with a Dutch and German couple. It was a difficult and hazardous 25-day trek that you can learn more about at alisonyoungproductions.com. Alison Young, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Tim Moss has a new book titled With the Sun on Our Right. It chronicles the 16-month ‘round-the-world cycle tour he and his wife Laura began in 2013 cycling over 13,000 miles in 26 countries and 4 continents. Before this, Tim spent 5 years working in the expedition industry supporting expeditions on all 7 continents. His own expeditions have included scaling unclimbed mountains in Kyrgyzstan, Bolivia and Russia and traveling around the world using eighty different methods of transport as well as setting the Guinness World Record for the longest distance cycled in a rickshaw. You can learn more about Tim and his adventures at thenextchallenge.org where he encourages others to go on adventures and offers The Next Challenge Expedition Grant each year to help them do so. Tim Moss, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
The Great Plains Trail is a recently established long distance hiking trail in the US. It stretches for 2,200 miles from the desert of west Texas to the Montana Canadian border. It crosses 3 National Parks, 3 National Monuments, 10 National Forests and Grasslands, 5 State High Points, and 15 State Parks. Luke Jordan spent 85 days on the trail in 2016, becoming the first person to thru-hike it. You can learn more about the trail at greatplainstrail.org and more about Luke at stridernct.com. Luke previously appeared in episode 30 talking about his thru-hike of the North Country Trail. Luke Jordan, welcome back to the show.
In October 2016 Faye Shepherd began a 6-month, 5,500-mile cycling adventure through Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. Starting in La Paz with her teammate Anna McNuff, the two cycled south to Ushuaia on a mostly off-road route through the Andes. With over 100,000 meters of elevation gain they cycled the equivalent height of Mt. Everest over 10 times while wild camping most of the journey. As Faye writes in her blog “I thought these facts and figures were going to be most important in terms of a ‘sense of accomplishment’, but they’re not. In fact, they seem wholly inconsequential against a backdrop of extraordinary experiences and memories that we have been fortunate enough to be able to create.” You can learn more about Faye and her adventures at fayeshepherd.wordpress.com. Faye Shepherd, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Anna McNuff previously appeared in episodes 40 and 97.
This summer Adam “Chip” Vachon will depart on a thru-hike of the Appalachian trail, one of the 11 US national scenic trails extending 2,200 miles from Georgia to Maine. He will start at Khatadin on June 1st and head southbound, planning to complete the hike in 70 days. He will accomplish this by going ultralight and by hiking well after sunset. This will be his second time on the AT, having completed 800 miles in 2010. In this episode we talk about what it takes to prepare for an ultralight and fast thru-hike adventure and the plan is to have Chip back on the show after his hike to tell the story of how it went. Chip Vachon, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Check out Chip's website at www.achipmunkhikes.com
In March 2014 Steph Jeavons set off on a solo ‘round the world overland journey on her Honda CF250L motorbike. She completed her adventure 4 years later becoming the first Brit to do so by riding in all 7 continents. It was an adventure not about the bike or speed, but about living, learning, and enjoying life. She endured everything from extreme heat to the freezing cold while camping, couch surfing, and staying with fellow bikers. She is also fundraising for Rally4Life. An organization dedicated to relieving poverty by providing education, food, and shelter to needy families around the world. You can learn more about Steph and her adventure at onestephbeyond.com. Steph Jeavons, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Raised in Oregon and Texas, Stevie Anna lives for travel and adventure. While living in a van with her dog Darcie, she traveled to 49 states and she’s guided backcountry horse trips both in Alaska and Minnesota. She also works as an expedition project manager. In 2015 she moved to Argentina and began planning – Patagone - an adventure on horseback through Patagonia from the dry steppe to the high mountain passes. It was an exploration over 3 months and nearly 1,200 miles of the stunning wilderness of Patagonia and it was a way to travel slow and reconnect with the wild elements often missed. You can learn more about Stevie and the Patagone adventure at her website stevieanna.com. Stevie Anna, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
For 3 years Tim Cope traveled by horseback through the Eurasian steppe from the ancient capital city of Karakoram in Mongolia to the Danube River in Hungary. It was a 6000-mile journey last attempted in the days on Ghengis Khan. For most of the journey he was alone except for his horses and his dog named Tigon. The adventure was a tribute to the nomadic way of life. Along the way he encountered a cast of very interesting characters. Some were thieves not to be trusted yet most proved to be incredibly generous. You can learn more by reading his book titled On The Trail of Genghis Khan, An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads – and from his website timcopejourneys.com. Tim Cope, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In the summer of 2017 Daniel Alvarez finished a very long walk across Europe. He started at the top of Norway and continued south across Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, Spain, and Portugal following various trails including Sweden’s Kungsleden and the Camino de Santiago. It was a year-long journey covering over 6,000 miles and he writes about this adventure and others at his website predictablylost.com. Daniel previously appeared in episode 5 talking about his long-distance kayaking adventure from Minnesota to Florida. Daniel Alvarez, welcome back to the show.
- Show Notes:
- Garmin InReach
- REI Backpack
- Tarp Tent
- Gaia GPS App
- Western Mountaineering Sleeping Bag
- YouTube Reindeer video
- PowerDirector App
June 2018 will be the second time Ralph Karsten starts the Tour Divide at the Grand Depart in Banff Canada. The Tour Divide is an annual self-supported mountain bike race that follows the nearly 2,700-mile Great Divide Mountain Bike Route from Canada to the Mexican border. Ralph also enjoys primitive camping, practicing survival skills, and flying hang-gliders. Ralph Karsten, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
- Show Notes:
- Tour Divide
- Bikepacking.net
- Ride the Divide movie
- Inspired to Ride movie
- The Lake Pepin 3-Speed Tour
- Born to Run
- Jones Bikes
- Banff Airporter
- Salsa Cutthroat
- ZPacks Hexamid
- REI
- Garmin eTrex
- Spot locator
- Colorado Trail
- Arizona Trail
- Black Hills Expedition
- MTBCast
- Adventure Cycling Association
- Mike Hall
- Alessi brothers on YouTube
- Atma-Sphere
My next guest is Daniel Alvarez. After completing four long-distance hikes including the 2,000 mile Appalachian trail and the 3,000 mile Continental Divide Trail, he traded his hiking boots for a paddle and traveled 4,000 miles in a sea kayak from Minnesota’s Northwest Angle to Key West, Florida. It was a plan so audacious that Outside magazine awarded him a $10,000 grant. It was a 9-month adventure he completed on March 9, 2013. Now he has turned his boat around and is paddling his way back. You can learn more about Daniel at his website www.predictablylost.com. Daniel Alvarez, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Seamus Crawford and Paddy Montgomery previously appeared in Episode 118 to talk about the first two legs of their journey - The Race Across Europe and the Marathon des Sables. Now they are back to talk about their successful completion of leg 3 - the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge, a 3,000-nautical-mile row across the Atlantic Ocean. They are fundraising for The Prostrate Project and Shooting Star Chase and you can learn more about their adventure at saddlesandsea.com. Seamus and Paddy, welcome back to the show.
Photo credit: Cat Vinton
The Bicentennial National Trail stretches over 5,000 km and crosses some of eastern Australia's most remote and spectacular landscapes. It took 13 months for Alienor Le Gouvello and her 3 horses - Roxanne, River and Cooper - to complete the trail making her the first person to finish it on wild horses. Before setting out she had to break and train these wild horses, known as brumbies, with the help of the Guy Fawkes Heritage Horse Association. Alienor also traveled to Mongolia to compete in the 6-day 480 km Gobi Desert Cup endurance race on Mongolian horses where she finished in first place. You can learn more about Alienor and her adventures on Facebook at wild.at.heart.australia. Alienor Le Gouvello, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Ben (left) and James
In 2015 Benjamin Sadd and James Trundle decided to have an adventure and make a film. They wanted to build on their previous journeys and do something on a grander scale so they came up with the idea of building a dugout canoe. They traveled to the Ecuadorian Amazon, lived in an indigenous community that helped them build the canoe, then launched it into a river and continued their adventure through Ecuador's Yasuni region - one of the most biodiverse areas of the world. These 2 months are captured in their award-winning film DugOut - An Amazon Adventure which you can find online at vimeo.com You can learn more about Benjamin at trailtoanywhere.com and more about James at jamestrundle.com. Ben and James, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Larry Mishkar backpacked 400 miles across Iceland over 25 days. He traveled from the southern shore to the northern coast on the volcano route and today he will share with you why Iceland might be the best place for your first international backpacking trip. You can learn more about Larry at larrymishkar.com. Larry Mishkar, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Travel resources:
http://www.phlumf.com/travels/iceland/index.shtml
Map of Iceland
After university in 2014 and with £9,000 in the bank, 22 year old Ben Page flew to the bottom of South America to begin an around the world cycling adventure. As Ben reached Canada he began planning a winter ride on a fat tire bike through the Yukon Territory from Whitehorse to the village of Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic Ocean. This 2,000 km winter journey is documented in an award-winning film titled The Frozen Road and you can learn more about it at Ben's website anotherhorizon.org. After Ben thawed out he continued cycling for another year and a half across Asia, Africa, and Europe. Ben Page, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In February 2017, Callie Morgigno set off with teammate Charlie Walker on a 5,500 mile adventure along the perceived border between Europe and Asia from the Russian arctic to the Bosporus strait in Turkey. It was a triathlon over 9 months as they skied through the Ural mountains, kayaked the Ural river, and cycled along the Black Sea coast to the finish. They call their expedition Following the Line and you can learn more about their journey at followingtheline.com. Callie is a seasoned traveler, having trekked across Mali by donkey, hiked through parts of Afghanistan, and cycled solo across Asia. Callie Morgigno, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Listen to Charlie Walker talk about his cycling adventure in Episode 087.
James Didier began mountaineering in 2011 in Colorado. Since then he has climbed several significant Alpine peaks in North America and Europe. His most recent adventure was a summit of Europe's highest peak - Mount Elbrus in Russia at 18,510 feet. James climbed without a guide and on a total budget of less than 1,500 dollars including travel expenses making Mt. Elbrus possibly the most affordable of the seven summits and one of the easiest to get to. James Didier, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Mountain Project
Pilgrim Tours
Greetings from TPZ headquarters where I produce The Pursuit Zone Adventure Travel Podcast.
In this episode I talk about where I've been for the last year and about ideas I have for the podcast going forward. I also tell you about the biggest mistake I've made as a podcast producer. Let me know your thoughts and give me your feedback.
In this episode I talk about:
- Why I burned out
- The online business I started
- New podcast artwork on the way
- Podcast show title change
- A voice message experiment
- How much content can I produce
- Can you help me create content?
- Costs of producing the show and how I might offset the costs
- My desire to outsource the editing
- Starting a book club
- Sending content to Youtube
- Reposting content
- Things I need to improve on like show notes and social media
- My biggest mistake as TPZ producer
- Tag lines
- Happy New Year!
Mike Summers is an outdoor enthusiast with a passion for hiking. In December 2016 he set out westbound to complete the Ice Age Trail in winter. It's one of the 11 National Scenic Trails and exists entirely in the state of Wisconsin. It took Mike 58 days to thru-hike the 1,077 miles. You can learn more about the Ice Age Trail at iceagetrail.org and more about Mike at improbablebutpossible.com. Mike Summers welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
For over a decade, Chaz Powell has been backpacking in remote places around the world. Starting in August 2016, Chaz began an attempt to walk the length of the Zambezi river starting at the source near Kalene Hills in northwestern Zambia. He walked for nearly 1,300 miles in 97 days through one the most remote parts of the world, most of the time alone and self-supported. The goal was to reach the Indian Ocean, but Chaz fell short by 600 miles due to the dangers of traveling through Mozambique. His main goal is to raise money and awareness for wildlife conservation throughout Africa and to highlight the growing concerns of wildlife crimes across the globe. He is supporting the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation and you can learn more about Chaz and his adventures at thewildestjourney.com. Chaz Powell, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In the summer of 2010, Leigh Timmis pedaled away from his home in England to begin an around the world cycling adventure. Somewhere along the way he realized that cycling every painstaking and dangerous mile of the journey is not as important as enjoying it. Leigh cycled in support of the Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre, a charity that provides week-long holidays to children in need. After 7 years Leigh wrapped up his adventure a few days ago and you can learn more about it at his website pedal360.com. Leigh Timmis, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In March 2014, Steve and Jo Dew-Jones traveled to the bottom of South America and began hitchhiking north. In November, they arrived in Homer Alaska after traveling over 26,000 miles with 392 drivers. Their only rule was to hitchhike and not use paid transportation. They wrote a book about the adventure titled The Rule of Thumb 2 […]
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With 45 days of food crammed into their 17 foot expedition kayaks, Will Copestake and his friend Seumus began an 840 km expedition through the icy fjords of Chilean Patagonia – a perfect harmony of the brutal and the beautiful as Will writes at his website willcopestakemedia.com. Will previously appeared in episode 53 talking about […]
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In the summer of 2016, a team of five from Oxford University traveled into the Arctic Circle to ski east to west across the island of Spitsbergen – part of a Norwegian archipelago. They retraced a 1923 expedition that had contributed a great deal of scientific knowledge about the region. Their goal is to conduct […]
The post Mountaineering in Svalbard with James Lam : TPZ 137 appeared first on The Pursuit Zone.
In the summer of 2015, Jeremy Cronon set out on a 32,000 mile road trip through the USA. He wanted to better understand the American wilderness and its conservation ethic by visiting places we have chosen to protect. With his faithful companion Sam, a 2008 Atomic blue Honda Element outfitted like a camper van, Jeremy […]
The post Road Trip thru US National Parks with Jeremy Cronon : TPZ 136 appeared first on The Pursuit Zone.
In 2011, Henrik Frederiksen quit his job as a marine civil engineer to pursue his dream of cycling around the world. But when he reached Ecuador, after 2.5 years, he was looking for a change. So with his Bulgarian friend Peycho, the two decided to build a bamboo raft and float down the Amazon river. […]
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Olly Hicks and George Bullard kayaked from Greenland to Scotland. Their 22 ft tandem sea kayak was customized to allow them to lay flat in the cockpits and rest during the long crossings. From Greenland they paddled to Iceland then made their way along its northern coast before starting the 4 day and 4 night […]
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Cycling from Belgium to Nepal to attempt a climb of Mount Everest, Jelle Veyt first stopped to climb Mount Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe. After summiting, he continued on cycling through Kazakhstan, China, Tibet and Nepal until reaching Kathmandu. After the roads ended he continue on foot to Everest base camp to join his […]
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34,000 km, 26 countries, 1 gear. In 2015 Markus Stitz began his round the world cycling adventure on a single speed bike. For the sake of simplicity, he abandoned not only the gears, but the traditional racks and panniers in favor of a bikepacking setup built on top of a Surly Ogre frameset. Iceland, New […]
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Federico Cabrera is cycling thousands of miles through developing countries with a portable photography studio. His goal is to meet families in need that don’t have a family portrait and to make one for them. The project is called Their Only Portrait and his plan is to visit a new country every year starting with […]
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Sumatra is the 6th largest island in the world with just over twice the land area of Great Britain. During the summer of 2016, undergraduate Biology students Oli Broadhead and Iris Berger set out to walk across Sumatra to compare the biodiversity of untouched forests vs. deforested ecosystems. They found their way into an unexplored […]
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After 68 days and 3200 km by canoe, Ian Finch and team completed their Pull of the North expedition – a source to Bering Sea descent of the Yukon River. Ian is an adventurer and researcher who travels to remote locations to learn about the ancient traditions and ways of life of First Nations people. […]
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Kate Davis and Andy Bartlett became the first people to stand up paddle board the entire length of the Danube River from source to sea in 2016. Starting in the Black Forest of Germany they traveled through 10 countries, visited 4 capital cities, and reached the shores of the Black Sea in Ukraine after 90 […]
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Starting in the summer of 2016, Lisa Pugh and Alyce Kuenzli will attempt to become the first female expedition to complete a source-to-sea descent of the world’s 4th Longest River System – the Jefferson, Missouri, and Mississippi. They call their expedition Source of Confidence and its aim is to inspire and teach women and girls to discover and […]
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In January 2016, Laura Bingham began an attempt to cycle across South America. Nothing out of the ordinary for a 23 year old looking for adventure except that she planned to do it without any money. With only the equipment she could fit in her panniers, she cycled 7,000 km from the Pacific coast of […]
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The Jungle Ultra is a 230 km footrace in Peru. Competitors have 6 days to complete the 5 stages of the race starting in the cloud forest and descending 10,500 feet to the Amazon Jungle below. Hollie Woodhouse ran the Jungle Ultra as part of a team known as Running for Rangers. They compete in […]
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For 6 years beginning in 2010, Stephen Fabes cycled 86,000 km across 75 countries, from the scorching deserts of Syria and Afghanistan to the freezing Mongolian steppe. He survived blizzards, landslides, marauding school children, and a run-in with a gunman. Along the way Stephen slept in the homes of people in more than 50 countries and is convinced […]
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By circumnavigating the islands of Sark, Guernsey, and Jersey, Laura Kennington completed her first triathlon in the Channel Islands. In 3 consecutive days, the plan was to swim 5 miles around Sark, kayak 28 miles around Guernsey, then cycle 45 miles around Jersey. Of course, like most adventures, it didn’t all go exactly as planned. […]
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After 12 years working in the corporate world, Jamie Ramsay decided to trade in the suit and tie for a pair of running shoes and hit the open road. In 2014, he began a 17,000 km solo and unsupported running expedition from Vancouver, Canada, to Buenos Aires, Argentina, raising money for CALM, Macmillan, and WaterAid. […]
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For 24 days Charlie Tokeley trekked and packrafted a remote stretch of Chilean Patagonia, documenting previously unexplored glaciers and traversing unnamed rivers. During this time he saw not a single person or sign of human activity. He describes it as breathtakingly stunning at times and inexplicably hard the rest – a rainbow in a rainstorm. […]
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Graham Clarke started the Why Not? Adventure Film Festival in 2012. Now in its 5th year based in Galway Ireland, the festival aims to bring the vision of filmmakers and athletes to a wider audience and to inspire people to take up an adventure no matter how small. Graham himself was inspired after seeing the […]
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Most musicians tour in a van, but not Ben Weaver. The bicycle is his mode of transportation. With custom bike bags for his guitar and banjo, Ben has toured 1,500 miles from St. Paul to New Orleans and recently spent 16 days cycling 1,400 miles around Lake Superior for his Surrounding Water tour. In addition […]
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Saddle Sand Sea is a multi-year, multi-event challenge dreamed up by Seamus Crawford and Paddy Montgomery. They completed the first challenge, The Race Across Europe, in 2015; cycling 2,933 miles in 12 days crossing the Pyrenees once and the Alps twice. Next, in 2016, they completed the Marathon des Sables billed as the toughest footrace […]
The post Cycling, Running & Rowing with Seamus Crawford & Paddy Montgomery : TPZ 118 appeared first on The Pursuit Zone.
In 2015 Adam Sultan ran 15 marathons. It was part of a project he created called #LifeYears aimed at making every single year of his life memorable and unique. In 2016, Adam is setting out on a new challenge and multi-year cycling adventure called #RideTheWorld. After years of working in a job that wasn’t satisfying, […]
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Starting at the Bright Angel trailhead in the Grand Canyon National Park, Ted Olson and his daughter hiked rim to rim and back again without camping. It took them 32 hours to hike the 47 miles gaining and losing over 21,000 ft of elevation. This is not an adventure for the unprepared because if you […]
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John Marshall set off on a 6 month volunteering adventure with his wife and teenage son and daughter in 2010. Their travels brought them to a wildlife sanctuary in Costa Rica, WWOOFing in New Zealand, teaching English in rural Thailand, and working at an orphanage in India. His book about their journey is titled Wide-Open […]
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For 2 months in the summer of 2015, Oli Broadhead and Angus Walker trekked over 600 miles east to west across southern India from the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea. They walked 20 miles a day across the diverse landscapes of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala. Oli and Angus are currently students so […]
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Krushnaa Patil is a mountaineer and motivational speaker who became the youngest Indian to summit Mount Everest in 2009 at age 19. Between attempts to complete the Seven Summits, she joined the Access Water Expedition – a 55-day, 1500 mile journey along the Ganges River also known as the Ganga. From Gomukh in the Indian Himalayas […]
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Evan Johnson has been climbing for over a decade. During the winter of 2015, he rode a motorcycle from Minnesota to the winter climbing destination of El Potrero Chico Mexico. It’s a 3 hour drive southwest from Laredo Texas and it’s easy to find climbing partners, the prices are low, and there’s plenty to do […]
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It was on a solo South American backpacking journey in 2013 when Sarah Williams decided she’d had enough of office work and was energized to start Tough Girl Challenges – a website and podcast aimed at inspiring listeners through inspirational stories from adventurous women. Sarah also inspires by completing her own challenges like climbing Mount […]
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In 2011, James Adair and Ben Stenning embarked on a 3,500-mile rowing race across the Indian Ocean from Australia to Mauritius. Hardly extreme athletes and with no rowing experience, they bought a used boat and set out to prove their critics wrong. They struggled westward for 4 months as their boat began to break down and their food supply dwindled until the final day when a huge wave capsized their boat and forced them to swim for shore. You can learn more in James’ book – Rowing After the White Whale – A Crossing of the Indian Ocean by Hand and by watching the award-winning documentary – And Then We Swam. James Adair, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Andy Welch and two friends set off from England on a planned around-the-world cycle tour in the summer of 2007. Their journey to Armenia is chronicled in Andy’s book Weave of the Ride. After Armenia, Andy went solo and continued his cycling into Georgia, Iran, Pakistan, India, and Nepal. His second book, Between Worlds, tells […]
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In February 2016, 25-year-old Ash Dykes became the first person to traverse the length of Madagascar through its interior. It was an adventure spanning 155 days and 1,600 miles during which Ash summited eight of the highest mountains on the island. Madagascar’s land area is roughly 2.5 times larger than the UK and provides plenty […]
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Carl-David Granbäck is an experienced expedition cyclist. During his first year-long adventure, he cycled through South America from Tierra del Fuego in Argentina to the Caribbean Coast of Colombia. That trip left him with a strong desire to get back in the saddle and once more head into the unknown so a few years later […]
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James Newton is a freelance director and independent filmmaker. He got his start in adventure storytelling in 2003 when he borrowed a camera and traveled to the Amazon to tell the story of Dorothy Stang, an American nun who put her life at great risk to campaign for the rights of peasant farmers. Several years […]
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Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent, better known as Ants, is a travel writer, TV producer and world traveler. In her latest book, A Short Ride in the Jungle – The Ho Chi Minh Trail by Motorcycle, she tells the story of her 6 week, 2,000 mile journey from Hanoi to Saigon on a 25-year-old Honda Cub motorbike named […]
The post Ho Chi Minh Trail by Motorbike with Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent : TPZ 106 appeared first on The Pursuit Zone.
Kristin Gates was the youngest woman to hike the US Triple Crown, the first person to hike the completed 800 mile Arizona Trail, and the first woman to solo traverse Alaska’s Brooks Range. After 700 miles of bushwhacking and 300 miles of packrafting for 51 days on the Brooks Range, Kristin spent the next summer […]
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Leon McCarron is a Northern Irish adventurer and cameraman specializing in long distance, human-powered expeditions. With fellow British adventurer Tom Allen, the two set out to follow Iran’s longest River, the Karun, by whatever means necessary. Their goal was to experience the culture and geography of a misunderstood nation and to make an adventure film. […]
The post Adventure Filmmaking on the Karun River in Iran with Leon McCarron : TPZ 104 appeared first on The Pursuit Zone.
In the book Eat Sleep Cycle – A Bike Ride Around the Coast of Britain, Anna Hughes tells the story of the 10-week long 4,000 mile cycling adventure she completed in 2011. Completing the book took almost another 4 years. On her blog she writes, “Eat/sleep/cycle. Eat/sleep/write. Both things were the most simple thing I’ve […]
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Two years ago, Dakota and Chelsea rented their home and hit the road in a Mercedes Sprinter van they converted into an adventure camper. Their road trip through the Southwest US turned into an open-ended adventure as they eventually cycled 4,000 miles across the US and most recently cycled 2,400 miles from London to Prague. […]
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In 2011 at age 31, Ursula Martin took time off work to travel in mainland Europe. She kayaked down the Danube river and planned to winter over in Bulgaria, but after a doctor visit for abdominal pain, she learned she had stage 1 ovarian cancer which changed the course of her adventure. To stay close […]
The post Walking Wales with Ursula Martin : TPZ 101 appeared first on The Pursuit Zone.
Ryan Wichelns and Gabe Messercola first appeared in episode 12 of The Pursuit Zone to talk about their Adirondack Traverse. Since then they’ve gone on to create the website primitivecondition.com to serve as a media platform for their outdoor pursuits. In their latest climbing adventure, known as the Brooks Glacier Expedition, they completed the Silverthrone […]
The post Climbing the Alaska Range with Ryan Wichelns and Gabe Messercola : TPZ 100 appeared first on The Pursuit Zone.
At 19, Tom Davies may be the youngest person to ever cycle around the world. Starting in London in January 2015, he cycled 18,000 miles in 174 days, most days going over 100 miles. He rode to challenge himself and to raise money for three charities; Prostate Cancer UK, The Sohana Research Fund and Carney’s […]
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On September 23, 2015 Dave and Amy Freeman will launch their canoe in the Kawishiwi River and paddle into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. They will remain there for a full year, camping at over 100 different sites and traveling over 3,000 miles by canoe, ski, snowshoe and dog team. This 365-day adventure is in support […]
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Te Araroa is one of the world’s newest long distance trails. Opened in 2010, it’s a 1,900 mile trail in New Zealand connecting Cape Reinga in the North to Bluff in the South. Anna McNuff spent 5 and 1/2 months running the trail from south to north, unsupported and carrying a 30-pound backpack. She partnered […]
The post Te Araroa New Zealand Running Adventure with Anna McNuff : TPZ 097 appeared first on The Pursuit Zone.
The Tour du Mont Blanc is a 105 mile long-distance path around Mt. Blanc that cuts through France, Switzerland, and Italy. For 6 days in September, Mike Hogan and a few friends trekked clockwise around the mountain. In this episode, Mike shares his story and provides information on how to make the trip successful. Mike […]
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Angelo Wilkie-Page is on an 8-year adventure to circumnavigate the planet, east to west and pole to pole using only human power. It’s a first of its kind journey, called Expedition 720, that will send him across all lines of latitude and longitude. In the first leg he cycled from Los Angeles, CA to Anchorage, […]
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In 1914, President Theodore Roosevelt co-led an expedition to descend an unknown river in Brazil known as the River of Doubt. 100 years later, Dave Freeman and Paul Schurke retraced Roosevelt’s journey along this renamed Rio Roosevelt. They did it to see how the river has changed and to celebrate the legacy of President Roosevelt […]
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Justine Curgenven is an expedition sea kayaker and adventure filmmaker. In her most recent expedition with teammate Sarah Outen, the two became the first to kayak the Aleutian Island chain from Adak to Homer Alaska. It was 4 months and 1500 miles of kayaking in a remote landscape with strong winds, fast currents, and rugged […]
The post Kayaking the Aleutians and Adventure Filmmaking with Justine Curgenven : TPZ 093 appeared first on The Pursuit Zone.
For 3 months in 2014, Jake Hoffmann and his girlfriend Becca traveled light and fast by bike. Starting in Key West Florida they cycled north, connecting to the Southern Tier route which took them west to the Pacific coast. Next they cycled their way to Cape Flattery Washington where they had to carry their bikes […]
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As a teenager, Ellen McDonah dreamed of paddling the Mississippi River, but her mother said no. Over four decades later, she made the dream a reality, becoming the first woman to paddle solo 2,350 miles from the source to the Gulf of Mexico. She called the expedition One Woman’s River which began in May 2014 […]
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Four years ago Sarah Outen began her London 2 London via the World expedition, traveling eastward by bike, kayak, and rowboat. During the past two legs of her expedition she kayaked for 101 days and 2500 km along the Aleutian Islands until landing in Homer Alaska. Next she cycled from Alaska halfway through Canada and […]
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For five weeks, Erin Bastian and two teammates paddled sea kayaks 800 km through a beautiful and remote wilderness in the Chilean Patagonia. Starting in Puerto Eden, they traveled south through the fjords and rivers and among tidal glaciers and icebergs until their finish point in Puerto Natales. The expedition was called Wilderness 72 for the 72 degree line of longitude they would straddle and you can learn more about it and about Erin at erinbastian.com. Erin Bastian, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In the book, Walking Home from Mongolia, Rob Lilwall tells the story of his 6-month trek from the frozen Gobi Desert in Mongolia back to his home in Hong Kong. Along with teammate Leon McCarron, the two alternated pulling a 2-wheeled cart containing their supplies. At the China border, they ditched their conspicuous cart in favor of heavy rucksacks and continued south as they struggled with the landscape, the language, the police, and each other all the while filming the adventure which became a 4-part National Geographic television series. You can learn more abut the book and the film at roblilwall.com. Rob Lilwall, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In November of 2014, Charlie Walker completed a 43,000 mile cycling adventure through 61 countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa. It was a 4.5 year expedition that began in England on a secondhand bike he called Old Geoff. As part of the journey, Charlie also trekked 1,000 miles across the Gobi Desert from Beijing to Ulaan Baatar, rode a horse 600 miles across the Mongolian steppe, and paddled a dugout canoe down 350 miles of the Lulua River in the Congo. You can learn more about his adventure and the charities he is supporting at charliewalkerexplore.co.uk. Charlie Walker, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
For one week in February, Danielle Ramsey took part in the Husky Dog Challenge. It’s an event in northern Sweden, near the town of Kiruna, 145 km inside the Arctic Circle. As part of the challenge, Danielle mushed a team of sled dogs a distance of 200 km over several days in the wilderness, sleeping in a basic cabin without running water or electricity. She did this to raise funds in memory of her older sister Abby who had Down’s Syndrome. You can learn more at arctic4abby.wordpress.com. Danielle Ramsey, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In 2008, Phil Harwood completed a descent of the Congo River, starting at the Chambesi River in Zambia then traveling mostly through the Democratic Republic of Congo. For five months he navigated through the water and the corruption in his 15-foot canoe to reach the Atlantic Ocean. Along the way he encountered people that wanted to kill him and steal his money, but also local fisherman that offered their help when he needed it most. Phil tells this amazing adventure story in his book, Canoeing the Congo – The First Source to Sea Descent of the Congo River and you can learn more at canoingthecongo.com. Phil Harwood, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Into the Empty Quarter is an adventure film that follows Leon McCarron’s journey through a vast region of the Arabian Desert. Beginning in Salalah Oman with teammate Alastair Humphreys, the two pulled a heavy cart containing their supplies for 1,000 miles to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Their adventure was inspired by the British explorer Wilfred Thesiger who wrote about his crossing of the desert in the book Arabian Sands. You can learn more about the movie and Leon at intotheemptyquarter.com and leonmccarron.com. Leon McCarron, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In 2009, Tyler Fish and John Huston became the first Americans to ski unsupported to the North Pole. It took 55 days to travel more than 500 miles starting from Ward Hunt Island. They pulled and pushed their heavy sleds over sand-like snow, giant ice-rubble fields, and through stretches of open water. To avoid deadly mistakes in the sub-zero temperatures, their motto was slow and steady until the last few days when they had to ski nearly nonstop to make headway against the constantly shifting ice. The expedition is documented in their book Forward and you can learn more at forwardexpeditions.com. Tyler Fish, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Will Frazer cycled around the world from London to Miami. Along with his friend Johan du Plessis, the two spent 234 days on the road, cycling 23,500 km through 24 countries. Their adventure is called Riding for Rhinos and their mission is to raise money and awareness for an animal dangerously close to extinction from poaching. You can learn more at their website ridingforrhinos.org. Will Frazer, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
At age 24, Tom Bruce quit his job and set off from his home in the UK on a 10-month round-the-world cycling adventure crossing Europe, Asia, and America. It was 14,000 miles and one of the greatest experiences of his life. In the process he raised thousands of dollars for SOS Children’s Villages, an organization devoted to protecting the world’s vulnerable children. To learn more you can read his book titled Every Inch of the Way – My Bike Ride Around the World and visit his website tombrucecycling.com. Tom Bruce, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Emma Timmis ran across Africa, coast to coast, from Namibia to Mozambique. It was 89 days and nearly 4,000 km. Supported by a small crew, they called their expedition Head over Heels 2014 with the aim of raising money for several charities. Emma says it was the toughest thing she has done in her life, even tougher than becoming the first woman to run the 2400 km Freedom Trail in South Africa. You can learn more about the adventure and their fundraising efforts at headoverheels2014.com. Emma Timmis, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
After two years of planning, Lucy Engleheart and Anne-Laure Carruth set off on an amazing 174-day road trip circumnavigating the Mediterranean Sea. They focused their journey on North Africa and the Middle East, hoping to break down cultural misperceptions and gather stories of everyday life. Their constant companion was Landy – a 1971 long wheelbase Series IIa Land Rover which continuously broke down, yet delivered them safely back home. You can learn more about this adventure at their website shifting-sands.com. Lucy and Anne-Laure, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Jennifer Steinman’s documentary film Desert Runners has won numerous awards at film festivals around the world. It tells the story of four amateur athletes competing for the 4 Deserts Grand Slam which is accomplished by finishing four 250 km ultramarathons in a calendar year. The movie shows how challenging and dangerous it can be to race in the most inhospitable places on earth – the Atacama, the Gobi, the Sahara, and Antarctica. You can learn more about the film at desertrunnersmovie.com and more about Jennifer at jennifersteinman.com. Jennifer Steinman, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Having never owned a car, the bicycle plays an important role in Anik See’s life. In her book, A Fork in the Road – Tales of Food and Travel, she writes about her cycling and travel adventures through Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. Long distance cycle touring has also taken her to Sri Lanka, India, and Scotland. She currently resides in bike-friendly Amsterdam and you can learn more at her website aniksee.com. Anik See welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
The US edition of Anik’s book is titled A Taste for Adventure: A Culinary Odyssey around the World
In her book, Paddlenorth: Adventure, Resilience, and Renewal in the Arctic Wild, Jennifer Kingsley tells the story of her 54-day canoe journey on the Back River to the Arctic Ocean in Canada’s Nunavut Territory. With 3 canoes and 5 companions, the team struggles with the river rapids, the weather, and group dynamics. You can learn more about this 1,000 km canoe expedition at her website jenniferkingsley.ca. Jennifer Kingsley, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In April of 2014, Mike Ranta and his dog Spitzii set out on an 8,000 km canoe expedition from Vancouver to the Cape Breton Islands. They crossed over three mountain ranges which included portages over 100 km. Mike’s main goal is to inspire the kids of his hometown of Atikokan that anything is possible if you set your mind to it. He is also trying break the Guinness world record for the longest solo canoe trip and you can learn more about his adventure at his facebook page by searching for Mike Ranta’s Paddle. Mike Ranta, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
As a polar explorer, Eric Larsen travels in some of the most remote and wild places on earth. In 2010, he became the first person to reach the north and south poles and summit Mt. Everest within 365 days. His most recent 2014 expedition to the North Pole is called Last North. With his teammate Ryan Waters, the two traversed the Arctic Ocean from Northern Ellesmere Island to the geographic North Pole. Unsupported for nearly 500 miles, they traveled across the moving sea ice by skis, snowshoes, and when necessary, swimming through the slush. You can learn about these adventures and others at ericlarsenexplore.com. Eric Larsen, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Brenda Piekarski is the founder of Adventure Minnesota Films. It is a group of professional freelance filmmakers producing films focused on outdoor adventure sports in the beautiful state of Minnesota. Their first project is titled Among the Wild – The Arrowhead 135. It tells the story of 3 athletes competing in the one of the toughest winter ultra races on the planet and you can learn more at amongthewild.com. Brenda Piekarski, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Grant Christie walked the entire length of the South African coastline as part of his Six Million Steps expedition. It was a 3500 km adventure over 250 days inspired by a love of nature and a dissatisfaction with ordinary living. Grant hopes to inspire people to chase their dreams and to motivate them to a higher ideal of conservation and you can learn more at his website sixmillionsteps.co.za. Grant Christie, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Peak to Peak 2013 is the brain child of Axe Rawlinson. It was the first continuous, human-powered journey from the summit of Mt. Ruapehu to the summit of Aoraki / Mt. Cook in New Zealand. Axe and his teammate, Alan Silva, continued the adventure with Peak to Peak 2014, a climbing, cycling, and kayaking journey from the top of Ben Nevis in Scotland to the top of Mt. Blanc in France. The goal was to have fun on a shoestring budget and stay safe with as little support as possible. You can read more about these and other expeditions at axeoneverest.com. Axe Rawlinson, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
For eleven years, Tim Travis lived his three favorite things: cycling, traveling the world, and camping. After years of planning and saving money, Tim and his former wife Cindie set off on a worldwide cycling adventure on March 30, 2002. He writes about his travels at downtheroad.org and as his website grew more popular and the books he wrote kept selling, he was able to keep the adventure going longer than planned. Tim says that, “International bike touring is less about cycling several hours a day and more about being durable, adaptable, open minded, and just plain old tough.” Tim Travis, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Rockall is a tiny, uninhabited, and remote island in the North Atlantic – 290 miles west of Great Britain. For Nick Hancock, the island was the backdrop for his Rockall Solo expedition – a record-breaking 45-day solo occupation of Rockall. He lived in a small survival pod on an 12 by 4-foot ledge on the granite island and helped raise funds for Help for Heroes, an organization providing support to wounded servicemen and women. You can learn more about his adventure at rockallsolo.com. Nick Hancock, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Sophie Radcliffe had a great job and all the trappings of success, but she wanted to create a new path for herself. Without a plan, she quit her job and set out to pursue a career in adventure. She began by starting her blog, challengesophie.com, and before long she finished Ironman Wales, had a job with Epic TV, and completed the world’s first expedition to summit the highest mountains in each of the eight alpine countries while cycling between them – an adventure she calls Alpine Coast to Coast. Sophie Radcliffe, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
For 368 days and 30,000 km, Peter Dudfield cycled around the world to raise money for the British Red Cross International Disaster Fund. Starting in Greece, his adventure took him to 4 continents before riding back to his hometown of Cambridge, England. You can learn more about his adventure at peterpedals.co.uk. Peter Dudfield, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Emma Burgeson and Mitzi Peine were the first female team to compete in the Yukon 1000. It’s the world’s longest paddling race on the Yukon River from Whitehorse, Yukon to a remote Alaska Pipeline crossing near Fairbanks, Alaska. The two are avid paddlers and explorers of the wilderness and met four years ago on a 6-week canoe trip on the Anderson River in the Canadian Arctic. Competing in the tandem canoe category, their team name was The Paddlin Madelines and you can learn more at their Facebook page mitziandemmayukon1000 and at yukon1000.com. Emma Burgeson, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Megan Rose spent this summer hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. During her 1300 mile hike, starting at the border of Mexico and California, she summited Mt. Whitney, got caught in a snowstorm, lost her money, and dodged a bullet. She did this to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, a disease her father has lived with for the past 14 years. You can learn more about her adventure and contribute to her fundraising at her website ms-megaventure.blogspot.com. Megan Rose, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Pulling a 260-pound wheeled cart with all his provisions, 23-year-old British explorer Ash Dykes became the first person to walk solo and unsupported across Mongolia. It was a world-record, 78-day adventure through some of the wildest terrain and weather on the planet. You can learn more about his Mongolian expedition and his fundraising for the British Red Cross at his website ashdykes.com. Ash Dykes, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Haley Maurice was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of eight. Since then she has volunteered to raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, taking part in their walks each year to raise thousands of dollars towards a cure. This summer, she took the fundraising walk to the next level. Along with her brother Ethan, the two backpacked 221 miles along the John Muir Trail to Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the continental United States. It’s an adventure they call Summit Diabetes and you can learn more at their website summitdiabetes.com. Haley and Ethan, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
A final podcast to explain the abrupt ending of the adventure with Brian Schilling and Robin Kerber who were cycling westward on the TransAmerica Trail and writing about it at crazyguyonabike.com.
Pete Marshall and Andrew Morris set out in June 2014 to recreate Mina Hubbard’s 1905 canoe expedition through Labrador in Canada. It was an adventure to both retrace the route and relive the experience of canoeing with vintage, handmade equipment. Pete is co-producing a film of the expedition called Labrador Passage and you can learn more at labradorpassage.com. Pete previously appeared in episode 2 of The Pursuit Zone to tell the story of his 2012 Trans-Territorial Canoe Expedition . Pete Marshall, welcome back to the show.
Jack Hawkins is a freelance travel writer from New Brunswick Canada. He recently discovered cycle touring and has been building his kit in preparation for a 2015 cross-Canada tour. He writes about learning to become a bicycle tourist at his website jackonabike.ca with plans to include gear reviews, interviews and more. Jack Hawkins, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In August 2013, Reza Pakravan and Steven Pawley began their attempt to set the world record for the fastest bicycle journey from Nordkapp in the Arctic Circle to Cape Town in South Africa. Their unsupported expedition called Kapp to Cape took them across 13 countries in 102 days, a total of 18,000 km. Along the way they raised funds to support Azafady, an organization building schools in poverty-stricken Madagascar. You can read about their adventure at their website kapptocape.com. Reza and Steven, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
For 83 days beginning in March of 2014, Patrick Hutton and Richard Johnson became the first to traverse Papua New Guinea in a continuous, unmotorized and unportered crossing at its widest point from Vanimo to Daru. It was a 1,000 km adventure requiring bushwhacking through nearly uninhabited dense jungle, climbing over the 3000 meter Star Mountain range, and rafting a crocodile infested tributary of the Fly River. One of their goals is to raise money for ChildFund International, an organization that sends medics deep into remote areas to vaccinate infants against preventable diseases. You can read more about their Papaua New Guinea Expedition at pngexpedition.com. Patrick Hutton, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
It took Cindy Abbott 14 years to discover she has a rare and potentially life-threatening disease called Wegener’s granulomatosis. Despite this, she summitted Mount Everest and wrote a book about it titled Reaching Beyond the Clouds. She is currently training to run the 2015 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, trying to become the first women to both summit Everest and complete the 1000-mile Iditarod. Cindy is producing a documentary film about her Iditarod adventure to raise awareness of rare diseases and you can learn more at her website reachingbeyondtheclouds.com. Cindy Abbott, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Dixie Dansercoer and Eric McNair-Landry kite skied 4,044 km unassisted in 55 days to become the first to complete a circumnavigation of the Greenland Icecap. They called their expedition Greenland ICE and one of their missions was to share their observations about the delicate environment of Greenland with scientists and educators. You can learn more about their adventure at greenlandice.be. Dixie Dansercoer, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
The Race Across America is one of the most challenging endurance races in the world. It’s 3,000 miles from Oceanside, CA to Annapolis, MD and is must be completed in 12 days or less. Bob McEnaney raced it solo for the first time in 2014 with a goal of raising money and awareness for the Minnesota Military Family Foundation. You can learn more at his Ride.For.A.Reason.Charities facebook page. Bob McEnaney, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Beeline Britain is a straight route heading northeast from Lands End to John ‘O’ Groats. The journey is mostly by sea kayak, but also by cycle and by hiking through the Cairngorms mountain range. It was 1,100 km completed in 28 days by a team of four consisting of Ian O’Grady, Nick Beighton, Adam Harmer, and Tori James. On their way they set the record for the longest sea kayak crossing in UK waters requiring 34 hours of non-stop paddling. They were raising funds for BLESMA, a charity that supports veterans who have lost limbs or eyesight in the service of their country and you can read more about their adventure at BeelineBritain.com. Ian O’Grady, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
We’re back with our 3rd podcast with Brian Schilling and Robin Kerber who are cycling westward on the TransAmerica Trail and writing about it at crazyguyonabike.com.
In a yearlong adventure to explore his home country of Scotland, Will Copestake kayaked 1655 km around the coast in 122 days from Solway Firth to Berwick Upon Tweed. He then cycled 2510 km while summiting all 282 Munros. It was a doorstep adventure he calls Machair to Munro and you can read more about it at his website willcopestakemedia.com. Will Copestake, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Maria Leijerstam became the first person in the world to cycle from the Antarctic coast to the South Pole in December of 2013. She rode a custom, 3-wheeled polar cycle on the Antarctic Traverse covering 400 miles in 10 days 14 hours and 56 minutes, setting a new speed record. Maria produced a documentary about the expedition called The White Ice Cycle and you can learn more about it her website whiteicecycle.com. Maria Leijerstam, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
We’re back with our 2nd podcast with Brian Schilling and Robin Kerber who are cycling westward on the TransAmerica Trail and writing about it at crazyguyonabike.com.
For Julie Buckles and her husband Charly, their honeymoon plans consisted of building a wood and canvas canoe, paddling 1,700 miles from Lake Superior to Northern Saskatchewan, wintering over on Wollaston Lake, then paddling 1,100 miles to Gjoa Haven on the Northwest passage of the Arctic Ocean. It’s an adventure she writes about in her book Paddling to Winter and you can learn more at her website juliebuckles.com. Julie Buckles, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Ian Packham traveled around the coast of Africa for 13 months without the support of a backup team. It was a 40,000 km journey using locally available public transportation and although Africa has a coastline shorter than Europe, crossing the borders of 31 countries is no easy task when corrupt regimes, poor infrastructure, and war may be around the next turn. Ian wrote a book about his adventure titled Encircle Africa: Around Africa by Public Transport which you can learn more about at his website encircleafrica.org. Ian Packham, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
During the summer of 2014, Brian Schilling and Robin Kerber will cycle the TransAmerica Trail from Yorktown, Virginia to Astoria, Oregon – a distance of 4,242 miles. Both recent university graduates and aspiring farmers, the adventure was partly born for a desire to live and work in the Northwest as well as to understand the relationship between agriculture and community across the United States. This is the first of several podcasts with Brian and Robin during their journey westward and you can read more about their adventures on their journal at crazyguyonabike.com. Brian Schilling and Robin Kerber, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail spans 3,100 miles across 5 states from Canada to Mexico. It is one of the most remote and challenging long-distance trails with altitudes ranging from 4,000 ft. to 14,000 ft. across landscapes from tundra to desert. Dan Drehmel was one of the 150 people that attempt to thru-hike the trail each year. In 2013, he set out on his first long-distance hike and spent 131 days on the trail going north to south. He did it to challenge himself both mentally and physically and to immerse himself in the history of the old mining towns and the wild west. Dan Drehmel, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In March 2013, Oli Goulden and Matthieu Liard left Shanghai China to cycle the Road of Smiles. An 8-month cycling adventure to London to raise money for Operation Smile an organization that performs free surgeries for children around the world that have cleft lip, cleft palate, and other facial deformities. It was a 16,000 km cycle tour across 16 countries, 4 deserts, and 3 mountain ranges and you can read the whole story at roadofsmiles.com. Oli Goulden, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Bruce Low is a professional whitewater rafting guide and whitewater kayaker. For 6 days in 2010, he solo rafted a 60-mile stretch of the Cotahuasi River in Peru. It’s a 160-mile river that drops 100 feet per mile and winds through the deepest canyon in the world – the Cotahuasi Canyon – twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. Located on the edge of the Atacama Desert, it’s dry, hot, and windy. Besides a zest for adventure, another reason Bruce challenged the river was to raise money for CLAN, a cancer support organization in his hometown of Aberdeen Scotland. Bruce Low, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
When Hannah Engelkamp learned of the recently opened Wales Coastal Pathway that would connect to the Offa’s Dyke Path, she hatched a plan to spend half of 2013 walking 1000-miles around Wales. A grand journey in its own right, but Hannah spiced it up a bit by traveling with a companion – an eccentric donkey named Chico. The pathways were off limits to Chico, so the two trekked over bike paths and country roads. Hannah plans a book and a movie of the adventure she calls Seaside Donkey and you can read more about it at seasidedonkey.co.uk. Hannah Engelkamp, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Tom Denniss began his lap around the world on December 31st, 2011 in Sydney Australia. Over the next 21 months, with the help of a small support crew, he ran across 4 continents including North and South America, Europe, and Australia. In total, a run of 26,232 km averaging 50 km per day. He did it for the adventure, to inspire others, and to raise money for Oxfam, an organization devoted to fighting world poverty. It was also a record-setting attempt to be the fastest person to run around the world. You can read more about his run at tomsnextstep.com. Tom Denniss, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In January of 2012, Darren and Sandy Van Soye set out on a 424 day, around-the-world expedition, visiting 53 countries on six continents. Their goal was to bring geography to life for as many young people as possible in hopes of instilling a greater appreciation and curiosity about the planet, people, and cultures. They also trekked nearly 500 miles in some of the most remote and beautiful places on earth. You can learn more about their journey at trekkingtheplanet.net. Darren and Sandy Van Soye, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
At age 16, Lewis Clarke set a world record for being the youngest person to ski from the Antarctic coast to the South Pole. It was a 48-day, 702-mile expedition along the Hercules Inlet route. Lewis and his guide experienced temperatures as low as –40 C and winds up to 60 miles per hour in one of the harshest environments on earth. You can read more about his adventure at his website youngesttosouthpole.wordpress.com. Lewis Clarke, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
For Felicity Aston, Antarctica has been a constant thread running through her life. From time spent as a scientist at the Rothera research station to leading an expedition of eight women on a 38-day ski expedition to the South Pole. In 2012, Felicity returned to Antarctica to test her mental stamina on a 59-day, 1,744 km expedition across the continent from the Leverett Glacier to Hercules Inlet making her the first women to cross the continent solo. You can learn more in her book titled Alone in Antarctica and from her website felicityaston.co.uk. Felicity Aston, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Anna McNuff set out in July 2013 to cycle 11,000 miles through all 50 states. Starting in Alaska, she made her way to the lower 48, cycling a unique route from Washington State to Texas. She encountered floods in Colorado, blizzards in South Dakota, and the Polar Vortex in Arkansas. She ended her 7-month journey in Hawaii, cycling to the top of Mount Haleakala, a 10,000 ft volcano in Maui. You can read more about her adventure at thebigfive-o.com. Anna McNuff, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
After a 9000 km cycling adventure across Africa, Davey du Plessis set his sights on his next adventure, an unsupported solo source-to-sea expedition of the Amazon River. In 2012, with the first two stages of the Amazon expedition behind him, Davey set out to kayak the remaining 5700 km to the Atlantic Ocean. This final stage, however, would not be completed because Davey was ambushed in the Peruvian jungle, shot 4 times with a shotgun. He managed to escape, despite his serious injuries, and find help from the locals that ultimately saved his life. You can read about his incredible ordeal in his book titled Choosing to Live and from his website daveyduplessis.com. Davey du Plessis, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
West Hansen first paddled the Amazon at the 2008 Great River Amazon Raft Race in Peru. Their team won the race and set a new record in the process. On the flight home to Texas, West read the book Running the Amazon by Joe Kane and got hooked on the idea of paddling the entire river. He started planning the next year and by August 2012 was back in Peru to begin his Amazon Express expedition. His goal for the expedition was to be the first person to kayak the Amazon River from it furthest source to the Atlantic Ocean. You can learn more about the adventure at theamazonexpress2012.com. West Hansen, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
When Norwegian surfers Jørn Nyseth Ranum and Inge Wegge discovered an isolated bay on a remote, arctic island along the coast of Northern Norway, they wondered if it would be possible to spend 9 months of winter there, surfing the ice-cold waves rolling in from the Atlantic ocean. With only a few hand tools, they built a little cabin from the driftwood and other trash washing ashore. They also brought their cameras and filmed the entire adventure. Their award-winning movie Nordfor Sola or North of the Sun is a must see. You can learn more about it at facebook.com/nordforsola. Jørn Nyseth Ranum, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
As a child, Bria Schurke traveled to Eastern Russia 10 times, first setting foot in Siberia at age four while visiting her father’s expeditions. As a first grader she went to the North Pole and grew up among sled dogs near Ely, MN learning to be a musher and becoming an accomplished Nordic skier. Bria has worked at medical facilities in India, Kenya, and Somalia and has worked as an instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School. In June of 2013, Bria returned to Russia with Alexander Martin as the two set out on a 2900 km canoeing expedition in northern Mongolia, central Siberia, and Far Eastern Russia as part of their Asia Rivers Expedition. You can learn more about their adventure at facebook.com/AsiaRiversExpedition. Bria Schurke, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Sarah Winters Papsun has figured out how to travel while helping others and that skill has brought her to nearly every continent and to 40 countries. In January of 2010, Sarah traveled to Africa to climb with the 3 Peaks 3 Weeks Challenge team. The goal was to climb Mount Kenya, Mount Meru, and Mount Kilimanjaro to support, encourage, and raise awareness for grassroots community organizations in Kenya and Tanzania that are focused on health, environmental, and educational development. You can learn more about the challenge at 3peaks3weeks.wordpress.com. Sarah Winters Papsun welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In June of 2011, Caroline Moireaux set off from her hometown in France to begin a ten-year, 70,000 kilometer walk around the world. Her chosen route will take her through 45 countries and she may choose to bike or canoe sections of the journey when necessary, but plans no motorized modes of transportation. After this winter break she sets off again in 2014 to cross Russia and you can follow her travels at her website piedslibres.com. Caroline Moireaux, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In June of 2010, Greg Petry and Lucas Will set out to circumnavigate Lake Superior in handmade Greenland-style kayaks. It was a 97-day, 1200-mile expedition they call Superior Dream. The men hope to showcase the lake’s beauty and impact on the region by turning the 80 hours of video they captured into a documentary film of their adventure. You can read more about their journey at SuperiorDream.com. Greg Petry, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In March of 2013, John Huston and Tobias Thorleifsson co-led a team of four that set out to explore Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic as part of their New Land 2013 Expedition. With the help of four sled dogs, the team skijored over 511 nautical miles on Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg Islands. The purpose of their 65-day journey, beyond traveling through a remote and beautiful landscape, was to create a documentary film to celebrate the second Fram Expedition led by the Norwegian Arctic explorer Otto Sverdrup and to educate school children about climate change. You can learn more about their adventure at johnhuston.com. John Huston, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
The North Country National Scenic Trail is the longest trail in the United States. It stretches 4600 miles from North Dakota to Vermont. From April to October of 2013, Luke Jordan thru-hiked the trail from west to east encountering many obstacles including knee-deep snow, tree blowdowns, and overgrown trails almost impossible to navigate. You can learn more about his adventure at stridernct.com. Luke Jordan, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
After a year and a half toiling through life as an actor in Los Angeles, Shannon O’Donnell left in 2008 on an 11-month around-the-world adventure. She had hopes that traveling and volunteering would act as a reset button on her life. Many times she traveled with family and friends, including 6 months traveling and home schooling her 11-year-old niece Ana. Along the way the experiences shaped and changed who she is and how she travels and five years later Shannon is still traveling and writing. You can learn more about Shannon’s adventures at alittleadrift.com. Shannon O’Donnell, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
After two years of planning, Sarah Outen set off on her London to London Via the World expedition on April 1st of 2011. She crossed the English Channel by kayak and cycled across Europe and Asia during the first leg of her journey. On the second leg, she rowed her 21-foot ocean rowing boat, Happy Socks, for 150 days over 3,750 miles from Japan to the Aleutian Islands – becoming the first person to row this crossing. You can learn more about these adventures and about the upcoming legs of the expedition at sarahouten.com. Sarah Outen, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Thousands of orphaned children fight for survival each day on the streets of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The majority of these children are below age 12. There are not many orphanages in Mongolia so these children form gangs and sleep beneath the city streets to stay warm. The purpose of Brian Hunter’s expedition is to raise awareness of their plight and distribute necessities to over 3,000 of these homeless children while delivering a message of hope and love. To do this he ran 1500 miles west to east across Mongolia from July to September of 2013. You can learn more about his expedition at acrossmongolia.com. Brian Hunter, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Starting in September of 2012, Ken Ilgunas spent 5 months walking 1,700 miles from Hardisty, Alberta Canada to Port Arthur, Texas – the proposed route of the Keystone XL Pipeline. He thought he might be the last person to see and document the area before it is developed. While hiking he experienced the simple joys of camping, interactions with strangers, run-ins with law enforcement, violent dogs, and the sweet anticipation of not knowing what lies behind the next bend in the road. You can learn more about his adventure at kenilgunas.com. Ken Ilgunas, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Dan Hobbs climbed 57 Colorado peaks in 25 days to raise money for Save the Children, a charity that helps poor and afflicted children in the US and around the world. All the peaks were over 14,000 feet and 17 of them required class 3 to 5 technical climbing skills. That’s 400 miles and 160,000 vertical feet of hiking and climbing using many non-traditional routes and peak-to-peak traverses. You can learn more about his challenging adventure at rundanrun.org. Dan Hobbs, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Scott Mestrezat is the first person to Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) the Missouri River, from June to September of 2013, starting at its headwaters in Montana and ending in St. Louis Missouri. He traveled self-supported on a board he constructed. It was 107 days and 2400 miles of lakes, river, wind, and heat. You can learn more about his adventure at missouririversup.com. Scott Mestrezat welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
The Great Himalaya Trail is one of the highest and longest trails in the world. Between April and June of 2013, Doc McKerr became the first person to solo trek the Great Himalayan Trail on a 65 day, 1480 km trek in Nepal from east to west. His route took him through some of the world’s most amazing and difficult landscapes as he trekked through Himalayan foothills, forests, jungles, and remote villages. In total he passed over thirteen 5000+ meter passes and reached two 5000+ meter base camps while exposed to all kinds of weather conditions. You can learn more about his adventure at east2westnepal.org. Doc McKerr, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In May of 2013 Amber Valenti was one of four women who embarked on a source to sea descent of the Amur River—the world’s third longest free-flowing river. They traveled through remote Mongolia and Russia from the birthplace of Genghis Khan to the Pacific Ocean delta. They called their expedition Nobody’s River Project and its purpose is to tell the story of this widely unknown watershed from the vast biodiversity to the threats that face it including pollution, hydropower, and habitat destruction. You can learn more about their adventure at nobodysriver.org. Amber Valenti, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
On July 27 2012, Katharine & David Lowrie began an epic journey to run the length of South America; over 5000 miles through some of the most awe inspiring and biologically rich ecosystems on earth. Katharine will be the first woman to run across the continent and as a team they will be the first to run the continent unsupported. They hope that through sweat, tears and determination, they can open a portal into the last wilds of South America and rekindle people’s passion for running and for our amazing natural world. Learn more about their adventure at 5000mileproject.org. Katharine & David Lowrie welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Along the US-Canada border up in the northeastern arrowhead region of Minnesota, lies the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA). With over one million acres, one thousand pristine lakes, 1200 miles of canoe routes, and 2200 backcountry campsites, the Boundary Waters is an outdoorsman’s paradise. Barry Johnson has visited the Boundary Waters many times over the past 25 years and has published a collection of real-life stories of adventure in the Boundary Waters titled the BWCA Reader. You can learn more at BWCAReader.com. Barry Johnson, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Janet Moreland is a self-described river rat and has been kayaking for 16 years. In the summer of 2013 she embarked on a solo kayaking expedition of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers from the source at Brower’s Spring, Montana to the Gulf of Mexico, a 3,700-mile adventure of paddling and portaging. If she is successful, she will be the first woman to navigate this distance solo by kayak. One purpose of the expedition is to empower kids to get outdoors and to help them learn about the history, geography, and the natural environment of the Big Muddy. You can follow her expedition at loveyourbigmuddy.com. Janet Moreland, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Laura Dekker was born on a boat and from a young age dreamed of sailing the globe. With the support of her parents she was ready to set sail at age 13 only to be stopped by Dutch authorities. After the legal battles ended, she won her fight and set off on her solo journey at age 14. 366 days later, she successfully completed her solo circumnavigation in January of 2012 and became the youngest person to do so. She now calls New Zealand her home and has written a book about her adventures titled A Girl A Dream. Learn more at LauraDekker.com Laura Dekker, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Squash Falconer has summited Mt. Everest, was the first British woman to paraglide from Mont Blanc in France, and in the summer of 2013 set the world record for riding an ElliptiGO bicycle across the UK, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and France. A 3,074 mile journey over nine weeks to raise money for the breast cancer charity Coppafeel, and to get people to join the ride and share the love of a good adventure. You can read more about it at squashfalconer.com. Squash Falconer, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Jessica Yurasek is on a journey – a journey to become un-stuck and to find meaning, purpose, creativity, and inspiration in everyday life. After five years behind the cubicle in busy, chaotic Los Angeles, she was burned-out. Fortunately, a job layoff pushed the daydreams into reality. She packed up her belongings, rented her house, and planned for a year of travel vagabond-style through South Korea, Indonesia, China, India, Thailand, Myanmar, and beyond. You can read more about her travels at missjessrose.com. Jessica Yurasek, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Charles Scott is leading a life of family adventure. In 2009 he and his 8-year-old son Sho cycled 2500 miles across Japan. In 2011, his 4-year-old daughter Saya joined them to cycle the circumference of Iceland. And in 2012 the three cycled Germany, Switzerland, France and England over 42 days. This summer the family set off again to re-trace the 3,200-mile Lewis & Clark Trail. They will drive the first 1,500 miles in 2 weeks, then cycle the next 1,700 miles in 6 weeks over the Rocky Mountains all the way to the Pacific Ocean. You can read about their adventure at familyadventureguy.blogspot.com. Charles Scott, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Cycling 4,500 miles across the USA was the easy part of Rob Greenfield’s 19-state adventure. So what was the hard part? How about doing it using electricity only from renewable energy, consuming water only from natural sources, and eating only locally grown organic food – a challenging off-the-grid adventure. The ride was done to inspire Americans to live a healthier and happier lifestyle for themselves and for the planet and you can learn more about it at GreenfieldAdventures.org. Rob Greenfield, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
After a decade of being distracted by a career, a relationship, and home ownership; Loretta Henderson decided to stop dreaming about adventure and to start living it. She left Alaska at age 36 to begin cycling around the world. Starting in the United Kingdom, she left the bike shop on a Thorn Raven without a map and without any cycling experience. Four years later she has pedaled across 30 countries on 5 continents and records her adventures at www.skalatitude.com. Loretta Henderson welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Ryan Wichelns and Gabe Messercola have spent the last half-decade in the Adirondacks. They have been fortunate to have this park in their backyard and have gained an appreciation for the wilderness through backpacking and climbing. To raise awareness and support for Big City Mountaineers, an urban youth outdoor mentoring organization, Ryan and Gabe spent 20 days this summer traversing the Adirondack Park from South to North, blue line to blue line, a 205-mile adventure of cycling, canoeing, and hiking. You can check out their adventure at adirondacktraverse.org. Ryan Wichelns and Gabe Messercola welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
My next guest found himself at a crossroads after leaving his corporate job and splitting up with his wife. Instead of taking the path of the stereotypical midlife crisis, he opted for the path less traveled and decided to take a walk. Not just any walk, a really long walk – a 1305-mile walk across Turkey. For 20 years, Matt Krause had something bigger in mind and this walk would be the first part of that bigger thing. Check out Matt’s journey at heathenpilgrim.com or mattkrause.com. Matt Krause, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
My next guest is Jordan Harvey. Jordan studied in Havana, Cuba and spent more than three years traveling and living in South America. While in Chile, he and his wife guided in Patagonia and throughout the country while building their company – Knowmad Adventures – a trip operator and travel consultancy specializing in South American travel. He says starting and running an international travel business is the most challenging adventure of them all. Jordan Harvey welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
At an early age Steve Knowlton knew he would run across America. He completed his first marathon at age 13. Since then he has completed 45 additional marathons and 7 ultra-marathons. He completed his cross-country run in 2010 when he ran from Seattle Washington to Key Largo Florida. A 3,717 mile run in 100 days to raise awareness for Chrohn’s disease. In 2013 Steve set off on a second cross-country run, attempting to break the world speed record by running from San Francisco to New York City in 45 days to raise awareness for Asperger’s syndrome. Steve Knowlton, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
After college graduation my next guest jumped around from Central America to a Northern California Buddhist monastery to a year of law school before dropping out. He then spent 8 years as Executive Director at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center – an environmental education center and farm in Connecticut. In 2010 he founded Urban Adamah, an urban produce farm on an acre of land in Berkeley, California that has quickly grown into a thriving environmental education center and gathering place for the Bay Area Jewish community. Adam Berman, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
At the beginning 2010, my next guest left her life as an Occupational Therapist in the United States and found herself as a lonely housewife in Lima, Peru. But it didn’t take long to overcome the fear of a foreign city, catcalling men, and wild street dogs to become a marathon runner, a cook, an English teacher, and a Social-Media Marketing Manager. Danielle Krautmann (DanielleLParker [at] gmail [dot] com), welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
After a job layoff, my next guest avoided the temptation to rush back to work and used the opportunity to thru-hike the Appalachian trail, south to north, over 24 weeks from May to October of 2012. He managed to survive encounters with ticks, mice, snakes, feral ponies, and a storm that could have killed him. Aaron Hushagen, or Hoosh as he was known on the trail, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
On April 4th, 2013, my next guests completed an 11,700 mile journey across North America by kayak, canoe, and dogsled. It was a 3-year journey to gain support and protection for North America’s waterways and wild places. During their adventure they actively engaged over 25,000 elementary and middle school students though live school assemblies and their website wildernessclassroom.com. Dave and Amy Freeman, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
While in college at Iowa State University, my next guest teamed up to design and install a water valve for a rural Malian village. It was a life-changing experience. After graduation he volunteered for the Peace Corps in Nicaragua and while there co-founded Emerging Opportunities for Sustainability (www.eosinternational.org) – a not-for-profit organization dedicated to producing technology that is low-cost, promotes health and welfare, and minimizes damage to the environment. In 2012, he was awarded the STATEment Makers honor from the Iowa State Alumni Association for his early personal and professional accomplishments. Wes Meier, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
My guest today is Pete Marshall. Pete has paddled over 7500 miles through Canada. In 2005 he and his brother canoed 2700 miles over 122 days from their home state of Minnesota to the Arctic Ocean. On May 8th of 2012, Pete and 3 others began a 2600-mile, 130-day canoe expedition across the isolated regions of Canada’s northern territories from Skagway Alaska to the Hudson Bay. You can learn more about this adventure and purchase a DVD of their expedition titled 2600 Above 60 at the website canoe2012.com. Pete Marshall, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
In 2011, my next guest surprised even herself by quitting an enviable office job, hugging friends goodbye, and leaving New York City after six years. She went home to California to regroup, wondered what she was doing with her life, and then got herself a work visa and an outlandishly expensive plane ticket for New Zealand. She spent 12 months living and working on New Zealand’s south island, traveling Southeast Asia, and becoming the most hesitant extreme-adventure connoisseur in the world. I guess you could say she did it all on a whim. Jess, from jessonawhim.com, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.