Monthly Archives: March 2009

23
Mar
2009

Walking across India

9 comments
Posted in India
The river Kaveri is one of the 5 great holy rivers of India, revered by pilgrims for centuries. From its source amongst the coffee and cardoman plantations in the cool hills of the Western Ghats, the river flows 500 miles across southern India towards the hot plains of Tamil Nadu and the Bay of Bengal. [...]

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21
Mar
2009

A few countries with good food…

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Posted in Lists, Travel
A few countries with good food… Argentina Georgia Japan Lebanon Mexico China What have I missed out..? My first book has loads of recipes in it. Check it out here. DON’T MISS A THING – FREE MONTHLY UPDATE BY EMAIL: Have you read Alastair’s books? Also available for Kindle, iPad and children.
20
Mar
2009

Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years

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Posted in Best Bits, Ramblings
Wise words from Marcus Aurelius: “Men seek retreats for themselves, houses in the country, at the seashore, and in the mountains; and you tend to desire such things very much. But this is a characteristic of the most common sort of men, for it is in your power whenever you will to choose to retreat [...]

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20
Mar
2009

Dirty underwear, heroic struggle and white men with icicles in their beards…

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Posted in Expeditions
The opinion of legendary explorer Mikael Strandberg, and cautionary words for me! “Our view of Adventure and Expeditions must be renewed. Firstly, there has to be an interesting story. The times are gone when a spectator finds it interesting to listen to the hackneyed theme of ”anything is possible”; a story centered around dirty underwear, [...]

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19
Mar
2009

Catapulting you out into the World

1 comment
Posted in Ramblings
“Here’s the thing. Admission into time and space requires a belief in limits: a belief that both time and space are real; that you can therefore have and have-not; that love can be lost or found; and that you are what your physical senses show you and no more. These illusions immediately lead you to [...]

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18
Mar
2009

A quick update

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Posted in Uncategorized
It’s been a busy couple of weeks so just a speedy, inelegant update before I head to India on Monday morning. I have been giving plenty of talks in schools over the past few weeks as part of a national campaign to encourage 20,000 more school children to cycle to school. It’s been tiring on [...]

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16
Mar
2009

Express your gratitude

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Posted in Motivation
“Velvet pillows, safari parks, sunglasses; people have become woolly mice. They still have bodies that can walk for five days and four nights through a desert of snow, without food, but they accept praise for having taken a one-hour bicycle ride. ‘Good for you‘. Instead of expressing their gratitude for the rain by getting wet, [...]

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15
Mar
2009

Photos from round the world

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Posted in Photography, RoundTheWorldByBike, Travel
Just found a way to put my Flickr photos onto a world map… DON’T MISS A THING – FREE MONTHLY UPDATE BY EMAIL: Have you read Alastair’s books? Also available for Kindle, iPad and children.
13
Mar
2009

The ultimate Motivational Speech?

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Posted in Best Bits, Humour, Motivation
DON’T MISS A THING – FREE MONTHLY UPDATE BY EMAIL: Have you read Alastair’s books? Also available for Kindle, iPad and children.
13
Mar
2009

Frequently Asked Questions

6 comments
Posted in Cycling, RoundTheWorldByBike, Speaking
The questions I was asked most frequently in the 14 talks I gave for Sustrans this week: How many punctures did you get? Did you get sick? How did you go to the toilet? How did you take the photos? Did your bum hurt? Would you do it again? What was your favourite country? What [...]

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10
Mar
2009

The gladdest moments in human life

2 comments
Posted in Expeditions
I really enjoyed Mark Kalch’s talk at the RGS tonight about his journey from the source to the mouth of the Amazon. It was a good old ripping adventure. Mates doing something together simply because they wanted to do it. I particularly enjoyed Mark’s final slide when he attempted to articulate the question that people [...]

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09
Mar
2009

In the Shadow of the Moon

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Posted in Best Bits, Expeditions, Motivation, Our World
“I was able to look out the window to see this incredible sight of the whole circle of the Earth. Oceans were crystal blue, the land was brown, and the clouds and the snow were pure white. And that jewel of Earth was just hung up in the blackness of space” – Charlie Duke On [...]

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06
Mar
2009

Reminding myself that expeditions should be fun

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Posted in Expeditions, South Pole
I find that sometimes I forget about the fun and excitement of expeditions behind the miasma of corporate sponsorship speak, the gloom of the credit crunch and days, weeks, months behind the computer screen. So I thought I would add this clip just to remind myself why it will all be worthwhile in the end. [...]

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02
Mar
2009

Man on Wire

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Posted in Best Bits, Motivation
“It’s impossible, that’s sure. So let’s start working.” I watched the wonderful film Man on Wire at the weekend. Apart from being an extraordinary story (the true tale of a French guy who decides to tightrope between the Twin Towers), it left a big impression on me about ambition. How devoted are you to chasing [...]

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02
Mar
2009

10 Countries I would like to visit

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Posted in Travel
10 countries I hope to visit soon. Let me know of any glaring omissions! Afghanistan Australia Burkina Faso Cambodia India Iran Mali New Zealand Norway Papua New Guinea DON’T MISS A THING – FREE MONTHLY UPDATE BY EMAIL: Have you read Alastair’s books? Also available for Kindle, iPad and children.