Monthly Archives: July 2009

31
Jul
2009

Guest Blog: Revolution Cycle. “Keep it simple, sell your telly”

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Posted in Cycling, Expeditions, Guest Blog, Motivation, Travel
This month’s guest blog comes from Fearghal of the Revolution Cycle team, the first Irish circumnavigation of the globe by bicycle. His post provides an interesting juxtaposition to Ed’s post last month about the dark side of two-man expeditions. But first, I asked a few questions to get a quick insight into what makes Fearghal [...]

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31
Jul
2009

Photo Friday from Bolivia

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Posted in Photo Friday
Each Friday on this blog I feature someone’s inspiring travel, adventure or expedition photo: Photo Friday. Hopefully it will get you in the mood for making the most of your weekend. If you have a Flickr photo that you would like to share please let me know, including the photo’s URL, plus a couple of [...]

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30
Jul
2009

Motivation and impetus are elusive things

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Posted in Uncategorized
Dipping into the archives: a few posts I like from this time last year: - Motivation and impetus are elusive things - Why do I want to go to Antarctica? - Sled pulling debut DON’T MISS A THING – FREE MONTHLY UPDATE BY EMAIL: Have you read Alastair’s books? Also available for Kindle, iPad and [...]

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28
Jul
2009

Take a Seat

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Posted in Cycling, Writing
My friend Dom Gill cycled from Prudhoe Bay to Ushuaia, the full length of the Americas (and the span that I feel has to be done in order to say you’ve done the job properly). The twist to his ride was that he was on a tandem… alone! He filmed his journey, and all the [...]

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27
Jul
2009

Ideas for my next trip

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Posted in Best Bits, Expeditions, Travel
Last week I showed a map of the world which I have been using to help me dream up the next plan while Ben focuses on his solo projects. Here are some ideas I’m contemplating at the moment: Getting into climbing Sea-kayaking Husky racing A camel journey Navigating a long river the Race across America [...]

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26
Jul
2009

Shaking off the fetters of habit, or ‘Why travel? (5)’

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Posted in Motivation, Travel
Reading a book last night I came across one of the best reasons to just get up, and get out on the road. I’ve mentioned it before, but I think it merits a re-airing: “Of the gladdest moments in human life, methinks is the departure upon a distant journey to unknown lands. Shaking off with [...]

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24
Jul
2009

Photo Friday – Penguin after a blizzard

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Posted in Photo Friday, South Pole
DON’T MISS A THING – FREE MONTHLY UPDATE BY EMAIL: Have you read Alastair’s books? Also available for Kindle, iPad and children.
23
Jul
2009

Map of all the countries I have visited

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Posted in Our World, Travel
At times, when the search for sponsorship for Antarctica gets me down a bit, I turn my mind to daydreaming of easier, cheaper journeys. Last week I explained why I now need to find myself a new project for the next few months. Here’s a map that shows (in red), the places I’ve been to. [...]

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22
Jul
2009

23 things learned in 50 years, a partial list in no particular order

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Posted in Best Bits, Lists, Motivation
From this list I’ve picked a few selections from one journalist’s half century of life experience. Promptness shows respect. The most valuable thing to have is a good reputation, and it’s neither hard nor expensive to acquire one: Be fair. Be honest. Be trustworthy. Be generous. Respect others. The Golden Rule is the greatest moral [...]

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20
Jul
2009

We choose the Moon

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Posted in Our World
(skip to 1’30″ for the good part!) “There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation may never come again. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this [...]

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18
Jul
2009

No fridge required. The travails of the modern travel writer

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Posted in Best Bits, Writing
I had a long chat this morning with somebody about today’s travel writing world. We spoke of the need to be either famous or to have a USP, ”a gentle adventure which involves at worst, a loss of dignity; the loss of life thing is for climbers and Antarctic explorers who do what they do [...]

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17
Jul
2009

Photo Friday – caught surfing

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Posted in Photo Friday
DON’T MISS A THING – FREE MONTHLY UPDATE BY EMAIL: Have you read Alastair’s books? Also available for Kindle, iPad and children.
15
Jul
2009

Society, I hope you’re not lonely without me.

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Posted in Best Bits, Our World, Ramblings
Struggling to overcome inertia a week or two back I listened to the soundtrack to Into the Wild, one of my favourite films. It helped me to remember the power that the world’s natural places can have on us, and also to maintain my priorities. I had sunk into the typical London trap of equating [...]

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14
Jul
2009

Hunger and Night and the Stars

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Posted in Our World, Poetry, Ramblings
“Were you ever out on the Great Alone, When the moon was awful clear, And the icy mountains hemmed you in With a silence you ‘most could hear With only the sound of a timber wolf And you camped there, in the cold, A half-dead thing in a stark, dead world, Clean mad for the [...]

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13
Jul
2009

Poll: Scott or Amundsen?

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Posted in Polls
DON’T MISS A THING – FREE MONTHLY UPDATE BY EMAIL: Have you read Alastair’s books? Also available for Kindle, iPad and children.
12
Jul
2009

I don’t want to be Kevin Pietersen

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Posted in Motivation
How am I going to work the Ashes series into this website? I asked myself. It has to be done somehow, as the cricket will dominate my summer now I’m no longer anticipating an Antarctic Christmas. Here goes… Kevin Pietersen was England’s top scorer in the first innings at Cardiff. He is England’s best batsman, [...]

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11
Jul
2009

A bit of a catch-up on our South Pole plans

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Posted in South Pole
It’s been a while since I last wrote about our South Pole plans. Almost a whole year has gone by since Andy, Ben and I postponed SOUTH for a year. During that year the financial world has gone into meltdown. It is difficult to remember a worse time to be seeking corporate sponsorship. It has [...]

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10
Jul
2009

Photo Friday – to the Pole with Shackleton

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Posted in Expeditions, Photo Friday
This week’s photos come from Henry Worsley. Technically Photo Friday should be one photo, but I’m not going to argue with an Army Officer who has trekked to the South Pole, particularly not one from the elite Women’s Auxillary Balloon Corps. Henry recently led an expedition to the South Pole following in the footsteps of [...]

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09
Jul
2009

Ed Stafford: From the Amazon to Regent Street

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Posted in Expeditions, Our World
Ed Stafford - the first man to walk the length of the River Amazon, presents a lecture to the National Geographic store via Skype
08
Jul
2009

Book give away: Ten Lessons from the Road – chapter 4

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Posted in 10 Lessons, Writing
4- WE WALK ALONE Do you blame other people for your life not being where you want it to be? Are you willing to take the responsibility for your outrageous goal? We all enjoy sitting back in a comfy armchair, pausing for a moment in complete contentment. These are times when we can look back [...]

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