About
Alastair Humphreys tells stories to encourage people to live more adventurously every day. Read More About Alastair here.
“Humphreys is clearly slightly bonkers and this is a wonderful thing.”
Full Bio.
Alastair’s quest for adventure began young. Aged nine, he completed the 20 mile Yorkshire 3 Peaks challenge, then the National 3 Peaks in 24 hours aged 13. At 15 he cycled off-road across England. After leaving school, Alastair taught for a year in South Africa.
Whilst at university (Edinburgh and Oxford) Alastair cycled from Pakistan to China, Land’s End to John O’Groats, Turkey to Italy, Mexico to Panama and across South America. He ran a charity project in the Philippines and the London marathon dressed as a rhino.
Whilst at university (Edinburgh and Oxford) Alastair cycled from Pakistan to China, Land’s End to John O’Groats, Turkey to Italy, Mexico to Panama and across South America. He ran a charity project in the Philippines and the London marathon dressed as a rhino.
Since graduating Alastair has cycled round the world for four years, raced a yacht across the Atlantic Ocean, canoed 500 miles down the Yukon River and walked the length of the holy Kaveri river in India.
Alastair has also run the Marathon des Sables, (finishing as one of the ten fastest Brits despite breaking his foot during the race) and rowed to France with a paralysed soldier. In 2010 he completed an unsupported crossing of Iceland by foot and packraft.
In 2011 Alastair decided to remain in the UK in order to encourage people to seek out adventure and wilderness closer to home, challenging themselves through microadventures. In 2012 Alastair rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, did an expedition in Greenland and walked across the Empty Quarter desert.
Since then he has concentrated on his microadventures, encouraging people to get out and fit more adventure into their busy lives. He has worked with clients including National Geographic, Talisker, Peugeot, Skoda, easyJet, Cartier, Victorinox, Vodafone, GoPro and Adidas on this movement. Alastair’s book, Microadventures, was an Amazon UK Top 20 Bestseller for all books. Grand Adventures reached Number 8 for all books on Amazon UK.
In 2016 Alastair attempted to busk across Spain in the footsteps of one of his literary heroes. Since then he has spent a year exploring the single small map around his home, encouraging people to search for nearby nature and wildness. His book, Local, was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize for nature writing.
Alastair is a patron of the charity Hope and Homes for Children, the Youth Adventure Trust, the Outdoor Swimming Society, The Rivers Trust, and the Yorkshire Dales Society. He is a life member of the John Muir Trust, the Woodland Trust, the National Trust, a supporter of Trees for Cities, and donates at least 1% of his income to environmental charities.
He writes in a shed, loves watching sport, reads lots of books, and drinks too much coffee. He also finds writing in the third person to be ridiculous.