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Anna S. E. Lundberg

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Adventure is out there! (+ news about The Adventure Travel Show 2017)

6 January, 2017 By Anna S E Lundberg Leave a Comment

*Make sure you read to the end as there’s a special offer for those of you who are in the London area!*

Desert adventureThere’s something about the idea of adventure. Going off into the unknown, having new experiences, sometimes facing a little bit of risk or danger and always coming away with memorable moments.

When I broke away from my comfortable life in Geneva in 2013, the very first step was an adventure, a sabbatical of three months of solo travel across South America. My slogan I posted everywhere as I headed off was ADVENTURE IS OUT THERE! If you’ve seen Pixar’s film Up (the first five minutes have me in tears every time), you’ll recognise this as the call of the young Carl and Ellie as they dreamed of becoming adventurers, and the inspiration for Carl in his old age to seek out Paradise Falls. Off I went in search of my own Paradise Falls, and I’ve been having new adventures ever since.

Mountain adventureAdventure brings to mind explorers like Ranulph Fiennes getting frostbite as he crossed Antarctica on foot, or Sir Edmund Hillary conquering the summit of Mount Everest; not to mention older legendary figures like Christopher Columbus, Sir Francis Drake and Marco Polo. Today, we have TV personalities like Bear Grylls teaching wilderness survival skills; people like my friend Dave Cornthwaite who leads a community of people who want to Say Yes More to a life of adventure and fulfilment; and, hurrah, more and more women including Anna McNuff who was recently named one of ‘the 50 best travellers of our time’ alongside Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama.

Adventure no longer has to mean the heavily funded expeditions of the past and we’ve now seen the rise of the concept of micro-adventures, with Al Humphreys for example recommending simply taking a bivvy bag and going out onto a nearby hilltop for a little wild sleep, and companies like Secret Adventures cropping up to encourage people to go on a mini-adventure away from the office and the city. There are probably countless other more low-key adventurers who are just quietly getting on with their adventures out there in the world.

Adventure means time away from the daily grind, breathing in the fresh air, getting close to nature; it involves learning more about ourselves and the people we meet along the way; and it often allows for reflecting on what’s really important.

Ocean adventureOf course if you’ve seen the Pixar film Up – and I don’t want to ruin it for you if you haven’t, so go and watch it right now – the ultimate message is that adventures are what make up your life, your good times and your bad, with the people you choose to spend it with. It’s not about the expensive flight ticket to a far-away land or even ticking off those bucket list experiences. Adventure is out there – but it’s up to you to know it when you find it.

If you’re up for an adventurous 2017, I’d recommend you visit the Adventure Travel Show in London. I’ve been attending this for a couple of years now and these days I know a lot of the people on stage, which makes it extra special. Read my posts after attending the last couple of years of the travel show:
Adventure is Out There: Insights from the Adventure Travel Show 2016
Adventure is Out There! Ranulph Fiennes and travel companies galore at the Adventure Travel Show 2015

The Adventure Travel Show
Uncover Your Journey of a Lifetime
21-22 January 2017, Olympia, London

The Adventure Travel Show, celebrating its 21st year, is a world of extraordinary discoveries all under one roof. It is the UK’s leading event for people who like to travel outside the mainstream – whether it be on small-group adventures, exclusive expeditions or epic journeys.

The Adventure Travel Show is packed with inspirational and essential travel advice, specialist seminars and the best adventure speaker line-up of 2017, including explorers, adventurers, tour leaders and guidebook writers who will help you uncover your perfect adventure. Plus, the biggest collection of specialist travel operators all under one roof will be on hand to offer guidance on everything, from walking and trekking to exploratory journeys, safaris, overland trips, life-changing volunteering projects and much, much more.

The Adventure Travel Show – it’s where your adventure begins…

I’m happy to be able to offer you tickets at £6 (that’s £4 off the full door price) with the voucher ONESTEPOUTSIDE when booking tickets online at www.adventureshow.com or when calling 0871 230 7159. (Calls cost 13p per minute plus network extras).

Look out in particular for the all-female panel, Women at the Edge, which includes Justine Gosling whom I met on one of my paddle adventures on the Thames; one of my favourites of the 2016 show, Sean Conway; and, of course, Yes Man Dave Cornthwaite.

Filed Under: Adventures, Travel Tagged With: adventure, adventure travel show, dave cornthwaite, microadventures, secret adventures

Adventure is Out There! Ranulph Fiennes and travel companies galore at the Adventure Travel Show 2015

18 January, 2015 By Anna S E Lundberg 1 Comment

The Adventure Travel Show is a weekend event at the Olympia conference centre in London, “the UK’s only event dedicated to discovering the world off the beaten track”. A maze of stands from adventure travel companies, the show also included inspirational speakers with Ranulph Fiennes headlining the event along with seminars on travel writing and photography.

It’s hard to talk about adventure having heard Ranulph Fiennes – the world’s greatest living explorer, according to the Guinness Book of Records – talk about his time in the army of the Sultan of Oman (fighting alongside Muslims against the enemy of the time, the communists), searching for the lost city of Ubar, travelling down the Nile in a hovercraft, crossing the Antarctic unsupported, et cetera, et cetera…

The key to a successful expedition, as Ranulph Fiennes told us, is motivation. You need to be able to argue with the “wimpish” voice inside you that tries to stop you from continuing on in the face of impossible challenges. And, judging by his talk – with stories of how he struggled through school and failed his A-levels (it was the mini skirts), planned a bank robbery to get into the SAS, and blew up a dam in protest against Dr Doolittle – I’d say that a sense of humour will get you a long way…

But having seen even just a handful of his gruesome photos of the effects of frostbite and hearing stories of ships sinking and planes crashing into volcanoes, invisible crevices and aggressive polar bears, not to mention tsunamis of ice, I’m definitely not tempted to emulate that kind of pioneering Adventurer’s life with a capital A. In fact, I think most of us in the audience would be happy with a more limited and controlled taste of the adventurous life.

With that in mind, how do you fancy horse riding in Patagonia, navigating around Iceland, camel riding in Afghanistan, or mountain trekking in Nepal? There are activities for every level, from leisurely walks requiring no fitness or previous experience right up to extreme sports demanding both physical training and technical skills.

My (not-so) shortlist for possible trips this year (and beyond!):
Climbing Kilimanjaro*
Trekking to the Mount Everest base camp
Walking the Great Wall of China*
Visiting Petra* in Jordan
Safari in southern Africa
Exploring Iceland*
Kayaking in the Yukon
Travelling down to Patagonia
Getting my sailing licence*
*All on my bucket list!

Given my theme of being active in 2015, this year I’ll be focusing on trekking and physical challenges. I’ve already booked dog sledding in the Arctic Circle in March, but clearly I need lots more to fill the rest of the year…

Adventure is out there! Now go out and find it.

Cold by Ranulph Fiennes
I couldn’t resist getting a signed copy of Ranulph Fiennes’ latest book, Cold.
Travel company brochures
A small selection of the brochures that filled my bag when I left. Ordinarily I would avoid travel agencies and group trips, but it’s definitely helpful or even necessary for things like mountain trekking and travelling to super remote destinations.
With a £10 off voucher included with my conference entry, I took the opportunity to stock up on copies of Wanderlust Magazine, which I'm now salivating over...
With a £10 off voucher included with my conference entry, I took the opportunity to stock up on copies of Wanderlust Magazine, which I can now salivate over…

Adventure travel companies at the show

Here is a selection of the companies with various tempting adventures on offer:
Discover the World
Exodus
360 Expeditions
Explore!
G Adventures
Intrepid Travel
KE Adventure Travel
Mosaic Adventure
Wild Frontiers

Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: adventure travel, adventure travel companies, adventure travel show, ranulph fiennes, travel

More about Anna

Anna Lundberg is a success coach and business strategist who helps experienced corporate professionals reimagine success outside of the 9 to 5.

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