Month: July 2011
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Micro-adventure: Hiking, Hitching & Packrafting The Highlands (Part 1)
In my naivety I always expected that my first big bicycle adventure would be about blood, sweat and tears; about grit and grime, toughness and endurance. But I was wrong. First and foremost, it would be a journey amongst people. Chance encounters with individuals from all walks of life formed my strongest impressions and my most […] Continue reading →
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Exped DownMat 7 Pump Camping Mattress Review For Cycle Touring
Full disclosure: Lyon Equipment, Exped’s UK distributor, provided my original DownMat 7 under their Expedition Award scheme. As with all such arrangements, I’m not obliged to write favourably about products — just honestly. I’ve long used the DownMat 7 mattress by Swiss company Exped. DownMats are a serious alternative to the established Therm-a-Rest, and are designed […] Continue reading →
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Film Blog: The Big, Scary World Of Independent Filmmaking
James Newton is the same age as I am. While I’ve spent years galavanting off on cycling jaunts, he has forged his way into a cushty, enviable freelance existence making factual programmes for prime-time British TV, many shows of which are household names in the UK. But today he’s chosen to spend his time doing something […] Continue reading →
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8 Handy Bits Of Software For Travellers & Adventurers
If you’ve ignored all my advice to go on low-tech adventures and are packing a laptop and mobile net connection alongside your merino-wool boxer shorts and solar panels, you might find these bits of software make your precious time at the battery-powered screen a bit easier, safer and more productive. (And 7 out of the […] Continue reading →
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Adventures Off The Map In Outer Mongolia
It was on the sixth day after leaving Hatgal that the trail petered out. In its place, a tangle of tiny channels began to eat its way westwards down a long valley floor, paved by fist-sized, weather-rounded stones. On either side of the river basin rose steep, jagged walls of rock enthusiastically smothered in green […] Continue reading →
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Video: Cycling The Scandinavian Arctic In Midwinter
I re-edited the short film I made of my little ice-biking excursion in Norway and Sweden to make it eligible for a documentary scholarship application run by WorldNomads. I was surprised and pleased to come in as the fourth-place runner up out of about 200 entries. It is a valuable thing for an aspiring film-maker to […] Continue reading →