Off Grid

Ed Stafford is a British explorer, television presenter and author who holds the Guinness World Record for being the first person to walk the entire length of the Amazon River, and he has also survived 60 days alone and naked on a desert island amongst many other adventures. In this conversation, we talk about: - How adoption trauma shaped who he became as a man - Why he never felt like he belonge...

Sarah Williams is the founder of the Tough Girl Podcast and Tough Girl Challenges, who launched both after leaving corporate banking at 32 and has since grown the podcast to over 870 episodes and millions of downloads, making it one of the most listened to adventure podcasts in the world. In this conversation, we talk about: Why she walked away from a corporate banking career at 32 to champion wom...

Jenny Tough is an ultra endurance athlete, solo expedition runner, bikepacker and author who has crossed mountain ranges solo and unsupported on every continent, including a 1,000km crossing of Kyrgyzstan entirely alone. In this conversation, we talk about: - Why solo expeditions forced her to stop people pleasing and start backing herself - Developing PTSD after nearly drowning in the Rockies and...

Lena Drapella is a professional climbing photographer and the first female photographer for World Climbing who recently sailed from Iceland to East Greenland to climb a new route on the third largest wall in the world. In this conversation, we talk about: How discovering rock climbing at university derailed a perfectly good plan to study furniture design in Paris How she built a career photographi...

Emily Penn is a sailor, ocean advocate and founder of eXXpedition, which runs ocean-focused research missions and all-women sailing expeditions to study plastic pollution across the entire world's oceans. In this conversation, we talk about: How sailing from Europe to Australia and finding plastic 800 miles from civilisation changed the course of her life Why 29 out of 35 UN-banned toxic chemi...

Ann Daniels is a polar explorer and world record holder for being part of the first all-female team to walk to both the North and South Poles, who went on to conduct Arctic scientific research for NASA and the European Space Agency. In this conversation, we talk about: Responding to an advert for ordinary women to walk to the North Pole while going through a divorce with triplets at home How to ta...

Leon McCarron is a writer, filmmaker and adventurer from Northern Ireland who has walked across the Gobi Desert, lived in Iraq and now lives in Beirut, Lebanon. In this conversation, we talk about: - Why deciding which life you want to live comes down to which regret is easier to live with - Cycling from New York to Hong Kong at 23 with almost no money and no experience - Why Western media gets pl...

Ben Aitken is a British travel writer, Sunday Times columnist, and author. His most recent book is called Shitty Breaks, which celebrates the 12 least visited cities in the UK. In this conversation, we talk about: - Why adventure doesn't require an exotic destination or a big budget - How solo travel builds resilience and why talking to strangers is the antidote to anxiety - Why your phone is...

Niall McCann is a conservationist, adventurer, biologist, mountain rescuer and TV presenter. In this conversation, we talk about: - Surviving a spinal cord injury after a speed flying accident at 40mph - How Niall's disabled body carries 45kg for days on expeditions in freezing temperatures - Summiting a mountain his grandfather named in 1953 but never climbed - What it means to live up to a f...

Hazel Findlay is a professional climber, mindset coach, founder of Strong Mind Climbing, and the first British woman to climb an E9 level of rock climbing. In this conversation, we talk about: - How to use fear as information rather than a barrier - The neuroscience of thriving under pressure versus simply coping - The pressure of climbing on TV with the likes of Steve Backshall and Alex Honnold -...

Tommy Lewis is a running coach and content creator who left a career in sales and tech in London to build his own run coaching business and spent the last year living and running across Vietnam, Thailand, India, Egypt and the French Alps. In this conversation, we talk about: - Why the nomadic dream is harder than it looks from the outside - How running became a spiritual guide through his darkest...

Will Simpson is a serving British Army major and founder of Real Meal, a high performance nutrition bar with over 600 calories in - it's bloody good for endurance and expeditions. In this conversation, we talk about: - Managing a military career, a startup, and parenthood all at the same time - Dealing with personal branding as a private military guy - How fear of failure can be a more powerfu...

Preet Chandi is a four-time Guinness World Record breaker, British Army veteran and polar explorer. She has skied to the South Pole alone three times, sometimes for as long as 70 days carrying up to 120kg. In this conversation, we talk about: - What 70 days of complete solitude does to your mind - From the British Army to solo polar exploration with no skiing background - How anger can drive momen...

Tom Livingstone is a professional climber, two-time winner of the Piolet d'Or and Founder of the Young Alpinist Group, a mentorship programme supporting the next generation of alpinists. In this conversation, we talk about: - How he turned climbing into a full-time career over ten years without a plan - Why he disagrees with awards in climbing - What life as a sponsored climber actually looks...

Oli Broom left a corporate career at 29 to cycle from England to Australia following the Ashes, ran a charity in Rwanda, and went on to found The Slow Cyclist, a business taking people on journeys through some of the most remote landscapes on earth. In this conversation, we talk about: - Quitting a corporate job at 29 with no guarantee it would work out - Cycling across the world on £5 to £10 a da...

"If I end up in a gutter with absolutely nothing, I don't mind because I'm trying my hardest to do what I want to do." - Waldo Waldo Etherington is the founder of Remote Ropes Limited, a rope safety specialist for remote wilderness expeditions. In this conversation, we talk about: Funding his entire early career on credit cards while living in a car and a hammock Why he runs his...

Wuzdopamine people. In this episode I talk about 5 lessons from 55 adventurers: 1. You do not need to be an adventurer, to be an adventurer 2. Adventurers are entrepreneurs 3. You don't want their life 4. Being a generalist of the outdoors is underrated 5. You can change the course of your life You can find me here: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/offgrid.jake/ LinkedIn - https://www.lin...

Kenton Cool has summited Everest more times than any other non-Sherpa climber in history. He is a British high-altitude guide, mountaineer, and the man responsible for leading some of the world's most recognised names, including Ranulph Fiennes and Ben Fogle, to the top of the world. In this conversation, we talk about: Why Everest might now be too dangerous to climb The unglamorous early year...

Ash Bhardwaj is a journalist, author of Why We Travel, and Army reservist who spent six months travelling from Norway to Crimea retracing the new Iron Curtain. In this conversation, we talk about: - The neuroscience of why humans are wired to crave stories - The inner turmoil of not having a single career path - How AI gives rise to the importance of storytelling - Joining the Army Reserve at 29 a...

Markus Stitz holds the world record for being the first person to cycle around the world on a single-speed bike. He is a bikepacker, author and filmmaker based in Scotland. In this conversation, we talk about: Why closing the door on comfort is the only way to create real change Why the so-called safe career is disappearing faster than you think Cycling through grief after losing his father mid-tr...

Belinda Kirk is the skipper of the first all-female crew to row non-stop around Britain, founder of Explorers Connect, and author of Adventure Revolution. In this conversation, we talk about: - Why adventure is not a luxury but a human need - How adventure helped Belinda overcome childhood trauma - The case for letting children be feral - Leaving a successful TV career to become an entrepreneur -...

Levison Wood is an explorer, author and former British Army officer who has walked the length of the Nile, the Himalayas, and the Americas. In this conversation, we talk about: - Why solo travel is crucial for young people right now - Being homeless while starting a business - Hitchhiking to India in his 20s with less than £500 - The psychological shift from civilian life to becoming an Army offic...

Rebecca Stephens is the first British woman to summit Everest, expedition leader and author. In this conversation, we talk about: - Rebecca quitting her job in a recession to pursue Everest - Why following your interests matter more than the ‘sensible path’ in life - What it was like to be the only woman on the expedition team in 1993 - How to gain the confidence to take big leaps in life - Concer...

Alastair Humphreys is an adventurer and author who first became known for cycling around the world for four years before later pioneering the idea of micro-adventures. In this conversation, we talk about: - Busking across Spain with no money by playing the violin - Why people feel the need to adventure in the first place - How micro-adventures became Alastair's answer to fatherhood and modern...

Mike Trueman is the founder of True Adventure that lead expeditions for school children. He has also been a Gurkha officer, Everest summiteer, army helicopter pilot, chief jungle warfare instructor in Brunei, diplomat during the Yugoslavian war, mountaineer, and author. In this conversation, we talk about: - Why travel is needed to develop young people - Joining the Army aged 16 as a boy soldier -...