Paths

In a world where bigger, faster, and more extreme often get the most attention, this short conversation offers a different perspective. Alex Bescoby reflects on why meaningful journeys are not defined by scale or records, but by whether they move you. Whether it’s crossing continents or simply paying closer attention to something in your own life, the value lies in the experience itself. And in sh...

What does it really mean to see and experience the world? I sit down with filmmaker and historian Alex Bescoby to explore the story behind The Last Overland — a 13,000-mile or 20,000km journey retracing a 1950s expedition from Singapore to London in the original Land Rover Series 1. What began as an ambitious road trip quickly becomes something deeper. A reflection on timing, purpose, and the pull...

In this short segment, author Alison Cochrun shares the impulsive decision to walk the Camino de Santiago during a period of depression and creative burnout. She describes the physical reality of the Portuguese coastal route, from the unexpected pain of a 22-mile first day to the simple, ritualistic beauty of just putting one foot in front of the other. It is an honest look at why a standard vacat...

Alison Cochrun spent over a decade as a high school English teacher before a shift led her to become a full-time author. In this episode, we talk about the reality of that transition, from the adrenaline of writing her first book draft in just six days to the grueling, transformative experience of walking 200 miles on the Camino de Santiago. We dive into the messy parts of the creative process, in...

In this short episode, Adam Pawlikiewicz Mesa reflects on his relationship with ultra running and why he sees endurance sports as a double-edged sword. What began as a way to explore his limits and better understand himself also forced him to confront expectations, self-judgment, and the fine line between growth and harm. Rather than focusing on performance, this conversation looks at endurance as...

Adam Pawlikiewicz Mesa is a filmmaker, photographer, endurance athlete, and bikepacker whose work grows out of long days on the road and a deep curiosity about people, place, and movement. Before starting a career in consulting at a big firm, Adam completed his first bikepacking journey across the U.S., an experience that quietly reshaped how he thought about effort, vulnerability, and direction....

What does it actually take to prepare for a 20,000 kilometer run across continents? In this short episode, Ria Xi breaks down how she’s preparing to run from Russia to Portugal, averaging roughly 50 kilometers a day for over a year. She talks through how she approaches training, recovery, logistics, and mental preparation, and why breaking an overwhelming goal into small, repeatable steps makes it...

Ria Xi on Agency, Pilgrimage, and the Long Road From the Camino to a 20,000km Continental Run Ria Xi has spent the last two years pulling her life apart and rebuilding it entirely on her own terms. She left a tech career in California, stepped away from the version of success she once thought she was supposed to want, and slowly discovered something she never expected: running as a path toward age...

Why do people sign up for group adventures with complete strangers? In this short segment, Sophie talks about the unexpected community that grows on Sidetracked trips — how shared effort, simplicity, and the Arctic cold can bring people closer than they expect. She explains why these connections form so quickly, what people are really searching for, and why returning to the outdoors often feels li...

Sophie Nolan built Sidetracked Adventures from a simple desire to share the wild places she loved. In this conversation, she reflects on how she shaped a life around the outdoors, curiosity, and community. We talk about her early pull toward nature, the years she spent searching for a different path, and how guiding people into remote landscapes has changed her understanding of connection, comfort...

In this short segment, Jonathan reflects on the 2004 tsunami in Thailand, which he and his family survived when he was just fourteen. He talks about how the experience reshaped his outlook on life, influenced the risks he was willing to take, and even guided the creative decisions he makes today as a filmmaker and photographer. It’s a brief but moving conversation about clarity, perspective, and t...

Jonathan Strömberg (or Jonis Strom) grew up on the Swedish coast, where surfing is cold, rare, and hard to access, yet it shaped his entire life. In this episode, he shares how an unexpected surf community helped him discover filmmaking and photography, and how surviving the 2004 tsunami in Thailand reframed his sense of time, purpose, and risk. We talk about his creative journey from music school...

In this short segment, Elspeth Beard talks about how the hardest moments on her motorcycle journey around the world shaped her character. Breaking down in the desert, falling off the bike, getting sick, fixing everything alone built a kind of “unshakable confidence.” The same strength later helped Elspeth take on new challenges, like buying and restoring the 130-foot water tower she now lives in....

Elspeth Beard was the first British woman to ride a motorcycle around the world — but this conversation isn’t about setting records. It’s an exploration of what happens when you strip life down to the essentials, face the unknown, and learn just how capable you really are. We talk about what drove her to leave everything behind in the early 1980s, the solitude and strength she found on the road, a...

“Being on the motorcycle again felt like being that kid on a bike — just exploring with no real purpose.” In this 8-minute segment, Eddie reflects on how his expectations of a round-the-world motorcycle trip compared to the reality: the unpredictability, the setbacks, and the surprising freedom of not having a plan. He also talks about how the road helped him reconnect with a childlike sense of cu...

When Eddie left London three years ago on his motorcycle, he didn’t have a clear destination — just the need to move. What began as an escape from burnout and heartbreak turned into an ongoing journey across continents, from the forests of Europe to the deserts of Mongolia and the vast outback of Australia. In this conversation, Eddie reflects on what drove him to leave, what he’s learned from yea...

Every long journey has a moment when everything shifts. When the reason you set out starts to change. In this special episode, four travelers share the moments that reshaped them while they were far from home, tired, unsure, but completely alive. Nick Butter talks about a conversation in the Sahara that pushed him to run a marathon in every country on Earth. Thor Pedersen spent nearly ten years tr...

Alan Weisman has spent decades reporting from the edges of human presence — from Chernobyl and the Amazon to cities and coastlines under threat. His bestselling book The World Without Us imagined how Earth might recover if people suddenly vanished. His new book, Hope Dies Last , turns the lens back on humanity, profiling bold thinkers and doers who are building solutions to our most urgent crises....

Danish explorer Thor Pedersen became the first person to visit every country in the world in a single, unbroken journey, without ever boarding a plane. What was meant to take four years stretched into almost ten. In our conversation, Thor reflects on exploration in the modern world, the cost of chasing an impossible dream, and the lessons he brought home about people, resilience, and connection. F...

This week, I’m revisiting one of my favorite conversations from 2020 with Dr. Brian Pennie—a neuroscientist, resilience specialist, and former heroin addict who turned his life around after 15 years of addiction. In this episode, Brian shares how a defining moment in 2013 changed everything, leading him from rock bottom to a career as a lecturer, speaker, and author of Bonus Time . He talks about...

What happens when two people decide not to wait for the “right time” to live differently? Zoë Agasi and Olivier van Herck spent four years traveling over 40,000 km entirely by human power—cycling, skiing, canoeing, roller-skiing, and even sailing across the Atlantic. But their story isn’t just about adventure. In this episode, Zoë and Olivier reflect on what their journey taught them about love, d...

Nicolas Freudiger is the Co-Founder and CEO of ID Genève , a Swiss watch company built on circular principles, sustainable materials, and a rebellious spirit. In this episode, Nicolas shares how he left the safety of corporate life to co-found a brand that is radically rethinking what luxury means today—and what it should mean in the future. This is a conversation about taking risks, building with...

Nick Butter is a British endurance athlete, adventurer, and author, renowned for being the first person to run a marathon in every country in the world. Over 674 days, he completed 196 marathons across all UN-recognised nations, a feat documented in his bestselling book, Running the World.   Inspired by a friend battling prostate cancer, Butter's journey was not only a personal challenge but a...

Eveline Haugaard (@therailvoyage) left behind a traditional engineering career to follow a very different track — literally. Now a full-time travel creator, she shares her love of slow, scenic rail journeys across Europe. In this episode, we talk about what it means to move intentionally, how to find beauty in the journey itself, and why choosing a slower path might just lead to something better....

Tim Voors is an artist, author, and speaker who has walked across countries and continents—from the Pacific Crest and Continental Divide Trails in the US, to Japan’s 88 Temples Pilgrimage and New Zealand’s Te Araroa. In this episode, Tim shares how time alone in nature has changed his view of work, family, and attention. We talk about the discomfort and joy of doing one thing every day—walking—and...