Video: Tom Sawyer on the Danube

One of the things that I try to stress here on this blog is that adventure comes in many forms. Sure, it sometimes means climbing a big mountain, or traveling on foot to the North Pole. But not all expeditions have to push the edge in order to be life affirming and altering. Case in point, the video below is the teaser for a new film that will be hitting the adventure film festival circuit soon. It is entitled Tom Sawyer on the Danube, and it features Jamie Bowlby-Whiting, and his equally adventurous girlfriend Leah Bostwick, as they attempt to travel from England to Asia, under their own power. That includes walking, cycling, and even rafting the Danube on their own makeshift raft. The film isn't just a story about their journey, but is also about their relationship, and how they grew as people along the way. It looks like an amazing story, and an inspiration for us all to get off the couch, and go seek an adventure of our own.  This is the first film from our friends at Xpedition.tv, and it looks like a good one.

Teaser for "Tom Sawyer on the Danube" from Xpedition.TV on Vimeo.

Video: Kayaking The Flooded Streets Of The UK – Behind A Truck!

The U.K. has been battered by some incredibly awful weather in recent months, with heavy rains, flooding cold snaps, snow and more. All of that rain has brought flooding to some areas, where some outdoor enthusiasts have decided to turn lemons into lemonade, by kayaking on the flooded roads. But not content to just paddle through the streets, these industrious (read crazy!) lads decided to pull their boat behind a truck. The results look like fun. Well, except for the final run that is.

Kayaking on flooded Essex Roads from UncleAlbert on Vimeo.

Video: More Playful Seals Of The Farne Islands

Last week I shared a video of some very playful seal pups interacting with scuba dives near the Farne Islands of the coast of England. Today we have another video from the same location courtesy of reader Keith Savill who found this on video. It seems the seal pups there really love to follow the divers around and as is evident in this latest clip. The Farne Islands look like a fun place for a dive.

Perfect Day - Seals of The Farne Islands from UncleAlbert on Vimeo.

Thames Challenge 2013: Hiking The Length Of The Thames River

I always like the idea of finding an adventure right in your own backyard. A lot of times we miss some great opportunities to explore the outdoors close to home because we're often dreaming of flying off on some grand adventure on the other side of the planet. Those big adventures have their time and place of course, but sometimes we don't have the time or money for that kind of escape. That's when a microadventure can often provide the fix we're looking for, often to surprising results.

That happens to be the case for my friend Alan Curr, who recently decided to walk the length of the Thames River – source to sea – in England. Carrying all of his gear on his back, including a tent, food and clothes for the trek, Alan set out from Gloucestershire on September 1 with the aim of hiking the entire 186 miles (300 km) distance from the Thames Head to the Thames Barrier in London.

It took Alan a full week to walk the length of the river as he averaged more than 26 miles (41 km) per day. He wrapped up his journey last Saturday and has begun recounting his tale on his blog, giving us a daily account of each stage of the trek. Stage 1 was a 35 mile (56 km ), 13 hour walk from the source of the Thames to Tadpole Bridge. That was followed on Day 2 with a 32 mile (51 km) hike from Tadpole Bridge to Abingdon which took 14 hours to complete. He hasn't posted any other updates just yet, but I'm told we'll get one a day for the rest of the week with a final summary of the entire hike at the end.

This looks like it was a fun adventure and a solid challenge to complete in a single week. The fact that Alan was able to do this simply by packing up his gear and hopping on a train is just icing on the cake. These kinds of microadventures are all around us. All we have to do is look for them.

Adventurer Bags Britain's Six Peaks While Cycling Between Mountains

British adventurer Leon McCarron has just completed a very cool expedition. Leon, who has walked 3000 miles (4828 km) from Mongolia to Hong Kong and trekked through the Empty Quarter from Oman to the UAE, as now completed a climb of the "Six Peaks," which consists of the tallest mountain in each of the major regions of the British Isles. And in doing so, he also rode a folding bike between each of his destinations, covering 750 miles (1207 km) in the process.

Leon shares some of the details of his expedition in a recent blog post on his site, although he promises more updates in the days ahead. The entire journey took 19 days to complete and like any good adventure it didn't always go as planned. Still, it seems like he managed to improvise quite nicely and ended up having a fun and incredibly satisfying adventure during which he rode his bike between the mountains and carried it on his back when he trekked to the summits.

So exactly which peaks did he climb? The list looks like this: Slieve Donard (850 m/2789 ft) in Northern Ireland; Carrantoohill (1038 m/3406 ft) in the Republic of Ireland; Snowdon (1085 m/3560 ft) in Wales; Snaefell (620 m/2034 ft) on the Isle of Man; Scafell Pike (978 m/3209 ft) in England and Ben Nevis (1344 m/4409 ft) in Scotland. Leon says that each of the climbs was completed in unusually warm and sunny weather, with the exception of Ben Nevis, which can be notoriously foggy, damp and cold. In this case, it continued to live up to that reputation.

Aside from the peak bagging, Leon also says that he had a fantastic time riding his bike between each of the mountains. The landscapes that he passed through were scenic and made for some of the best cycling he's ever encountered. The fantastic summer that the U.K. is experiencing didn't hurt the situation either.

Reading the text of his blog post, it is clear that this was an enjoyable experience all around and it is another example of finding adventure in your own backyard. He didn't have to travel off to some far flung locale for this expedition and yet it was still very satisfying. Well done Leon!

GB Row 2013 Update: New Records Set!

I'm still catching up on all of the news that went down in the world of adventure while I was off chasing dingos and wrestling crocodiles. (Okay, maybe I made that up!) One of the events that wrapped up while the blog was on hiatus was the amazing GB Row Challenge, which pits rowing teams against one another on a race around Great Britain. Thats a 2000-mile (3218 km) journey through some of the toughest, most demanding waters imaginable, making it one of the most challenging rowing events on the planet.

Back in early June, when the race actually began, there were six teams who set out to compete in the GB Row. Within a few days the field was whittled down to just two however with the four-man team of the Islanders and the two-man team of Savoir Faire soldiering on in some very difficult conditions. But both teams were able to complete the race and set individual records for their classifications in the process.

The Islanders managed to finish the entire row in an impressive 26 days, 9 hours and 9 minutes, which breaks the previous fastest time by 12 hours and and earned them a bonus of £100,000 (roughly $152,000). Not a bad payday although they certainly worked hard to get it. Team Savoir Faire, which is made up of rowers Jason McKinlay and Josh Tarr, also set a record for the two-man category, crossing the finish line in 41 days, 4 hours, 38 minutes. While that won't earn them a massive bonus like their compatriots, it has certainly won them a great deal of respect and admiration from the rowing community, especially when you consider that they spent a couple of days pinned down by the notoriously bad weather that is common in the British Isles this time of year.

Congratulations to both teams for not only completing the race but for setting new records in the process. Excellent work in a race that doesn't receive a lot of attention but is about as demanding as anything an athlete can undertake. Well done!

Thanks to Sylvia for sharing the update on the race and for cheering her friends Jason and Josh on all the way to the end! Check out their finish at London's Tower Bridge in the video below.

Endurance Athlete To Swim Length Of Britain

Have any plans for the weekend? Maybe sleep in? Catch a little of the Tour de France on the telly? If you're feeling particularly energetic you might even take a little evening stroll around the block? If that is your plan I'm about to make you feel very bad about your life choices.

On Sunday, endurance athlete Sean Conway will begin an epic swim that will run the entire length of Britain. He'll start at the aptly named Land's End in the south and will proceed to swim north, passing Devon before crossing over to Wales along the West Coast. After that, it is onto the Isle of Man before proceeding to Scotland, where he'll continue north until he reaches the distant village of John O'Groats. If successful, he'll cover approximately 1000 miles (1609 km) along the way.

Of course, swimming a thousand miles in a swimming pool would be tough, but Sean will be doing it in an ocean. He'll have to battle turbulent waters, rough waves, cold temperatures and Britain's notoriously bad weather.  That can take a hefty toll on the body to say the least, particularly when it happens day-in and day-out. He estimates that it will take a minimum of nine weeks to cover the distance, swimming eight hours per day, every day of the week. He also believes he'll burn roughly 800 calories per hour, which will make it extremely tough to maintain weight and keep energy levels high. Fortunately he has been training for this incredible challenge for some time.

Sean has decided to take on this swim in an effort to raise funds for War Child, a non-profit dedicated to helping protect children from the effects of conflicts, and help them recover from war, in some of the most dangerous countries in the world. He hopes to raise as much money as possible through his efforts on the water.

If successful, Sean will be the first person to swim the entire length of Britain. There aren't many people who have managed to swim this kind of distance before, so in order to get some advice, he visited his friend Dave Cornthwaite prior to setting out. You may recall that Dave swam more than 1000 m iles down the Missouri River last year, so of course he had some thoughts on Sean's endeavor. You can see the two adventurers comparing notes in the very funny video below.

Good luck Sean!

GB Row Update: Then There Were Two

Remember last week when I wrote about the GB Row Challenge, a 2000-mile (3218 km) race around Great Britain in a rowboat? At the time I pondered the question of whether or not it could be the toughest rowing race in the world as the six teams that entered were just fully getting underway. Ahead of them were some considerable challenges, including swift and ever changing currents, unpredictable weather and incredibly rough seas. Add in the fact that these waters see some of the highest shipping traffic in the world, and you begin to understand what they rowers faced as they moved out of the Thames and into the ocean proper.

Fast forward a week and clearly those challenges have taken a toll. Four teams have now dropped from the race, leaving two teams to battle it out for the win, or to merely continue on to see if they can actually finish. Neither of those teams is on a record pace at the moment, but they are continuing to row as best they can under the current conditions.

The two teams that are still rowing include the four-man squad of the Islanders, who are currently out front and the two-man team of Savoir Faire. While obviously a two person team won't be able to keep up with a four-man boat that is capable of rowing 24-hours a day, each of them are just hoping to make it to the finish line and collect the winning check for their category. That would be worth £15,000 ($22,944) if they can manage to do it, but they still have a long way to go. As of this writing, the Islanders still have 835 nautical miles to go until they are done, while their competitors are facing 975 nautical miles before they can stop.

It remains to be seen whether or not these two remaining boats can continue to press forward. The majority of the teams that enter this race never finish as is evident by the high attrition rate once again this year. With miles of rough, open water to go, these rowers have a lot of physical and mental challenges yet to overcome and the second half of the race will be more of a grind than the first.

Thanks to Steve Price for sharing an update on this amazing and grueling event.

The GB Row Challenge: The Toughest Rowing Race On The Planet?

This past weekend one of the toughest rowing events on the planet, the GB Row Challenge, got underway at the Tower Bridge in London. It was from that point that seven teams set off on a 2000-mile long journey to circumnavigate the British Isles while rowing non-stop and unassisted. If history is any judge, most of them won't complete this journey, which is incredibly demanding both physically and psychologically.

The teams who have entered the race vary in size from as small as two crew members up to teams of six. Most are in traditional row boats designed for the challenges of open water, although one three man team is actually attempting to pedal a pedalo around the course. Some of the challenges they'll face will include rough seas, fast moving and ever-changing currents and unpredictable weather. They'll also have to navigate through some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, while fending off the fatigue that comes with rowing a boat day in and day out for an extended period of time. All the while they'll be in sight of land, which presents a strong lure to quit when things get particularly difficult.

Just how long it will take to complete the race remains to be seen. The current record for completing the circumnavigation of the islands is 26 days, 21 hours and 14 minutes. That record was set by a crew of four men back in 2005. The women's record was set in 2010 and currently stands at 51 days, 16 hours and 42 minutes.

The GB Row does offer a substantial prize package for the winners. First place in any category goes home with £15,000 ($22,944), while second place wins £6,000 ($9177) and third place gets £4,000 ($6118). Additionally, any team that breaks the world record for the course will also receive an additional £100,000 ($152,960).

Each of the boats is carrying a Yellowbrick tracker that updates their position every hour on the hour. You can follow their progress on the race tracker page. Considering they've only been out on the water a few days, there is still a long, long way to go until someone reaches the finish line back at the Tower Bridge.

Thanks to Sylvia for sharing news of this race with me. It is much appreciated! Sylvia's friends Jason McKinlay and Josh Tarr are competing in the event as Team Savoir Faire. Good luck guys!

Expedition 1000: Go Trekking Around Europe

Over the past several years we've been following adventurer Dave Corthnwaite as he's ridden a tandem bike from Vancouver to Las Vegas, taken a stand-up paddleboard the length of the Mississippi River and swam more than 1000 miles along the Missouri River. All of those adventures were part of Dave's Expedition 1000 project, during which he is attempting to complete 25 individual excursions of at least 1000 miles (1609 km) in length without the use of motorized transportation. Today, Dave sets out on the next leg of his project on what he calls the Go Trek.

While on the Go Trek, Dave will cover more than 3000 miles (4828 km) as he buzzes around Western Europe on an Elliptigo – a strange mash-up of an elliptical machine and a bicycle. Riders propel the bike forward by using the same motion as when they are on an elliptical machine, which sounds like a lot of fun and a lot of work at the same time. Dave will be joined on this journey by adventurer Squash Falconer, who has a name like a Bond villain but looks more like a Bond girl. Her resume includes successful summits of Everest, Cho Oyu and Aconcagua, amongst others.

Over the next nine weeks, the Go Trek will pass through the U.K., the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and France. Along the way, Dave and Squash are encouraging the general public to come join them and to that end they've published their schedule and route so that we can all plan accordingly. The plan is to share the fun of adventure with any who are willing to join them. And of course, as always with an Expedition 1000 journey, the Go Trek will also be used to raise funds for the CoppaFeel organization, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting breast cancer through early detection.

While we're on the subject of Dave and his many adventures, I'd also like to point out that his latest book, Life in the Slow Lane (Kindle UK link) is now available on the Amazon Kindle or on the Kindle App for iPhone, iPad and Android devices. The e-version of the book costs just $3.49 or £3.08 and won't be available in paperback until June. It tells the tale of how Dave changed his life from someone who went about the daily office grind into a person who embraced adventure and travel. Obviously this is what he does now, and his life is more enriched for it. I haven't had the chance to read the book yet myself, but it is on my summer reading list.

You'll be able to follow Dave and Squash's progress on Go Trek's official website. And if you live in one of the five European countries that they'll be visiting along the way, be sure to check when they'll be passing through your area.

Video: Helmet Cam Captures Tumble Down Snowdon Mountain

This video has really been making the rounds the past couple of days but I thought it was worth sharing here as well. It was captured by a helmet cam worn by climber Mark Roberts who was attempting a solo winter climb up Snowdon, a 1085 meter (3560 ft) mountain that just so happens to be the tallest in Wales. At one point, a large chunk of ice comes off the slope and strikes Roberts, knocking him off the face and sending him tumbling down the slope. Its pretty harrowing to watch but fortunately he came away with just a broken ankle and some bumps and bruises. When it finally comes to a stop after falling for a bit his first instinct is to reach for the camera to see if it is still in place. Something tells me Roberts knew the footage on the camera would make for a good viral video.

The Adventurists Launch Unsupported Bike Race From London To Istanbul

The Adventurists, whose devious minds have brought us the Mongol Rally and the Rickshaw Run, are launching a new adventure this summer and this time its geared  for the cycling crowd. Starting in August, the first ever QuickEnergy Trans Continental Race will get underway, launching Europe's longest unsupported race covering more than 2000 miles between London and Istanbul.

As is typical with an event put on by the Adventurists, this race gives participants a lot of leeway in how they get from the starting gate to the finish line. Riders will be allowed to take any route they see fit, although they will have to pass through a few checkpoints along the way. These CP's will ensure that everyone faces similar challenges on their ride to Istanbul, with one of the biggest of those being a crossing of the Alps. Navigation along the route is also very flexible and competitors are free to use good old fashioned maps, a GPS device or simply get directions from those they meet along the way. The point is that there are very few restrictions to the race, aside from getting across Europe to the finish line.

As noted, this is an unsupported race, which means the riders will need to carry all of their gear and supplies with them when they set out. That will require them to make tough decisions about what is absolutely necessary and what can be left at home. It comes down to shaving weight off the bike while still having all of the necessary gear with them for a prolonged journey.

Registration for the Trans Continental Race opens tomorrow and the event is scheduled to begin on August 2. Thanks to their partnership with QuickEnergy, the entry fee is going to be just £95 ($146), which is incredibly affordable for this kind of event.

Video: SHAFF Trailer 2013

On March 1-3 the annual Sheffield Adventure Film Festival will take place in Sheffield, England. Over the course of that three day weekend, 80 of the best adventure films will be shown on six screens, making it one of the best adventure events in the U.K. Tickets are on sale now and for a taste of what you can expect, check out this amazing trailer below. It'll give you a fantastic glimpse of some of the best adventure and outdoor films of the past year.

Ocean Rowing: Roz Cancels Retirement To Row The Atlantic

I meant to post this news earlier in the week, but other things kept getting in the way. Better late than never however.

Over the past few years we've followed Roz Savage as she systematically crossed the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans solo and completely under her own power. When she wrapped up that Indian Ocean crossing last October, she also announced that she was hanging up her oars for good. Late last week we found out that retirement isn't exactly in the cards just yet. Last Friday Roz posted a story to her website announcing her intentions of rowing the Atlantic Ocean, although this time she won't be going it alone.

Rower Andrew Morris had already been planning a crossing of his own that he had dubbed the Olympic Atlantic Row (OAR) as he, along with fellow rower Mick Dawson, had hoped to paddle across the North Atlantic and arrive in the U.K. in time for the start of the Olympic games in July. Mick had a conflict of schedules however and was forced to pull out of the project. Who better to take his place than Roz?

So, the plan now is to begin the ocean crossing May. The journey will cover 2587 miles (4163 km) and take roughly 60 days to complete. Crossing at that time of year won't be an easy one, as cold weather, heavy fogs, icebergs, and other dangers will conspire to provide plenty of challenge. But we know that Andrew and Roz are up to the task and it should be another good adventure to follow this spring when they set out from St. Johns in Newfoundland, Canada and begin their journey east.

Good luck Andrew and Roz!