“This is ridiculous!” Though I yelled the words over my shoulder at Matt, he stood no chance at hearing them: the wind had whipped them out of my mouth and away into the mountains before I’d even finished shouting. Turning to face forwards, my ears were once again filled with the sound of the wind and rain pummelling my raincoat hood. Just ahead, my dog Bilbo glanced over his shoulder at me, a less-than-impressed expression plastered to his soaked face.

September 27, 2018

If you cast you mind back, you may remember the closing sentence of our last expedition update from Belgrade, Serbia. It read “If all goes to plan, the next update we post will hopefully be from the Black Sea!”

August 28, 2018

Our last few weeks have been somewhat of a whirlwind as we’ve passed through five countries and four capital cities in twelve days of non-stop paddling on the Danube.

August 13, 2018

During our first ten days on the River Danube, we have very quickly come to realise that this river is a fickle mistress.

August 1, 2018

Since our last expedition update over two weeks ago, Kate and I have thrown ourselves into a big push in order to complete the Main and Main-Donau Canal, an accumulative distance of over 465km across Germany.

July 24, 2018

A few weeks ago, we were incredibly lucky to receive a delivery of over thirty cards from students at St Paul’s Juniors, a school in London.

July 14, 2018

After an enjoyable two days off in the beautiful city of Strasbourg, it was time for Kate and I to leave behind the safety and comfort of the French canals in order to join the Rhine.

June 27, 2018

After the amount of hospitality and generosity we were shown last week, we really didn’t think things could get better.

June 18, 2018

It is a recurring theme on this adventure that the most memorable and positive moments we experience are due to the people we encounter along our way.

June 11, 2018

This past week of paddling got off to an exceptionally good start. We were treated to four days of beautiful weather and every aspect of each day went smoothly.

June 2, 2018

After a prolonged week of kicking our heels in the Belgian city of Namur waiting to replace our wheels, last Saturday we were extremely relieved to finally return to the water in Benji the kayak. The time had come to resume our expedition!

May 21, 2018

Our first week in Belgium has certainly proven to be a mixed bag.

We paddled across the border on a quiet, calm Sunday, alone on the water except for the occasional school of ducklings. For once, there were no fishermen or barges to avoid…

May 13, 2018

Bonjour from the French-Belgian border!

After a week of waiting for the weather to clear up enough for us to attempt the Channel crossing, last Friday we were finally able to cross from Folkestone to Calais…

May 2, 2018

Westminster Bridge to the English Channel

The first leg of our expedition from Westminster Bridge to the English Channel is officially complete!

Sheffield isn’t your average city. It’s known as The Outdoor City, and for very good reason: it has 61% green space (the highest of any European city), more trees per person than any other city in Europe and a third of the city sits within the Peak District. Sold on Sheffield? After reading those stats, I know I was!

Given how much of an outdoors kit nerd I have known to be, I felt it was only appropriate that I put together a blog all about what I’ll be taking on my next big expedition, the Green Ribbon 2019.

After a busy start to our roadtrip through Botswana, Chess and I were looking forward to spending some time in the remoteness of the bush. A few hours of bumping down yet another potholed road later, we reached the turnoff for Leopard Plains…

When a best friend of nearly 15 years spontaneously pitched the idea of a roadtrip in Southern Africa, I didn’t hesitate before agreeing. There are some adventures that you just know are going to be utterly fantastic and this was one of them…

I seem to have found the antidote to “post-expedition blues” in Another Place, The Lake. Situated on the shores of Ullswater in the north Lake District, this hotel offers the perfect combination of comfort and luxury, paired with the captivating rugged scenery of this far-flung corner of the country - exactly what I was in need of after almost half a year in a tent. If that wasn’t enough to distract me from the return to “normal life”, there are adventures a-plenty awaiting on the doorstep, meaning it would not be hard for me to fill my time…

Since November, a large proportion of my time outdoors has been spent in a kayak with my friend Kate as we train for our world first expedition in April. However, much as I am loving all this time on the water, seeing photos of snowy hills across the UK populating my social media feeds – and not getting to play in any of the snow myself – was almost too much to bear.