Ben Saunders - Polar Explorer, Motivational Speaker

Four by Nine

A few people (Nik Lazell is the latest and I'll dig out a few more links when I get home) have tagged me with this idea, so coming at ya' live, direct and bleary-eyed from BA's Executive Lounge at Heathrow at 7am on a Sunday morning, here are my lists:

Four jobs I’ve had in my life
- Bike shop mechanic
- Paperboy
- Soldier
- Motivational speaker

Four Movies I can watch over and over
- Raging Bull
- Bombon el Perro
- Fight Club
- The Usual Suspects

Four places I have lived
- Plymouth, Devon
- Canterbury, Kent
- The Scottish Highlands
- London

Four TV programmes I love to watch
- I don't really watch TV (although I used to think Airwolf was pretty cool).

Four places I have been on holiday
- Nepal
- France
- Tunisia
- Greece

Four websites I visit daily
- er, Google
- Lloyds TSB (internet banking)
- BBC News
- 3Quarks Daily

Four of my favourite foods
- Mum's lasagne
- Rare steak (preferably at Argentina in Reykjavik)
- Lindt 70% dark chocolate
- Medjool dates

Four places I would rather be right now
- Namche Bazaar
- Manhattan
- Oslo
- In bed

{ Filed under Random thoughts and reflection on January 29th, 2006 | 14 Comments }

Time for some adventure

Enough of my January jet-setting (back in South Africa now, speaking in Stellenbosch, beautiful countryside, blah blah, training in the sun, blah, Cape Town, blah blah hotel…) I thought I'd point you in the direction of a couple of chaps that are having a slightly more hardcore start to the year.

The first (I linked to this a few days back) is Børge Ousland and Mike Horn's winter North Pole expedition. The pair are on the ice now (after a bear attack early on) but the conditions sound pretty epic.

The second is the less famous, but no less deserving Chris Martin - a friend of my brother (and his team mate at Molesey Boat Club). Chris is currently rowing the Atlantic solo, and his daily diary updates make rivetting reading. If I were looking for another expedition team mate, Chris sounds like he's made of exactly the right stuff…

I sat down for lunch just after midday and was quietly enjoying a nice tin of hot chocolate (the mug got washed overboard in the capsize) when yet another large wall of white water energed on my starboard side. Having dealt with these before I immediatly jumped to the other side of the boat and felt my heart leave its normal place and head for my mouth as the boat tipped sideways… Luckily I had just managed to have the presence of mind to hold onto my tin so still had a bit of hot chocolate in the bottom although quite a lot had ended up over me and the remainder was a bit salty. Getting back to the oars I noticed something was wrong…

{ Filed under Other expeditions on January 23rd, 2006 | 7 Comments }

You're a fool to wait for your lucky break

So. It's 6:15 in the morning and I'm sat in the Delta lounge at Miami airport, surrounded by tracksuited, bejewelled boomers and Blackberry-clicking, jumbo coffee-swilling road warriors. Nizlopi are on the iPod, doing an admirable job of drowning out the *giant* tv in the corner (CNN not Fox, thankfully). The title comes from the lyrics to their beautiful 'Wash Away'.

As you can see, it's been a tough few days. I'm flying back to Johannesburg today/tomorrow and I'm speaking again on Monday. Perhaps the jetlag has left me a little lightheaded (and that this, therefore, will be one of those hippy posts I live to regret) but the last few days have left me bouncing up and down with excitement at the opportunity, beauty, vibrancy and abundance that this little planet has to offer us all.

Oh, and giant jellyfish are invading Japan.

More soon (hopefully compos mentis this time)…

{ Filed under Random thoughts and reflection on January 20th, 2006 | 3 Comments }

Paddling to the North Pole(?!)

This is incredible - Børge Ousland and Mike Horn are reporting 'several kilometres of open sea' off Cape Arktichesky (the start point for North Pole expeditions setting off from Russia). We found a huge expanse of open water in early March 2004 (and I chose to be helicoptered to the edge of the pack ice) but hearing of similar conditions in January is amazing.

Right now, Børge and Mike are shopping for a boat in Norilsk, which sounds a little sketchy to me.

Today we looked for a large RIB boat. We’re considering paddling from the Cape to the edge of the ice. This alternative does, however, pose some challenges. There is a lot of ice sludge on the leeward side. In order to meet the challenge, the RIB has to be powerful enough to carry us far into that ice sludge, and big enough that we can spend the night on board while the ice freezes around us, thick enough that we can continue onward on foot.

{ Filed under Other expeditions on January 15th, 2006 | No Comments }