ADVENTURE + ALIVENESS Page 12 of 22

First Commit. Then Begin. Everything else Follows.

Posted on 2015-03-06 at 8:55 am.

This is a guest post by adventurer, author and motivational speaker Alastair Humphreys. You can find out more about Alastair here.

About this time of year, a couple of years’ back, I was training for an expedition to the South Pole. We’d been working towards it for five years – preparing, planning, training, dreaming. I was stronger than I had ever been in my life. It was going to be a hell of an adventure. Exciting times!

And then our funding deadline came and went. We had failed to secure enough sponsorship. The expedition was off. We had failed.

I spent the next week in the pub feeling sorry for myself. We had all put so much into this, put our lives and ambitions on hold in pursuit of this one dream. It felt so unfair. Why wouldn’t someone give me £1,000,000 of their hard-earned money to go on a chilly camping holiday to the South Pole? And what the hell was I going to do now, my diary stretching empty for months off into the distance?

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Life According to Mr K: A snapshot of my life

Posted on 2015-02-25 at 8:55 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

Earlier this month we spent a week or so in the Arctic Circle, North Finland. The trip was amazing on so many levels and even more special as we got to experience all its wonders as a family.

It was during the first evening in our traditional (and very impressive) pine cabin that it really dawned on me just how much my life has changed over the past year or so. As I studied the items on the little wooden table in our living room I realised that they provided a great snapshot of what my current life looks like.

A snapshot of my life (more…)

Notes from the Arctic #2: How I got here for free (and what that means for you)

Posted on 2015-02-23 at 8:55 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

Greetings from inside the Arctic Circle! I am writing this at the end of the earth where I am spending time with my family, feeling grateful for the opportunity to witness the incredible beauty and breathtaking expanse of nature on display here. I am also acutely aware that this is only possible for us because of the freedom our online business gives us.

(photo courtesy of Kakslauttanen)

I have to pinch myself that I woke up this morning in a glass igloo, surrounded by snow with nothing but vivid blue sky overhead. As day turns to night, the Northern Lights move in providing the most spectacular natural display on earth.

(photo courtesy of Kakslauttanen)

I didn’t take time off work to be here. I didn’t get my boss’s permission (because I am my boss). I didn’t even have to pay for my own flight. Because this here – adventuring, exploring, researching, discovering, interviewing – is all part of my job, so my company pays the adventure bills. And that’s something I am hugely grateful for. But I’m not saying that to make you jealous – I’m saying that to make you realise that it is possible to turn your passion into a thriving business, to do good things in the world whilst making yourself happy, to create your own kind of freedom.

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How do I plan my next adventure?

Posted on 2015-02-20 at 8:55 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

This is a guest post by adventurer, author and motivational speaker Alastair Humphreys. Find out more about Alastair here.

Turning an empty calendar and a lack of direction into an exciting, rewarding, challenging, money-generating expedition is both easy and difficult. This is how I go about making stuff happen…

Block off the biggest chunk of time possible. Guard this jealously. Time is so precious and demands on it so numerous. I can always earn more money. I can never reclaim lost time.
Sit and daydream. Think of all the places I have not been. Think of all the journey styles I have not done. Pore over an atlas as I pour the coffee. Browse my bookshelves for inspiration. Drool over Google Images and Flickr and Sidetracked.
Try to think of a trip that is, for me at least, fresh, novel, difficult and different.

Draw up a shortlist of the few plans that currently excite me most.
Narrow this list down against criteria such as cost, season, timeframe and potential partners available.
More or less settle on one preferred option.
Faff around for a while.
Send out an email / meet up with somebody / do something that tips me over from day-dreaming about how fun this would all be to actually getting off my arse and making it happen. The tipping point is often small but significant: walking across India was solidified merely by having dinner with a friend’s parents, for example.
Buy a plane ticket or whatever is the single most expensive, painful, committing action to take. This is without doubt the most significant and difficult stage of the entire process (hint: it’s far harder than the scary expedition you are worrying about). This single act of commitment is what differentiates dreamers from do-ers. It’s not hard, but it is bold.
Run around like an idiot, realising that I have grossly underestimated the time and expense involved in making the trip happen. (NB: I have never looked back at a trip).

For the post-expedition phase, here is a post I wrote on how to make a living from your travels.

Notes from the Arctic #1: When your worst nightmare comes true

Posted on 2015-02-16 at 8:55 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

Greetings from inside the Arctic Circle! Mr K and I have been digital nomads working at minus 15 this week, as we have spent an incredible few days in northern Finland. I’ll be sharing some of our experiences over the next couple of weeks, but first wanted to share a major lesson we have learnt on this trip.

I nearly didn’t book the tickets because I was worried about taking our daughter with us when she is still just a toddler. What if she screamed on every flight? What if she hated the cold? Or even worse, what if she was ill? But then I reasoned that they have toddlers in Finland too, and as long as we were well prepared with thermals and skiwear she’d be fine. So I stocked up on warm clothes and Calpol, and hoped for the best.

And guess what? She was a great little traveller on the flights, waving at everyone as they got on the plane like an air hostess in training. She coped with the weather brilliantly, proud of her new snow boots, and fascinated by the white world around her.

But then disaster struck and our worst case scenario came true – poor Sienna fell ill with chicken pox. Of all the places in the world to come out in a raging rash. We were a 100km round trip from the nearest hospital, and really worried about her.

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A new beginning today

Posted on 2015-01-31 at 8:55 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

Earlier this week I woke up to a magical winter wonderland – it was snowing! As I stood at the window admiring mother nature’s spectacular work, I started thinking about how beautiful the world looks in white.

There’s something quite special about the colour white. In colour psychology, white symbolises purity, innocence, awakening, growth, completion and new beginnings. It’s thought that we wear white clothes (often subconsciously) when we are moving in a new direction in life, such as travelling abroad, moving house, embarking on a new relationship or changing careers because white makes us feel calm, organised and optimistic. Colour psychologists also say that surrounding yourself with white is good for your soul because it cleanses and purifies your thoughts, emotions and, ultimately, your spirit, refreshing and strengthening your entire energy system.

Venturing out into the crisp white snow – a big blank canvas full of possibilities – was just the inspiration I needed to be bold and start the art course I’ve been dreaming about.

What’s will you begin today? We’d love to hear what’s inspired you.

Download a high res version here.

Help me write my TEDx talk!

Posted on 2015-01-26 at 4:44 pm.

Written by Beth Kempton

When I heard last week that I had been confirmed as a speaker for TEDxYouth@ Islington I was in equal parts thrilled and terrified. It’s a fantastic but somewhat daunting platform, and something I have had on my dream list for quite some time. Most people get around 5 months to prepare for a talk like this. I’ve got 7 weeks, and I need your help! In fact, I would be so grateful for your help that one person responding to my quick survey will win a free place on the Do What You Love course.

My topic will be “How to teach your parents to give you better careers advice”. It is based on the premise that careers advice is nearly always well-intended but frequently flawed, because we often ask our children the wrong questions when trying to help them discover their path in life.

In the talk I will offer the young people in the audience:

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Your year of microadventure

Posted on 2015-01-23 at 8:55 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

This is a guest post by adventurer, author and motivational speaker Alastair Humphreys. Find out more about Alastair here.

YOUR YEAR OF MICROADVENTURE

Would you like to live more adventurously this year?

To experience the wild and escape from the rushed, mundane real world.
To do something new, fun and different.
To spend memorable time with your friends, family or by yourself.
To challenge yourself, surprise yourself, and achieve something to be proud of.

I bet you can think of other reasons why you’d like to do have a more adventurous year. You may even be intending to make this the year when you really do get out “there” as much as you dream of doing.

But real life often gets in the way and good intentions fade.

So why not commit, today, to a challenge? It’s easy enough to be achievable, but will be really rewarding to complete.

12 months. 12 overnight microadventures. 1 adventurous year.

Are you in? Good!

Read on to find out more…

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In their words – why the Do What You Love e-course could be just what you need

Posted on 2015-01-22 at 1:55 pm.

Written by Beth Kempton

We are always humbled and thrilled to hear how our courses have helped people change their own lives, sidestep mountains, move forwards, and find fulfillment and happiness on their own path. As we prepare for the Do What You Love course to begin on Monday 26 January, we thought we’d share some of the latest words we have received about the impact of the last class, in the words of the participants themselves.

If any of these resonate with you, and you’d like to be able to say the same within five short weeks, then join us for the online adventure of a lifetime.

Our acclaimed course Do What You Love begins on Monday 26 January and runs for five weeks. In those five weeks, everything could change for you – not least how you see yourself, others, your future and your place in the world. It’s powerful and inspiring – don’t miss it. Book your place now.

Learning for life – how the world is changing and what it means for you

Posted on 2015-01-19 at 9:47 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

Lately I have been reading a fascinating book called ‘Open’ by David Price OBE (interviewed recently on the DWYL blog here). It’s all about ‘how we will live, work and learn in the future’ and looks at how the world is changing faster than governments and big corporations are prepared for or want to believe. It shows how the middle man is being removed from so many traditional equations, and how people power has come alive since the advent of Twitter and other platforms which allow instant global communication, often for free so accessible to nearly everyone.

Some of it is scary – just contemplating the rate of change of technology in the past few years and what that means for our children literally makes your mind boggle – but most of it is inspiring and full of hope. ‘Open’ tells the story of a future which is anybody’s and everybody’s; a future where we openly share our gifts, knowledge and expertise for the greater good, and receive so much more in return. It demonstrates how this is already happening with so many huge educational institutes like the Open University, many Ivy League colleges and huge online learning sites such as Coursera, but also how we have just scratched the surface of where things are going in the future.

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