You’ve tackled huge expeditions in different environments around the globe. What motivates you to put yourself in such challenging situations?
For me, it’s all about storytelling - that’s what I’m most passionate about. Telling stories of people, cultures, and traditions from places far away. I’m especially interested in stories between people and their relationship to the environment, and their traditions. All of my trips have had a cultural thread.
Why is looking into the past important?
I believe in the importance of traditions and heritage - they’re a link to the past. If we don’t tell stories of heritage, we lose things, such as languages, for example. I have a romantic perspective of the past, and I love looking at old traditions and the ways that cultures engaged with nature and their surrounding environments. There’s so much we can learn from that.
How do you manage risk and minimise the chance of getting injured, or worse, on an expedition?
Risk is good and risk is necessary. I manage it with good preparation. While planning an expedition, I visualise all of the potential problems that could occur, and make plans to mitigate all of those risks. The more effort you put into planning, the risk drops. Of course, the more experience you have of risky situations, the more comfortable you get with handling risk.