His passion is undertaking expeditions through the mountains, thousands of kilometers long, on foot and usually alone. These journeys provide an opportunity to look within and ponder life’s most profound questions. For more than 2 decades he has walked over 20,000 km through mountain ranges in Europe and Asia. In 2004 he did a first ever solo thru-hike of the Carpathian Mountains and in 2014 he hiked through the Zagros mountains in Iran. Inspired by a summer adventure in Iceland, he returned to Iceland in 2020 to complete an east to west crossing in winter. You can learn more at his website lukaszsupergan.com. Lukasz Supergan, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
TPZ194: Cycling the North Sea Cycle Route aka EuroVelo 12 with Laura Kennington
The North Sea Cycle Route extends along the coastline of eight countries bordering the North Sea. It’s about 6,000 km long and is also known as EuroVelo 12. It’s a diverse route covering land below sea level in the Netherlands to cliffs over 1,000 meters high in Norway. Laura Kennington completed this journey over 70 days in the summer of 2018. She has also recently authored a book titled Kairos, an ancient Greek word meaning the supreme moment, where she shares the stories and lessons learned from her adventures. You can learn more at lauraexplorer.com. Laura Kennington, welcome back to the show.
TPZ193: From England to Norway in a Converted Lifeboat with Guylee Simmonds and David Schnabel
In February 2018, architects Guylee Simmonds and David Schnabel bought a marine survival lifeboat and spent a year converting it for a four-month, 5000 km voyage to the Arctic. Along with a dog named Shackleton, they traveled from the UK to Tromsø, the largest city in the Arctic, situated far north in the Norwegian Fjords. The aim of the expedition was to design a self-sufficient boat capable of taking on the harsh environments, explore the wild and isolated Arctic landscape, and document the adventure through photography and film. You can learn more at the website arctic-lifeboat.com. Guylee and David, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
TPZ192: Trekking the Kanuku Mountains in Guyana with Lucy Shepherd
Over the past decade she has done many adventures which have taken her to the Arctic, the Haute route, Bolivian high peaks, Denali, and Iceland to name a few. Her first time in the Amazon jungle was a short trip to Guyana in 2014. She went back in 2020 with the mission to cross the Kanuku mountain range. With a small group of Amerindian tribe members, the team completed the crossing after a few weeks in the mountains. They encountered jaguars, bushmaster snakes and bullet ants. You can learn more about Lucy and her adventures at lucyshepherd.net. Lucy Shepherd, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
TPZ191: Winter Trekking in Lapland, Northern Finland with Rachel Frei Bandieri
She is a Swiss outdoor explorer that likes the challenge of winter adventure. She has competed in 2 arctic winter races in Finland, the Rovaniemi 150 and 300, as well as the Arrowhead 135 winter endurance race in northern Minnesota. In February 2019 she set out on an expedition called Arctic 1000, a 1000 km solo and unsupported trek in Lapland, the northern most region of Finland. Her planned route was from the Lapland capital Rovaniemi to Lake Inari and back, but due to equipment troubles her journey ended at 700 km on day 20. You can learn more about her adventures at her website thestridersadventures.blogspot.com. Rachel Frei Bandieri, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
TPZ190: Travel Blogging with Sofie Couwenbergh
In the summer of 2012, while working a regular job and in search of a creative outlet, she decided to combine her passion for writing and travel to create the blog WonderfulWanderings.com. Little did she know less than 3 years later, she would quit that regular job to focus on the blog full time to serve a community of travelers. Beginning this year, she left her home base in Belgium and set off on an adventure to visit a new destination every month to try the location-independent lifestyle and perhaps in the end discover a new home base. You can learn more at her website WonderfulWanderings.com. Sofie Couwenbergh, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
Sofie’s article on Chris Guillebeau’s site
Sofie on the Side Hustle School podcast
TPZ189: Sailing, Cycling, Motorbiking and Vanlife Adventures with Huub van der Mark
While in Kyrgyzstan in 2018 he bought a Russian-made 1987 UAZ-452 van. After converting it into a campervan he drove off to explore central Asia, Iran, and Pakistan. After Pakistan, he shipped the van to Argentina where he has begun a multi-year road trip to Alaska. But before all of this, he lived on sailboats, cycled the length of New Zealand, and rode a motorcycle through Vietnam. You can learn more about these adventures at his YouTube channel Huub Vlogs. Huub van der Mark, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
TPZ188: Adventure Racing with Holly Budge
She is one of the UKs most accomplished female adventurers whose achievements include summitting both Ama Dablam and Mount Everest, racing 1000 km across Mongolia on horseback, and completing the 243 km Kathmandu Coast to Coast race on New Zealand’s South Island. She is also the founder of How Many Elephants. An organization which raises the awareness of the plight of elephants in Africa and raises funds for anti-poaching projects. You can learn more at her website hollybudge.com. Holly Budge, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
TPZ187: Cycling West Africa with Nikki Ray
Starting in Spain, she cycled 10,000 km across 13 countries to reach Ghana on a bike she built from recycled components. It was an adventure she called Ready Steady Slow in an effort to remind herself not to rush and to patiently take in everything going on around her. But going slow can be a difficult challenge when the setbacks begin to mount like colliding with a taxi in Senegal and injuring a knee to cycling through the desert in extreme heat to not having the correct tools to fix a disintegrating wheel. You can learn more about her journey at her website readysteadyslow.wordpress.com. Nikki Ray, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.
TPZ186: Trekking in Sweden with Anna Blackwell
She’s trekked across the wilderness of Arctic Sweden, walked 1,600 km along ancient pilgrimage routes in France and Spain, summitted Mt. Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa, paddled a tandem kayak 4,000 km from London to the Black Sea coast in Romania, and most recently completed an adventure she calls The Green Ribbon, a 1,000 km solo trek along the length of the mountains between Norway and Sweden. You can learn more at her website annablackwell.co.uk. Anna Blackwell, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.