The Adventure Podcast Terra Incognita

Episode 180 of The Adventure Podcast features adventurer and Parkinson's campaigner, Guy Deacon CBE. Guy is a retired army officer who, towards the end of his career, was diagnosed with Parkinson's. In 2019, Guy embarked on a solo overland expedition from his home in Dorset to Cape Town in South Africa. He wanted to use the journey as a platform to raise awareness and understanding of Parkinson’s disease in the UK and throughout Africa, and to expose the prejudice and stigma associated with this illness in Africa. Guy’s journey was wracked with issues and problems, not limited to breakdowns, visa issues and a small thing call Covid-19. But despite all this, and living with the reality of Parkinson's disease, Guy just kept going. In this episode, Matt talks to Guy about his early life and military career, before moving onto understanding Parkinson's, what it really is and how it affects people. Guy then talks in detail about his overland expedition and the highs, lows, trips and stumbles that came with it. 
Guy's book, Running On Empty: 18,000 Miles Down Africa with Parkinson’s, is out now.
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Episode fourteen, the final episode of our specialist series, Explore: How To Plan An Expedition, focuses on the future of exploration. This is actually a live recording taken in 2022 from the opening event for the RGS' annual expedition gathering, Explore, held each November. This is a panel discussion with Sophie Roberts, Oliver Steeds, Leo Houlding, and Dr Heidi Sevestre, on the topic of what it means to be an explorer in the 21st century. They talk about the myriad of global challenges facing exploration today, as well as the responsibilities and tasks facing travellers, adventurers and field scientists, and where they overlap or differ. They also discuss if there's anything left to explore (spoiler alert, there's a lot).
Sophie Roberts is an author and journalist who focuses on travel stories in remote parts of the world, with a special interest in literature and history. She is the author of 'The Lost Pianos Of Siberia'.
Oliver Steeds is an international investigative journalist and broadcaster. He also founded Nekton; a not-for-profit research institute which commits to scientific exploration and protection of the world's oceans.
Leo Houlding is a world-class rock climber, mountaineer and adventurer. He's arguably one of the greatest expedition climbers in history.
Dr Heidi Sevestre is a glaciologist, working at the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme and teaches at The University Centre in Svalbard. She is an avid science communicator and has led numerous field research expeditions from tropical glaciers to the depth of the polar regions. She also features in episode twelve of this series.
You can find out more about the Royal Geographical Society and access advice and support for field research and scientific expeditions by visiting www.rgs.org/in-the-field or follow them on @rgs_ibg on socials.


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Episode 179 of The Adventure Podcast features one of the world's best rock climbers, Tommy Caldwell. Tommy has set endless climbing records, made the first free ascents of several major routes on El Cap, and is the subject of multiple feature films and books. In this episode, Tommy talks to Matt about how he initially fell in love with climbing, and his motivations and propulsion to rock climbing celebrity. He also opens up about his fateful expedition to Kyrgyzstan, where he was kidnapped by rebel militia, and the lasting impact that had on him. He speaks about balancing family life with adventure, his involvement with the brand Patagonia, and how environmentalism and activism have been a side of his life just as important to him as rock climbing. Matt worked closely with Tommy on an expedition to Alaska in 2023, building up a rapport and trust with each other. This episode is a real personal insight into one of the climbing worlds' major names.
Photo: Bret Lowell
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Episode thirteen of our specialist series, Explore: How To Plan An Expedition, focuses on an often overlooked part of expeditions, coming home. In this episode, Matt chats to Dr Sophie Redlin about the importance of decompression as you transition back from your expedition to everyday life, how to re-engage when you get home, and how to find and give support post-expedition. They also discuss how to answer the 'how was your trip' question. 
 
Sophie Redlin FRGS is a Medical Doctor, Mental Health Researcher and Trainer. Her clinical focus is General Practice with a special expertise in Mental Health and Wellbeing. She also has extensive experience in Expedition and Remote Medicine, supporting predominantly young people in wilderness settings.
 
You can find out more about the Royal Geographical Society and access advice and support for field research and scientific expeditions by visiting www.rgs.org/in-the-field or follow them on @rgs_ibg on socials.
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Episode 178 of The Adventure Podcast features wildlife pilot, Denise Joi. Denise is one of four pilots for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, where she flies a small Cessna aircraft in rugged terrain conducting wildlife surveys and carrying out fish drops. In this episode, Matt talks to Denise about her life as pilot. She lets us into her past, and explains how she was drawn to flying as a means to escape early trauma. Denise talks about her life outside of work, and her love of trekking to the lakes she’s stocked from the air to actually go and fish them. They also discuss what a wildlife pilot does, and the challenges involved. This is a raw and sometimes difficult conversation to hear, but one that is full of meaning and purpose. It also gives a fascinating insight into a whole different style of adventurous life in the air.
You can watch Denise's documentary here: https://www.gnarlybay.com/fight-or-flight.
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Episode twelve of our specialist series Explore: How To Plan An Expedition, focuses on communicating scientific discoveries. In this episode, Matt speaks with Dr Heidi Sevestre about why science needs communicators, what science communication can look like, how to select your audience, and ideas for teaming up with other specialist communicators. They also talk about the importance of understanding your own science in order to communicate your findings effectively.
Dr Heidi Sevestre is a glaciologist, working at the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme and teaches at The University Centre in Svalbard. She is an avid science communicator and has led numerous field research expeditions from tropical glaciers to the depth of the polar regions. Her focus is on science policy and outreach. Heidi recently featured in the National Geographic series, Arctic Ascent, where she collected crucial climate data whilst on a climbing expedition. 
You can find out more about the Royal Geographical Society and access advice and support for field research and scientific expeditions by visiting www.rgs.org/in-the-field or follow them on @rgs_ibg on socials.
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast.

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