The Ultimate Adventure Travel Podcast

Jake
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Places & Travel

The Ultimate Adventure Travel Podcast is the show for people who want more from their travels than just ticking off the sights. Hosted by expedition leader and Ultimate Adventure Travel founder Jake Field, this weekly podcast is your guide to unforgettable group adventures — from Kilimanjaro and the Inca Trail to Everest Base Camp and beyond. Whether you’re preparing for your first big trip or looking to push your limits on your next one, you’ll find expert advice, real stories, and practical tips to help you get adventure-ready — physically, mentally, and logistically. Expect inspiring guests, honest insights, and plenty of motivation to get outside your comfort zone — and into the wild — with a group of like-minded people by your side.

  1. 6d ago

    What’s in My Adventure Travel First Aid Kit? | Altitude, Blisters, Hydration & More

    What should actually be in your first aid kit for an adventure trek? And what happens if you get ill halfway up a mountain? This week, I’m breaking down the health and medical side of adventure travel, based on what I’ve learnt from years of leading expeditions. We cover: • What to pack in your personal first aid kit • Blisters and foot care • Hydration and electrolytes • Stomach problems • Sun protection at altitude • Travel insurance and vaccinations • Fitness and acclimatisation • Why fit people can still struggle at altitude • Summit fever and knowing when to turn around • What happens when somebody gets ill on an expedition I also share a few real examples from Everest Base Camp, Mount Toubkal and other trips I’ve led. PLUS: Book a 2027 Everest Base Camp, Kilimanjaro, Mount Toubkal or Machu Picchu trip with Ultimate Adventure Travel during our current offer and you’ll receive a professional training plan from The Altitude Centre, worth £120, included with your trip. Explore our trips: ultimateadventuretravel.co.uk Take the free Adventure Readiness Assessment: This episode is for general information and is not individual medical advice. Speak to an appropriate healthcare professional for personal medical or travel health advice. Ultimate Guide Links;  Get the Free Adventure Travel Starter Pack  Get the Kilimanjaro Guide  Get the Everest Base Camp Guide  Get the Mount Toubkal Guide  Instagram https://www.ultimateadventuretravel.co.uk/

  2. Sep 22

    My Top Adventure Travel Tips After 8 Years Leading Expeditions

    What actually makes an expedition easier? Often, it’s the little things you sort out before you leave. In this episode, I’m bringing together the tips I’ve picked up over eight years of leading trips around the world. Some are practical lessons I learned the hard way, including what happened when my water froze on a Kilimanjaro summit night. Others are things I see travellers overlook again and again. We’ll cover how to choose a trip you’ll enjoy beyond the finish line, train for what you’ll actually be doing, test your kit, dress for changing conditions and keep your bag organised when you’re tired. I also talk about travel insurance, what to tell your guide, travelling solo with a group and leaving enough room in your plans for the unexpected. Whether you’re preparing for your first adventure or you’ve already got a few expeditions behind you, I hope there’s something here that makes your next trip better. Take the free Ultimate Adventure Travel Readiness Quiz It takes around three minutes and helps you see which parts of your trip preparation are in good shape and where you might need to spend a little more time. If you enjoyed the episode and would like a part two, let me know. You can also listen to last week’s episode about our new Bear Grylls Sahara to Summit expedition. Ultimate Guide Links;  Get the Free Adventure Travel Starter Pack  Get the Kilimanjaro Guide  Get the Everest Base Camp Guide  Get the Mount Toubkal Guide  Instagram https://www.ultimateadventuretravel.co.uk/

    My Top Adventure Travel Tips After 8 Years Leading Expeditions

  3. Sep 15

    Bear Grylls’ Sahara to Summit: A Brand-New Survival Expedition

    What if you could trek through the Sahara Desert, learn genuine survival skills and then finish the expedition on the summit of North Africa’s highest mountain? In this episode, Jake announces a brand-new eight-day expedition created by Ultimate Adventure Travel in partnership with the Bear Grylls Survival Academy. Departing on 3 May 2027, Sahara to Summit will take a limited group into two dramatically different environments. You will begin among the dunes of the Sahara, learning practical survival skills from a Bear Grylls Survival Academy lead instructor, before travelling into the High Atlas Mountains to attempt the summit of Mount Toubkal at 4,167 metres. Jake reveals how the expedition was created, what participants will experience and why combining the desert and mountains makes this far more than a conventional trekking holiday. In this episode:  The story behind the Bear Grylls Survival Academy partnership  What the eight-day Sahara to Summit expedition involves  Trekking and camping beneath the stars in the Sahara  Navigation, shelter, fire-lighting and water management  Traditional desert knowledge from the local Moroccan team  Leadership, teamwork and decision-making under pressure  Moving from desert heat into the High Atlas Mountains  Attempting the summit of Mount Toubkal  How difficult the expedition will be  The fitness and experience you will need  What participants can expect to take away from the experience  How to register your interest and secure a place You do not need to be an experienced mountaineer or survival expert. You will need a reasonable level of fitness, a willingness to learn and the determination to keep going when things become uncomfortable. This is the first expedition of its kind and there will be just one departure in 2027, with places available on a first-come, first-served basis. Departure: 3 May 2027 Duration: Eight days Location: Sahara Desert and High Atlas Mountains, Morocco Challenge: Trek the Sahara, learn practical survival skills and attempt Mount Toubkal at 4,167 metres Find the full itinerary and register your interest here:  If you are interested but unsure whether you have the fitness or experience required, contact Jake directly to arrange a conversation. A 10% deposit secures your place, with flexible monthly payment options available. View The Trip Here Ultimate Guide Links;  Get the Free Adventure Travel Starter Pack  Get the Kilimanjaro Guide  Get the Everest Base Camp Guide  Get the Mount Toubkal Guide  Instagram https://www.ultimateadventuretravel.co.uk/

    Bear Grylls’ Sahara to Summit: A Brand-New Survival Expedition

  4. Sep 8

    Lewis and Clark Part Two: Across the Rockies to the Pacific

    Lewis has reached the Continental Divide, expecting to find a river that will carry the expedition towards the Pacific. Instead, he looks out across mountain range after mountain range. The route they were sent to find does not exist. In the second half of the Lewis and Clark story, the Corps of Discovery must find horses, cross the Rocky Mountains before winter and somehow survive as its food begins to disappear. With help from the Shoshone, Sacagawea is unexpectedly reunited with her brother, and an elderly guide called Old Toby leads the expedition into the Bitterroot Mountains. What follows is one of the most desperate sections of the entire journey. The men become cold, exhausted and dangerously hungry, eventually killing their horses for food. After reaching the Pacific, they must then turn around and make the entire journey home. In this episode:  Sacagawea’s extraordinary reunion with her brother  Negotiating with the Shoshone for horses  Following Old Toby into the Bitterroot Mountains  Starvation, snow and eating horses to survive  How the Nez Perce helped save the expedition  Running dangerous rapids towards the Pacific  The Corps finally reaching the ocean  The remarkable vote involving Sacagawea and York  A wet and miserable winter at Fort Clatsop  The difficult journey back across the continent  Lewis and Clark splitting the expedition  The deadly confrontation with the Blackfeet  Lewis being accidentally shot by one of his own men  The Corps returning to St Louis after being presumed dead  What happened to Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea, York and Pomp  Whether the expedition should really be considered a success  The complicated legacy it left behind Lewis and Clark failed to find the water route Thomas Jefferson wanted, but they returned with maps, journals and scientific records from an 8,000-mile expedition across the continent. It remains an extraordinary story of exploration, survival and adaptation, but also one with consequences that cannot be separated from the expansion that followed. If you enjoyed this two-part series, please follow The Ultimate Adventure Travel Podcast and leave a rating or review. It only takes a couple of minutes and helps more people discover the show. Ultimate Guide Links;  Get the Free Adventure Travel Starter Pack  Get the Kilimanjaro Guide  Get the Everest Base Camp Guide  Get the Mount Toubkal Guide  Instagram https://www.ultimateadventuretravel.co.uk/

    Lewis and Clark Part Two: Across the Rockies to the Pacific

  5. Sep 1

    Lewis and Clark Part One: 8,000 Miles Into the Unknown

    In 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set off across an America that remained largely unknown to the government sending them. Their mission was to follow the Missouri River, find a practical route to the Pacific Ocean and return with maps, scientific discoveries and information about the lands and people they encountered. The problem was that nobody knew whether the route they were searching for actually existed. In the first half of this incredible expedition story, we meet the people who formed the Corps of Discovery, including Sacagawea, York and Lewis’s Newfoundland dog, Seaman. We follow the expedition upstream against the Missouri, through dangerous encounters, freezing winters, charging grizzly bears and a near-disastrous capsizing that almost destroyed their records. Then Lewis reaches the Continental Divide and discovers the truth. Instead of the easy river route they expected, he finds mountain range after mountain range stretching towards the horizon. In this episode:  Why Thomas Jefferson commissioned the expedition  The partnership between Meriwether Lewis and William Clark  How the Corps prepared for an expedition into the unknown  The complicated stories of Sacagawea and York  Dragging heavily loaded boats against the Missouri River  The expedition’s first and only death  The vital knowledge provided by Indigenous nations  The confrontation with the Lakota that nearly became violent  Surviving winter at Fort Mandan  Sacagawea’s introduction to the expedition  Encounters with grizzly bears  The capsized boat that nearly destroyed the mission  The month-long struggle around the Great Falls  Lewis’s discovery that the expected water route to the Pacific did not exist Part one ends at Lemhi Pass, with winter approaching, supplies running low and the most dangerous part of the expedition still ahead. Part two continues next week as the Corps searches for horses, enters the Rocky Mountains and attempts to reach the Pacific. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow The Ultimate Adventure Travel Podcast and leave a rating or review. It only takes a couple of minutes and makes a huge difference to the podcast. Ultimate Guide Links;  Get the Free Adventure Travel Starter Pack  Get the Kilimanjaro Guide  Get the Everest Base Camp Guide  Get the Mount Toubkal Guide  Instagram https://www.ultimateadventuretravel.co.uk/

    Lewis and Clark Part One: 8,000 Miles Into the Unknown

  6. Aug 25

    The Icefall Doctors: The Team Who Build the Route Up Everest

    Before hundreds of climbers can begin their attempt on Everest, somebody has to find a way through the Khumbu Icefall. That responsibility belongs to the Icefall Doctors, a specialist team of highly experienced Sherpa climbers who establish and maintain the route between Everest Base Camp and Camp One. They carry ladders into the icefall, bridge enormous crevasses, install fixed ropes and repair sections of the route as the glacier moves beneath them. It is highly skilled work in one of the most unpredictable and dangerous places on Everest. In this episode, Jake explores: What the Khumbu Icefall is and why it is constantly movingWho the Icefall Doctors areHow they find a route through the glacierWhat it takes to install ladders across deep crevassesWhy most crossings happen before sunriseHow the route can change overnightWhy Everest climbers must pass through the icefall repeatedlyThe important difference between Sherpa people and mountain portersHow the southern route through the icefall was first exploredThe difficult decisions faced during the 2026 Everest seasonThe imbalance between the people celebrated for climbing Everest and those carrying the greatest exposure to its dangersAlmost every climber attempting Everest from the Nepalese side depends on the work of this small team. Without them, the modern Everest climbing season as we know it would barely be possible. If you enjoyed the episode, please follow or subscribe to The Ultimate Adventure Travel Podcast and leave a review. You can also share it with somebody who loves mountaineering, adventure travel or the hidden stories behind Everest. Ultimate Guide Links;  Get the Free Adventure Travel Starter Pack  Get the Kilimanjaro Guide  Get the Everest Base Camp Guide  Get the Mount Toubkal Guide  Instagram https://www.ultimateadventuretravel.co.uk/

    The Icefall Doctors: The Team Who Build the Route Up Everest

  7. Aug 18

    Green Boots: Everest's Most Famous Body Could Finally Be Coming Home

    For almost 30 years, a climber wearing a distinctive pair of green mountaineering boots has been one of the most infamous landmarks on Mount Everest. Known simply as Green Boots, his body has remained high on Everest's Northeast Ridge since the disastrous 1996 climbing season. Thousands of climbers have passed the spot, the rocky shelter became known as "Green Boots Cave", and his story has become part of Everest folklore. But now, that story could be about to change. Indian authorities are looking at an extraordinary operation to recover Green Boots from the Death Zone and finally bring his body home. And in the process, another question has emerged: have we had his identity wrong for nearly 30 years? In this shorter, topical episode of The Ultimate Adventure Travel Podcast, Jake explores the real story behind Green Boots, the three Indian climbers who disappeared during the 1996 Everest disaster, and why recovering a body from more than 8,000 metres is far more complicated and dangerous than it might seem. We also look at the controversial death of David Sharp in the same location ten years later, why bodies remain on Everest for decades, and the difficult ethical question surrounding high-altitude recoveries: how much risk should living climbers take to bring the dead home? In this episode: The story behind the famous "Green Boots" of Mount EverestWhat happened to the Indian expedition during the 1996 Everest disasterTsewang Smanla, Tsewang Paljor and Dorje MorupWhy Green Boots was long believed to be Tsewang PaljorWhy Indian authorities now believe the body could be Dorje MorupHow Green Boots became an Everest landmarkDavid Sharp's controversial death on Everest in 2006Why rescuing someone in the Death Zone is so difficultWhy recovering bodies from Everest can be incredibly dangerousPrevious attempts to move Green BootsThe proposed operation to finally bring the body downThe other bodies that remain on Mount EverestThe story of Francys Arsentiev, known as "Sleeping Beauty"Whether climbers who die on Everest should be recovered at allUltimately, this isn't really a story about a pair of green boots. It's about how one of the most famous figures in Everest history gradually became a landmark rather than a person, and how, three decades after three climbers disappeared into a storm, one of them may finally be coming home. 🎧 Listen now to the full episode of The Ultimate Adventure Travel Podcast. Want to take on an adventure of your own? Ultimate Adventure Travel runs small-group expeditions around the world, including: 🏔️ Everest Base Camp 🌋 Mount Kilimanjaro 🏜️ The Sahara Desert ⛰️ Mount Toubkal 🇵🇪 Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail Visit the Ultimate Adventure Travel website to explore upcoming expeditions or get in touch directly to discuss your next adventure. Follow The Ultimate Adventure Travel Podcast Follow or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss future adventure stories, expedition advice and honest insights from some of the world's greatest trekking destinations. If you enjoyed the episode, please consider leaving a review. It genuinely helps more people discover the podcast. Ultimate Guide Links;  Get the Free Adventure Travel Starter Pack  Get the Kilimanjaro Guide  Get the Everest Base Camp Guide  Get the Mount Toubkal Guide  Instagram https://www.ultimateadventuretravel.co.uk/

    Green Boots: Everest's Most Famous Body Could Finally Be Coming Home

  8. Aug 11

    The Untold Story of Mount Kilimanjaro

    Kilimanjaro is usually discussed as a physical challenge. How fit do you need to be? Which route should you take? What does altitude feel like? And just how difficult is summit night? But Africa’s highest mountain has a story stretching back millions of years. In this episode, Jake explores the complete history of Kilimanjaro, beginning with the volcanic forces that created Shira, Mawenzi and Kibo before following the people, expeditions, empires and conflicts that transformed the mountain into a global symbol of adventure. You will discover how Chagga communities lived and farmed on Kilimanjaro’s slopes long before European explorers arrived, why European geographers refused to believe there could be snow near the equator and the truth behind the persistent story that Queen Victoria gave Kilimanjaro away as a birthday present. Jake also examines the first recorded ascent by Hans Meyer and Ludwig Purtscheller, the overlooked contribution of Kilimanjaro’s African guides and porters and the role the mountain played during the First World War. The story then continues through British colonial rule, Tanganyikan independence and the moment Kaiser Wilhelm Peak was renamed Uhuru Peak, meaning Freedom Peak. Finally, Jake looks at how Kilimanjaro became one of the world’s great trekking mountains and explains the history and character of its major routes, including Marangu, Machame, Umbwe, Rongai, Shira, Lemosho and the Northern Circuit. In this episode:  How the East African Rift created Kilimanjaro  Why Kilimanjaro consists of three volcanic centres  The difference between Shira, Mawenzi and Kibo  Whether Kilimanjaro is extinct or dormant  Why the mountain’s glaciers are disappearing  The history and traditions of the Chagga people  Kilimanjaro’s relationship with Maasai communities  Why nobody knows exactly what “Kilimanjaro” means  The local stories surrounding Kibo and Mawenzi  Why Europeans initially refused to believe the summit had snow  The truth about Queen Victoria supposedly giving away Kilimanjaro  Hans Meyer’s dangerous attempts to reach the summit  The disputed story of local guide Yohani Kinyala Lauwo  How African guides and porters made the first recorded ascent possible  Kilimanjaro’s role in the First World War  The Battle of Kilimanjaro and the East African Campaign  How the mountain passed from German to British control  Why the summit was renamed Uhuru Peak  The meaning of the Uhuru Torch  How Kilimanjaro National Park was established  Where Kilimanjaro’s modern trekking routes came from  The history of Marangu, Machame, Lemosho and the other major routes  The realities faced by modern guides and porters  Why reaching the summit is always a team achievement Whether you have already stood at Uhuru Peak, are preparing to climb Kilimanjaro or simply want to understand one of the world’s greatest adventure mountains, this episode reveals the extraordinary history beneath every step. To learn more about climbing Kilimanjaro with Ultimate Adventure Travel, visit: www.ultimateadventuretravel.co.uk If you enjoyed the episode, follow The Ultimate Adventure Travel Podcast and share it with somebody who dreams of climbing Kilimanjaro. Ultimate Guide Links;  Get the Free Adventure Travel Starter Pack  Get the Kilimanjaro Guide  Get the Everest Base Camp Guide  Get the Mount Toubkal Guide  Instagram https://www.ultimateadventuretravel.co.uk/

    The Untold Story of Mount Kilimanjaro
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About

The Ultimate Adventure Travel Podcast is the show for people who want more from their travels than just ticking off the sights. Hosted by expedition leader and Ultimate Adventure Travel founder Jake Field, this weekly podcast is your guide to unforgettable group adventures — from Kilimanjaro and the Inca Trail to Everest Base Camp and beyond. Whether you’re preparing for your first big trip or looking to push your limits on your next one, you’ll find expert advice, real stories, and practical tips to help you get adventure-ready — physically, mentally, and logistically. Expect inspiring guests, honest insights, and plenty of motivation to get outside your comfort zone — and into the wild — with a group of like-minded people by your side.

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