December 2011: Alastair Humphreys

Named recently as one of the National Geographic's Adventurers of the Year, Alastair Humphreys makes even the most active and sporting among us feel lazy and a bit wet.



ADVENTURER

An adventurer, film maker, photographer, author, motivational speaker and blogger, since graduating from university he has cycled round the world for four years, raced a yacht across the Atlantic Ocean, canoed 500 miles down the Yukon River in North America and walked the length of the holy Kaveri river in India. He has also run the legendarily tough Marathon des Sables, rowed to France and, in 2010, completed an unsupported crossing of Iceland by foot and packraft.

INSIGHT

What drives a man to do such things? What has he seen on his travels? And what obstacles has he faced? Alastair's excellent blog - a division of his equally informative and entertaining site - gives us, the idle, cossetted good-for-nothings that we are, an insight into the life of an adventurer and all that this entails. Divided into a wide range of different categories, visitors can explore blog posts covering his time spent on different expeditions as well as musings on how to stay motivated, health and fitness, adventure activities and much more besides.



MOTIVATIONAL

Whether he is writing about what the frozen artic really looks like, why the bicycle is the best means of transport or how to set up an expedition website for free, Alistair's blog is always entertaining, often insightful and endlessly inspiring, with some great photography and videos - see Building an Igloo, above - thrown into the mix. If you lack the drive to go to for that run, check in and man up.

Emily Jenkinson

5th December 2011