Shouting from the Shed 123

Shouting from the Shed

Hi again,

I’ve been zooming all over the place to promote Local, which, ironically, encourages you to explore the wonders of staying close to home. Memorable moments included jumping into lakes in Wales and Cumbria, and running up a Scottish hill in the rain while listening live to the Prime Minister announcing a general election.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who attended the events for your support, enthusiasm, and insightful questions about the role of adventure in the context of the nature and climate crisis.

If you haven’t read Local yet, please pick up a copy today. For those who have read it, thank you! Please consider leaving a quick review here. As the book tour winds down, it feels like time to put Local to bed and start writing a new book.

If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it with five friends. If you have suggestions for improvement, just hit ‘reply’ and let me know!

Here are some things I’d like to share with you today:

I’ve started a new newsletter. Fancy giving it a try? Ponderings on issues like rewilding, responsible roaming, and rivers. Adventure plus purpose.
How to Buy a Mountain Bike. Funny, but also kinda true…
365 Marathons In 365 Days.
Leonardo Da Vinci’s To Do lists. ‘Get hold of a skull. Nutmeg‘.
Hey y’all in America… I’m onNPR! Can we vacation without hurting the planet?
Fancy joining in a relay from Ben Nevis to Big Ben? Help run, walk, cycle, kayak, climb, wheel, swim and surf the baton across Britain.
A fun and insightful piece about a family bike ride across Africa: 5 Life-Changing Lessons Learned Along the Way. (I interviewed Tegan ages ago when she was a 21-year-old gearing up for her first bike adventure.)
Our rivers and lakes are disgusting and need fixing! But, also, our rivers and lakes are lovely: please still get out and enjoy them!
Britain is gearing up for a general election. There are many critical issues at stake, both domestically and internationally. But this newsletter studiously limits itself to the intersecting worlds of adventure, nature, the outdoors etc. I know at least a couple of fellow adventurers think it is remiss of me to not champion other causes, but that’s the choice I’ve made for this small sliver of my life. (Let me know your thoughts on this?) I’m not going to get Party Political either, but I might lob in a few wish list items for you to weigh up when casting your vote (and don’t forget to register to vote!). For example, pick one (or all!) of the below and ask your election candidates if they will back it and why it’s important to them.
Lobby for more access to wild spaces, outdoor education and more protection for the places we love to walk and climb in. The British Mountaineering Council has summed up 7 important issues.
Right to Roam is petitioning for greater access to nature,
Action for clean rivers and lakes is vital and is an issue that we the public care strongly about.
Restore Nature Now is organising a march in London on June 22: The natural world is in trouble and we need to take action. We want to see UK politicians show strong domestic and global nature and climate leadership. See you there?

Can I help you?

Let me know if you have a relevant project that my readers would appreciate. Here’s what you guys have been up to recently:

Bev and Julian are taking a ‘senior gap year’ going into their 60th year, cycling round the world while finding time and space to decide what next.
Krista’s website is a resource for inspiration and information on how to safely adventure and travel with your dog. I often get asked for advice about this!
Ann is a mature lady with comorbidities and a limited lung capacity, reduced lung function with a breathing pattern disorder and larynx disfunction. She has just set off to tackle a 4000km e-trike adventure across Britain.
Steph has decided to go on a bigger, scary adventure at the age of 54 that’ll take her right outside my comfort zone: walking from the most western point of England to the most Eastern point.
Kate has created a free app called Wylder which gives people daily ways to connect to nature, anytime, anywhere.

From the Archives

50 Newsletters Ago…

Here are five things I’d like to share with you today…

Cycling: The Man Who Rode the Tour de France Route Solo. This is cool. I’m extra jealous because I first had the idea to do exactly this back in 1997 but never got round to it!
Commuting: Does commuting get in the way of your adventures? Then watch this film for one extreme option to solve the problem… “The Commute: A four day paddle to work.”
Film: The Sheffield Adventure Film Festival needs your help. There are 78 films available to watch over 24 carefully curated and themed sessions. Each session costs less than a pint of beer or a glass of wine.
Nature writing: Enchanted forests: the women shaking up nature writing.
Exercise: At the start of 2021, when we descended into yet more lockdown, I thought back on what a flop 2020 had been for me in terms of my writing and my health and fitness. I didn’t want to drift through yet another year.
So I set two specific goals to get my writing and health back on track.
One, to publish a book by the end of lockdown. And two, to get back my strength and fitness and do a double bodyweight deadlift again.
Once you decide the end goal you can then put it away in a drawer and focus on the small, humdrum steps forward: write 1000 words a day and complete an exercise programme five nights a week.
Having such specific steps to follow is essential to defeat my lazy, conniving mind which is a master of finding excuses to not bother.
All I had to do was show up, do the work, go home, and repeat. No discussion, no negotiation.
Do the simple things, not the easy things. Work hard. Feel better.
And so, over the long locked down months I felt progress coming, little by little, like the creeping approach of dawn. The book chapters accumulated and improved, whilst in the gym and out running I felt a little bit leaner, stronger, healthier and happier each week than I did a year ago.
In the end I managed to finish the book on time. ‘Ask An Adventurer‘ is not a work of genius, but it was achievable in lockdown and I feel that it will be really helpful for a small niche of people. That’s enough for me.
I also managed to lift a heavy weight and put it back down again. Lifting 170kg at 11pm on my own in an empty gym isn’t very important as these things go (although it is nice to be getting stronger as I get older, not just conceding defeat).
But the plugging away to get to this point was really important, at least to me.
Resolving to do things better than I did them last year — and then sticking to that resolution by the unreasonably effective method of just showing up every day — has made me more productive, stronger, healthier and happier than I have been for the past languishing 18 months.
If you go to the gym (or train in your garden) and are willing to work hard (regardless of your starting level) then I can highly recommend Andy McKenzie’s programmes. I’ve known Andy since I was training for the South Pole and he certainly knows his stuff and works you hard!

And some quick snippets…

Learn to identify some common bird songs.
I love this short video! After reading one of my books Dafydd buys the same bike as me from eBay, then rides it as far as he can…
Need to escape the world? Hitch a lift on a satellite and soar over the earth (Press ‘play’ for one of the satellites on the right of the screen).

Can I help you? Let me know if you have a relevant project that my readers would appreciate. Here’s what you guys have been up to recently…

“Daniel’s Big Adventure Challenge” – 11-year-old Daniel is taking on a big adventure to raise funds for his friend who has cancer. Please support them if you can.
Rose (in her 60s) just walked from Dorset to Edinbugh.

Thank you for reading. As Austin Kleon says, “This newsletter is free, but not cheap.” To show your support, would you mind forwarding it to someone who’d like it, sharing it on Twitter, reading one of my books, subscribing to a free podcast, getting a birthday greeting video from me, or maybe even donating to keep the newsletter going.

(If you’re seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here.)

Cheers,

Alastair

Alastair Humphreys

Living Adventurously

Shouting from the Shed 123

Readers who liked ... Shouting from the Shed 123... also liked:

Microadventures

Marathon des Sables

On Foot through India

Ocean Racing

Comments for Shouting from the Shed 123

Subscribe

Join the 20,000 clever, beautiful readers who receive my newsletters…

Follow Me

Support Me

Books.

Newsletters.

Adventures.

Podcasts.

Blogs.

More.

Copyright | Alastair Humphreys

website by Bewilderness

Alastair Humphreys

Living Adventurously

Shouting from the Shed 123

Readers who liked ... Shouting from the Shed 123... also liked:

Microadventures

Marathon des Sables

On Foot through India

Ocean Racing

Comments for Shouting from the Shed 123

Subscribe

Join the 20,000 clever, beautiful readers who receive my newsletters…

Follow Me

Support Me

Books.

Newsletters.

Adventures.

Podcasts.

Blogs.

More.

Copyright | Alastair Humphreys document.write(new Date().getFullYear())

website by Bewilderness

Copyright | Alastair Humphreys