I’m pleased to be writing this email to you as it means I get a quick break from the endless editing of my latest book for children (a sort-of-sequel to my Boy Who / Girl Who books). Please punch me the next time I say to you, “I’ve had a good idea for a book, and the best thing is that it will be really quick and easy to write…” 

I never seem to learn! I am, however, within sight of the finish line. Phew!

I am also making good progress with my sort-of-sequel to Local. It’s about noticing, engaging with, and caring for the wild places on our doorsteps as a stepping stone to making much bigger changes. On a day when the most powerful human on the planet declared that climate change is the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, my little effort about passenger pigeons, the Sycamore Gap tree, and the perils of nature disconnection feels worth persevering with. 

Finally, apologies to those of you who regularly urge me to write shorter newsletters with fewer links. This email has a daft amount! 

•  Alpkit have been very good to me over the years. They make excellent clothes, kit and bikes, and they really care about doing things the right way. They are having a sale at the moment. And I’m really looking forward to speaking at their Shakeout Festival this weekend. Come along and say hello!
•  Very last minute I’m afraid, but the Big River Watch ends on 25th September. Survey your river for just 15 minutes to help restore rivers across the UK and Ireland.
•  Bristol folk… The Wilderness Lectures are back. A brilliant Bristol institution for many years.
•  Fancy applying for a £1000 Local Nature Grant?
•  My latest favourite ‘adventure influencer‘: “I’m in a village with a deli and suddenly everyone’s an arsehole. Join the dots yourself…”
•  Highland hillwalkers asked to look out for space rocks.
•  A surprisingly thrilling, trendy film about bird watching.
•  If, like me, you’re currently glued to a computer too many hours a day, this expedition canoeing guide to some of the world’s wildest and emptiest rivers might be just the tonic you need.

Let me know if you have a relevant project that my readers would appreciate.

Here’s what you guys have been up to recently:

• I wrote an article for The Times about the banning of wild camping on Dartmoor and the importance of expanding access to the countryside.
• An interesting podcast interview with Paul Salopek about walking round the world for 10 years (so far).
• From Identity to Inspiration: A Reading List on Why We Run. Pair this with my short film on why I run.
• Instead of wishing you had the money and time to take a month to do some sort of very notable human-powered adventure to the top of a mountain or across a country, how about doing some less-notable stuff near where you live every week, or every month? (AKA: Taking small adventures might make you just as happy as climbing Everest…)
• World’s coldest marathon at blistering minus 53C in Yakutia.
• This is a pleasing thread of artist’s desks covered with an insane amount of stuff.

• To help you pass the time / relax / keep dreaming I have released my book about walking through India as a free daily podcast.
• How do Adventurers earn their money?
• Many folks in the outdoor community have made their films free to watch. (My two longest films are also free to view: 52 mins and 20 mins.)
• Scratch the wanderlust itch with this gorgeous ‘travel’ photography from Google Street View.
• Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
• Anna McNuff’s written a new book: 100 Adventures to Have Before You Grow Up.
• Fancy escaping to the moon right now? Wonderful way of telling a story.
• Vicarious bike adventuring on Instagram.
• Cross the world four times. A short, thoughtful article.
• Recent podcast interviews include Wisdom from a Professional Sand Castle Builder and a Paralympian declaring “Going blind is one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.”

• A good book to read: I re-read this interesting and poetic book after looking down at the Golden Gate Bridge from a plane, and remembering that the last time I travelled from London to San Francisco it took me 2.5 years to get there, by bicycle. Skyfaring articulates something that often amazes me: how we take for granted the compressed size of our planet. You can go to bed on the opposite side of the planet to where you woke up. That is extraordinary! Travel, perspective, and eloquence.
• A superb adventure film to watch: I love it when people do daft, beautiful stuff just for the sheer daft, beautiful exuberance of it. Four skaters head north to the cold Norwegian coast, applying their urban skills to a wild canvas of beach flotsam, frozen sand, and pastel skies.
• An even better newsletter than mine to subscribe to:  the Hiut newsletter offers me something interesting and thought-provoking to read.
• Deep and meaningful wisdom to ponder: “I like to imagine the guy who invented the umbrella was going to call it the ‘brella’. But he hesitated.” – Andy Field