A 16-foot canoe loaded with food, 500 miles of wilderness ahead of us, camping on islands under the stars: paddling down the Yukon River remains one of my favourite adventures.

The river Kaveri is one of the 5 great holy rivers of India, revered by pilgrims for centuries. From its source amongst the coffee and cardamon plantations in the cool hills of the Western Ghats, the river flows 500 miles across southern India towards the hot plains of Tamil Nadu and the Bay of Bengal.

A microadventure is an adventure that is short, simple, local, cheap – yet still fun, exciting, challenging, refreshing and rewarding.

The Marathon des Sables is known as “the toughest race on Earth”, running with all your food and kit for 150 miles through the Sahara desert.