The UK's most popular outdoor travel blog
From avoiding stomach bugs to securing valuables, these essentials for safe travel will stop long trips playing havoc with your health
Having five sisters as I do is wonderful. On your travels, you get lots of messages checking on your whereabouts and well-being. And then you get some more messages. And then you get some more.
From practical solutions for everyday problems to highbrow electronics for luxury on the road, here are our favoured useful travel gadgets of 2022
The modern traveller rarely leaves home without a range of gadgets and accessories. Despite years of travel and streamlining my gear, I still pack a healthy number of gadgets.
Unless I’m going completely off-grid, there are certain (usually electronic) luxuries I don’t want to be without. I want to take thousands of photographs, listen to music, watch a movie, stay in touch with my family and most importantly of all, keep track of England’s latest batting collapse (a form of self-harm I’m sure).
As America’s public lands register record numbers, we explore the least-visited US national parks
It’s been well documented that America’s national parks and hiking trails have seen a surge in visitor numbers as lockdown-weary Americans flocked to the outdoors. In 2021, Yellowstone received an astonishing 4.8 million recreation visits, up 28% from 2020 (3.8 million), making it the busiest year on record.
We share the most interesting facts about Nepal gathered on a two-week trek in the Nepali Himalaya
During my recent Everest base camp trek, the spectacular nation of Nepal immediately became my favourite country. In fact, I have vowed to return as soon as possible to complete the Annapurna Circuit and Langtang treks.
One day, I hope to go a step further and attempt Everest itself as part of my quest to climb the seven summits, the highest mountain on every continent.
Burying your waste may no longer be the most sustainable way to go to the toilet in the outdoors, according to new research
The number of people using public lands in the US has been steadily increasing for years. The pandemic accelerated the trend as lockdown-weary Americans flocked to outdoor spaces in record numbers. The increase in visitors saw several parks and landmarks introduce reservation systems to counteract the unsustainable rise in visitor numbers.
A selection of the most interesting facts about Bolivia we picked up during our visit
Before we went to Bolivia, my entire education on the country came from this scene from the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Although our arrival in the country wasn’t quite as displeasing as Robert Redford’s, Bolivia did prove one of the more challenging countries we’ve visited. Cold showers, uninspiring cuisine and high altitude were just some of the things we battled.
Our carefully curated list of the best mountaineering movies ever made
Recently, I re-watched one of my favourite mountaineering movies: Everest. Historically, even the best mountaineering films have struggled to bridge the gap between climbing documentary and Hollywood blockbuster.
From the Throne of Zeus to the largest glacier in the Alps, we share our top Instagram shots of 2021
Unsurprisingly, travel in 2021 turned out to be more, uhm, domestic than we had planned. After the disappointments of 2020, we had high hopes for 2021. Alas, it turns out that pandemics are unpredictable. We did manage to squeeze in a couple of international trips, but they were definitely more short than long haul.
The best countries for adventure travel have been ranked by a panel of experts. We review the results below
The Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) has named Iceland the best country for adventure travel for the third year in a row. The small Nordic island nation, famed for its geysers, volcanoes, geothermal lagoons and cinematic landscapes, remains an attractive destination for adventure seekers, particularly those concerned with sustainability.
Per person, the US and UK produce more plastic waste than any other major country, according to new research
Plastic waste is polluting the entire planet. It has been found in the Mariana Trench (the deepest point in the ocean), falling from the sky in Arctic snow, embedded in Antarctic ice and secreted in the Alpine soils of Switzerland.
Winter hiking without experience is taxing at best and lethal at worst. We share some tips to help you prepare properly
Winter hiking is a polarising sport: some love it, others hate it. Too often, people have bad experiences not because they’re inherently resistant to cold, but because they’re under-prepared. They make not just basic mistakes like packing the wrong gear but also arrive mentally unprepared.
Our guide to drone etiquette will help you secure your shot without endangering yourself or others
Drone operators get a bad rep, arguably with good reason. Pre-pandemic, near-misses with planes more than tripled in two years while irresponsible operators risked lives, closed airports and stressed wildlife – all in pursuit of a video clip.
Foreign Service Institute language difficulty rankings are an indication of how long a native English speaker would need to reach proficiency in a number of different languages. There are five categories, ranked from easiest to the hardest based on how many classroom hours a learner would need to reach professional working proficiency (i.e. Level 3 on the
Don’t let a pesky injury ruin your time in the outdoors. Our guide on how to prevent blisters will keep you on your feet
Whether you’re an experienced trekker or a newcomer to the trails, you will invariably suffer from one of the most common hiking injuries. To help you minimise the risk, we’ve put together a simple guide on how to prevent and treat blisters when hiking.
The world’s unclimbed mountains are the last great challenges in mountaineering. We look at the most coveted of these unconquered summits
In January 2021, Nirmal Purja and his team of Nepali climbers completed the first winter ascent of K2, the world’s second-highest mountain. K2 was the final 8,000m peak awaiting a winter ascent after Nanga Parbat, Pakistan’s ‘Killer Mountain’, was scaled in 2016.
Updated for 2021, we list the best mountaineering books ever written, drawing on accounts of world-class climbers in the harshest environments
As I’ve mentioned many times before, my bookshelves are filled with tales of adventure travel, survival against the odds and obsessive searches.
I’m an avid climber keen on winter mountaineering and wild camping so, naturally, mountaineering books take up a good chunk of space on my shelf.
Being young, fit and healthy doesn’t mean you won’t suffer from altitude sickness symptoms. Here’s how to identify, treat and prevent them effectively
Gracie is a student at Johns Hopkins, which offers one of the best medical training programs in the world. She is slim, fit and active. She doesn’t smoke, rarely drinks and always watches what she eats.
This guide on how to use a compass and map should be enough to get you started and give you the confidence to use the skills for yourself in the hills
As a schoolboy, I was lucky to learn how to use a compass and map. I then spent the best part of two decades putting these basic skills to use throughout the British countryside, without ever really having them tested.
Our comprehensive guide on how to choose a sleeping bag will ensure a cosy night’s sleep whatever the temperature
Whether you’re a weekend warrior making a dash for the hills or preparing for a multi-day trek through the Himalayas, choosing the right sleeping bag can make or break a camping trip.
At the age of 13, Kia turned vegetarian but 15 years later, she started eating fish again. Here she reflects on why that decision was wrong
There is an inherent hypocrisy in what I do for a living. On one hand, I write about the state of the planet, call for tourism caps and grapple with extinction tourism, but on the other, I continue to fly when I know that it’s the worst way to travel in terms of carbon emissions.
