Tom Allen is in the midst of an experiment to rid the armchair adventurers of their main excuse: lack of money. Last year he compiled a cycle touring kit totalling £25.17. Now for part two, he will put his money where his mouth is and, over the course of twenty days, will cycle from Land’s End to John O’Groat’s using no money. At all. He will swap labour for food, in his quest to answer the question: “Is it still possible to directly trade time and skills for life’s essentials?”
Australian paddler Mark Kalch is continuing his 7 Rivers 7 Continents project to paddle the longest river on each continent. This time it’s the Volga – a 3700 km Russian River that flows east from north-west of Moscow to the Caspian Sea. After this, just four rivers will remain on the list; the Nile, the Yangtze, the Murray-Darling and the Onyx River. Sad news has reached our shores from the Expedition Hope team in the Arctic. The expedition is been forced to an abrupt end. The team of Bernice Notenboom, Eric Phillips, and Marten Hartley were hoping their ice pick up would be coming at a much later date, but they have been informed that due to the ice conditions, this date had been brought forward and would be the last pick up flight for the season and they reluctantly climbed on board. Despite the expedition finishing early the team have still accomplished what they first set out to achieve: to show the world the lure and fragility of the Arctic. Over the forty days the team managed to ski over 500kms and were nearing the 84th latitude. The big success story over the last few weeks is that of the lone team who successfully reached the North Pole on foot. Eric Larsen and Ryan Waters are the first team to accomplish a full expedition to the North Pole in over four years, taking them fifty-three days. The achievement also makes Ryan Waters the first American to complete the Explorers Grand Slam unsupported! And on that note, the Arctic expedition season officially comes to an end. Finally, a big expedition worth following is rapidly approaching. Angelo Wilkie-Page is about to embark on an impressive six year long expedition, to become the first person to circumnavigate the globe from East to West and Pole to Pole, crossing all major lines of latitude and longitude and using only human power. The expedition will be dubbed Expedition 720°, it will cover 115,000kms, cross six deserts, row/paddle four oceans and nine seas. Wilkie-Page will begin on the 15th of June by cyclingWritten by Orla O’Muiri | Photo by Mark Kalch