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Overview

From a Swansea estate to the peaks of Patagonia, Ollie Treviso became the first person to walk the entire length of the Andes — 14,000 kilometres across seven countries, taking 20 months of near-continuous motion. His story isn’t about records or ego, but about endurance, kindness, and rediscovering humanity step by step.

In this episode, Ollie speaks openly about losing direction in his twenties, leaving behind a job in insurance, and how walking became his therapy. He reflects on the extremes of the Andes — from the Salar de Uyuni’s white infinity to the Venezuelan jungle — and the strangers who saved him time and again. Through fractured bones, altitude sickness, and moments of despair, he found that the world is still full of good people and that adventure, at its heart, is about carrying on when no one is watching.

Chris and Ollie talk about how walking can heal mental health, the beauty of simplicity, and what modern life has lost in the rush for comfort. It’s an episode about grit, humility, and gratitude — a reminder that you don’t need to be special to do something extraordinary.

What You’ll Learn

• 💡 How a lost young man from Swansea became a global adventurer.
• 🧭 The unseen kindness and generosity of South America’s rural communities.
• 🗣️ Lessons in endurance, patience, and humility from 14,000km on foot.
• 🌍 Why walking can be a powerful tool for mental health and reflection.
• 🔥 How simplicity and gratitude can rebuild connection and purpose.

Resources

• Follow Ollie’s future projects: coming soon via Adventure Diaries updates.
• The BloomSpace Foundation— mental health charity supported by Ollie.
• Books mentioned: Endurance (Shackleton), Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know (Fiennes), Shantaram (Gregory David Roberts).
• Watch the Andes visual diaries on Adventure Diaries YouTube.

🎙️ If Ollie’s story moved you, Follow the show here
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Each listen, rating, and share helps Adventure Diaries continue bringing real stories of endurance, kindness, and wild places to life.

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What happens when you try to drive the world in £75 cars and a big yellow school bus?

In this episode of The Adventure Diaries, Chris Watson is joined by Global Convoy founders Max White, Joel & Becca — the adventurous trio who turned a summer road trip idea into a worldwide overlanding community.

From rusty £75 bangers on Gumtree to a Pan-American Highway expedition in a converted US school bus, this episode dives into the chaos, charm, and community of traveling the world on a shoestring.

You’ll hear:
✨ The origin story of Global Convoy — how strangers became a family on the road.
✨ Why cheap cars = the best adventures.
✨ Mishaps, breakdowns & roadside repairs across Russia, Central Asia, and the Americas.
✨ Stories of kindness from locals in Uzbekistan, Japan, and South America.
✨ The epic Pan-American road trip in a big yellow school bus.
✨ How Global Convoy turned into a movement — and how you can join.

This isn’t just a travel story. It’s an adventure about community, resilience, and discovering magic in the unexpected.

🔗 Links & Resources

🌍 Follow Global Convoy
Website: globalconvoy.com
Instagram: @globalconvoy
YouTube: Global Convoy

#GlobalConvoyPodcast #OverlandingAdventures #PanAmericanHighwayRoadTrip #CheapCarAdventureTravel #75CarChallenge #OverlandingCommunityStories #AdventureTravelPodcast #DrivingAroundTheWorldStories #SchoolBusConversionPanAmerican #HitchhikingAndOverlandingExperiences

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Fitz Cahall—founder of The Dirtbag Diaries and co-founder of Duct Tape Then Beer—joins me to trace a life built around curiosity, craft, and the wild. We get into the nomadic childhood that pushed him outdoors, the dog-mauling that forged resilience, discovering climbing in Seattle, and the early podcasting leap that turned unsold magazine stories into a movement. We talk States of Adventure (DK), how to choose stories that reflect a lifetime outdoors, making inclusive adventure culture, and the 50-day Sierra traverse with Becca that reset his compass. We also explore creative stamina, running a mission-driven studio, and building family identity through shared time outside—plus Alex Honnold, Climbing Gold, and where audio can still surprise us.

What you’ll learn

• How childhood instability became a foundation for autonomy, authenticity, and adventure
• The moment podcasting “clicked” and scaled from 30 friends to thousands overnight
• Anatomy of States of Adventure: selecting 30 stories that mirror a life lived outside
• Why inclusive, everyday adventures expand the ecosystem (burro racing, rollerblading Iowa, etc.)
• Sustaining creative passion for 18 years without burning out
• Designing a family life that keeps mountains and forests in the calendar

Memorable threads

• The power of medium choice: audio stories at the length they need
• Craft over clout: playful branding as a filter for the right partners
• Lessons from a stormy, illness-riddled, unforgettable Sierra crossing
• Curiosity as a daily practice—for interviews, parenting, and purposeful work

Resources & links mentioned

• The Dirtbag Diaries — https://www.dirtbagdiaries.com
• Duct Tape Then Beer — https://www.ducttapethenbeer.com
• States of Adventure (DK) — https://www.dk.com
• National Geographic — https://www.nationalgeographic.com
• This American Life — https://www.thisamericanlife.org
• Climbing Gold (with Alex Honnold) — https://www.climbinggold.com
• Alex Honnold — https://www.alexhonnold.com
• Grand Canyon (NPS) — https://www.nps.gov/grca
• Yosemite (NPS) — https://www.nps.gov/yose
• RAGBRAI (Iowa cross-state ride) — https://www.ragbrai.com
• Pack Burro Racing — https://www.packburroracing.org
  Episode takeaway

Adventure—as practice and culture—builds resilient creativity, community, and meaning when we protect curiosity and time outside.

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🔗 Join the tester list now: adventurediaries.com/yes

Do you love maps, exploration, adventure, travel, and stories of the natural world? Maybe you’ve got a shelf full of National Geographic, or you find yourself daydreaming about places you’ve never been.

If so, I’ve got something special just for you.

I’m testing a brand-new Adventure Diaries project – and before anyone else gets to see it, I’m inviting listeners like you to help shape it. Here’s the deal:

✨ I’ll mail you 2–3 physical prototypes of this project completely free.
📍 All I ask in return is your honest feedback – what excites you, what could be better, what captures your imagination.

These aren’t digital downloads. They’re tactile, feature-rich, immersive items designed to capture the spirit of adventure, history, exploration, and storytelling.

If you’ve been enjoying the podcast – the stories, the guests, the wild places we explore – this is your chance to be part of something new from the very beginning.

👉 Visit adventurediaries.com/yes
to join the tester list.
It’s free, spots are open, and I’d love your help to refine and launch this project.

Thanks so much for supporting Adventure Diaries – I can’t wait to share this with you.

Call to Action

🔗 Join the tester list now: adventurediaries.com/yes

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In todays episode i sit down with Jeff Jenkins — creator of Chubby Diaries and host of Nat Geo’s Never Say Never. Inclusion in adventure. Owning your story. Building a mission-first business that opens doors for plus-size travelers.

Jeff grew up in Orlando, found purpose building low-cost wells in Rwanda, and—after a life-check moment—committed to “travel the world, help people, and get paid.” He turned Chubby Diaries into a real company (S-Corp), consults across the travel industry, and fronted a National Geographic series by doing the simplest, hardest thing: being himself on camera. We dig into practical access for plus-size travelers (wetsuits, chairs, seats, hills and trams), brand storytelling, and why “live life now” beats waiting for permission.

• Candid, practical guidance for plus-size travelers who want to start today
• Behind the scenes of landing a Nat Geo show—and keeping it authentic
• A playbook for turning a niche into impact, community, and revenue

Highlights

• From choir teacher to creator: the pivot that followed personal loss
• Rwanda wells: proof that mission + action builds confidence fast
• Consulting travel brands: speak the language of outcomes and revenue
• Accessibility wins: seating, spaces, gear, and inclusive marketing moving mainstream
• “Your pace still gets the view”: adventure without comparison
• Creativity with guardrails: protecting the brand while you grow a team
• Next big dream: Antarctica (seven continents, here we come)

Call to Adventure
You don’t need permission. Start local, choose your pace, and go anyway. The view’s still yours.

Resources & Links

• Chubby Diaries — Live Life Now: https://chubbydiaries.com/
  
  CHUBBY DIARIES - LIVE LIFE NOW
• Jeff’s show Never Say Never: https://chubbydiaries.com/never-say-never/
  
  CHUBBY DIARIES - LIVE LIFE NOW
• Trailer (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHisUWlH4VU
  
  YouTube
• Florida A&M University (FAMU): https://www.famu.edu/
  
  famu.edu
• East Africa Energy Solutions (biodigesters in Uganda): https://www.eastafricaenergysolutions.org/
  
  EAES
• J

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Today on Adventure Diaries I sit down with Chris McCaffrey — better known as @chrisinthecold — an adventurer who has tested himself on some of the toughest human powered challenges imaginable. From sailing as a teenager to attempting an unprepared row across the North Atlantic, to cycling 16 months across 21 countries, Chris has a knack for throwing himself into the unknown and coming back with stories of resilience, awe, and human connection.

In this conversation, Chris shares what it’s like to face hurricanes at sea, capsizes, rescues by oil tankers, and the daily grind of pushing a bike across continents. His global cycle took him from Europe through the Silk Road, into the Pamirs, across Southeast Asia, and beyond. Along the way he battled illness, typhus, road collisions, and moments of collapse — yet also found kindness in strangers, moments of stillness in vast landscapes, and the perspective that comes from living on the edge of your limits.

We cover the highs, lows, and the lessons that come with chasing audacious dreams. Chris reflects on fear, risk, and the difference between physical endurance and mental endurance. There are stories of six-foot monitor lizards in the road, collapsing in a Thai guesthouse, being taken in by strangers with no common language, and the stark beauty of cycling across the Pamir Mountains.

Most of all, this is a story about why people step into the unknown, and what they learn about themselves when they do.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• How Chris attempted to row the North Atlantic without rowing experience.
• The realities of long-distance cycle expeditions across 21 countries.
• Surviving hurricanes, capsize, illness, and isolation.
• The role of human kindness and connection in endurance adventures.
• Reflections on risk, fear, and pushing beyond personal limits.

Resources & Links Mentioned

• Follow Chris on Instagram: @chrisinthecold
• Adventure Diaries on Instagram: @AdventureDiaries__
• Follow the show: Adventure Diaries Podcast

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend, and don’t forget to 'Follow' the show. Every follow helps us bring more authentic stories of adventure, exploration, and the natural world.

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In this thought-provoking episode of Adventure Diaries, I’m joined by conservationist, academic, and author Jonny Hanson to explore one of the most complex and emotional topics in modern conservation: how humans and apex predators can share the land.

Jonny is the author of Living with Lynx: Sharing Landscape with Big Cats, Wolves and Bears, a compelling blend of field research, personal story, and social insight. From the mountains of Malawi to the peaks of Nepal, and from Scottish farmlands to the Snow Leopard Conservancy, Jonny has spent his life navigating the thin line between wild nature and domestic life.

We go deep on the ecological, emotional, and political dimensions of rewilding. What does it really mean to reintroduce predators like lynx and wolves to Britain and Ireland? What do they offer our ecosystems—and at what cost to farmers and communities?

Jonny speaks candidly about his own conflicted identity as both a farmer and a conservationist, the damage done by illegal predator releases in Scotland, and the urgent need to build long-term trust and governance if we’re to truly live with wild nature once again.

This episode is a journey into big landscapes, difficult questions, and the wild edges of our own imagination.

🔍 What You’ll Learn

• Why apex predators matter—and what they do that humans can’t replicate
• The surprising story behind illegal lynx releases in Scotland
• How rewilding taps into both our deepest fears and wildest hopes
• Lessons from Malawi, the Himalayas, and Swiss lynx coexistence projects
• Why conflict over predators is often really conflict between people

🌍 Resources & Mentions

• 📘 Living with Lynx by Jonny Hanson
  https://www.jonnyhanson.com
• 🐆 Snow Leopard Conservancy
  https://snowleopardconservancy.org
• 🎞️ Snow Leopard Trail – Jonny’s new documentary (screenings in 2025)
  Teaser: https://www.jonnyhanson.com
• 📚 Feral by George Monbiot – rewilding inspiration
  https://www.monbiot.com/2013/05/27/feral/
• 🎥 Gordon Buchanan – wildlife filmmaker (referenced story: grizzly bear in Scotland)

🧭 Whether you're a farmer, naturalist, or nature-curious listener, this one will challenge your views and expand your sense of what wild really means.

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What happens when you stop chasing life... and start walking through it—one step at a time?

In this deeply personal and wide-ranging conversation, I sit down with Tom Turcich, the tenth person ever to walk around the world—and the first to do it with a dog. Over the course of seven years, six continents, and nearly 30,000 kilometers, Tom and his rescue pup Savannah navigated deserts, war zones, snowfields, mountains, and megacities. But what they really explored was the human condition—mortality, solitude, fear, love, and how to find peace in just existing.

What began as a response to the sudden death of a close friend transformed into a global odyssey—one that asked more questions than it answered. We talk about:

• The real reason he chose to walk the world
• What fear actually feels like in the middle of Central America
• Training Savannah into the perfect walking companion
• Living through exhaustion, sickness, and uncertainty—and what it teaches you
• Why photography became his gateway to connection
• Letting go of social media, letting go of ego, and letting life just be
• What he thinks about adventure now, in his post-walk life

From the wilds of the Atacama to the stillness of Antarctica, from dusty roads to TEDx stages, this is a reflection on what it means to live intentionally, with humility and grace.

If you’ve ever questioned your path—or wondered what lies on the other side of fear—this one is for you.

🔗 Resources & Mentions

• 📖 The World Walk by Tom Turcich – Buy it here
• 🐶 Savannah, the dog who walked the world – @theworldwalk
• 📹 Tom’s TEDx Talk – Watch on YouTube
• 
  

✨ Key Themes

Adventure & Fear – Walking into the unknown with no backup plan
Solitude & Resilience – What it means to be your own best company
The Bond with Savannah – How a dog can become your home
Slow Travel & Privilege – Seeing the world at human pace
Letting Go – Of productivity, ambition, and becoming “more”

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