For the first few days, the experience was hideous. I was, in so many ways, out of my depth. Between the hours at the oars, the snatched scraps of sleep, the damp loneliness and the endless puking, something monumental began to sink into my thoughts. No matter how much I willed it, there was no way off this boat. A bag stuffed with a million dollar

Sonder is ‘the realisation that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own – populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness.’

This led to me riding the Karakoram Highway from Pakistan to China.

There was no escape. I found the prospect appallingly bleak. I felt very small. We were in this for the long haul now. But this also meant that the only thing we could do was keep rowing. Stroke after stroke, day after day, week after week. If we kept rowing and did the key things correctly (harnesses clipped on, avoid collisions, close hatches) th

Am I a runner? But do I actually run? Often and far and fast? Or do I just trot around the park a couple of times a week at the same pace as last year? • Am I a cyclist? But do I actually put in the miles? Or do I just own a nice bike or three? When did I last go for a long bike ride that made me proud? • Am I a photographer? When was the last time

direction I want my life to go. So heed some encouragement and caveats from your 80-year-old self. Write a letter from ‘future you’ to ‘current you’. What will they tell you to do with your life? What will they think about where you are right now? What would they plead with you to change?

the newsletter at www.alastairhumphreys.com/living-adventurously) • I feel guilty/selfish/it’s not fair on my family! (49%) • I don’t have enough money! (38%) • I’ve got nobody to do adventurous stuff with! (37%) • I worry about making the wrong choice! (29%) • I don’t know how to begin! (24%) • I feel like an imposter! I’ll fail! (23%) • I’m scare

Back in college my best friend asked, ‘Do you want to go on a trip? We are renting a camper and leaving for the trip of a lifetime to see the Balkans.’ I had no money, I was scared and full of scenarios of death and destruction. I was pretty sure my parents would say NO, even though I was a grown-up. I remember telling my grandma about it. She hand

If you had no fear and if you knew that you wouldn’t fail, what would you do? • When would you begin that thing?