Abdelrahman Omran

I recently listened to a podcast with adventurer Alastair Humphreys, who has cycled around the world, walked across southern India, run an ultramarathon through the Sahara, and rafted across Iceland.

What struck me wasn’t just the scale of the adventure, but the lessons he drew from them, and how his reasons for doing it evolved. At first, he was driven by a desire to prove something—to others, and perhaps to himself. When the journey got difficult, thoughts of people who had doubted him became fuel. But somewhere along the way, that changed. The challenge became less about proving others wrong and more about discovering whether he could keep going, persevere, and choose the harder path when it presented itself.

One story was particularly memorable. In Siberia, he was stopped by a drunken gang with guns and handed over his wallet. Then, realizing he was lost, he asked them for directions. They happily pointed out the route on his map. They got his decoy wallet; he got directions. A strange win-win, and a reminder that life is often more nuanced than our assumptions.

Another story that made me smile happened on his way to give a talk at a large corporate event in the Netherlands. From his taxi, he saw kids jumping into a canal and immediately asked the driver to pull over. Then he asked a simple question: “Do you want to join me?” To his surprise, the driver said yes. The two of them jumped into the canal, climbed back out, and continued on to the conference. Later, the driver emailed him to say it was one of the best things he had ever done and that he had been telling all his friends about it.

What’s interesting is how a small, spontaneous act, something most adults would dismiss as silly or impractical, became a memorable experience, or one of life’s best memories. Adventure is often less about extraordinary circumstances and more about saying yes to life when the opportunity appears.

I also loved his concept of “micro-adventures.” After years of big expeditions, he spent a year exploring only a small area around his home, dividing a city map into 1 km squares and exploring each one in detail. What he discovered was that wonder isn’t always found in distant places. If we slow down, pay attention, and allow ourselves to be astonished, there’s far more around us than we realize.

Big adventures can change how you see the world. But perhaps their most important lesson is that adventure itself is accessible. It doesn’t always require crossing continents. Sometimes it starts by simply stepping outside the front door and paying attention.