Travel and adventure talks

Adventurous travel talks to inspire and entertain

These are talks that combine beautiful images with engaging stories. I aim to broaden horizons, provide insights, and entertain.

Hawaii: more than a tropical paradise

Come to Pearl Harbour and meet one of its survivors, see its exciting volcanic activity, learn how its embracing of diversity and mix of cultures means it sees itself as apart from mainland America, enjoy the wildlife, and learn what it's like to live in a place with a fascinating range of history, culture and landscapes. I will show how to fish for molten lava, and bring samples.

Click here for the school geography version of this talk.

Pompeii: Vesuvius' legacy

Using my expertise as a guide to Pompeii, Herculaneum and Vesuvius, I look at the fascinating stories gleaned from the clues that litter this tempestuous landscape in one of the most densely populated, and threatened, areas of Europe. Striking videos and images bring the past and present alive.

A Ranger at the Grand Canyon

I worked in the national park as a ranger and explored it extensively. This talk provides insights only available from someone who knows the area intimately, and features stories of wilderness exploration, wildlife, history, and natural wonder.

Montserrat - surviving the volcano

In 1995 I spent over two months on this island on a wild animal conservation survey. Halfway through, the long dormant volcano decided to awake. The excitement of catching wild animals day and night is overshadowed by the disruption caused by the volcano. Here is an eye witness account of the first, evacuation triggering, eruption and how people coped subsequently.

Return to Montserrat: reclaiming paradise

Sixteen years after I witnessed the first eruptions that turned the island upside down, I returned to see how the island has changed. The people are still just as friendly but the airport and the capital are now destroyed and two thirds of the island is now an exclusion zone. This has caused a huge upheaval in life and society and in this talk I share the insights I gained and compare what I found with what I left. (As featured on Radio 4's 'Excess Baggage' travel programme)

Wilderness Canada and Alaska Highway

A trip around northern Canada in search of extreme wilderness yielded fun, thrills, and an appreciation of a remote way of life. Come and meet the gold prospectors, grizzlies, police chiefs and rugged characters I met along the Alaska Highway while searching for mountain adventures. Fly in to one of the largest ice fields in the Western Hemisphere and tackle its peaks and crevasses.

Botswana: Love, lions and democracy

This talk follows my exploits as a leader on a youth expedition that spent three months living in the bush. Charged by an elephant, attacked by hyenas, trekking for miles for water, and working out how to keep lions at bay, I had my work cut out keeping everyone safe. And the expedition didn't start well when I had my passport stolen in Zimbabwe and had to smuggle myself across the border into Botswana. A return trip saw me staying with local people, where I learned the history of an African success story and discovered my expedition patron had been at the heart of one of the greatest and most controverisal love stories of the African continent.

Utah & Arizona - a love affair

A love of the American southwest permeates this wide ranging talk, which delights in the wilderness and national parks of the area and also explains the stories behind them. I have explored the area over many years and share the history, beauty and culture of a landscape that gripped my soul like no other.

Antarctic dreams

Antarctica has gripped our imagination for hundreds of years and in this talk I explore why it is still important and relevant today.  It is a touchstone of environmental change and can tell us much about our past...and our future. Geology, climate, wildlife and personal sacrifice come together in this landscape which has inspired artists, scientists, explorers and naturalists for generations.

Iceland: land of fire and ice

My love of all things geological has taken me to Iceland as a guide and here I look at what makes this unique country so special. The closest wilderness to Europe, abundant volcanism has created an alien planet-like wilderness where no land should be. This creative volcanic force is still shaping and influencing the country and the talk looks at the hardships of living in such a land, and also visits Heimaey the 'Pompeii of the North', which was nearly destroyed in the 1973 eruption.

Etna and the Aeolian Islands

Mt Etna is Europe's highest active volcano and continuously active. The Aeolian Islands to the north of Sicily include Stromboli whose continual activity has been used as a nighttime sailing beacon for over 2,000 years. Other islands in the group have varying volcanic histories. This talk explores the culture and geological history of a fascinating and beautiful area.

Dolomites - the killing mountains

This talk explores the beautiful Dolomites region of Italy, by taking to the high mountain routes first constructed by WWI Italian and Austrian mountain troops as they fought a tough war in stone trenches at heights up to 3,000m.

My Exploding World

Volcanoes have fascinated me since before I went to university to study them. This talk looks at volcanoes I have visited around the globe and I share some surprising insights and dramatic photography.

New Zealand - land of wonder

Land of variety, from tropical forest to glacial peak, from deep water sperm whales to basking fur seals; bubbling mud pools, offshore volcanoes, and amazing scenery. Beautiful natural light ensured stunning photographs. Join me on some of my treks through this land of wonder, and participate in a police chase while in a stolen car....

Mountains

An exciting and stimulating talk for a younger audience on why mountains are so special and how they are climbed. I can bring my mountaineering equipment with me to make the session hands on and interactive.

Expedition planning

I worked for The Royal Geographical Society as an expedition adviser, and here share my expertise.