Heroes: Alastair Humphries

Pro explorer examines adventure in its many forms

What is the nature of adventure? I have spent over five years of my life away from home on expeditions, with most of the time being spent in Africa, Asia and Latin America. I’m currently working towards an expedition to the South Pole and a camel journey into the sands of the Empty Quarter in Yemen and Oman. Whilst chasing the funding for Antarctica I need to have a couple of small adventures bubbling away at all times to keep the wanderlust under control. I am sure that is understandable.

And yet people look at me as though I have gone mad when I tell them that my next micro-adventure is to walk a lap of the M25, the 118-mile motorway that encircles and ensnares London. Accompanied by my friend and fellow adventurer Rob Lilwall, we will begin walking off the turkey and mince pies at Junction 1 in early January. A week or two later, after about 200 miles of mostly off-road walking we will reach Junction 31, the Dartford Bridge and the end of both the M25 and the peregrination.

"London's monstrous ring road an unlikely destination for adventure"

London’s monstrous ring road may seem an unlikely destination for adventure. The M25, "the world's largest car park" or "the road to hell", has achieved iconic status as representing all that is dull, depressing and hopeless about modern life. Whether its victims are stuck in a crawling traffic jam, driving numbly through the darkness or enduring tasteless, overpriced food in the anonymous sterility of a service station, few of the one million people who drive on the M25 every day see it as a source of excitement, adventure and invigoration.

And yet. And yet you do not need to fly to the other side of the planet to undertake an expedition. You do not need to be an elite athlete, expertly trained or rich to have an adventure. Adventure is a state of mind.

I believe that adventure is about stretching yourself: mentally, physically or culturally. It is about doing what you do not normally do, seeing things with fresh and open eyes, pushing....

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