Organise an expedition

Adventurer Jason Lewis on how you set up a worldwide expedition

Jason Lewis went round the world under human power alone. That's no motors, and no sails. And that's not easy. Expedition 360’s three-year journey actually took him 13 years, and in that time he notched up the record for the first ever pedal-boat to complete an east-west Atlantic crossing (from Portugal to Miami) and had a near miss with a whale. He crossed mainland USA using in-line skates and a bike, and then pedalled his boat to Australia. So who better to guide us through the practicalities of planning a worldwide expedition? Pens and paper at the ready!

Find a unique idea

“People had rowed across oceans, cycled across continents. But no one had gone every step of the way by human power,” reveals Lewis. “So it was about finding something unique. It was a simple, pure idea, that begged to be done.”

But you don't need to think so big. “Most expeditions involve going off for a few months to climb a mountain or cross an ice cap before returning to cash in on the publicity and plan and raise money for the next adventure. Expedition 360 was 16 of these major expeditions rolled into one.”

Plan. Plan. Plan!

Plan. Meticulously. Lewis says neither he nor fellow traveller Steve Smith knew what they were getting into at the beginning. “I suppose the combination of our naivety of just how much time and effort it takes to complete a true circumnavigation, the immense cost involved (nearly £300,000) and the unforeseeable accidents and mishaps have added up to it being such a monstrous project.”

You din't need to be an 'expert'

Anyone can do it. Really. Lewis and Smith went to university together and shared a love of doing 'mad things' and playing practical jokes. Neither had a background in adventure or exploration – or even outward-bound stuff. The most Lewis had done was a three-day hike in the Chilterns. “It was like two idiots abroad when we first set out,” he says. Smith was an environmental scientist and travelling round the world under human power was his dream. “It didn’t involve fossil fuels, so it....

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