The Adventure Podcast

Episode 229 of The Adventure Podcast features founder and CEO of Trash Free Trails, mountain biker, and spaniel-owner, Dom Ferris. In this episode, Dom traces his path from a feral, nature-soaked childhood in Mid Wales, through teenage mountain bike racing and a wilder stretch of partying that cost him his sense of self. He goes on to found Trash Free Trails after a breakdown at Surfers Against Sewage taught him the hard way what happens when purpose tips into relentlessness. He and Matt open up about their own mental health struggles and the danger of tying your worth to constant output. The conversation also digs into the real philosophy behind Trash Free Trails; why litter isn't really about litter, the "activism arms race," the risk of accidental greenwashing, and the hard science linking single-use pollution to disconnection from nature. It's a raw, funny, occasionally tearful look at burnout, boundaries, and what it actually means to do good work without losing yourself in it.

For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @‌theadventurepodcast.

Chapter Breakdown
00:00-02:27: Dom on post-big-week exhaustion and the guilt of not resting after doing good work.
02:27-06:52: A feral, nature-connected childhood and the early seeds of caring about litter.
06:52-11:57: Teenage mountain bike success derailed by partying, family breakdown, and drinking.
11:57-21:10: Matt and Dom open up about mental health, feeling pointless, and past breakdowns.
21:10-32:38: Why tying self-worth to contribution can be dangerous - and Dom's current struggles.
32:38-47:07: Dom's career path, burnout leading a team, and the leap into founding Trash Free Trails.
47:07-58:12: The pressure for bigger, better campaigns, and Dom's discomfort with it.
58:12-1:10:23: The science behind single-use pollution, disconnection from nature, and greenwashing risks.
1:10:23-1:20:15: Dom's philosophy and using your own sphere of influence for good.
1:20:15-1:23:00: What scares Dom, what gives him hope, and a fittingly emotional close.
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Dispatches are our shorter form episodes, usually around a single question, subject or story. In this episode, Niall McCann recites an incident from a couple of years ago when he, alongside a group of rangers, tracked buffalo poachers for over an hour through incredibly complex terrain.

For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @‌theadventurepodcast.
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 228 of The Adventure Podcast features sailor, adventurer, and philanthropist, Tim Good. Tim comes from a 200-year-old family business which is deeply connected to multiple philanthropic projects. He has also quietly accumulated a life that most people only plan. In this episode, Tim talks to Matt about losing his brother Matthew and how that resulted in Tim selling his business, buying a boat, and planning to sail around the world. Delayed by Covid, Brexit tax complications and a baby, last August he and his wife set off anyway, with their three-year-old daughter on board, heading for West Africa. Tim covers crossing the Bay of Biscay in rough weather, navigating the Saloum Delta, and spending weeks motoring 170 miles up the Gambia River to find hippos, chimpanzees and river dolphins. At the time of recording, they'd crossed the Atlantic just two weeks before. Matt and Tim also talk about solo motorcycle adventures, a paragliding expedition from the Jungfrau where a teammate went missing for four days, and how adventurous parents stay themselves without drowning in guilt. Despite his adventurous life, by design, Tim has almost no internet presence. Quietly one of the most lived-in guests we've had on - this is what it looks like when someone actually does the thing they said they were going to do.

For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @‌theadventurepodcast.

Chapter Breakdown
00:00-04:10: A 200-year family business, a great-great-great-grandfather who went to sea at 11, and why Tim has almost no internet presence.
04:10-12:17: Losing his brother at 32, launching the Matthew Good Foundation, and how grief became the catalyst for selling his business and buying a boat.
12:17-19:00: The Seven Life System, sailing Norway with skis on board, and how Covid, Brexit and a baby reshaped the circumnavigation plan.
19:00-27:00: A three-year-old on a boat, crossing Biscay in rough weather, and exploring the Saloum Delta.
27:00-35:54: Two weeks up the Gambia River, hippos, chimpanzees and river dolphins, and what West Africa felt like compared to everywhere else.
35:54-44:00: Why solo hits differently.
44:00-54:25: The Caribbean vs Patagonia dilemma, balancing fatherhood with ambition, and why learning to be selfish made both of them better parents.
54:25-1:00:00: The Matthew Good Foundation, rewilding in Scotland, and why Tim is deliberately waiting before committing to his next big philanthropic move.
1:00:00-1:05:22: What scares him and a contentious answer to what brings him hope.
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast.
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Episode 227 of The Adventure Podcast features wildlife camera operator and television presenter, Declan Burley. Declan grew up in Luton, dyslexic and working on building sites. Nobody around him went into the arts and no one really knew what a wildlife camera operator was. In this episode, Declan talks to Matt about the long road to where he is now: three months in the Amazon at 23 that changed everything, years of being flat broke, and a cancer diagnosis in his late twenties. He explains what camera trapping actually involves, and what it was like to work across six critically endangered species for The Wild Ones, from snare-riddled jungle in Malaysia to mine-field leopards on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. They also cover the class divide in British wildlife television, what slowing down teaches you about the natural world, and whether conservation storytelling can actually change anything - or whether it's just preaching to the converted.

For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @‌theadventurepodcast.

Chapter Breakdown
0:00-06:15: Growing up in Luton, building sites, dyslexia, and why becoming a wildlife camera operator wasn't something anyone around him had ever done or suggested.
06:15-14:13: Class, access and the 8% statistic.
14:13-26:36: Three months in the Amazon at 23, learning to move slowly, borderline trench foot, and why that trip settled everything.
26:36-34:48: Declan talks about receiving a cancer diagnosis in his late twenties, and how camera trapping became his specialist skill and calling card.
34:48-42:00: What camera trapping actually is.
42:00-50:18: The Wild Ones - six critically endangered species, six countries, and what Declan saw on the ground.
50:18-58:00: Whether conservation storytelling can actually change anything, the three choices when faced with environmental despair, and why commissioners need the audience to keep watching.
58:00-1:00:00: What scares him, what brings him hope, and why he puts animals and humans on exactly the same level.
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast.
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Episode 226 of The Adventure Podcast features ex-England Rugby Captain, sailor, rower, and world-record holder, Ollie Phillips. After over a decade of elite sport and multiple Player of the Year awards, an unknown injury suddenly stopped Ollie's career. In this episode, Matt and Ollie cover what it's like to grieve a career and a life you dedicated yourself to, and what happens after. They talk about Ollie's last minute decision to say yes to the Clipper Round the World Race, having never sailed before, a world record expedition to the North Pole, and more recently, a charity row across the Atlantic. Ollie is funny, direct, and genuinely honest. And it turns out the gap between who you were and who you're becoming is where the most interesting stuff happens.

For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @‌theadventurepodcast.

Chapter Breakdown
00:00- 06:22: Who Ollie is now and the twelve-year rugby career that started it all.
06:22-14:48: Why sports people and soldiers gravitate towards adventure, the ten-out-of-ten feeling that real life rarely matches, and what the corporate world gets wrong.
14:48-22:43: Community, shared experience, and why Ollie has never started a story with "this one time, when I was on my own."
22:43-33:24: How a spinal injury ended his rugby career in four hours, and why saying yes to a last-minute call from Sir Robin Knox-Johnston changed everything.
33:24-39:14: Getting on the Clipper Race with no sailing experience, going from novice to second-in-command in three months, and the useful delusion that rugby might still be waiting at the end.
39:14-49:13: PwC, the North Pole, and a fifteen-month legal battle just to play one last game of rugby at Twickenham for closure.
49:13-1:00:51: What that final game meant, and the moment outside a basement flat that made Ollie realise he needed to change.
1:00:51-1:05:03: Therapy, validation, fatherhood, and why not expecting anything from anyone has made everything better.
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.