At that time of the term where motivation levels are lacking and mid-term essay boredom has hit, our woman of the week will hopefully instil some excitement and adventure into your week.
Sarah Outen is an adventurer by land and sea, bestselling author and motivational speaker. Her most recent major expedition was ‘London2London: via the world’. On this mammoth journey she looped the entire planet using just a rowing boat, bike and kayak. The journey was around 25,000 miles and took 4.5 years.
Reflecting on her impressive adventure, Sarah said:
“This expedition pushed and challenged me to my limits and beyond. There were quite a few moments when I wasn’t sure if I would make it out alive. But I was determined to see it through to the end and to now be back home is really special. I have been humbled and inspired by the places I’ve been and the people I’ve met, which made for an amazing few years.”
Beginning with a kayak down the Thames and across to France, Sarah then cycled across Europe and through to Asia. It was in China that she was joined by a young man called Goa who, having never really ridden before, cycled over 3000 miles with her on a whim. Goa has come to represent the true spirit of adventure that Sarah wanted to inspire.
While rowing a huge 4,500 miles from Japan to Canada Sarah was hit by tropical storm Mawar and had to be rescued by Japanese coastguards. Sarah returned home and although the mental scars took many months to heal, Sarah was not one to quit and returned to complete the mammoth stretch of the journey. Adding even more excitement to her expedition, she proposed to her long term girlfriend Lucy mid-way through crossing the pacific! Upon reaching America, it took Sarah 7 months to cycle east coast to west coast, battling against one of the ‘worst winters on record’.
Sarah spent four months alone rowing across the North Atlantic Ocean from Cape Cod on the East Coast of the USA. But poor weather and the threat of potentially life threatening conditions from the tail end of Hurricane Joaquin saw Sarah call for a pick up. She was 1000 miles from her UK destination and was forced to leave her boat Happy Socks at sea. In late October 2015 Sarah set off on her bike from Falmouth with friends, family and supporters and spent the next two weeks cycling up to Oxford. From there she was back in the kayak winding her way up the Thames. On the 3rd November 2015 Sarah kayaked under Tower Bridge to complete her 4.5 year, 25,000 mile London2London expedition.
Aside from this monumental feat, Sarah was the first woman and youngest person to row solo across the Indian Ocean and received and MBE in 2011 for her efforts.
And we thought the walk up forum hill was hard…