A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to stand in the presence of a true adventurer.
I attended a talk in London hosted by the Scientific Exploration Society. The speaker was Lucy Shepherd, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a professional adventurer.
At the age of 29, Lucy has done more adventures than most could experience in multiple lifetimes. Lucy has over twenty expeditions traversing mountain ranges, tropical rainforests and Arctic tundra in the bag already.
Shepherd discussed her expedition as she became the first to cross the Kanuku Mountains and the attributes that allowed her to succeed.
The Scientific Exploration Society.
At the beginning of Summer 2022, I became disillusioned with the magic of London. The masses of people made me wish for some peace and solitude. The concrete jungle induced an urge to be in the mountains. The lack of adventure in my daily life made me question my routine.
However, I realised that I should not dwell on the negatives, but should search for the opportunities around me. I have talked about this in detail in this blog post here.
One thing I stumbled upon was the Scientific Exploration Society (SES). As well as funding expeditions, SES hosts talks by their explorers where they discuss their latest adventures. These events have become a regular fixture in my calendar and I plan to attend as many as possible. If you live in London and are in search of some inspiration then I recommend you attend a talk!
For other London-based inspiration check out this blog:
“As our world grows ever smaller and more connected, it’s easier to travel, but harder to find true adventure.”
SES/Lucy Shepherd, Explorer
Who Is Lucy Shepherd?
With my newfound drive to reignite my love for London, I set off to the affluent area of Chelsea to discover a new world of experiences.
Shepherd is only 29, however, she has a wealth of adventures in her back catalogue, ranging from excursions in the cold of the deep Arctic to climbing over the dizzying mountain peaks and through dark dense jungles.
As Lucy discussed in her talk, at age 15 she attended a 2-week adventure-school-camp in Scotland (https://www.ridgway-adventure.co.uk).
This ignited Lucy’s passion for adventure and changed the course of the rest of her life.
As she became increasingly obsessed with the world of adventure and expeditions she stumbled upon a trip run by the British Exploration Society to Svalbard. This seems to be a turning point in Lucy’s life, but interestingly not in the way you would expect.
Whilst the trip itself was clearly hugely significant, it was the period after which seems to have made its mark most. Upon Lucy’s return from her trip, she was showered with praise from friends and family, however, they all had the same underlying narrative. “What an amazing once in a lifetime trip”. The concept that this was a singular life event to be done when you are young and then you need to get into the real world terrified Lucy. She began to feel lost and fearful that she had “peaked too early”.
When Lucy discussed this section of the journey I couldn’t stop myself nodding fervently in agreement.
When I left university in 2019, I had planned a year out that involved half a year of travelling around Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and New Zealand. The second half of the year was committed to living in the mountains and working in a Ski Chalet in the French Alps.
When I was planning the trip, my friends and family all talked about this trip as if it was the only possible chance I had to do a big adventure before I joined “the real world” and got started with my career. Much like Lucy, these sentiments shocked and frightened me. I felt so lost and confused why the whole world seemingly felt so sure that such adventures and lifestyles should be a “once in a lifetime trip”.
This notion still fills me with confusion and incredulity at the people who can be so differently minded to myself. Luckily, people like Lucy, rejuvenate my faith that life does not have to follow the traditional from A to B path.
Lucy presented her Svbalard expedition at the Royal Geographical Society. Through being curious and asking inquisitive questions to the people who were already professional adventurers she managed to get invited onto an expedition to Norway. Having found herself within the inner circle it wasn’t long until Lucy became a Royal Geographical Society Fellow at age 23 and the youngest council member of the Scientific Exploration Society. Lucy has now certainly achieved her goal of being a professional adventurer and her list of expeditions continues to grow.
Shepherd documents her expeditions on her blog (www.lucy-shepherd.com) and on her YouTube channel so go check them out!
The First To Cross The Kanuku Mountains
That evening in London, Lucy had come to talk about her most recent expedition to the Jungle. Lucy had set off to attempt the first-ever recorded crossing of the Kanuku Mountains. The Kanuku mountains are an incredibly dense jungle-clad mountain range located in Guyana. The area is home to significant biodiversity and is a protected area that several communities rely upon to survive.
Lucy discussed how her crew grew in size as local Amerindians from the area joined her to embark through the uncharted terrain. Whilst the tallest peak is only 1,067m, the area is largely unmapped and Lucy and her team had to cut their way through dense jungle. The thick canopy above meant that no sunlight was able to penetrate through to ground level, shrouding the expedition in darkness at nearly all times.
Lucy faced significant challenges as she encountered deadly jaguars, caiman and whistling snakes. To add to the pressure, Lucy was leading the expedition and was therefore responsible for ensuring her team successfully made it out of the jungle.
Despite the significant challenges the team was forced to overcome, eventually, the trees began to thin out. Finally, after 50 days, Lucy and the team successfully made it out of the jungle, becoming the first team to cross the Kanuku mountains.
Lucy summed up the three key ingredients which allowed her to complete such an epic challenge. These include the ability to;
- Embrace The Unkown
- Build Resilience
- Practice Optimism
The adventures and expeditions that people undergo, whether big or small, teach us more than just how to push hard through the terrain and negotiate with the wildlife. The lessons learnt when in a situation of discomfort and adversity are some of the most valuable teachings you can experience in life. These can be applied to all situations from your day-to-day to dealing with a crisis.
The intricacies of the lessons we learn will be unique to everyone. However, Lucy’s three ingredients certainly encapsulate the key messages that I find inspiring. Applying these teachings to all situations would be good advice for everyone!
Check out this emotional ending to Lucy’s amazing journey!
AdventureConscious is all about realising these crucial life lessons that are most significantly impressed upon us when out in the wilderness and pushed out of our comfort zone. It is these lessons that help us grow and develop as individuals and it is exactly these important lessons and inspiring stories which are at the heart of AdventureConscious.
I hope Lucy’s expedition inspires you to undertake your own adventures and learn your own ingredients to develop the curiosity, determination and passion which underpins living adventurously. If you are in London based then I can’t recommend attending a SES talk highly enough!
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