0:17

Hey everybody, I'm Jay Worthy and this is the

0:17

podcast for anyone trying to

0:20

inject some adventure, purpose

0:20

and balance into their lives. 28

0:25

summers is all about living life

0:25

adventurously seizing the moment

0:28

and optimising your life. In

0:28

this second season of 28

0:32

summers, I'm building upon those

0:32

messages from season one with

0:35

the help of a series of awesome

0:35

guests who are all living life

0:39

to the fall, following their

0:39

passions and their dreams and

0:42

living life adventurously every

0:42

day. My guest today is Quintin

0:46

lake. Quintin is an

0:46

architectural and landscape

0:49

photographer. He originally

0:49

trained as an architect, but

0:52

found his passion for geometry

0:52

and photography soon collided to

0:56

create an entirely new career

0:56

path. He travelled the world

0:59

extensively as a photographer,

0:59

visiting 70 countries with a

1:03

special focus on extreme

1:03

environments such as jungles,

1:06

deserts and the Arctic. He's now

1:06

focused much more closely on

1:10

home using long landscape walks

1:10

to capture beautiful imagery

1:13

across Britain. A walk from the

1:13

source of the Thames to London

1:17

quickly led to walks along the

1:17

Ridgeway, a 20 day journey

1:20

across the mountains of Wales,

1:20

and then to a walk from the

1:23

source of the seven to the sea.

1:23

In 2015, Quintin embarked on his

1:28

biggest project yet, a project

1:28

called the perimeter, a 10,000

1:33

kilometre self supportive walk

1:33

around the British coast in

1:37

sections over a five year

1:37

period. He recently completed

1:41

his epic journey, and captured

1:41

some stunning imagery along the

1:44

way. His story is fascinating,

1:44

and I really hope you enjoy the

1:47

conversation as much as I did. Quintin, thank you so much for

2:05

being here for the 28 summers

2:07

podcast, it is an absolute

2:07

pleasure to have you. And I, as

2:12

soon as I heard your story, I

2:12

immediately knew I had to try

2:15

and find a way to get in touch

2:15

with you and get you on the

2:17

podcast. And I feel really

2:17

privileged that you said yes,

2:20

because I know you're, you're an

2:20

incredibly busy guy. So thanks

2:23

for being here.

2:23

Oh, thanks, Jay. It's great to be here.

2:25

So you, let's get

2:25

right into it. Because I don't

2:27

want to take up too much of your

2:27

time. And there's just so much

2:30

stuff to get into your story is,

2:30

is remarkable in so many ways.

2:34

But let's start with the fact

2:34

that you are a trained

2:38

architect, and that's I think,

2:38

where you started, but you also

2:40

had this underlying passion for

2:40

photography and, and through

2:44

your life. Those have collided,

2:44

really, and you found a way to

2:48

fuse the two is that is that a

2:48

fair description?

2:51

Yeah, I mean, I

2:51

guess I am like to think I'm a

2:54

finisher. So I started training

2:54

as an architect. And then I did

2:58

finish the whole seven years,

2:58

but but I only worked for about

3:01

a year as an architect, but it's

3:01

amazing education, because you

3:04

do kind of this creative stuff,

3:04

and you do sciency stuff, and

3:08

you you kind of fuse the two and

3:08

it's good for strategic planning

3:12

and for thinking about how to

3:12

solve ideas, but but all my

3:16

life, I've really been committed

3:16

to doing things in the outdoors

3:20

and in these sort of outdoors

3:20

projects. So it wasn't really a

3:24

compatible lifestyle for me in a

3:24

way. But, but photography, I

3:29

used as a, as a student to

3:29

record ideas for designing

3:33

buildings. And then in time,

3:33

those pictures became more

3:37

important as a thing in

3:37

themselves than as a, like a

3:41

kind of creative sketch as it

3:41

were to think of an idea. And

3:46

then I found out it was as a

3:46

kind of career, it suited me

3:48

better, because I could travel

3:48

more and move more. And so it

3:52

was 20 years ago, I shifted

3:52

careers to become a full time

3:56

photographer, and then, and I

3:56

sort of tended to do commercial

3:59

work to to by the time to do

3:59

adventures. And then gradually

4:03

through time, the adventures

4:03

generated work, which I could,

4:09

you know, I could pay pay my

4:09

bills with said that that's kind

4:12

of the evolution for me.

4:14

And how early on did

4:14

photography become a part of

4:17

your life? Was that later? Or

4:17

was it quite early on?

4:20

Well, I mean, I've

4:20

always been, I mean, for me,

4:24

photography is like a creative

4:24

tool to see the world just like

4:28

painting or drawing. So

4:28

actually, when I was a teenager,

4:30

I did more sketching and

4:30

painting. And then I often took

4:33

photos for to kind of capture

4:33

the bits maybe I didn't have

4:36

time to draw with. And I think

4:36

it's, it's a really good

4:41

training to learn about other

4:41

painters and how to view the

4:45

world visually, to then apply

4:45

that to photography, but I guess

4:48

I got serious about photography

4:48

when I did black and white,

4:51

developing things like that when I was 16.

4:53

And then how does

4:53

how does being an architect how

4:56

does that kind of influence the

4:56

way that you approach

4:58

photography and how does that

4:58

Kind of give you this unique

5:01

point of view, do you think?

5:02

I think you do see

5:02

things kind of geometrically and

5:06

spatially, and I'm always

5:06

looking at things with a view of

5:09

how is that designed? And what

5:09

does that mean? And how does

5:12

that, how does that work. But

5:12

also as an architect you You

5:16

learn a lot about texture and

5:16

space and structure. And in a

5:20

way, that's that's how those

5:20

things are what forms a two

5:23

dimensional photo. So when you

5:23

see them in those terms, I think

5:27

it's quite, it's quite helpful

5:27

that you can, you can see all

5:30

these things quite quickly. And

5:30

also maybe about identifying

5:33

things which are unique or

5:33

interesting, which ultimately,

5:36

is, I guess what being a

5:36

photographer is, as an

5:39

architect, you often you get you

5:39

get you kind of trained to do

5:43

that to figure out in any given

5:43

project or any given problem,

5:48

what the unique aspect of that

5:48

is, and how to solve it. Yeah, I

5:52

think I read on your

5:52

website, you talk about the

5:54

geometry of shapes, and so being

5:54

able to see those lines, and I

5:59

can imagine that that translates

5:59

really well into the outdoors.

6:02

But also, I think that probably

6:02

a lot of people that, that

6:06

photograph the outdoors, this is

6:06

a completely unspecialized

6:09

opinion, but but just my point

6:09

of view is I can imagine a lot

6:12

of people in the outdoors,

6:12

actively try to avoid including

6:16

buildings and other things, you

6:16

know, because they're trying to

6:18

take a picture of the landscape.

6:18

But you're interestingly,

6:20

you're, you're not doing that

6:20

you're kind of bringing them

6:24

together and showing how they

6:24

sit alongside each other.

6:27

That's true, but

6:27

also because I want to show it

6:30

in Britain. Anyway, I want to

6:30

show unsentimental portrayal of

6:33

the landscape. And if it happens

6:33

to have a nuclear power station

6:36

in it, or worse, or a piece of

6:36

industry next to some beautiful

6:40

mountain to me, that's quite

6:40

exciting. Because it's very,

6:43

it's very modern. It's how we

6:43

genuinely live today. And that's

6:47

to me, that's interesting.

6:49

Yeah, it's really interesting to me, and I want to get into that with you in a

6:51

little while talk about your

6:53

your huge project. But before we

6:53

get there, you touched on

6:56

something a moment ago, in terms

6:56

of, you know, you're always

6:59

fairly adventurous and liked

6:59

being outdoors. So just in terms

7:03

of you as a as a child, where

7:03

you're very adventurous, right?

7:06

I tend to be quite fascinated

7:06

with this. Because I think that

7:08

for a lot of adults, it's not,

7:08

it's not a linear kind of thing.

7:12

It's not that they've always been adventurous throughout their life. I thought

7:14

I wasn't, but when

7:14

I know, I've got kids myself.

7:17

And I think about the things my

7:17

parents did, I realised it

7:19

wasn't really that normal. I

7:19

mean, my parents would take me

7:22

on these huge long walks when I

7:22

was kind of eight or nine in my

7:25

school shoes. And I end up with

7:25

these huge blisters, and these

7:28

these really long distances. And

7:28

I mean, I just, I brought up

7:31

thinking that was kind of

7:31

normal. And then my mom had this

7:35

fantastic idea when I was 10,

7:35

that we would walk from john

7:39

o'Groats to Glasgow, which is

7:39

really long way over us over

7:42

summer holiday. So I think my

7:42

mom always struggled with what

7:45

were we going to do to fill fill

7:45

the time and she liked being

7:48

outdoors. And she just had this

7:48

amazing idea, which is, you

7:52

know, beautifully bonding

7:52

experience of me and my mom and

7:54

it's just just just the two of

7:54

us for the whole summer holiday.

7:58

And we did do this really long,

7:58

long trip down Caithness down

8:02

the great Glen, and then the

8:02

whole West Highland way. You

8:04

know, I was just I was just just

8:04

telling, you know, all the bmps

8:07

would say I was just a wee bear.

8:07

And when I when we checked in

8:09

Yeah, and and you know, so it

8:09

was really, and then you kind of

8:13

go back to school, and then you

8:13

ask other people what they did

8:16

in the summer holidays and, and

8:16

that was the first time I learnt

8:19

the people. Firstly, most people

8:19

don't care if you've had a big

8:23

adventure, but also, it's just a

8:23

very different way of perceiving

8:26

what has value. So because I had

8:26

so many stories and amazing

8:30

things I'd seen, and then people

8:30

kind of to tune out quite

8:33

quickly. And but that set for

8:33

me, a long, long travel long

8:38

walking was normal, and also how

8:38

much experience you can fit into

8:41

just a few weeks that became

8:41

normal. And I kind of hunkered

8:44

for that for the rest of my life.

8:46

That's beautiful, though. I mean, it's obviously disappointing that people didn't

8:48

necessarily want to hear the

8:50

story. But it's beautiful that

8:50

your mom planted that seed in

8:54

you that later on you clearly

8:54

that grew into something pretty

8:57

big.

8:57

It's really the

8:57

biggest gift isn't it if you if

9:00

you see a kind of the cutting of

9:00

the clouds or the or the stream

9:04

or the the light shining on a

9:04

leaf and it makes you kind of

9:07

think that your parents in a way

9:07

enabled you to experience that,

9:11

which is how I kind of see it.

9:13

Yeah, that's amazing.

9:14

That is and then

9:14

then after that as soon as I was

9:17

I think I was 50 and I went with

9:17

some friends to sky and we did

9:21

like a multi, multi day

9:21

backpacking trip and then every

9:24

summer holiday from when I could

9:24

I did longer walks often in

9:28

Scotland and then when I was 20

9:28

I was Land's End to john

9:31

o'Groats for charity. I did that

9:31

in the winter with a heavy bag

9:34

and that was a three month

9:34

journey walking every day. And I

9:37

was so inexpensive made so many

9:37

mistakes and and I was in so

9:41

much pain, but then I kind of

9:41

used sort of figured out and

9:43

resolved it and after the first

9:43

month, I kind of sort of got the

9:47

idea of it and after the three

9:47

months, I could have easily turn

9:50

around done it again. And, and

9:50

but I was 20 and I kind of like

9:55

did the gap year thing and then

9:55

I sort of thought I'd have to

9:57

get a proper job but this

9:57

experience of The this lands and

10:01

drunkards walk that was the most

10:01

intense life experience I've

10:04

ever had. And I could never get

10:04

back to that experience of

10:09

living life to the full for

10:09

about 10 years. This was like it

10:13

was like a, like a candle for me

10:13

if I wanted that intensity

10:16

again. Yeah. And it took quite a

10:16

long time to have the conviction

10:19

that I could try and get that

10:19

back in my life again, which

10:23

which I, which I did. And then I

10:23

started a kind of quiet,

10:26

systematic programme of

10:26

expeditions and travels and

10:29

yeah, and then Greenland and in

10:29

deserts and, and the bigger

10:35

adventures. And then as soon as

10:35

I started doing that, I felt was

10:39

just happy again.

10:41

No, that's an amazing, that's an amazing story. I didn't realise that

10:42

that that kind of early

10:46

experience with your mom had

10:46

happened, and it planted that

10:50

seed what that is an incredible

10:50

gift that she gave you. Have you

10:53

I know you're a father of two.

10:53

So have you? Do you try and

10:56

involve your kids in some of the

10:56

stuff that you're doing? Is that

10:59

a big part of your plan.

11:01

I mean, our I

11:01

mean, our weekends, almost every

11:03

weekend is an outdoor active

11:03

weekend, we try and do one sort

11:06

of big family adventure a week.

11:06

So I do involve I do do a lot

11:12

with them outdoors. But in terms

11:12

of, if I'm if I'm working, which

11:16

is often some kind of

11:16

photographic journey, then I

11:20

can't even meet a friend. So it

11:20

sounds like, you know, I love

11:24

travelling with my family and my

11:24

friends. But as a photographer,

11:28

you do need to be looking all

11:28

the time to, to be able to take

11:32

grasp the opportunity have that

11:32

that special moment. And if

11:36

you're chatting to someone, I

11:36

want to chat and talk to them

11:39

and hear their stories, and I

11:39

won't be looking at it. In fact,

11:42

it doesn't even seem so important if I'm talking to someone so it's it's two

11:44

different things. But But yeah,

11:47

I mean, our as a family, we're

11:47

all in the outdoors. Yeah, I

11:50

think it's, it's, it's really

11:50

good for them and, and they're,

11:53

they're happy and I'm happy. And

11:53

that's what you want as a

11:56

father.

11:57

Yeah, for sure. And

11:57

I think if they if they grow up

11:59

at a young age being exposed to

11:59

that, then you're the perfect

12:02

example, then it's likely to

12:02

stay with them throughout their

12:06

life,

12:06

they might forget mightily, they might sort of maybe golf bit off course or but

12:08

i think i think later on,

12:13

certainly for me, you kind of

12:13

you go back to that core of what

12:16

really made you happy when you're younger,

12:17

it's funny that you say that, because that's exactly my story. So my parents gave me

12:19

a huge amount of freedom to roam

12:23

we live by the coast for a big

12:23

chunk of my childhood and, and I

12:27

was I was you know, feral and

12:27

off out doing, you know, all

12:31

these fun things, and swimming

12:31

and kayaking and climbing trees

12:34

and amazing home for hours on

12:34

end. And that freedom that they

12:37

gave me is a gift and, and I am

12:37

one of those people that for a

12:41

large period of my younger adult

12:41

life, I was less adventurous,

12:46

because of all the usual things

12:46

that you hear, you know, life

12:49

got in the way career, all of

12:49

those things. And it wasn't

12:53

until much later in my adult

12:53

life that I kind of reconnected

12:57

with that a bit like you with

12:57

the candle burning kind of low,

13:01

low level in the background. But

13:01

eventually, it rekindled and,

13:05

you know, now it's, it's an

13:05

entirely dominant part of my

13:10

life, just this idea that I want

13:10

to be outdoors and be living

13:12

eventually every day. So yeah,

13:12

yeah. So I was I was looking on

13:17

your website, and I was looking

13:17

at the the expertise that you

13:22

refer to as walked landscapes.

13:22

And I found that I found that

13:25

really interesting. And I know

13:25

this, this big, big event, the

13:27

perimeter that we're going to

13:27

talk about in a moment, is

13:30

essentially a part of that. But

13:30

there's this idea where you go

13:33

on these multi day walks, and

13:33

it's just you as you just refer

13:35

to on your own with your camera

13:35

and your 10 no distractions just

13:41

waiting for those perfect

13:41

moments. I think that's a

13:43

fascinating concept. And I

13:43

wondered where the idea came

13:46

from and how that became such a

13:46

kind of a dominant part of your

13:49

life.

13:51

Well, I'd always

13:51

done long backpacking journeys,

13:54

purely, I guess, spiritually for

13:54

my sort of mental and physical

13:58

health. But I've never really

13:58

combined it with photography,

14:01

and then learn to find

14:01

inspiration, I'd gone to, I

14:04

guess, exotic locations, because

14:04

in a foreign location, I felt

14:09

like I could see the world with

14:09

fresh eyes. If I was in, you

14:13

know, a market in Iran, there

14:13

was the smells and the taste and

14:17

the the whole culture was so

14:17

different that it made me think

14:21

I could see it. Freshly. And,

14:21

and then then about 10 years

14:26

ago, I had meningitis, and I had

14:26

I struggled to walk across

14:31

across the room, but I'd had

14:31

this habit of doing these long

14:34

walks and then I decided to do a

14:34

sort of less committing Long

14:39

Walk where if I had trouble I

14:39

could kind of get a taxi or a

14:42

bus home. And I decided that

14:42

that wall could be the the

14:45

Thames path, because it was

14:45

relatively near to where I live,

14:48

and it's relatively flat. And it

14:48

was you know, there was if I

14:51

needed to go home, I could go

14:51

home. And and I took pictures,

14:55

just just for me it was really

14:55

just like a personal meditative

15:00

Took abstract pictures of the

15:00

water every few kilometres. So

15:04

they're kind of like look at

15:04

some of them look a bit like a

15:06

modern painting very

15:06

impressionistic. And it started

15:09

with the when the water, I could

15:09

put my feet on either side of it

15:12

at the source to when it was

15:12

like a little stream, I turn to

15:15

when the, on the 25 was

15:15

reflected in the water. And then

15:18

in London when it was the Houses

15:18

of Parliament, reflected in the

15:22

water. And, and this was like,

15:22

and then I felt at the end that

15:26

I was sort of, I sort of

15:26

overcome this sort of health

15:29

problem. But more importantly, I

15:29

found a new way of working,

15:33

which I felt was uniquely mine.

15:33

And then, to my surprise, and

15:36

maybe this is the message, those

15:36

pitches actually sold better

15:39

than anything I've done in my

15:39

life before. And, and I could

15:43

this series of work, it was

15:43

like, Oh, hang on, you know, I

15:47

really did this, just for me,

15:47

but other people seem to connect

15:50

to this. And then it wasn't some

15:50

it wasn't some kind of pie in

15:53

the sky thing that I could

15:53

conceive of a project for a

15:56

couple of weeks, and then market

15:56

it and then sell it and then

16:00

kind of repeat the process. I

16:00

did a number of other walks in

16:04

Britain based on that on that

16:04

model, and a number of river

16:07

walks and then the coastal

16:07

section, I found even more

16:10

interesting. And then that's

16:10

what gave birth to the big

16:13

coastal project.

16:14

That's incredible. I

16:14

love that the Thames is it's top

16:17

of mind for me, because I'm due

16:17

to kayak the full navigable

16:20

length of it next year. And and

16:20

you know, I'm fascinated by it,

16:24

because of what you just

16:24

articulated this idea that, you

16:27

know, every few kilometres it

16:27

changes so and you go from these

16:32

kind of beautiful rural

16:32

locations and then into the city

16:34

and the river just takes on an

16:34

entirely different perspective.

16:38

Because of the reflections and

16:38

everything you just said, How

16:41

long did the Thames path take you?

16:43

I think it was 14

16:43

days, I wasn't going. I wasn't I

16:46

was going very gently.

16:47

But I think with

16:47

what you're doing that that's

16:50

essential, right? If you're

16:50

going too fast, you're not going

16:52

there to see how quickly you can

16:52

do it. If anything, you want to

16:54

see how slowly you can do it.

16:56

I could talk quite

16:56

a lot because on the on the

16:58

longer walk where I was walking

16:58

hundreds of days, I really

17:01

optimised that because I for my

17:01

personal physiology, it was

17:05

about 25 kilometres a day was

17:05

where I was able, on average, I

17:10

could cover enough distance

17:10

where I could still maintain

17:13

enough mental energy to think

17:13

creatively. Because my

17:15

experience was as I'm physically

17:15

capable, I could do 4050

17:18

kilometre days, about halfway

17:18

through that my creative

17:21

thinking would go. And then

17:21

there was no real point for me,

17:24

there was no point in doing it.

17:24

Because I I was I didn't have

17:28

the mental capacity to take an

17:28

interesting picture,

17:30

then that makes

17:30

complete sense. And of course,

17:33

we've teased people enough now.

17:33

So I keep talking about keep

17:37

talking about the perimeter. So

17:37

let's, let's talk about that

17:40

now. So can you tell me a little

17:40

bit about this. So first of all,

17:43

tell us what it was the project,

17:43

but then also where the idea

17:46

where the inspiration for that

17:46

project came from.

17:49

So the project was

17:49

tried to walk on the coast of

17:52

mainland Britain, as closely as

17:52

physically and safely possible,

17:57

which was a real adventure in

17:57

Scotland. So is around England,

18:01

Wales and Scotland, and it was

18:01

11,000 kilometres almost

18:05

exactly. And it was 487, I think

18:05

you're 454 days walking, and but

18:15

that was over a five year

18:15

period. So I was walking between

18:18

two and nine weeks at a time

18:18

with a tent with 20 kilos on my

18:21

back. And then I when I go home,

18:21

and then I would edit the

18:25

pictures, which was an equally

18:25

enormous project. So dev walking

18:29

takes a day in front of the

18:29

computer. So it was an IT WAS

18:31

hundreds of days of editing. And

18:31

then the and then the planning

18:34

was huge. And the logistics was

18:34

kind of massive, because I'd

18:37

send myself food and fuel

18:37

packages for five days at a

18:40

time. And that whole had to be

18:40

really carefully worked out. So

18:44

that I could just focus on on

18:44

walking and covering ground

18:47

rather than kind of finding food

18:47

in some weird town, you know,

18:51

into a weird, weird village

18:51

where I can get you can easily

18:54

get food.

18:55

I think it's amazing

18:55

story. And when did the when did

18:57

the seed of the idea kind of

18:57

come about? And how long from

19:01

then to actually starting that

19:01

first day of walking?

19:06

I always feel a bit insane when I asked this question because I was walking

19:07

the route I was walking the

19:10

river seven. And I found the

19:10

coastal so Britain's longest

19:14

river and the coastal section

19:14

was so interesting, kind of when

19:17

you when you cross the seven

19:17

bridge, and you go to Western

19:20

Superman away, it was so many

19:20

different experiences I was

19:23

having quickly that I didn't

19:23

really want to stop. And I kind

19:25

of continued quite a bit. And

19:25

and then I suddenly thought you

19:28

know this, this is I'm truly

19:28

inspired here. I want to

19:32

continue this experience. And

19:32

the first guy toward the coast

19:35

of Britain is a guy called john

19:35

Merrill in 1975. He did this

19:39

math and walk. He did it

19:39

continuously, which is very,

19:42

very difficult. I'd always had

19:42

this book on my bookshelf, and

19:46

but I kind of thought by

19:46

combining creativity with using

19:51

walking as a tool to uncover

19:51

that I would I dedicate my my

19:55

next few years to trying to walk

19:55

the coast of Britain to uncover

20:00

The landscape. And but the

20:00

thing, which is weird, is the

20:03

time between thinking about and

20:03

starting was about two weeks.

20:06

Because I mean, and that was

20:06

mostly because I couldn't figure

20:09

out the name. And it was these

20:09

practicalities, you know, I

20:12

needed a web or web website and

20:12

a blog and a format and at some

20:16

creative things like the format

20:16

or photo I was going to take.

20:19

And because at the beginning, it

20:19

seemed like, well, I could just

20:22

work a couple of days and see

20:22

how it goes. And then if I'm not

20:25

enjoying it, it's not difficult,

20:25

I could stop, or I could do

20:28

something different. And I think

20:28

that's quite an important thing

20:32

about for any long project to

20:32

just see it as a day at a time.

20:37

And to not beat yourself up

20:37

about it. You know, if it didn't

20:39

work, I could have stopped. But

20:39

then quite quickly, I kind of

20:43

realised I couldn't stop.

20:45

And so you started

20:45

this is when you finished in

20:47

September of this year, is that

20:47

right? That's right. Yeah. So so

20:50

2015 you started?

20:52

That's right. Yeah. So you had young children at the time. It's a really

20:54

contentious issue. And it's

20:57

difficult to explain it without

20:57

making me sound like a not very

21:01

nice person. But I think before

21:01

I had children before I was

21:05

married, I would go for about

21:05

six months of the year, to

21:08

travel for different and this

21:08

isn't like a jolly this is this

21:11

is me working to earn a living

21:11

as a photographer, and it does

21:14

require committing to being

21:14

outside I think, you know, if

21:18

you're, if you kind of if you

21:18

work for the armed services, you

21:21

work offshore, your roadie, I

21:21

think people may be more

21:24

sympathetic to the fact that you

21:24

go away more, but for the way I

21:28

work I needed to as well. And my

21:28

wife understands and she's an

21:33

artist as well. She understands

21:33

I'm not I'm not doing this to

21:37

escape the family or because I

21:37

don't love her or anything like

21:40

this. I'm doing this because

21:40

that's where I find inspiration.

21:43

And this project was conceived

21:43

so that I wouldn't be away for a

21:47

year at a time. I'd be away for

21:47

a shorter period of time. And

21:50

then when I came back, I could

21:50

be fully committed to being, you

21:54

know, being a dad. But yeah, was

21:54

that was that easy? Was that

21:57

that provides tension. Yes, it

21:57

did. But I'm truly grateful to

22:01

her that she supported me

22:01

through this. Now. This was my

22:04

dream. And she understood that,

22:04

and she supported me to do that.

22:08

So

22:09

yeah, yeah. Quintin.

22:09

I, first of all, thank you for

22:11

your your honesty and

22:11

transparency. And, you know, I

22:15

had a sense that that might be

22:15

the answer, because I know that,

22:18

you know, you've talked in other

22:18

in other interviews and on your

22:22

website by going to 70 countries

22:22

and jungle to Arctic and

22:26

travelling a lot with your work.

22:26

So I had a sense that you were

22:28

away often. But I think your

22:28

last point there is is

22:32

beautiful, and absolutely where

22:32

I was going to go, which is, I

22:36

think that if you've got a

22:36

partner where it's a good fit,

22:40

they want you to be happy and

22:40

pursue your dreams. And I think

22:43

it's really neat the way that

22:43

you set it up where you weren't

22:46

just gone for two years.

22:48

That's wrong. Yeah, you

22:49

went for a bit, you

22:49

know, several weeks at a time

22:52

came back, and then you were

22:52

still here and with the family.

22:55

So that that I think is a really

22:55

interesting message. And I asked

22:58

the question, certainly not

22:58

wanting to make you feel

23:01

uncomfortable, but because I do

23:01

think that a lot of people that

23:05

would be listening to this

23:05

podcast, who are, you know, keen

23:08

to start living more

23:08

adventurously? One of the big

23:11

barriers they often grapple with

23:11

is, well, is it fair for me to

23:14

go and do these things for

23:14

myself when I have a family back

23:17

home? So you know, yours is the

23:17

ultimate example of how it can

23:21

work.

23:22

But I think you're

23:22

talking about men more with this

23:24

issue. Because I do know a lot

23:24

of men who their wives would

23:29

love even just even just

23:29

something simple, like a, like a

23:32

massive long bike ride or

23:32

weekend backpacking, and their

23:35

wives or their girlfriends would

23:35

be really happy for them to do

23:38

that. But somehow they're still

23:38

not doing that, just for that

23:41

one day or that half day. And we

23:41

know we're not talking about any

23:45

massive commitment here. So I

23:45

think a lot of guys will

23:48

sabotage themselves somewhere

23:48

along the lines. In my

23:51

experience. I don't know what

23:51

what do you think?

23:54

I mean, I think

23:54

you're right, I think for a lot

23:56

of people is self sabotage, they

23:56

have these kind of preconceived

23:59

ideas of what their spouse will

23:59

or won't tolerate. I've

24:03

definitely seen though, across,

24:03

you know, all genders, all

24:08

groups, I think we, we get

24:08

ourselves into this position

24:11

where we, we kind of almost have

24:11

this codependency. And we think

24:15

that there's some potential

24:15

interpretation that if I said to

24:19

my wife, I want to go away for

24:19

seven days, that it means I

24:23

don't want to be with her. I'm

24:23

actually going on a on a seven

24:26

day adventure next year to the

24:26

exuma Islands. And we're gonna

24:29

we're going to track the whole

24:29

length of the exuma Islands,

24:32

which is, um, you know,

24:32

massively excited. My wife

24:36

didn't even skip a beat when I

24:36

told her that that's what I

24:39

wanted to do, because she knows

24:39

that that's what makes my heart

24:42

sing, right? That's Yeah. And

24:42

being with my family makes my

24:45

heart sing. I love my kids more

24:45

than anything. I love my wife

24:48

more than anything, but I also

24:48

have other passions that that I

24:51

want to explore. And so yeah,

24:51

it's really powerful having a

24:55

partner that gets that. Yeah. I

24:55

think that being able to take on

25:00

an adventure like that was so

25:00

brave on so many levels. So, you

25:04

know, two weeks from idea to

25:04

first steps. And you know how,

25:10

how was the first couple of weeks,

25:12

and maybe you

25:12

should qualify it because if

25:16

you're in for people who aren't

25:16

like an artist or photographer,

25:21

finding inspiration is very

25:21

difficult. And it's hard work,

25:25

you just you get up every day,

25:25

and you work. And sometimes you

25:29

don't have any ideas. But

25:29

sometimes you do, and you have

25:34

to work in order for the ideas

25:34

to come to you. And if you feel

25:37

that you have, you're not,

25:37

you're onto something here that

25:40

you're feeling a tingle up your

25:40

spine, and you're really

25:42

inspired. That is really a rare

25:42

thing. And that's what I've felt

25:47

with this coast project. And

25:47

that's what I wanted to sort of

25:50

surf on before it left me

25:50

because because, you know, it

25:53

felt like I was finding my own

25:53

language as a photographer. So

26:01

going back to your question

26:01

about at the beginning, it was

26:03

it was kind of prep,

26:03

practicalities of long distance

26:05

backpacking, so it was figuring

26:05

out kind of footwear, that

26:08

worked backpack that was

26:08

comfortable clothing, I mean,

26:11

it's still kind of long

26:11

distances and or in any phase,

26:14

things aren't tuned in properly,

26:14

it kind of wears you down and

26:17

makes and makes you feel more

26:17

tired. And my journey. You know,

26:24

at the beginning to summarise

26:24

this journey, I focused far too

26:27

much on on kit and getting

26:27

everything very light at the

26:30

beginning. And by the end, I

26:30

focus much more on my physical

26:33

health, losing weight,

26:33

nutrition, just just basic,

26:38

important stuff. Whereas at the

26:38

beginning, I was sort of

26:40

spending a lot of time looking

26:40

at ultralight backpacks, without

26:44

actually looking sorting myself

26:44

out. So So I became, you said

26:48

that that's been a cook sort of

26:48

parallel journey, just because I

26:52

really had to get good at those

26:52

things to do this. And remain

26:57

healthy. Because I had a number

26:57

of injuries throughout the

26:59

journey, which side I needed

26:59

really to think about these

27:02

things, which I never had before.

27:04

That's really interesting as well, because you talked on the, you know, the

27:05

tennis path when you first

27:08

started walking that it was, you

27:08

know, really for personal

27:12

healing more than it Yes. It was

27:12

meditative for you. It was a

27:15

West, right, yeah, you know,

27:15

being in the zone. And now

27:17

you're talking about this idea

27:17

that through the perimeter

27:21

project, you actually had to

27:21

start focusing on yourself and

27:24

your personal well being. So it

27:24

seems like you went through

27:27

quite a significant amount of

27:27

individual personal growth,

27:31

quite apart from the photography element.

27:33

I did because

27:33

because I was enjoying him. And

27:36

I was loving the adventure side

27:36

of it. I was loving inspiration

27:40

side of it. But But actually, my

27:40

kind of my body was kind of

27:43

falling apart a bit. Because it

27:43

was it was punishing, it's

27:46

punishing, you know, it's 20

27:46

kilogrammes in all the weather's

27:50

all the time. And you know, I

27:50

need I needed to do sort of self

27:55

care in a way that I've never

27:55

done before. And also because I

27:57

was kind of, it was physically

27:57

very draining, and I'd be back

28:00

at home editing in front of a

28:00

computer. And that's obviously

28:03

not very clever. So I was that.

28:03

So then when I would, after a

28:06

while I would come home, I fill

28:06

my backpack up with heavy

28:09

photography books, I'd walk up

28:09

and down my local Hill, three or

28:13

four times a week so that when I

28:13

went back into the field, I was

28:17

still I was on the same level.

28:17

So these are, you know, if

28:21

you're your personal trainer,

28:21

aren't you in as one of the

28:23

things you do. But this is

28:23

probably ABC for you. But for

28:26

me, I you know, I needed to kind

28:26

of learn that the hard way.

28:32

I love this story.

28:32

It's so it's so fascinating to

28:35

me, because I think what you're

28:35

talking about is developing, you

28:38

know, a form of mastery. It's

28:38

almost like your Olympics right?

28:42

You if you've got this four year

28:42

kind of cycle and for you it's

28:45

five years but there's long

28:45

cycle where you had to maintain

28:49

your focus your motivation, but

28:49

you also had to build

28:51

resilience. You had to overcome

28:51

adversity. That's right. Yeah.

28:55

It's really fascinating. And and

28:55

I saw I saw some footage, I

28:59

think it was on a BBC interview

28:59

that you did, there was some

29:01

footage of your your tent

29:01

getting absolutely battered by

29:07

by heavy, heavy winds in

29:07

Scotland. So, you know, we're

29:10

kind of making it sound

29:10

amazingly romantic right now. So

29:13

we just talked about this

29:13

incredible voyage, he went on

29:16

personal discovery and amazing

29:16

photographs and, you know,

29:20

creative zen, but I mean, there

29:20

clearly was some dark moments

29:24

there where you were, you know,

29:24

you're out isolated alone, or

29:27

you're up in the Hebrides or

29:27

whatever. So, you know, how, how

29:31

dark did it get? Did you have

29:31

any really tough moments where

29:33

you thought about not continuing

29:33

or were you always just staying

29:36

the course?

29:38

This question, I

29:38

mean, was to me, Scotland really

29:40

was like, it's a totally

29:40

different, totally different

29:43

journey. I mean, practically,

29:43

you've got the right to roam,

29:46

you can walk anywhere, you can

29:46

camp anywhere. But but

29:49

practically, I mean, half the

29:49

journey to Asia and Scotland.

29:53

And most of it, there was no

29:53

path at all. So the terrain is

29:58

so much more difficult. And

29:58

places the rough bounds, which

30:02

is my dad in the market. And

30:02

LIDAR is just these these big

30:06

mountains, man rows going

30:06

straight down to the shore. And

30:09

it's very steep ground, it's too

30:09

steep to even walk around. So

30:13

you have to sort of probe and

30:13

figure out where to go and then

30:16

turn turn around and saw these

30:16

topics and you've got the images

30:21

and then winter, you've got the

30:21

hail and the wind and the snow.

30:23

And even when you're moving, and

30:23

then three hours walking at

30:27

night with a head torch, because

30:27

the days are so short to cover

30:29

the distance. And even with all

30:29

that energy, you know, sometimes

30:33

I was only covering kind of

30:33

eight or nine kilometres. And

30:36

then I wouldn't maybe see people

30:36

often for three or four days,

30:39

and it's always wet. And then I

30:39

sort of pour water on my boots

30:42

get into take wet clothes off

30:42

getting sleeping bag. That's the

30:45

only time I'm dry. Then in the

30:45

morning, the wet clothes go back

30:48

on. And it was it was a battle.

30:48

It was a battle. But because it

30:53

was a battle, it was kind of I

30:53

knew what I was had to do. And

30:58

that was kind of invigorating in

30:58

a weird way. Did did I want to

31:04

give I mean, sometimes I just

31:04

sat down and wept and thought I

31:06

can't continue but then it's

31:06

your cold and alone and you have

31:10

to do something or you can't

31:10

just otherwise just there and

31:14

you know, you have to you have

31:14

to sort yourself out. And, and

31:19

often often because I kept a

31:19

diary in most nights at the

31:22

beginning, I felt I couldn't

31:22

continue and then you wake up

31:25

and you kind of can and then I

31:25

started to realise I started to

31:28

recognise that that's just

31:28

that's just my own personal

31:31

psychology each night. I felt I

31:31

couldn't continue. The next day,

31:35

I'd probably be alright, so that

31:35

I recognised that feeling. And I

31:38

wouldn't beat myself up. When I

31:38

felt like it can continue, I

31:41

wouldn't beat myself up about it.

31:43

I think that's,

31:43

that's so so normal as well, in

31:46

that kind of ultra multistage

31:46

and multi day kind of extreme

31:52

events, you do often see that,

31:52

that kind of cycle psychology of

31:57

end of the day, I'm broken, I

31:57

can't go on, there's no way I

32:00

can continue this, but you get

32:00

some fuel on board, you do your

32:04

wet dry admin, you get yourself

32:04

in your sleeping bag, and you

32:07

get some sleep and the body is

32:07

so incredible at just restoring

32:12

energy levels. Right. And yeah,

32:15

that's it. And

32:15

then there's also the external

32:17

world, you know, something beautiful might happen. Like you might, I might see some kind of

32:19

otters at dusk or I might meet a

32:23

crafter who was just incredibly

32:23

welcoming and asked me to stay

32:27

in and told me about his life

32:27

story. And then these, these

32:30

these beautiful stories, as it's

32:30

something different, which is

32:33

kind of different, I guess, to

32:33

what I was doing versus a you

32:37

know, maybe an ultra marathon or

32:37

something where it really is a

32:39

competition and you're just

32:39

purely focused on performance. I

32:43

if I was feeling bad in myself,

32:43

I was often pointed out by the

32:46

interesting things I saw people I met.

32:48

Yeah. I'm curious.

32:48

This is probably a really unfair

32:52

question to ask you. As a

32:52

creative that's taken so many

32:57

pictures, particularly on this

32:57

journey. But do you do you have

33:00

any favourite moments or, or

33:00

memories or pictures from from

33:04

the perimeter that you just,

33:04

they really make you smile every

33:07

time you think of them.

33:09

I do a bit up

33:09

walking tonight are from Mallaig

33:15

as very mountainous, rough area.

33:15

And it was basically a mountain

33:20

reach I had to walk out you

33:20

can't follow the coastline. It's

33:22

too steep. And as I came to the

33:22

top, there was this really

33:26

dramatic hailstorm, and then the

33:26

sun came out and there's a

33:29

rainbow. And then it just it was

33:29

every it was four seasons all at

33:33

once in one scene. And then

33:33

you've got the whole massif of

33:36

night out there, all the big

33:36

mountains, and then look nervous

33:39

wandering around into the

33:39

distance, it was just the most

33:41

epic, like kind of Lord of the

33:41

Rings. See. And that's just

33:45

because often, as a professional

33:45

photographer, you have to

33:48

separate how you feel to the

33:48

image. I think that's in a way,

33:52

the job of being a professional

33:52

photographer that you could feel

33:54

happy. But actually, it's a

33:54

really bad pitcher. But this is

33:56

one of the rare moments where I

33:56

felt really happy. And it was a

34:00

special pitcher. So for that

34:00

reason, it's my that was my

34:02

favourite moment. I love that.

34:04

I love that. That's it. That's incredible. It's almost like Mother Nature just

34:06

just rewarding you for your for

34:10

your work ethic. And

34:11

it did feel like that it did feel like that. Yeah,

34:14

yeah. And and I

34:14

know, you and I share something

34:16

in common, which is you, I

34:16

think, over the last few years

34:21

building up to the perimeter and then of course through the perimeter have kind of really

34:23

become centred on the UK. So

34:26

you've travelled to 70

34:26

countries, lots of different

34:28

environments haven't been quite

34:28

as many kind of extreme

34:33

environments as you but I've

34:33

been, you know, really

34:35

privileged to travel all around

34:35

the world. And yet more

34:38

recently, I'm very focused just

34:38

on the United Kingdom and just

34:42

how diverse it is. And one of

34:42

the things that I find really

34:45

interesting, I'd love to hear

34:45

your thoughts on is, I think

34:48

we've become conditioned to

34:48

believe there's not a huge

34:51

amount of wilderness available

34:51

to us in the UK, as long as it's

34:55

such a small country, but it

34:55

feels like nonsense to me

34:58

because I know that you can be

34:58

somewhere like you just

35:01

mentioned and feel like the only

35:01

person in the world.

35:04

Yeah, I don't know where it comes from because I mean, there's different

35:06

geographers have different stats

35:10

on it, but the one that I

35:10

believe is correct is it's 5% of

35:14

Britain is built built upon. So

35:14

it's about the same as

35:17

Gloucestershire, if that was all

35:17

built upon, says very, very

35:21

little, I mean, my my

35:21

experience, even on foot pads is

35:23

you have a car park, then you

35:23

get the dog walkers, they go

35:26

about 500 metres from the car

35:26

park, maybe a kilometre, then

35:29

you get the occasional runner.

35:29

But beyond that, there's very

35:33

few people who are trekking or

35:33

hiking or exploring and I feel

35:38

it's not hard to, to feel you're

35:38

you're in, in a wild place at

35:42

all. Yeah.

35:43

And of course, you

35:43

know, I always say people have

35:46

got to be, they've got to know

35:46

what they're doing to want to go

35:50

out there. But but it's possible

35:50

to, to get experience doing that

35:54

with other people. But

35:54

eventually, when you get to the

35:56

level where you feel comfortable

35:56

being in a remote place on your

35:59

own, it is a transformational

35:59

experience. I think

36:03

it's the most empowering thing. Yeah, I mean, being able to, to read a map and

36:04

keep warm and dry is is like the

36:09

passport to so many pleasures.

36:09

Yeah.

36:12

This is a really

36:12

isn't inspirational story, a

36:15

very humble guy. And but I think

36:15

that what you've achieved with

36:18

the perimeter is genuinely

36:18

remarkable. And epic. And epic

36:23

is probably an overused word

36:23

these days. But it is genuinely

36:26

epic. I mean, there really can't

36:26

be that many people that have

36:29

have have managed to go the full

36:29

circumference of the United

36:33

Kingdom under any kind of power,

36:33

right, let alone on their feet,

36:37

carrying a camera and

36:37

documenting it in a way that you

36:39

did. But you mentioned something

36:39

earlier on about this, this

36:43

energy that you got from doing

36:43

an event and that glowing in the

36:46

background and you wanting to

36:46

kind of experience it again. And

36:50

I know that feeling because I've

36:50

I've had it myself where I've

36:53

done. Yeah, big challenges. And

36:53

then, you know, most days later,

36:58

you're desperately wanting to

36:58

try and get back to that

37:00

feeling. So I'm sat here

37:00

wondering how on earth do you

37:03

top something like the

37:03

perimeter? What, what comes next

37:06

after that?

37:07

What I've done a

37:07

lot of soul searching about

37:10

this. I mean, there's some

37:10

practicalities because I'm doing

37:13

a, I've still got a couple of

37:13

100 days from the journey to

37:15

edit. And I want to do a book

37:15

and an exhibition. And so I'm,

37:22

I'm my my natural propensity is

37:22

to immediately plan the next

37:25

thing, I mustn't do that this

37:25

time, I need to lay it at least

37:28

a year, so that I can get all

37:28

that material done. But what I'm

37:32

trying to do is focus on kind of

37:32

micro adventures, kind of on a

37:37

weekly basis where I'm doing

37:37

something that I find exciting,

37:41

one day each week, and then

37:41

something exciting with the kids

37:44

on another day of the week. And

37:44

it's partly that's partly to do

37:48

with COVID really, because any

37:48

any plans to to even get to

37:51

Scotland. I mean, you know,

37:51

Wales is the narrowest wild

37:54

space that I really my mind.

37:54

Normally I'd go to Wales on the

37:57

weekend to some mountain area.

37:57

But even that is out of bounds.

38:00

So at the moment I'm, I'm I'm

38:00

trying to find more local

38:04

adventures. But it but if I was

38:04

to think beyond that, it would

38:07

be it would be another multi day

38:07

long walk, possibly Ireland and

38:11

the islands, possibly something

38:11

in the continent. But I'm trying

38:15

to, I'm just trying to finish

38:15

what I've already started with

38:20

the perimeter. And I've still

38:20

got another few marathons to do

38:23

with that. They're just based on

38:23

the computer now.

38:26

It's awesome,

38:26

though. I love the fact that

38:28

you're already thinking about

38:28

what could come next. And I did

38:31

wonder whether you might say you

38:31

might say Ireland because

38:33

because I can imagine that would

38:33

be, you know, an unbelievable

38:37

kind of encore to your perimeter

38:37

journey. Right? And then you're

38:40

completing the set, so to speak.

38:43

Yeah, hope so. No,

38:43

have you seen the boat Round

38:45

Island with a fridge. It's one

38:45

of my favourite travel books

38:48

about about it's kind of a

38:48

comedy book of travelling,

38:51

travelling around Ireland with a

38:51

fridge and it just made me love

38:55

the origin, the whole notion of

38:55

travelling.

38:58

I love that now, I'm

38:58

gonna look that up. I appreciate

39:00

the recommendation. And I often

39:00

I don't know whether you're the

39:03

same, but I'll often be found

39:03

with my laptop on my lap in a

39:07

spare moment with a coffee. And

39:07

I'm often searching for kind of

39:13

famous routes or journeys that

39:13

people have done. I love the

39:16

idea of being able to recreate

39:16

those and yeah, it amazed me

39:20

that there's not a lot of

39:20

resources available if you if

39:23

you're trying to find those for

39:23

the UK. And I can imagine there

39:26

must be some incredible journeys

39:26

that that were done over history

39:30

in the UK that that could be

39:30

recreated.

39:33

Surprising. There's no that sounds like it'd be a really good book.

39:36

Yeah. Yeah. So when

39:36

you were talking about being,

39:39

you know, as a creative you

39:39

talked about for photographers

39:42

and artists. You know, I I

39:42

consider myself a writer. I

39:47

haven't published a book but I

39:47

I've always been a writer my

39:49

whole life and, you know, I'm in

39:49

the process of writing a book.

39:53

But But when you talked about

39:53

that kind of daily grind of just

39:58

flexing the muscle right? You

39:58

know, painting or taking taking

40:03

photographs, or in this case

40:03

writing, and you have to just

40:06

keep chipping away, and writing

40:06

and writing and then one day,

40:10

you get that inspiration that

40:10

can become something bigger. And

40:13

one of the ideas that that I had

40:13

exactly was that is that there

40:17

must be so many great journeys

40:17

that with a bit of kind of

40:20

historical research, you could

40:20

you could actually produce

40:23

something that people would love to recreate.

40:25

Yeah, that'd be I'd

40:25

love to see the map as well,

40:28

with like the journeys on the

40:28

front end, that'd be really,

40:30

really interesting. Yeah, yeah.

40:31

And then we just need to take some photographs and say, we've got a project.

40:33

And so yeah, it's gonna be it's

40:38

gonna be difficult to talk, but

40:38

I love you, I love the fact that

40:41

you're not daunted by that I

40:41

love the fact that you're,

40:43

you're thinking of ways that you

40:43

can, you can, you can move on

40:47

and it doesn't sound to me,

40:47

like, you're falling into that

40:50

trap of it has to be bigger to

40:50

be to be kind of

40:55

I mean, previous

40:55

journeys I've done, I guess I

40:57

was, you know, I've done a

40:57

mountaineering project in, in

41:01

Greenland, where we put sleds

41:01

and we, we made 16 first ascent,

41:05

and I stood on the top of

41:05

mountains that we kind of named

41:08

and some big ego thing. I've

41:08

done another expedition in Peru

41:12

with scientists and they found a

41:12

new species of orchid. And those

41:18

things didn't make me feel

41:18

anything I wasn't fulfilled by

41:22

those things, they was filled by

41:22

was being in some special place

41:28

with people that enjoyed

41:28

spending time with and, and the

41:31

travelling and the adventure. So

41:31

I, I mean, the perimeter really

41:37

taught me that the, the joy of

41:37

doing these things is it is not,

41:42

it's not really the goal. It's

41:42

not the finish line, it's not

41:44

the kind of the metal, it's not

41:44

the gun. And I certainly

41:47

wouldn't be trying to recreate a

41:47

journey where it was trying to

41:52

break a record in any way like

41:52

that. For me personally, I don't

41:55

find that that's so

41:56

fulfilling,

41:56

massively resonates with me, I

42:00

feel the same, you know, I have

42:00

always have always said, I'm not

42:04

the best kind of ultra runner or

42:04

run, I'm not the most gifted.

42:07

So, you know, fk T's like

42:07

fastest known times, it's never

42:11

going to be something I get. So

42:11

that idea of, of enjoying the

42:16

journey, as much as the you

42:16

know, the destination or the

42:21

amount of time that it takes I

42:21

think is really is really

42:23

powerful. So, we talked a little

42:23

bit off air about 28 summers and

42:29

and the concept here with you

42:29

know, I've been I've been trying

42:33

to connect with listeners on

42:33

this idea of living life more

42:35

adventurously and seizing the

42:35

moment and, and really taking

42:39

that opportunity to optimise

42:39

your life so that there is this

42:42

notional atomic clock ticking

42:42

down, if you knew how many days

42:47

minutes, you know, hours,

42:47

minutes were left, you would you

42:50

would live your life

42:50

differently. And so, if there

42:52

are people who have been

42:52

listening to this, and I'm sure

42:55

they will be really inspired by

42:55

your story and just, you know,

42:59

the the ambition with your

42:59

project, and then what you

43:02

achieved, what advice might you

43:02

give to people listening on how

43:07

they might kind of realise their

43:07

dreams as it comes to living

43:10

adventurously, but not

43:10

necessarily knowing where to

43:12

start, I

43:14

think you use you could

43:14

start integrating it into your

43:17

life quite modestly. So you

43:17

could take half a day out every

43:23

month, where you try and do

43:23

something that excites you, and

43:27

it's just you and your your,

43:27

your your own project. And then

43:30

you could increase that to be

43:30

kind of maybe once a week. And

43:35

then you could start to put

43:35

those bits together. I mean even

43:38

like I regularly get emails from

43:38

people saying I'd love to do

43:40

this and I'm always remaining

43:40

back going well, you know, pick

43:44

a pick a bit of a coast and walk

43:44

a bit and then add another piece

43:48

on the next month and add

43:48

another piece on the next month

43:50

and, you know, might take you a

43:50

long time before you know you've

43:54

you've walked the whole coast of

43:54

Wales and it's you know, as

43:57

these break your project out

43:57

into a tiny, tiny piece, but

44:01

also, if it fulfils you and

44:01

excites you to do something like

44:05

this, if you don't have it

44:05

doesn't have to be a huge thing.

44:08

To feel that you've had a good

44:08

adventure. I mean, just before

44:10

we we talked today, today was my

44:10

kind of day I do an adventure

44:14

and I got a train to Campbell

44:14

and walk to the source of the

44:17

Thames and sort of Roman

44:17

Amphitheatre in Cirencester. And

44:20

it was really it's awful weather

44:20

today it's been raining hard all

44:23

day. And then I put my tarp up

44:23

and, and made my lunch made a

44:26

cup of tea in a word and that

44:26

kind of felt an adventure

44:28

because I I was using my skills

44:28

and knowledge to be comfortable

44:32

in in a rainy day. And then I

44:32

got a bus home and you know that

44:36

cost me eight pounds the whole

44:36

day. And you know it's been it's

44:40

been really low key. But I feel

44:40

energised and excited by it. And

44:46

it's it's it's just about going

44:46

out and doing it.

44:49

You mentioned microadventures earlier, have you read our Humphreys book?

44:53

Great. Yeah, Yes, I have. Yeah,

44:54

it's a it's a

44:54

fantastic book and doing exactly

44:57

what you just said just jumping

44:57

on a train. Going somewhere

45:01

walking, walking back, get

45:01

getting, getting Ambassador up

45:05

and getting a brew on even when

45:05

it's raining, I saw so many so

45:09

many great ideas that I actually

45:09

love that I also think that the,

45:13

the project that you had with

45:13

the perimeter is almost the

45:16

perfect demonstration that you

45:16

know that common kind of, I

45:22

won't call it an excuse but

45:22

barrier for people to do some of

45:26

the things they've always dreamed of doing is often I don't have enough time, right? I

45:28

have too many commitments, or I

45:31

can't leave my family. But what

45:31

I think is so beautiful about

45:35

what you did with the perimeter.

45:35

And the advice you just gave is

45:38

that you don't have to do it all

45:38

in one go. You could take the

45:41

next 20 years to walk the full,

45:41

full coast of Britain, if you

45:45

wanted to, you know, and just

45:45

every year take a bit more go

45:49

away for a week or you know,

45:49

that I think is is a really

45:53

powerful message that it doesn't

45:53

always have to be this big,

45:56

aggressive, ambitious adventure

45:56

that takes weeks it could it can

46:00

just be in bite sized chunks.

46:02

Yeah, I mean,

46:02

everyone's financial situation

46:04

is different. But I mean, often

46:04

these, these gentlemen, the

46:07

journey itself is very

46:07

inexpensive. I mean, previously,

46:13

I would just earn money to buy

46:13

the time to do the travel. And

46:19

it was always been from a from a

46:19

young age that I wanted, the

46:23

whole purpose of me of earning

46:23

money was to buy the time to buy

46:28

a few months of the year while I

46:28

could do what I wanted, and that

46:31

that, for me was the sort of

46:31

purpose of work but then I don't

46:35

own a car, and I'm very kind of

46:35

lean in the things I spend money

46:39

on. So that's just been my

46:39

personal priority of, of where I

46:42

wanted to spend spend my money.

46:42

But I kind of think now it's a

46:46

bit more sustainable because I

46:46

can actually earn money doing

46:51

what I'm doing through selling

46:51

photos. But that's taken that's

46:54

been a 20 year journey to get

46:54

there. But I think for someone

46:58

who's maybe younger or starting,

46:58

I would say you do you do the

47:01

modest job and save a bit just

47:01

to buy the time to have the

47:05

freedom. Right.

47:07

Yeah, I think that's

47:07

great advice. So coming up to

47:11

the end here, just just bringing

47:11

us to a close a couple of

47:14

questions. One of the guests

47:14

that I interviewed recently,

47:17

Jimmy, who's the co founder of

47:17

rat race, I asked him a Gao Jail

47:24

Free question that I sometimes

47:24

ask which is, you know, what,

47:27

should I have asked you that I

47:27

didn't ask you already? And he

47:30

came up with a great question,

47:30

which was what is your your must

47:35

have essential item that you

47:35

always take away with you when

47:38

you go on an adventure? That

47:38

just seems like such a perfect

47:42

question for you. Because you

47:42

quite often go, you know, out

47:45

there on your own and it's just

47:45

you your camera and your and

47:48

your 10. So what's the what's

47:48

the the one luxury item that you

47:52

have to have with you on those,

47:52

those long stints in the middle

47:55

of nowhere?

47:56

Oh, I love my jet boil.

47:56

Because you know, just you press

48:00

the igniter and two minutes

48:00

later you got boiling water. And

48:04

when you're cold and miserable,

48:04

that that's just bliss. Yes, I

48:07

mean, I love the speed of the

48:07

efficiency of that. And and the

48:11

kind of the pattern in me, I

48:11

love the fact it's like five

48:14

grammes of fuel, it burns to

48:14

boil it. So it's very efficient,

48:17

very efficient, efficient. And

48:17

also my second item, if I can

48:21

squeeze another in, I always

48:21

carry a barbed wire cover, which

48:23

is like an A piece of canvas.

48:23

And then you can you can cover

48:27

barbed wire fences. And that

48:27

makes you feel especially in

48:29

Scotland, if you feel very free

48:29

because you can just go over

48:33

here like

48:33

that they're there

48:33

in speaks the voice of

48:36

experience. You learn that you

48:36

don't learn that on your first

48:40

trip out. You learn that down

48:40

the line. Yeah, I

48:42

need a few torn

48:42

trousers before you went on out.

48:44

Yeah,

48:45

yeah. When you go

48:45

just additional kind of

48:47

supplementary question. I'm

48:47

curious, when you go out on

48:49

these trips on your own? Do you

48:49

take a book to read or anything

48:52

like that? Do you find that you

48:52

just don't have the time to

48:56

read?

48:57

I often don't have the time. I mean, when the weather was very bad, I would

48:58

listen to podcasts or music. And

49:04

when I was moving, but but once

49:04

I was in the tent, I was often

49:08

exhausted now it would just

49:08

switch off and asleep. Yeah,

49:12

yeah. But yeah, I found that I

49:12

was very, very bad weather I

49:16

found listening to things was it

49:16

was a good morale. booster, but

49:19

most of the time I like to just

49:19

listen to the sounds of where I

49:23

was travelling through and then,

49:23

you know, I often carried a book

49:25

and then never read it. It was

49:25

too tight. So yeah.

49:28

So where can people

49:28

find you online? Because I

49:31

follow you and I love I love

49:31

your images. I just I find them

49:35

so inspiring. So can you just

49:35

tell people where they can find

49:39

you online?

49:39

Thanks. Well, I'm

49:39

most active on Twitter. So I'm

49:42

Quintin Lake, on Twitter, same

49:42

handle on Instagram, and then

49:46

the blog is the perimeter.uk.

49:46

I'm also on Facebook.

49:51

Right? Well, Quincy,

49:51

it's just been it's been an

49:54

absolute pleasure to speak to

49:54

you. I really appreciate the

49:57

time and I in or of what You've

49:57

achieved with the perimeter is a

50:02

remarkable journey. And I really

50:02

have enjoyed getting an insight

50:06

into what made you do it and

50:06

some of the learnings that you

50:09

have so just thank you so much

50:09

for your time today.

50:12

Oh, thanks a lot. Cheers.

50:29

What an incredible

50:29

story. Apart from the awesome

50:32

backstory of photography around

50:32

the world, Quentin's recent

50:35

perimeter journey is honestly

50:35

remarkable. 10,000 kilometres

50:40

self supported Quintin

50:40

circumnavigated Britain and

50:44

captured a series of incredible

50:44

photos. What I love most about

50:48

Quintin is how he breaks down

50:48

these mammoth tasks into bite

50:52

sized chunks. The prospect of

50:52

travelling 10,000 kilometres on

50:56

foot, is honestly enough to put

50:56

off the most resilient

50:59

adventurer. But Quintin somehow

50:59

made it feel easy. Of course, I

51:03

know it wasn't. But his message

51:03

of gradually building adventure

51:07

into your lives and building it

51:07

around your other commitments is

51:10

incredibly powerful, and I

51:10

couldn't agree with him more. I

51:13

also love that he is encouraging

51:13

us all to look up and look

51:17

around when we're out in nature,

51:17

not just heads down and running

51:20

hard, or rushing to squeeze it

51:20

in, but instead calm, relaxed

51:25

and steady, soaking up the

51:25

environment and truly being a

51:28

part of nature, rather than just

51:28

alongside it. Please do check

51:33

out his work and follow him on

51:33

Twitter and Instagram at Quintin

51:37

Lake, you will not be

51:37

disappointed. As always, if you

51:41

can find the time please do

51:41

follow me on Instagram at one

51:44

day adventurer and let me know

51:44

what adventures you're dreaming

51:47

up post lockdown 2021 we'll see

51:47

if you can please click

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subscribe on the podcast. And

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also leave me a review. It

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really helps so much in securing

51:55

awesome guests to bring to you

51:58

on the podcast. Thank you so

51:58

much for all of your support and

52:01

all of your kind messages. It

52:01

really means the world to me. In

52:05

the meantime, stay happy, stay

52:05

healthy, and remember to live

52:09

life adventurously