What does adventure actually mean in the age of social media? This week on the Adventure Series, Emma is joined by adventure journalist Ash Routen.

Ash has trekked across Finland, Norway, Sweden and Greenland, and spent twenty days walking across Siberia’s Lake Baikal, the world’s largest frozen lake.

His work has been published in outlets including National Geographic, The Guardian, the Financial Times and Outside. Most recently Ash founded At the Edge of the Map, a new adventure publication offering independent reporting on expeditions around the world.

When he’s not writing, he works as a Research Fellow in Public Health at the University of Leicester.

Expect to hear:

• What drew Ash to adventure

• The impact of social media on the adventure industry
• What now counts as “extreme”
• Why expeditions need independent reporting and analysis
• Where science and adventure meet
• Ash's view on the history of the industry

It's a brilliant episode filled with wisdom and thoughtful analysis at a time when adventure is hitting the headlines.

Subscribe to At the Edge of the Map here and follow Ash Routen on instagram.

Make sure you like, share and follow the podcast to know when the next brilliant guest drops in a fortnight.

Thanks to Tunetanks for the tunes.

Next up in the Adventure series, Emma is joined by cycling adventurer, filmmaker and influencer Laura Kirkpatrick.

In this episode, Laura shares how cycling helped her build confidence, find creative freedom, and imagine a life beyond her corporate job.

Laura talks about how a cycle-to-work scheme sparked her journey, why one challenging 100K ride changed what she thought she could do, and how she turned her love of cycling and filmmaking into a creative career.

In this conversation, we explore:

• How Laura went from management consulting to cycling filmmaker and content creator
• What makes a bikepacking trip, and its story, compelling
• How she chooses destinations and funds her adventures
• When filming enhances an experience, and when it can get in the way
• The realities and risks of solo female travel
• Why Laura is learning to separate her identity from what she achieves

From taking on challenges to let go of an old routine to finding a more authentic creative path, Laura’s story is a reminder that one small change can open up a much bigger world.

Looking for a sign to take the plunge into your passion? This could be your sign. Follow Laura on Instagram and YouTube

-

✨🎙️ Subscribe and follow the podcast to know when the next episode with a wonderfully passionate person drops in a fortnight.

Follow the Passion Stories podcast on Instagram / TikTok / YouTube

Thanks to Tune Tank for the tunes.

Next up in the Adventure series, Emma is joined by underwater filmmaker and photographer Ell Guihard.

In this episode Ell shares her journey from being afraid to dip her toe in the ocean to a passion for ocean conservation and capturing the stories within it.

She talks about what inspired her to create her most recent film The Call of the Deep, which explores the profound connection between divers and the underwater world.

She also shares the challenges of creating underwater, the nature of tech diving vs recreational and how storytelling can help give the ocean a voice.

Expect to hear:

• How Ell overcame her fear of the ocean
• Her journey to becoming an underwater photographer and filmmaker
• Her best advice for people thinking about scuba diving
• The role of storytelling in ocean conservation
• Challenges for women divers

• 
  

Ell is inspiring, funny and frank and she is going to make you want to go scuba diving. I’m off to get my mask.

Follow Ell on Instagram

Watch The Call of the Deep

-

-

✨🎙️ Make sure you subscribe and follow the podcast to know when the next episode with a wonderfully passionate persondrops in a fortnight.

Follow the Passion Stories podcast on Instagram / TikTok / YouTube

Sign up to the monthly newsletter ⁠The Power of Passion

Thanks to Tune Tank for the tunes.