Adventure Travel Online

You'll not find many features in national newspapers or magazines that advise worshipping at the alter of Ryanair or for that matter, kissing the feet of Michael O'Leary. Most, if not all, will be whinging swipes from red faced travel journalists who've had their delicate egos curdled through a combination of having to pay for the flight, queue with the riff raff and lack of media schmoozing.

It's so, so easy to have a pop at Ryanair, in fact we've taken a few shots at the low cost shysters on this website and in Adventure Travel magazine. However, it's worth remembering that until Ryanair and, to a lesser extent, Easyjet, brought their low cost business models to the world of aviation the national carriers (BA for example) were taking the piss out of customers in a far more deliberate and calculated way than the excitable Michael O'Leary.

Is it a kayak? Is it a gondola? Nope, it’s called stand up paddling and it’s the new way to get about. We meet one of this fab sport’s funnest enthusiasts Dave Cornthwaite to find out more. Including why he’s wearing that suit…

Name: Dave Cornthwaite
 
Age: 30
 
What’s the sport?
All sorts – stand up paddling, kayaking, longboarding…
 
What’s your next big challenge?
Between 2-8 June I’m stand up paddling 150 miles between Bath and London, part of a series of mini-adventures leading to a world distance record attempt on a stand up paddleboard in 2011.

In 1967-68, Bill Raney and his wife attempted to drive a VW bus around the world – with a baby, Zerky, and a dog (Tarzan). They made it across Europe and through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sikkim and Assam, to the legendary Burma Road to China – and Bill recorded the trip in letters to Zerky as he knew he wouldn’t remember it when he was older.

The letters are now a book – Letters to Zerky, a Father's Legacy to a Lost Son and a Road Trip Around the World – and Bill’s given us an extract...

January 4, 1968
Katmandu, Nepal

Dear Zerky,

There is no heat in Katmandu, or at least so far we’ve not been able to find any. Our room drops below freezing each night and the days bring icy, hazeless blue skies filled with sunshine.

Each morning we can barely wait for the sun to flood onto the tiny balcony outside our window, so we can go out and sit in the sun, which is our only source of heat, except for the daily bath. Our room doesn’t have a sit-down toilet, or a shower, or a bathtub, but for a few cents extra the room bearer will bring us up two buckets of luxurious warm water, both of them lovingly heated on the kitchen stove downstairs. Then, for a few delightful minutes, your mother and I get warm in turn, as our own private bucket is slowly poured over each of us by the other. This has become our daily get-warm ritual. But you, Zerky—you lucky dog—you fit in the bucket and get the only warm spot in the entire hotel.

Dr Alan Crofts’ lifetime fascination of desert environments has led him to organise exploration, photographing and mapping expeditions in the African, Asian, Arabian and American deserts, plus a solo crossing of the central Karakum desert of Turkmenistan (and that’s just a few examples). We find out more about desert exploration…

Name: Alan Crofts

Age: 41

What’s your job?
Director of Arid Lands Desert Exploration and Expedition Consultancy – organising and implementing mapping, surveying and academic research-led expeditions to the world’s desert areas.

How did you get into this line of work?
I think all travel-minded people are drawn to a particular environment that inspires them emotionally. Growing up in suburban Lancashire I was inspired by stories of early desert exploration and photos of exotic landscapes and peoples.

While working as a post-doctoral biochemist in North America and West Africa I was lucky enough to travel in the deserts of those regions and became fascinated by the landscape and the unique challenges of travel in these areas. Over time I organised independent expeditions to cross a number of deserts and became sponsored by prospecting companies and other institutions to carry out specific mapping and surveying projects en-route.