A Reset and Refresh
Adventure Bulletin May 2022. Book of the Month: Wild Waters
A couple of months ago, I was about to go and spend three weeks winter mountaineering in Scotland. Juggling this magazine and freelance commissions and everything else, I had all the balls in the air and only two hands to catch with. But the leaving deadline was coming and with no Wi-Fi for the forseeable, I did the only thing I could. I dropped pretty much everything.
I thought, as I often do when I take on too much, that the world would end if I didn’t do everything. That everything would fall apart. But, to my surprise, it didn’t. And, more insightfully, as soon as I stopped I realised that I had really needed a break.
So thank you all for allowing me that time to recoup, reassess and get excited about this magazine again. It’s so easy to push and push at the things we enjoy until they become a relentless grind of our own making, forgetting why we started them in the first place.
With that in mind - and a sustainable schedule going forwards - here are some clear thoughts that have come out of the semi-hiatus.
1 - Intrepid Magazine exists to share your stories
Nothing profound in the slightest. And yet, something that needs resaying over and over. Last year I went down the road of focussing on editorial, which attracted pitches from professional writers. That absolutely has a place, but I feel like we lost something of the openness. That suddenly an imposter syndrome appeared in my submissions inbox.
I imagine the vibe like sitting round a campfire: everyone takes it in turns to tell a story. Some are more polished but they’re all worth listening to and everyone gets a chance to share. That means we’ll be focussing on sharing as many stories as possible, especially the ones you won’t find in bigger publications. And even, occasionally, my stories.
2 - We are a community first and foremost
Note to self: remember the magazine exists to connect us and to help us. To help build that writing portfolio you need for that dream job. To help promote that expedition, that book, that way of living. To help get that gear support and find those awesome teammates.
I cannot stress how literally I mean this. Personally, I spent so long running into walls: no self-promotion allowed, no funding, no audience… no clue how to get where I want to be! Now I’ve spent 7 years in the adventure industry. If you ever hit a wall, this magazine is a tool to help you find a way round, over or under. Tell us and we’ll find a way to make it happen. Ask and we will help.
Moving forwards, we’ll be also more flexible with when emails come out. After five years of emailing every Wednesday, I’d become a slave to the editorial calendar. Well, turns out I’m not a routine sort of girl - and I’ve finally learnt it. We’ll aim for one email a week still, around about mid-week, but with a less regimented schedule. More freedom, less guilt tripping. (Heck, you might not even notice the difference, but it means a lot to me.)
Adventure News
Tegan Phillips, of hilarious adventure cartoon fame, is setting out to cycling from Cairo to her home in Cape Town on 16th October 2022. She’s aiming to set the women’s world record on this legendary route, sharing the story along the way, and is crowdfunding to help support it. All the details here.
The East Devon Trail launched at the start of May. It’s 185km bikepacking route pioneered by Katherine Moore. Ride it here.
If you’re a dot watcher like me, the Cape Wrath Ultra is on this week (a friend of mine is running). Here’s an interesting read from Sarah Russel about how she’s doing it, as a runner with a stoma. Of course, anyone can do the Cape Wrath Trail any time of the year (ish).
Katrina Megget is sailing around the coast of Great Britain with her partner Mark. She’s very new to sailing and blogging along the way. Read her introduction post here.
Jasmine Harrison is swimming 900NM from Lands end to John O’Groats - only Ross Edgley and Sean Conway have ever done it before. She’s aiming to set off in July so follow her on Instagram for updates.
And a last second addition: Kristin Harila has broken Nims Purja’s record, summiting the first 5 of 14 peaks over 8000m in 24 days. One to watch! Read about it here.
Read, Listen, Watch - Our Picks
Steph Cooke writes about hiking the Hadrian’s Wall Path.
National Geographic have a profile on Hafida Hdoubane Morocco’s first female mountain guide.
Gail Muller has been hiking the paths of Cornwall and vlogging her adventures. You can watch them on her YouTube channel. Don’t forget, members can also read an extract of Gail’s book Unlost.
We talk a lot about going on huge adventures, but rarely about giving them up. Here’s a really important read from Rosie Watson about letting go of her New Story Run post-pandemic.
Obviously, we can’t squeeze all the adventures in the world into this tiny email. Follow us on Instagram for more - we share lots in our stories. Equally, if you’d like to feature here or would like a little social boost - or just see something we might like too - tag us @intrepid_advmag or hit reply to this email.
Book of the Month
Wild Waters by Susanne Masters: A wildlife and water lover's companion to the aquatic world
An aquatic perspective on wildlife and wild landscapes in Britain and Ireland, Wild Waters is orientated towards the reader situating themselves in the outdoors.
Susanne, the author, and Alice, the illustrator, met on a beach sea swimming. Wild Waters is a work collaboration that taps into years of their adventures, exploring different seas and bodies of freshwater in Britain and Ireland.
About the Author
Susanne has published academic research on wildlife trade, and written features for the New York Times, Guardian newspaper, BBC and other outlets. She also works with distilleries and spas on ingredient selection and developing sustainable supply chains. In Wild Waters Susanne reveals the connections between people, wildlife and wild landscapes in Britain and Ireland.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ethnobotanica
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mastersmiss/
Read the Book
Here is your sample of this beautifully illustrated book. If you want to keep going, you can purchase the full book direct from the publisher, from local bookshops (you may need to request a copy to have it ordered in) and on Amazon. The book is available as a paperback or e-book.
Not yet a member? You can get access via this friendly button
Notice Board
I am putting together some resources to help people with things relating to media (e.g. how to do a PR release, how to write a good pitch, what the heck is SEO). The kind of things that are “obvious” or unspoken rules within the media industry, but no one explains to people trying to get started. If you have questions you’d like answered, please put them in the comments.
And before I run for the hills, if you have any interest in packrafting and Norway - especially Lofoten, get in touch! Putting out feelers for a potential Intrepid expedition in the near future. And remember I said interest, not necessarily experience. Don’t write yourself off if you’re super-excited, I’ve never packrafted either.
Speak to you soon and stay intrepid,
Emily
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