Happiful – August 2019

Writing | Lucy Donoughue

Continuously embarking on dangerous expeditions for his work, Aldo Kane leads an

adrenaline-fuelled lifestyle. However, as he tells Happiful, a sense of calm and

appreciation is always available to you when you learn to live in the moment

32 • happiful.com • August 2019

I

’ve caught Aldo Kane in a

rare moment of quiet. He’s

back home, in London, in

the middle of a round of

interviews and photoshoots,

before preparing for his next

exciting expedition to Thailand,

Laos, and Vietnam.

As a former Royal Marine sniper

and current-day TV adventurer,

explorer and presenter, Aldo is

used to spending long periods

away from the UK, exploring the

world. In the past two years alone,

he completed a world record-

breaking row from Portugal to

Venezuela with Team Essence and

long-time pal Jason Fox, spent

three months in South America

filming Meet The Drug Lords:

Inside The Real Narcos for Channel

4, worked with Steve Backshall

on Undiscovered Worlds, had two

stints in active volcanoes for

Expedition Volcano, and worked on

National Geographic’s One Strange

Rock with Will Smith – and the list

of adventures goes on.

To say that Aldo has experience

of negotiating extreme and

hostile situations, both on and off

camera, is an understatement.

“I’ve been living like this since I

was 16,” he says, referring to when

he went into the armed forces.

“Although I’ve probably been in

more hardcore and high octane

situations since I left the Marines.”

I can only imagine...

With physical strength and a high

state of awareness being so hugely

important for Aldo’s work, it’s

hard to picture what he does in his

downtime, away from the cameras

and pulse-racing activities.

“I always need to be mentally

and physically fit for the next stint,

whatever that might be, so when

I’ve got two weeks off between

jobs I’m not sitting around eating

donuts!” Aldo laughs.

“I’m in the gym, doing crossfit

training, because my body needs

to be prepared to run away from

danger, to escape, fight, whatever

is needed in the moment, and

my brain needs to be ready and

working together with my body to

help me achieve that.”

This marriage of mental and

physical is a recurring theme

as we chat, along with Aldo’s

love of the outdoors. “The

most important thing for me,

mentally,” he adds, “is being

outside and being active. It’s so

crucial to get out in nature at least

once a day. It’s there for everyone,

and it’s free.”

Despite the breathtaking, far-

flung locations Aldo has filmed

in, he still finds that it’s the UK’s

capital where he regularly gets

the most benefit from open air

exercise – as it’s the place where

he doesn’t have to be “hard-wired

into the environment”, as he does

on location.

My body needs to

be prepared to run

away from danger,

to escape, fight,

whatever is needed

in the moment, and

my brain needs to be

ready and working

together with my

body to help me

achieve that

Right here

and now