Wanderlust UK – September 2019

wanderlust.co.uk September 2019 35

INTERVIEW EXPLORE

happen,toputmyselfin

situationswhereIwillmeet

strangers,eatweirdfoodand

haveunusualexperiences.

Doyouhavetipsfortacklingthe

fearofnewadventures?

I’vebeengoingonadventuresfor

over 20 yearsandI’moftenscared

aboutbeginningthetrip,but

thosescarybeginningsareusually

worthit.Ifyou’renotscaredwhen

planningyourtrip,Isuggestyou

needtothinkofsomethingalittle

bolder.Ithinkfearisanimportant

partofagoodadventure.

IthinkI’vecometorealisethat

Iquiteenjoystretchingmyself.

Ialsorealisedthatadventure

doesn’thavetobedoingthisbig,

machotoughguystu“.Mytrip

wasbasicallyamiddle-aged

Wereyounervousabout

beingsohonestaboutthat

balanceinthebook?

Itisverydi“erentfromnormal

travelbooks,soyeah,Ihadalotof

hesitations.WhenI™irstwroteit,

Iwroteitlikeanormaltravelbook,

butIfeltthattotellthestory

properlytherewasmoretoitthan

just,‘here’ssomereallycrap

buskinginSpain’.Thereareso

manybarriersthatgetintheway

ofpeople’sadventureplansthat

Ifeltitmightbehelpfultojustwrite

everythingandseewhathappens.

Isthereadrawbacktobeing

recognisedonyourtrips?

It’saverystrangething.Onalotof

mytravelsoneofthegreatjoysof

thewholeexperienceisrandom

thingshappeningandstrangers

invitingyouin,ratherthan

followinganitinerary.When

IgotrecognisedinSpainthat

reallyjarredwithmebecauseIjust

wantedtobearandomguy.

Doyouworryabouttheneedto

have‘astory’impactingonthe

travelitself?

Yes,Iwasveryconsciousonthe

tripthataswonderfulasthe

experiencewas,ifnothingbad

happened,itwouldmakeit

aterriblyboringbook.Itryto

allowspontaneousthingsto

Do youthinkbuskingisagood

way ofexperiencingaplace?

Buskingwasabrilliantwayof

givingmea™lavourofSpainandit

forcedvulnerability,whichisone

of themostimportanttoolsfor

havingagoodadventure.The

only riskisthatunlessyou’regood,

you’renotgoingtohavemuch

money,soyoudon’tgetto

experiencethenicefoodand

hotels.Hopefully,onedayI’llgo

back toSpainandgorgeonsome

nice wineandtapas.

Wouldyouliketogobackand

do it dierently?

I’d neverbeentonorth-westSpain

beforeGalicia,butIlovedit!Itwas

greenandoftenremindedmeof

the YorkshireDales.Ireallywould

love togobackwithacreditcard

and a bicycle.

Is it hardtobalanceyourjobas

an adventurerandfamilylife?

Tryingtobeallthingsisthecurse

of themodernpersonand

certainly[whenitcomesto]

parenting.Moreandmorefamilies

[are inapositionwhere]both

parentsareworkingandwantto

be goodattheircareerandbe

good parents.Myjobisgreat,but

it can behardtoreconcilegoing

on ‘holiday’andbeingathometo

put thewashingout.

ramblingholidayinSpain.Itwasn’t

veryepic,butIaddedin[the

busking]elementthatscaredme.

Nowthatyou’rebackathome,

areyoucopingwiththeitch?

TheSpaintriphelpedmerealise

thatI’veseensomanycountriesin

theworldandwhileIwouldlove

togoseeanother90,Icanalso

getalotofadventurecloserto

home.AllmylifeIhavealwayshad

thislistofadventures,butIdon’t

reallyhaveonenow.Iamquite

happytotootlearoundBritain

withmylittlemicroadventures.

Theresponseyou’vehadto

Microadventuresis

extraordinary.Whatdoyou

thinkofit?

ForyearsI’vebeentryingtostop

being‘MrMicroadventure’,but

I’vecometoacceptit’sreally

usefulforlotsofpeoplewhowant

adventures,buthavereallives.

Andthefactthatit’sserving

ausefulpurposeforsomeoneis

somethingthatIreallyenjoy.

ALASTAIR

HUMPHREYS

Having busked throughSpainwithaviolinhecanbarelyplayforhislatestbook,the

microadventure pioneer talksaboutthefearfactorandbalancinghisfamilylifeandhistravels

Gotowww.wanderlust.co.uk/199

Read the full interview online

Facin fear with...

My Midsummer Morning:

Rediscovering a Life of Adventure

(HarperCollins, £14.99) by Alastair

Humphreys is out now.

alastairhumphreys.com