
On my first expedition I learnt that if I threw myself in the deep end, I would learn how to swim (in my case, this meant cycling through a Siberian winter and learning to survive in the extreme cold). I found that fears get easier to face, the more you face them. And I learnt that there are a lot of kind people in the world. Most people want to help you, or if they can’t, to introduce you to someone who can. And finally I learnt that tough times don’t last.
It was probably either going through the jungles of Papua New Guinea with a bicycle, or dragging a home-made beach cart 1,000 km across China’s Desert of Death (The Taklamakan). Both very hard, but in different ways.
In the Takalamakan Desert in China, I almost gave up several times. I almost gave up when the dunes were too big to drag my cart across; when the police caught me; and when I got a lot of punctures from reeds. What helped was having a clear goal; calling my wife and my friends who gave encouragement and helped me regain perspective; and rewriting the negative story in my head with a more positive story about about how much I was learning, and how I still had options ahead.
Many to choose from. One morning in Siberia when it was minus 40 I woke up to see frozen waterfalls hanging off the side of the valley – extraordinary.
Follow Rob Lilwall's latest adventures
Classic Uganda
-
Observe the antics of wild chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, Uganda
-
Take a boat cruise down the Kazinga Channel in search of hippos
-
Spot rare black-maned, tree-climbing lions in Ishasha
-
Be humbled by a gorilla encounter in Bwindi Impenetrable NP
-
Enjoy unbelievable birdwatching opportunities in Africa
New Zealand for Adventure Lovers
Auckland & Waiheke Island Lake Taupo & Rotorua Queenstown, Milford Sound & Southern Lakes New Zealand Australasia
- Explore 6,000 acres of virgin beech forest at Poronui Lodge
- Cruise around the breathtaking beauty of Abel Tasman National Park
- Fly over glacial landscapes and cruise the magnificent Milford Sound
- Discover trout fishing on the rivers and lakes of Rotorua
- Enjoy a zipline adventure through evergreen forests at the Mamaku Plateau
The Lakes and Forests of Southern Ethiopia
-
Explore the chaos and colour of Addis Ababa
-
Meet Lucy, the skeleton of the world’s oldest human, in the National Museum
-
See rare Ethiopian wolves in Bale Mountains National Park
-
Marvel at the landscapes and lakes of Ethiopia’s Great Rift Valley
-
Discover the culture and traditions of the Omo River Valley tribes