_21st century explorer Levison Wood on his global, jaw-dropping adventures

Ernest Shackleton, Robert Falcon Scott, David Livingstone - history is rich with figures such as these; the bold, the brave and the exceptional Brits who pushed human limits and the curled edges of maps to venture where no one had gone before.

And yet perhaps it should be noted that, for many an explorer, the “where” in question is often of little importance. As Livingstone once famously said, “I will go anywhere, provided it be forward.”

Whether you’re hearing tales, reading diaries or watching documentaries on the histories of these famous explorers, you can never fail to be inspired.

Of course, most of us simply take quotes like the aforementioned, post them on nice backgrounds to our Instagram timelines and be done with it but not Wood.

The 36-year-old best-selling author, photographer and writer from Staffordshire will undoubtedly feature in many a history book for years to come.

“My first love has always been travel and adventure” he tells us in the video above. “Ever since I was 18 and went off on my first very cliched gap year travelling South East Asia and Australia, I just got the travel bug.” 

Of course, if you’re familiar with Wood, you’ll know his idea of a “travel bug” is more than just a couple of weeks of sunning himself in the Balearics.

After returning to the UK, he opted to join the parachute regiment, where he spent five years as an Officer in the British Parachute Regiment, serving in Afghanistan, and eventually being promoted to Captain.

You would think, after leaving the army in 2010, he’d maybe put his feet up – content with having served his queen and country. 

Outside of the military, Wood is perhaps best known for his jaw-dropping feats and expeditions, well documented in his books and Channel 4 television series. In 2014, he became the first man to walk the 3,750 miles of the River Nile.

In 2015, he walked the length of the Himalayas from Afghanistan to Bhutan. In 2017, he trekked 1,800 miles from Mexico to Colombia. Most recently, he returned from his most ambitious challenge yet – a 5,000 mile expedition through the Arabian Peninsula, from Iraq to Lebanon. 

And that’s only scraping the surface of the explorer’s epic travels – each with their fair share of, what he likes to call, tricky moments.

“I’ve being shot at and ambushed by ISIS in Iraq, chased after by a hippo in Uganda, snapped at by crocodiles on the River Nile, been right on the front line in Syria, had spears thrown at me in Central Africa” – the list really does go on. 

But from speaking with Wood, it’s clear that these adventures are about more than racking up miles, setting records or getting his pulse racing.

“What I’ve found is that in the places we often perceive to be dangerous or off-limits,“ he says, “that’s where you’ll meet some of the most incredible people who offer the most amazing hospitality.”

Not only that, Wood’s travels have seen him capture moments of incredibly humanity – no doubt contributing to him being as notable a photographer as a writer and explorer.

Watch the video above, as he tells us of one such moment in the Middle East, where he encountered an old man pushing a bicycle. 

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