Alastair Humphreys

Alastair Humphreys’ quest for adventure began young. Aged nine, he completed the 20 mile Yorkshire 3 Peaks challenge, then the National 3 Peaks in 24 hours aged 13. At 15 he cycled off-road across England. After leaving school, Humphreys taught for a year in South Africa.

Whilst at university (Edinburgh and Oxford) Humphreys cycled from Pakistan to China, Land’s End to John O’Groats, Turkey to Italy, Mexico to Panama and across South America. He ran a charity project in the Philippines and the London marathon dressed as a rhino.

Since graduating Humphreys has cycled round the world for four years, raced a yacht across the Atlantic Ocean, canoed 500 miles down the Yukon River and walked the length of the holy Kaveri river in India. The steaming, bubbling start of our next river, the Markarfljot.

Humphreys has also run the Marathon des Sables, (finishing as one of the ten fastest Brits despite breaking his foot during the race) and rowed to France with a paralyzed soldier. In 2010 he completed an unsupported crossing of Iceland by foot and packraft. In 2011, Humphreys decided to remain in the UK in order to encourage people to seek out adventure and wilderness closer to home, challenging themselves through microadventures. In 2012, Humphreys rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, did an expedition in Greenland and walked across the Empty Quarter desert.

Since then he has concentrated on his microadventures, encouraging people to get out and fit more adventure into their busy lives. He has worked with clients including National Geographic, Talisker, Peugeot, Skoda, easyJet, Cartier, Victorinox, Vodafone, GoPro and Adidas on this movement. Humphreys’s book, Microadventures, was an Amazon UK Top 20 Bestseller for all books. Grand Adventures reached Number 8 for all books on Amazon UK.

Humphreys has published 12 books. He is a keen photographer and videographer and pays the bills through motivational speaking at businesses.

He was chosen as one of National Geographic’s Adventurers of the Year in 2012 and won the Ordnance Survey Children’s Travel Book of the Year in 2019. Humphreys lives in a village outside London with his wife and two young children.

Humphreys is a patron of the charity Hope and Homes for Children, the Youth Adventure Trust, the Outdoor Swimming Society, and the Yorkshire Dales Society. He is a life member of the John Muir Trust, the Woodland Trust, the National Trust, a supporter of Trees for Cities, and donates at least 1% of his income to environmental charities.