Hi, and welcome to my site where I document a life lived adventurously in search of understanding the Earth. I invite you to share in my adventures, expeditions and exploration, to embrace the outdoors and the natural world, and to escape modern comforts (most of the time anyway). Along the way, I’ll share extraordinary places and delve into how, geologically, they came to be the beautiful landscapes they are now as well as how we should be careful to preserve them.

Hi! I’m so glad you’ve discovered my site, a diary of outdoor pursuits and adventures, filled with all my favourite photographic moments and the geological pasts that brought the different physical landscapes I visit into being. Also featured here are accounts of the routes that have led me to where I find myself now, and where I might go next. In this post, I would like to take you on a brief tour of these routes and, in doing so, share with you how living adventurously can be limitlessly life-shaping and change how we perceive the world.

1. Volcanoes, volcanoes, volcanoes.

I have long been drawn to the natural world, but it was volcanoes that held me captivated on the subject because what better spectacle of nature is there than roaring, incandescent mountains? I am convinced that everyone can appreciate their fiery lure, but for me this lure was inescapable, and I oriented myself in high school towards studying them at university.

My love of volcanoes took me to the Land of Fire and Ice. Of course, Iceland is now such a popular destination for adventure tourism, hiking, and road-tripping that it is found on many people’s bucket lists. As an avid volcano-lover, it was certainly on mine. Iceland cemented my fascination with volcanoes and directed my application to study Geology/Earth Sciences.

Read more about my Adventures in Iceland!

Well, seven years after visiting Iceland, here I am in my final year of an integrated master’s degree in Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford, specialising in Volcanology, specifically, the infamous Mt. Vesuvius. My project looks at what it is about Vesuvius’ geochemistry that makes it a special volcano. If you’re interested in hearing more about ‘my’ volcano, then head over here. If you want to know what it is like to study Earth Sciences more broadly, then jump over to this post.

You could say I made my dream come true, and in many ways I have. Almost. I have been fortunate to be working amongst top volcanologists making important discoveries about how volcanoes work. But we all know that nothing in life ever goes to plan. Dreams shift, new opportunities arise. For sure, I still love volcanoes and very much plan on doing a volcano-hopping holiday one day. Volcanoes are endlessly exciting and mesmerising, but I have realised my interest in them is more in awe than in honing the scientific minutiae from a laboratory. In other words, the attraction of physical exploration has prevailed, directing me here to actively explore the world, and share those passions with you.

2. Down in deepest Peru

Other aspects of exploration and the natural world have led me here, too. At the age of 16, I self-fundraised more than £4000 to join a expedition to Peru with Outlook Expeditions. This adventure took me into the Amazon Rainforest; up into the gleaming mountains of Andes following the 8-day Choquequirao Trek; to sand-boarding in the sun-drenched Peruvian desert that splits the mountains from the Pacific Ocean, and finally to the joyful community of Azul Wasi Boys’ School in the Cusco Valley where my team and I helped continue the school’s construction work and, more importantly, embraced their vibrant, community life.

Only several years later have I realised how deeply my experiences in Peru have formed how I perceive many aspects of life. I attribute a large part of my sense of adventure to Peru, and to my expedition leader, Bug, both of these serving as a constant reminder to focus my aspirations towards living life as wholly as possible.

Travel over here to learn more about how a month’s expedition to Peru shaped my adventure-oriented mindset.

3. We’re going on a bear hunt…

Do you know the children’s story book ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ by author, Michael Rosen? Something about the children and their parents exploring the wilds of the countryside in search of a bear was very appealing to me as a child. They had to wade through ‘long wavy grass’, cross a ‘deep cold river’, blaze through a ‘big dark forest’, etc. Reciting the tale of this book became one of many curious pasttimes whilst traversing the English countryside on one of my Duke of Edinburgh’s (DofE) Award expeditions. My team and I shared the bear-hunting children’s attraction to exploration whilst hiking for all hours of the day, despite the many obstacles faced. This mentality of fortitude remains with me today and I carry it with me on each new expedition.

For those unaware, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is an initiative set up by HRH, the late Prince Philip, who sought to encourage young people to challenge themselves: physically, mentally, and socially, through multi-day expeditions, commitments to a new sport and hobby, and volunteering in their local communities. The Award helps young people to build-up their skillsets and foster attributes of resilience and perseverance. I was fortunate to undertake all three levels of the award, Bronze, Silver, and Gold, which all were enriching and formative experiences. Eventually, I hope to become a DofE leader myself, having benefitted so much from the initiative.

You can read more about my DofE experiences here and the Reasons why you should do your DofE.

4. Climbing, hiking, and, maybe, mountaineering…

I’ve already given some introduction to my expedition experiences with trips to Iceland, Peru, and on DofE expeditions, but all of these mentioned so far have been hiking expeditions. Recently, climbing has entered my life, forging another facet of Adventure Becca, which I hope could lead to mountaineering.

My love of climbing is both old and new. It is also inexplicable since I grew up in a very risk-averse family – my mum is petrified of heights and danger generally – whereas climbing is inherently full of risk. I remember coming back from an outdoor residential at the end of primary school and my teacher telling my mum that I was an adrenaline junkie. Maybe this was a premature assumption given I was only 11 at the time, but maybe the teacher was onto something. In any case, I joined the Oxford University Mountaineering Club after arriving at the university and, coming towards the end of my degree, began what could be an enduring obsession with climbing.

Why is climbing, an intrinsically risk activity, so attractive? For me, there is certain excitement in the knife-edge situations that climbing and mountaineering present. The critical decisions made on precarious cliff-face ascents and uncertain terrain – they all provoke alertness and awareness that is non-existent in everyday life. You could even call it an extreme form of mindfulness, or at least awareness. In these situations, little else matters and all other complexities fall away.

Climbing also provides many of the same founding aspects of other sports. A climber is trained in endurance, flexibility, agility, discipline, and perseverance. In mountain settings, climbing requires great integrity, but, overall, climbing’s principles are as true indoors on the bouldering walls as they are outdoors in the hills. Indoor climbing also provides refuge and a training ground during the howling winter months, and this is especially helpful for those who do not live near suitable climbing locations (like me, currently), while outdoor climbing permits that connection with the natural world that I find so important. So, while I may be relatively new to the sport, climbing resonates with me deeply, such that I can already attest to the qualities of mind and body it requires.

5. In books, we trust.

And finally, how would my adventure story have begun without reading others’ adventures? In books we find so much richness, but I think this is particularly the case with adventure books. From children’s fantasy adventures like Enid Blyton’s ‘The Faraway Tree’ (one of my childhood favourites), Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice In Wonderland’, and J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit, or There and Back Again’ and, of course, ‘The Lord Of The Rings’, to the very real tales of fortitude in the mountains like Jon Krakauer’s ‘Into Thin Air’ and other such recounts of endurance encountered in the Earth’s extreme environments, such as the polar expeditions that marked the start of the 20th century. These all have adventure at their core and sit among some pivotal pieces of adventure literature I have read in my life so far. There are many more – my adventure reading list is always growing, especially as more females enter the outdoor writing scene.

Of the transformed adventurer, Bilbo Baggins, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, “I think I’m quite ready for another adventure.” The little Hobbit proved that there is adventure in everyone. Removed from the comfort of his little Hobbit Hole and thrown onto a dangerous quest fighting dragons and the warrior foe of Middle Earth, he finds that his soul expands facing new, challenging, and ‘unexpected’ experiences. I believe there is so much to learn from this narrative, so much to be gained from living outside our comfort zones.

If you’re not sure where to find your next pulse of adventure inspiration, check out this shortlist of my favourite adventure books. All of them are sure to inspire and motivate you, for whatever mountain is ahead!

6. Live life adventurously, my mantra.

If there’s one mentality I believe in, it is to live life adventurously. I hope through my site and my writing that I can encourage you to do the same.

Get up early. See the sunrise. Beat the traffic, and take the scenic route. Try new things. Step outside your comfort zone. Push your limits. Forge new paths. Aim high – it’s now or never! Life is an adventure, so live life adventurously.

Yours,