British author ALASTAIR HUMPHREYS, blogger and motivational speaker, has done it all – rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, trekked 1,000 miles across the Arabian Peninsula’s Empty Quarter, and spent four years bicycling around the world.  Now he’s encouraging city dwellers to do some at-home exploring – travel the city by moonlight, camp out in the backyard, go tenting in nearby woods – that kind of thing.

ALASTAIR HUMPHREYS: “My first microadventure was when I decided to walk a lap of the M25 motorway, the 120 miles road around London. I started to get curious about where it went. It was a metaphor for finding pockets of beauty wherever you are, one of the things I love about adventure. I absolutely loved the walk.  I’m trying to remove as many barriers as possible, but the one thing I’m not willing to compromise on is you have to be out overnight. A lot of people use working from 9 to 5 as an obstacle. But instead, look at the opportunity. After 5pm, you have 16 hours that are all yours. So you can ride your bike or take the train out of town, sleep outside somewhere and come back to work maybe a bit rumpled but feeling great.”

Sketch above by SOPHIE DEAL/Wordpress; ALASTAIR HUMPHREY’s website – http://www.alastairhumphreys.com/microadventures-3/