The Laptop I Nearly Left in Singapore and More Motivational Speaker’s Adventures
From the mad dash to get to Changi Airport to dressing up as an explorer in Manila, two recent speaking engagements show the behind-the-scenes of a motivational speaker’s adventures I think this feeling is something that a keynote speaker knows. You are at the back of your rideshare with just minutes to spare to catch […]
Stories Matter Beyond Adventure
Two recent speaking events — one for the Royal Geographical Society in Hong Kong, another for the 1,000 tourism leaders at Visit California in San Diego — gave me the chance to reflect on why stories matter beyond adventure and what expeditions really teaches us. Going Deeper: The Challenges of the Taklamakan Desert The Royal […]
Thinking Like An Adventurer
Thinking like an adventurer can help one survive and thrive in an expedition. Contrary to what many think, one’s environment in an expedition really doesn’t matter that much. There will always be some techniques that one can implement through different topographies and climates. For example, there are some tips on how to survive in the […]
Kicking Off 2026 at Full Speed (and Learning to Slow Down)
Here’s to kicking off 2026 – a year when I want to cultivate meaningful connections and a self-care habit.
Reflecting on 2025: Resilience, Agility & Shared Moments
teful At the end of 2025, I shared a brief summary reflecting on 2025 over at LinkedIn — just a handful of numbers and a short thank you. What felt like 42 seconds of reflection actually stands in for a year full of movement, connection, challenge, and meaning. Here’s a little more of what those […]
How to Navigate Uncontrollables with Resilience and Agility
One of the things all my expeditions have in common — whether through ice, desert, mountains, jungles, or even warzones — is that they are full of uncontrollables. On a long bicycle ride across Siberia, the wind may suddenly shift and you’ll have head winds on top of -40C. In the Taklamakan Desert, a sudden […]
How to Handle Failure and Grow Resilience: Lessons from a Desert Expedition
How to handle failure is such an interesting — and often uncomfortable — part of life. Everyone who tries to do anything meaningful will encounter plenty of it. And yet even small failures — in work, relationships, or personal endeavours — can feel devastating. Many of us have a tendency to focus obsessively on the […]
Speaking at IHG
Great fun last week speaking at IHG SEA and Korea in Bangkok, Thailand. I gave an interactive keynote for their general managers and leadership. They created a beautiful stage and seating. I am always amazed when impressive leaders come up to me after a talk and say they could never walk across a desert, etc, like […]
Dune 2?
Last week, I finally submitted a draft of my latest book to the publisher. It was a long project – it was a book about walking across a desert and writing it felt a bit like… walking across a desert. Afterwards, Christine and I took a couple of days off to celebrate, which included going […]
Note to self: imposter syndrome?
Have you ever thought whether you might have an imposter syndrome? Earlier in the summer, giving a series of talks to a large financial institution in Singapore, I enjoyed how deep we got in the Q&A time. In particular, we went into depth with a question of ‘why’ I do my adventures, by reflecting on […]