I am Sarah Outen, a young(ish) adventurer at 2.5 decades old, hooked on life and wild places, and inspiring others to follow their own dreams.
One day I will be a teacher, be it in a classroom or not, and for now I am enjoying the opportunities to share my experiences and encourage other people to find and redefine their own boundaries.
I love adventure – the feeling of not quite knowing if or how you will make your destination, of pushing the limits and testing yourself against yourself and the elements. My love of the wild led me to a degree in Biology at the University of Oxford and in 2009 took me out to sea on the biggest adventure of my life, rowing across the Indian Ocean. It is this that has inspired me to go on to more crazy wonderful journeys in which I can find more stories to share and push my boundaries more and more.
Indian Ocean Row
In 2009, I became the first and only woman to have rowed solo across the Indian Ocean. The 124 day journey took me from South West Australia to Mauritius and captured the imagination of people around the globe. As a result, I have three Guinness World records.
Inspired by the ocean and the energy and drama of nature, and driven by the satisfaction of making human powered journeys, I wondered what it would be like to make a long distance journey on land too. This led me to wonder what it would be like to journey right around the planet – and so the London to London: via the World project was born.
Since the Indian Ocean row, I have been elected Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, won a Best of Explorers Web award 2009, established myself as a motivational and educational speaker. I have featured in various books including Ocean Portraits by Dr Huw Lewis-Jones, Extreme Journeys and the 2011 Guinness Book of Records. The first of my own books, ‘A Dip in the Ocean‘ was published in February 2011.
Whilst out on the Indian Ocean, I dreamed of cycling across continents, meeting new cultures and seeing landscapes change. When I returned to dry land, I yearned for the ocean once more. I knew my next project had to involve both green and blue bits of the globe, and so started my quest to journey right around the planet under my own power.
London to London: Via the World
This will be my greatest expedition to date. I left London’s Tower Bridge on April 1st 2011, kayaked down the Thames and across the English Channel, and then cycled over 11,000 miles. I shall set out to row, cycle and kayak right around the world, finding stories as I go. Although I shall be travelling solo again, this is to be a shared adventure, bringing the expedition to classrooms, offices and homes right around the world.
I have a great team working with me, planning routes and logistics, and to help me train for different phases of this 2.5 year project which will include cycling across Europe, Asia, America and Canada and rowing the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans. It promises to be epic and exciting ad I can’t wait to tell you more about it.
Born to be Wild
I do all that I can to shout about how brilliant wildlife is and to support project and charities which promote greater understand of the environment and campaign for increased protection of resources, habitats and landscapes. it’s all about joined up thinking – life on the ocean showed me that everything is connected and we all have a duty to stand up and be counted and take responsibility for our action. Time is running out – fish stocks are forecast to collapse by 2050, species are going extinct at a rate of knots, rubbish is filling the oceans and habitats are being destroyed.
Official Website: www.sarahouten.com
Twitter: @SarahOuten
YouTube: www.youtube.com/SarahOuten
