‘The Secret Life Of Adventurers’ was a fun article out in the September edition of the EasyJet on flight magazine. I have no idea how I made the cut of 11 adventures, alongside such adventure royalty as; Ranulph Fiennes, Bear Grylls, Uelli Steck, Alain Robert, Borge Ousland etc… but it seems I was the only one that mentioned Strictly Come Dancing, Whitney Houston, petticoats & high heels 
(Girlie to the core!)
I’m so lazy. My default setting is sofa, a cup of tea and Strictly Come Dancing
Journalist Jez Lazell asked us all 12 questions, that he was then able to pick and choose from for his article. I think the ‘non-adventure’ based questions that he asked resulted in showing us that, although these people have achieved extraordinary things they are also far more ‘normal’ than maybe you had imagined them to be.
1/ First childhood adventure? I don’t recall any childhood adventures, as growing up was all about horses and competing at three day eventing. My first adventure wasn’t until I was 25 when I walked the entire 4600km length of the Great Wall of China, and it was life-changing.
2/ Favourite place in Europe? Lake Annecy, France. The scenery is incredible, the weather is always fabulous. The pistachio macaroons in Au Fidèle Berger are heavenly. And my most favourite spot is to cycle up the Col de la Forclaz to look down over the whole lake.
3/ Worst place on the planet, and why? The Southern Patagonian Icecap! From the edges, looking up at the icecap, it is one of the most stunning places on earth. However, in my 30 days up on the icecap the weather was so horrific I saw the sky just twice! A place described as somewhere “The wind drops you to your knees and the snow buries you alive” and it’s no exaggeration!
4/ What does your dream Sunday look like away from expeditions? My dream Sunday is a gloriously sunny day in the French Alps (where I live), cycling up some of the beautiful high mountain cols and taking in the breathtaking views of turquoise lakes and snowy mountain peaks with a long lunch.
5/ What has life taught you? That the feeling of accomplishment, achievement or success is DIRECTLY proportional to the effort, commitment and hardship put into achieving it.
6/ What words do you most overuse? All of them! I’m told I talk too much! But on expedition there is never as much talking going on, I tend to suffer in silence. If I had to choose a word I say too much on expedition then it would be ‘hate’. Hate is a strong word, and I overuse by saying I hate this trip, I hate this bike, I hate this country, I hate this weather… but what I really mean is ‘I’m finding it tough right now’.
7/ If you could go back in time, where/when would it be – and WHY? The Hollywood glamour of the 1950’s. I am totally seduced by the style and beauty of the era and the icons of Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly. There are definitely two me’s. If I’m not in sports kit then I love to be girly and glamourous. 50’s dresses, full petticoats, high heels, pearls, big hats …I love it.
8/ Favourite piece of music – and WHY? 1492 Conquest of Paradise, Vangelis. A beautiful powerful piece of music that I associate with completing the walking the Great Wall of China and subsequently continue to use it to motivate me and inspire me to achieve more.
9/ Tell us a secret? I’m lazy by nature! My default setting (that I constantly have to override) is to lay on the sofa with a cup of tea dunking Rich Tea biscuits watching Strictly Come Dancing on the telly (…oh to be on that show, heaven).
10/ Closest you’ve come to death? Goodness… so many to choose from! Probably when my tent was destroyed in a storm on the Southern Patagonian Icecap and I was being buried alive with no way of taking shelter. I had to make a difficult decision about whether to call my parents to say goodbye or not, as I didn’t believe I would survive the night. (I didn’t make the call!) Or maybe when I stopped breathing due to Carbon Monoxide poising from the stove cooker in my tent! On that occasion, I was thankfully resuscitated by my husband.
11/ Favourite Song? Whitney Houston, I wanna dance with somebody, because it could never fail to make me smile and want to dance.
12/ Guilty pleasure? 80’s rock power ballads!
You can read the full Easyjet Magazine article here starting on page 47.
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