I've got something special for you today: a true adventure story set in the Far North that I underwent a few years ago after a kidney transplant. I ended up learning a LOT about mental toughness, resilience, and strategies for making progress when I was absolutely at the end of my rope, lessons that I think are universally applicable. Please check out the first three chapters of the … [Read more...]
Outdoors
Come and Hang Out at the Perseverance Book Tour
In March, 2025, I'm doing some free presentations and meet-and-greets in to promote my new book Perseverance, Life and Death in the Subarctic. "Waitaminute," you might say, "I thought you were a jiu-jitsu guy? What's with this outdoor adventure rubbish?!?" Well, nominally, this book is about a 1000-mile solo trip I did in the Arctic after a kidney transplant, but there's a lot of overlap in … [Read more...]
Stephan Kesting Alone in the Arctic
As I can remember, the twin passions of my life have been the martial arts and the outdoors. This last summer I stepped off the mat, flew for 2 hours in a 72-year-old bush plane, and stepped into a canoe to do a 19 day solo trip through polar bear and caribou country in the Canadian Arctic. I'm finally getting around to releasing the videos from that trip. Here's episode 1... The … [Read more...]
Three Big BJJ Lessons Learned on a Solo Trip in the Arctic
Earlier this summer I completed a beautiful and difficult 19-day solo canoe trip in the Canadian Arctic. There's a lot of time to think on a trip like this, and here are the 3 big lessons I learned... You can order my new book "Perseverance, Life and Death in the Subarctic" on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indigo/Chapters, or your local bookstore! Three Big BJJ Lessons Learned on a Solo … [Read more...]
BJJ vs Bears – Lessons Learned on a Solo Expedition in the Arctic
I just recently got home from a difficult solo canoe trip in the Canadian Arctic where I didn’t see anyone for weeks. Bears, storms, icebergs and exhaustion, this adventure had it all. Since I was alone, I had a lot of time to think. A big takeaway was how relevant some aspects of this wilderness stuff were to jiu-jitsu. Here are the three big lessons I learned from that trip, and how they … [Read more...]
Lessons Learned from Extreme Athletes Like Alex Honnold
From war-torn Africa to climbing remote peaks in Greenland with Alex Honnold, Matt Pycroft has built a very impressive career working as a journalist and filmmaker. In our conversation he goes into detail how he gradually acquired the skills to achieve his goals and the lessons he's learned working with extreme athletes in inhospitable settings all over the globe. Follow Matt on Instagram … [Read more...]
Alone on Everest with Jost Kobusch
On episode 392 of The Strenuous Life Podcast I'm joined by the amazing Jost Kobusch. Jost is a German mountaineer who spent two seasons on Everest trying to ascend the legendarily difficult West Ridge route and the Hornbein Couloir alone, without oxygen, and in the middle of the brutal Himalayan winter. We covered a TON of interesting topics, including 00:00 Jost Kobusch's plans for … [Read more...]
Physical Endurance and Mental Toughness with James ‘The Biking Viking’ Benson King
Physical Endurance and Mental Toughness with James Benson King (Video Version) James 'The Biking Viking' Benson King is cycling from Alaska at the very top of North America to Argentina at the very bottom of South America. He's covered thousands of miles, endured injuries, dealt with bears, and gone deep into the reservoirs of his endurance. In this episode we talk about his mental and … [Read more...]
Extreme Whitewater Canoeing, with Paul Mason
Paul Mason is one of Canada's foremost whitewater instructors and the son of Paul Mason, the man who introduced canoeing to the world with the "Path of the Paddle" films and book. I was thrilled to talk to him about extreme bigwater canoeing, steep creeking, quantifiable repeated practice, the most common whitewater hazards, and how to get better at difficult sports as fast as … [Read more...]
How to Get Started in Outdoor Adventures (Podcast)
In episode 354 I chat with Mikaela Ferguson who has been introducing people to the outdoors for years with her guiding and with her writing. This is a subject near and dear to my heart, so we geeked out about how to get started in the outdoors, paddling safety, dealing with bears, gear choice, surviving thunderstorms and more! How to Get Started in Outdoor Adventures, with Mikaela Ferguson … [Read more...]
Exploring the Remote Northern Wilderness with Adam Shoalts
Canadian explorer Adam Shoalts is back to talk about some of his recent expeditions, including a search for a mythical beast in the wilds of Northern Labrador. We also discussed balancing family and adventure, the early explorers, his approach to selecting gear, food and travelling companions, and much more! Find out more about Adam at adamshoalts.com, follow him on Instagram at … [Read more...]
The 2021 Seal River Expedition
The two things I have enjoyed doing more than anything else in my life are training martial arts and spending time in the wilderness. A few years ago I undertook a 1,000 mile solo trip in the Canadian Subarctic and Arctic. Although I was way, Way, WAY out of cell phone range for that trip I did manage to upload pictures and stories from the field using a finicky satellite dish. People really … [Read more...]
5 Principles For Evaluating Physical Risk
I've participated in a quite a few inherently risky activities in my life. Obviously there's the training, sparring and competing in a variety of martial arts including BJJ, Judo, Muay Thai and full contact stickfighting. But in addition to the martial arts stuff I've also been a firefighter since 1999, hazardous materials responder, a whitewater kayaker and solo expedition canoeist, all of … [Read more...]
An Interview with Frank Wolf – Explorer, Adventurer, Author, Filmmaker
In episode 295 of The Strenuous Life Podcast I talk with Frank Wolf who exemplifies endurance, determination and perseverance. His first major expedition 25 years ago was an epic 8,000 kilometer paddle across Canada in a single season and he hasn't slowed down since. Whether it's cycling 2,000 km on the frozen Yukon River in winter or paddling the entire coast of British Columbia he's … [Read more...]
An Interview with Adam Shoalts, Canadian Explorer
Adam Shoalts, author of "Alone Against the North" and "Beyond the Trees" is a professional adventurer and explorer. He has completed a 4,000 km solo trip across the Canadian Arctic, explored unknown rivers in the Hudson Bay Lowlands, and is a fellow in the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. I was thrilled to have him on my podcast, and I hope you enjoy his tales of adventure as much as … [Read more...]
My Solo 1000 Mile Journey from Missinipe Saskatchewan to Arviat Nunavut, Updates from the Field
I'm started this post before setting out on a 1000 mile journey by canoe, alone across the northern boreal forest and Canadian tundra. 12 days before I started the trip I shot a video answering most the questions I got before the trip (what about bears, what kind of boat, will I be fishing, etc.) and going into detail about my plans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrAU1acJCEM The … [Read more...]
How to Achieve Giant Goals
Big goals take a long time and a lot of work to accomplish, otherwise everyone would do them! The 1000 Mile Solo trip that I pulled off in the summer of 2019 had actually been a looooong time in the making. It was actually in 1992 that I first heard of Nueltin Lake and the Thlewiaza River and thought that someday, somehow, I would like to do that journey. (I came across this route while … [Read more...]
The Realities of Wilderness Travel
In the Instagram lifestyle you only see people's highlight reels. That one perfect photo of someone doing something much cooler than you. But this is a heavily edited and curated version of that person's life. What that perfect photo doesn't convey is all the blood, sweat and tears that went into setting up the situation in which that photo could be taken. This topic of reality vs … [Read more...]
Why Do a Major Wilderness Trip Alone?
When I told people I would be going on a canoe expedition in the arctic for 6 to 7 weeks alone (The 1000 Mile Solo), most thought it was a strange thing to be traveling in complete solitude for so long. Here's the thing... as a species we are mostly pack animals, but I also think it's an important part of the human experience to be able to do things on your own once in a while. If you are … [Read more...]
ABT, or “Always Be Thinking” (Podcast Episode 224)
When the going gets tough then the tough get thinking! This episode of The Strenuous Life Podcast was recorded by me in a tent on the 1000 Mile Solo. Nominally it's about the difficulties of navigating across some of the biggest and most complex lakes in North America, but the larger concept of not shutting off your mind when things get difficult definitely applies to many different kinds of … [Read more...]