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...]
Outdoors
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...]
Follow Your Dreams? Yes, Absolutely, But It’s Not As Simple As Some Would Lead You to Believe…
People tend to believe that to chase a dream, one must keep working on it at full speed and total intensity until they achieve it. And while you DEFINITELY need commitment and consistency to get anywhere having a super-hardcore approach all the time can be a giant mistake. For example, the physically intense 1000 mile solo canoe trip that I did in the summer of 2019 took years to organise, and … [Read more...]
7 Tips for Maintaining Motivation
Do you ever find yourself struggling to stay on track and complete a task that you've wanted to do for a long time? Of course you have, and it's completely normal! We all have moments where we just can't seem to find any motivation. Let's talk about how to maintain motivation over the long haul. How to Achieve Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals Here's the truth of the matter... Achieving any … [Read more...]
1000 Miles by Canoe in the Arctic, Alone
In this episode I talk about a 1,000 mile solo trip through Canada's arctic that I'm planning to do from July 1st to mid August 2019. This trip is both to celebrate having survived a kidney transplant and to bring awareness to organ donation (click here for the full story on that). If f you have Google Earth installed on your computer then here's a Google Drive link for the kmz file for … [Read more...]
Date-Almond Energy Balls
Yes I'm sharing a recipe today but don't worry, there's no danger of this turning into a cooking blog!!! It's just that I've been asked for this recipe so many times that it would be silly not to have a post I can point people to. Obviously do lot of jiu-jitsu and fitness stuff, but the outdoors are a big part of my life as well. For example, after my kidney transplant in 2015 a huge … [Read more...]
Mindset, Preparation and Close Calls with Ice Climber Will Gadd
Will Gadd is an extreme athlete, perhaps best known for ice climbing Niagara Falls in the winter (video at the bottom of this page). But he's also pioneered many novel routes, including Helmcken Falls, icebergs in the ocean, and underground river tunnels in the Greenland ice. In this chat we talked about those first ascents, but also touched on mindset, dealing with risk and unknowns, … [Read more...]
Podcast Episode 156 with Survivorman Les Stroud
This conversation with Survivorman Les Stroud might be one of my favourite Strenuous Life Podcast episodes ever! Les Stroud has produced many survival-themed shows for The Discovery Channel, The Science Channel, The Outdoor Life Network, and YTV. In these shows he usually goes out into very challenging wilderness situations and tries to survive using only the materials at hand and minimal … [Read more...]
Belugas, Bears and an Offshore Tide on Hudson Bay
Fair warning: what I’m talking about today has absolutely nothing to do with martial arts training. But – in keeping with a previous theme – it has everything to do with deliberately facing self-imposed challenges, whatever they may be. This article is really a continuation of a previous one discussing why martial arts training provides some of the few ‘real’ rites of passage in today’s society … [Read more...]