My biography reads a bit like travel novel written by a lost (and confused) geographer…
Armed with a Geography degree from McGill University, Montreal, Canada I packed my skis and headed off to work as a ski instructor at a ski resort just outside of Seoul, South Korea for 2 winter seasons where I acquired a taste for kimchee and kaoroke. Then, following in the twenty-something tradition of “finding myself”, I went on to travel around south-east Asia for a character-building 8 months… during which I was nearly blown-up in the back of an Isuzu pick-up truck driving over a field of landmines in Cambodia, drowned during a cave-dive in Laos, thrown-overboard during 14 days of white-water rafting on the Karnali River in eastern Nepal (where we interrupted a traditional body-burning funeral), crashed a Nepali wedding at 3600m with the ‘United Nations’ while trekking the 21-day, 300km Annapurna Circuit, fled an opium den on the Thailand / Burmese border, met the Dali Lama in northern India and got my nose pierced while passing through a hippie colony (note that the latter incidents are mutually exclusive!).
Armed with a Geography degree from McGill University, Montreal, Canada I packed my skis and headed off to work as a ski instructor at a ski resort just outside of Seoul, South Korea for 2 winter seasons where I acquired a taste for kimchee and kaoroke. Then, following in the twenty-something tradition of “finding myself”, I went on to travel around south-east Asia for a character-building 8 months… during which I was nearly blown-up in the back of an Isuzu pick-up truck driving over a field of landmines in Cambodia, drowned during a cave-dive in Laos, thrown-overboard during 14 days of white-water rafting on the Karnali River in eastern Nepal (where we interrupted a traditional body-burning funeral), crashed a Nepali wedding at 3600m with the ‘United Nations’ while trekking the 21-day, 300km Annapurna Circuit, fled an opium den on the Thailand / Burmese border, met the Dali Lama in northern India and got my nose pierced while passing through a hippie colony (note that the latter incidents are mutually exclusive!). 
Thinking that might be time to calm my travel addiction before I got any more piercings, I had a pin-striped suit tailor made in Saigon which I managed to cram into a giant 60-litre backpack and moved to Sydney where I found a ‘sensible grown up job’ working in the City. My employers quickly embraced my lust for travel and passion for people and relocated me to Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok where I lived and worked for nearly a year. Again, these travels were far from ‘normal’ – in Bangkok I lived above Jackie Chan, took a tuk-tuk to work, developed an addiction to popcorn, Westlife and Tom Jones and regularly signed autographs as Steffi Graf…With my time in Bangkok coming to an end, I moved to Cyprus before finally settling down in London. In the process I neatly (and conveniently) deposited the only two things that I could not fit into a backpack – two Cypriot cats named Audrey and Peggy – at my parents farm in Ridgetown, Canada. I think that this is where my parents had hoped that the regular emails home documenting 'this-or-that' narrow escape or 'this or that visa' would have ended. Unfortunately for them, London did not fail to disappoint on the adventure front – I bought a hat and met the Queen (and subsequently fainted) at a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace, rowed at Henley, drank high-tea at the Dorchester, drank ‘scrumpy’ in a pub, went to more than a few football games and, as a testament and badge of honor for surviving character building experiences of the previous 30 years, became a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
Tour du Canada 7,454 kms cycling (72 days)
One of the most enjoyable of my globetrotting adventures, ironically, happened quite close to 'home'... I found myself with 3-months of 'free-time' to spare and decided to take up a friends offer to cycle from west to east across Canada from June 21st - August 31st 2008 with a not-for-profit organisation called, 'Tour du Canada'. The 2.5 months spent sat on my saddle was a was a physical journey as I climbed on my bike and over the course of 72 days migrate from west to east over 7,500 kilometers of Canada’s vast geographic expanse - from the Pacific to the Atlantic. At the same time it was also very much an emotional and, dare I say it, ‘spiritual’ journey. A journey through which I ‘discovered’ Canada and came to better understand how I fit into the social and cultural geography of a country for which I proudly claimed citizenship but hardly knew. You can read about my cross-country adventure in my blog, affectionatly titled, 'Lipgloss and Lycra'Mera Peak - 6476m (21 days)
In April 2008, I climbed Mera Peak (6476 metres; 21240 feet), one of Nepal's highest trekking peaks with a summit offering a stupendous panorama of 5 of the world's 8000 metre peaks - Kangchenjunga, Makalu, Lhotse, Everest and Cho Oyu. The trek in to Mera Peak began after a short and exciting flight to the mountain airstrip at Lukla and continued through the high and lovely Hinku Valley. Viewed from the mountain's upper slopes, the sunrise on Everest and Kangchenjunga was truly unforgettable and it was here that my dream to climb Everest seemed closer than ever. It was my first 'proper' expedition and I made some incredible friends along the way. I learned that on the mountain, even though there are inevitably always 'tough' days, they're always balanced with some fantastic laughs, with likeminded people and where friends are made for life.Tanzania - 500kms mountain biking (13 days)
In October 2007 I embarked on a14-day mountain bike 'holiday' across north-eastern Tanzania. It was my first proper trip to Africa and my first proper 'bicycle adventure and it was a truly eye-opening experience.
Aconcagua, Argentina - 7000m (16 days)
Winter Mountaineering & Ice Climbing (Ben Nevis, Scotland)
Mt. Everest NE Ridge (Tibet) - 7500m out of 8848m (60 days & 4 broken ribs)
Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania - 5893m (6 days)
Winter Mountaineering & Ice Climbing (Ben Nevis, Scotland)
Mt. Everest NE Ridge (Tibet) - 7500m out of 8848m (60 days & 4 broken ribs)
Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania - 5893m (6 days)