Journal
Bits and pieces from the days out: what worked, what didn’t, the views worth earning, and why we keep going back. We also share stories and news from the wider world of travel and adventure, plus the people out there inspiring us all to get after it.
The Lazy Dog Theory of Getting Into Ultra Running
About a year ago I read a book that made me start auditing my life. The audit's first finding was a mountain bike race I bombed out of in 2006. The second was that I'd spent thirty years deliberately not training in case I found out I wasn't as good as I hoped.
By Steve Collins
Going Toe to Toe with the Loch Ness Monster
For a forty-four-year-old man who has been fly fishing since the age of seven, I should have known when to give up. But this was Loch Ness. Not the famous one in the Scottish Highlands. This is a small mountain lake in South Africa.
By Donavan Roscoe
I've got the post adventure blues
No matter how epic the adventure, we all end up skidding back to reality. That's what I've been doing since leaving Croatia. 4Islands Epic as a whole is going to be hard to top. We've been asking ourselves, "what's next?" There is no easy answer.
By Donavan Roscoe
An Italian Lake You've Just Garda See Again
Five visits. Fourteen years. This time I brought the kids, drove into the Dolomites to see if the retirement fantasy was actually real, and discovered a lake I wasn't expecting. The love affair with Lake Garda shows no signs of ending.
By Steve Collins
Six Hours in Windhoek, a Missing Mountain Bike, and a Very Long Drive to Croatia
Bombs in Iran, cancelled flights, and a missing mountain bike. Our co-founder Don is on his way to race the 4 Islands Epic in Croatia. Just not directly.Given everything that has been happening in the world these past six weeks, I'd say the odds are interesting.
By Donavan Roscoe
Everybody Needs an Adventure Friend
Ole and I should never have met. One Zoom call, a quick bike service, and a flight to Cape Town later, we were ready to go. Eight days of the Cape Epic will do more for a friendship than eight years of polite company.
By Donavan Roscoe
Why Croatia Is Europe's Best Kept Adventure Secret
Croatia has 1,244 islands, a coastline stretching over 1,700km, and some of the best mountain bike terrain in Europe. Almost nobody outside the cycling community knows about it yet. That window won't stay open forever. Here's what you can actually do there.
By Steve Collins
An Italian Lake You've Just Garda See At Least Once
Lake Garda. I swam and had a cold beer on the edge of the lake with a return flight in three hours. And then I got in the taxi, went to the airport, flew home, and spent the next fourteen years trying to get back.
By Steve Collins
The Slumdog Theory of Starting a Business
Sometimes your whole life prepares you for something you never saw coming. Here's the Slumdog theory of why we built Here Now Adventures - and why it was probably always going to happen.
By Steve Collins
What Wild Places Teach Us About Being Present
A coastline, a fishing rod, and a child walking ahead of you. On why wild places do the parenting better than we ever could.
By Derek Schulze
What is Adventure Anyway? (And Why the Gatekeepers Can Get Knotted)
Adventure doesn't have to be hanging on by chalky fingertips or throwing yourself off a cliff in a wingsuit. Adventure isn't about the size of the cliff. It's about the size of the step.
By Steve Collins
Go Big or Go Home: South Africa’s Wild Playground
South Africa’s landscapes are vast and dramatic, from Table Mountain hikes to epic biking, shark cage diving and Sodwana Bay reefs. Why this country’s adventures are worth the trip.
By Steve Collins
Why the UK's Outdoors Are Worth the Weather: A Proper Guide
Britain's weather is rubbish, but the landscapes are brilliant. From Lake District fells to Cornish cliffs – why the UK's outdoors are worth getting wet for.
By Steve Collins
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