Hello and Welcome to 1000 Mile Journeys
1000 Mile Journeys is about you and us getting together to do some extraordinary, challenging and rewarding unique journeys.
About you
You are an inspired and motivated individual who is searching for something different to experience in life. Maybe a challenge, a journey or something just different! Preferably all three. You are committed and you work hard and you know life is full of wonderful places and opportunity. You yearn to experience the different, the challenging and most of all yourself. You want to discover what you are really capable of!
You dream and are creative but most of all you have the self-belief and the ability to take that creative streak and your dreams and turn them into action by first committing and then following through from beginning to end. You do this fully aware that the road will not be easy and full of difficult periods possibly dramatic soul-searching periods where every part of your being wants to give up sit down and just cry! However, you do not give up you carry on and complete what you set out to do and the rewards are like nothing you have ever experienced in life!
Does this sound like You?
If it is, this may be a place for you as this is 100% self-indulgence in yourself to see what you are really capable off by spending time in challenging environments with other like-minded individuals bonding as a team doing extraordinary things.
1000 Mile Journeys is a unique concept of bespoke journeys and challenges that will only appeal to a small amount of people who have the desire to try something different in their lives.
Most trips on here are challenging expeditions, however, due to demand, we have also started doing shorter Adventure Holiday style trips. Still challenging but of a shorter duration, this is letting our guests experience what we do and if a big challenge is really what they want. We will make suggestions to inspire but we want to crowdsource those with the desire to be involved and then work as a team to create, and deliver on that creation by conducting 1000 Mile Journeys in some of the most stunning and challenging environments on earth.
The Founders Story and what 1000 Mile Journeys is about
1000 Mile Journeys is my personal passion in progress. Part of my never fading dream and inspiration to travel. Experience remote environments and to be challenged mentally and physically. It is a privilege to be able to do this and be trusted by others to introduce them to these journeys and expeditions. I was born into working class family in Scotland and I spent the 70’s learning the ways of the world by spending as much time working on farms and building sites as I did doing school work. My passion for travel and adventure was ingrained, nurtured and first experienced in the Scottish Highlands and I am still inspired by the Highlands today.
This passion resulted, as it did for many others, in a military adventure where my quest for travel and adventure was fully indulged with service in Airborne, Bomb Disposal, and Training units around the World. As is the way with the Army someone must have noticed I was having way too much fun so the Army decided to throw me back into education and after nine years service I was commissioned via the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. After a further six years, interesting service accompanied now by my wife and a young family led to that point where I was looking for a new challenge, that came with the benefits of not getting blown up so to I made the move to test myself in the commercial world.
I managed to carve out a career in corporate sales and senior management positions in multinational companies that provided learning, knowledge and financial reward. As much as I had a passion for business I knew the corporate world was not where I was meant to spend the rest of my days so in 2003 the adventure calling took over again and risking everything I took on the challenge of rescuing a white water rafting business in Scotland. Ten years on with many failures and challenges tackled and dealt with we have a small group of adventure companies with Scotland having the original white water rafting operator and a paintball operator a multi-adventure operator in Morocco and a little bit of luxury in Spain.
I have been privileged to oversee in excess of one hundred thousand guests passing through our doors experiencing a wide range of adventure activities, holidays and expeditions in the countries mentioned and much more. I feel exceedingly lucky to be in a position where my role in life is to introduce people to adventure, long-suffering challenge and fun. My family home is in rural Scotland which I share with my long-suffering wife and six dogs. 1000 Mile Journeys is the result of thirty plus years of working hard and hopefully playing harder.
That is my story, thank you for reading it. I look forward to hearing yours on our journeys and expeditions together
Regards
PeterThe Process
By using online and offline social interaction, inspired individuals will discover 1000 Mile Journeys and take that first but oh so crucial step of saying hello. Remember a journey of 1000 Miles starts with a single step.
A minimum of 8 people and a maximum of 12 will be require to express an interest in doing a journey. When we have enough interest we will discuss and chat about potential dates, time scale required and costs and commitment and suitability. Once it looks like a journey is going to proceed a leader will be appointed who will have the experience, knowledge and skill of the natural environment the journey will cross.
Some journeys may be fairly simple like a 1000 mile road cycle which requires small periods of time to arrange and do, other journeys will be more complex like crossing one of the World’s great deserts on foot, paddling source to sea on a great river of being at altitude in the Himalayas for a long period of time.
For those who have the ambition and commitment but are worried about suitability we will have social get togethers in Scotland and at our Mountain Lodge in Spain where further discussion and some training can be undertaken.
Many have already expressed a wish to take on the challenge of a 1000 Mile Journey but are concerned about the distance, therefore we will also arrange shorter journeys of 250 miles and 500 miles for those looking to progress to the their unique 1000 Mile Journey in the future. These shorter journeys will take place in countries such as Jordan and Morocco.
So if this is you?
Join Us and Say Hello and that small single step may lead to you joining us on a journey that may change your life!
Some of the team you will be sharing experiences with.
Hello, I am Luca. Originally from the green hills of Tuscany. Since I was a young child I dreamed of far away places and spent years looking at maps and Atlas. Eventually, after a year in the Italian Airforces, I caught my first flight – to North America – and I never looked back. 14 years later I have worked and travelled in over 90 countries. Drove my very own Ford Probe 1996 to from New York to Panama City, after having worked with American Gymnasts at Summer Camp for 5 seasons. I then lived in Guatemala for a year. That was when I properly ‘lost’ it and become and Overland expedition leader. I spent years Overlanding in South America, Africa and Asia as Expedition Leader driving big 4×4 trucks. I had the time to also work for 2 years in New Zealand. All this hard work was awarded by Wanderlust Magazine with the title of Best Tour Leader in the World in 2012. In the last four years, I focused more on trekking expeditions and I have led two of the first expeditions to cross the small and big Pamir in the Wahkan Corridor of Afghanistan. Currently, I am based in Manchester UK, just finishing my Paramedic Science degree and escaping to Scotland anytime I can to play in the snow!I will be the deputy expedition leader on the next Gobi Desert Crossing Expedition and the Expedition leader for the Road Of Bones in Siberia Expedition.
Luca Alfatti FRGS - Expedition Leader/MedicDave has led over 40 expeditions and expedition races (Gobi Challenge, Indo Ultra) around the World. Daves main area of operation is Mongolia but he has also worked in Indonesia, Morocco, Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Spain. Increasingly he is providing fixing services for film crews and photographers looking for bespoke solutions within Mongolia.
Dave is the Honorary Consul of Mongolia for Scotland he assists businesses looking to open up trade with Mongolia, as well as supporting Mongolian businesses looking to trade with Scotland. Notable successes have included a Mongolian contingent at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and significant tie-ups between University of Glasgow and Mongolia. He hosts the annual Ulan Bator Burns Supper each January. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the British Mongolian Chamber of Commerce and has organised and led five trade missions to Mongolia.
Currently, he is also Chair of the National Adventure Awards, Chair of the Scottish charity Yamaha Trust and Vice President of Mongolian football team AK Bayangol FC.
David ScottStewart has lead expeditions to The Falkland Islands, South America, The Amazon Jungle, The Galapagos Islands, Morocco Africa, India the Himalayas and the Andes. He has climbed in the Swiss French and Italian Alps. Climbed on Mont Blanc and visited the summit of Kilimanjaro. He has sailed across the bay of Biscay in a 32ft yacht and visited most of the seven wonders of the ancient world including visiting Antartica, Petra, Cappadocia, Machu Picchu and Aztec ruins of Mexico
He has always had a passion for photography even since his school days when he played around in the school dark room.
On leaving the army Stewart flung myself into the adventure tourism industry gaining qualifications in mountain guiding amongst others. Although constantly travelling the World on expeditions Stewart is a Scotland expert guide and wildlife photography. You can see some of his photography at www.expeditionphotography.co.uk
Stewart Richardson
HI, I’m Paul and I’ll be leading the ‘Balkan Wander’ expedition.
I was born and raised in South London and joined the British Army as a 16 old. I had a full and interesting career which took me around the world on operations and training and I left after 26 years to try my hand as a civilian.
I had initially decided to try my hand as a teacher and the Army paid for me to study English Literature with the Open University and I’d worked as a mentor in a school but a chance encounter saw me leading an expedition to Sierra Leone where I’d spent a year working in the Army. As a result of that experience, I decided to establish myself as a full time expedition leader.
Since then I’ve led expeditions to Sierra Leone (again), Borneo, China, Mongolia, Zambia, Botswana, Nepal and Gabon. When not away on expedition I live on the edge of the Brecon Beacons and enjoy walking and running in the hills. I served for 18 months in the Balkans as a soldier so I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to go back and see how these countries have transitioned since the end of the Balkan Wars.
Paul Taylor‘Dan first got into the outdoors racing sailing dinghies in his teens, and when he wasn’t racing, he also worked as a sailing instructor. Whilst living in the north of England during his university years he discovered mountaineering and has never looked back!
Over the last 5 years, Dan has led expeditions to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Iceland, Nepal and China, climbed in the Alps and trekked in India, Morocco, New Zealand, and the Dominican Republic. He was also a team member on the 2016 1000 Mile Gobi Desert Challenge crossing.
Robb has worked as a London tour guide, archery, fencing and martial arts instructor as well as a canyon and white water raft guide. He has travelled extensively including backpacking around South America.
Robb is an award winning film maker and our resident digital man – he resides deep in his bat cave surrounded by technology. He is the author of the book ‘Smartphone Media Production’. www.SmartphoneMediaProduction.com
Robb is passionate about travel, cultural exchange, martial arts, spirituality, photography and film making.
Some of the websites Robb has built here Rafting.co.uk (For the very best Rafting adventures), Canyoning.co.uk (for the very best Canyoning adventures) Stagweekend.com (for the very best Stag Do Weekends)
Robb Wallace