Alex Hibbert
led the Tiso Trans Greenland Expedition, the longest fully unsupported polar expedition in history
Top tip: Do something different. By not following the crowd, your trip is likely to be more enjoyable and valuable, as well as generating more public interest, which can, in turn, make fundraising easier
Indispensable item: A suitable camera. Photographs are an indelible record for when the memories start to fade and are also second to none for adding drama to lectures when you’re home again

Steven Oliver

is a veteran of more than 200 expeditions. He’s now based in Indonesia, where he runs an expedition advice and support service
Top tip: Ensure you get good comprehensive insurance. One call from the field to an experienced and briefed assistance company will save you both time and money
Indispensable item: A cotton hooped sarong (one in which the sides are sown together). It can be used as a pillow, a blanket, a head-and-shoulder cover, a wind breaker, a curtain, a light-equipment carrier, a table cloth, a sleep sheet, or even a stretcher

Matthew Fielding
works part-time for CREES Expeditions, developing research and expedition programmes for its field centre in the Peruvian Amazon
Top tip: Plan for 100 per cent success, talk about it like it’s going to happen and your expedition will succeed in every way you thought it could
Indispensable item: Ziploc bags: keep all your bits and pieces dry at minimal cost

Alastair Humphreys

is an adventurer, author and motivational speaker
Top tip: Don’t get so carried away with the planning that you never actually begin. Plan for the essentials and roll with the rest
Indispensable item: A book of poetry: you can re-read it over and over, and it also makes you look clever

Rebecca Harris
is a writer, designer and producer for adventure, travel and wildlife documentaries
Top tip: Never give up. It’s only after a number of hurdles that you’ll find yourself in the right place at the right time with the right people... and the right amount of money
Indispensable item: People with a sense of humour. No matter what kit you have, in good and bad situations, it’s always the people you’re with who count

Andrew Grieve
is an RAF trainee in general practice who is actively involved with wilderness and mountain medicine
Top tip: Don’t over-plan. Often the most memorable and interesting liaisons with local people and cultures take place when things go wrong
Indispensable item: An Amazonas travel hammock and earplugs: you never know when you’ll need a snooze

Nigel Winser
is executive vice president and head of programmes at the Earthwatch Institute
Top tip: Choose a realistic project that leaves a positive legacy with the local communities with whom you’ll be working: something of which you’ll be proud in ten years time
Indispensable item: Photos of my family to share with those I meet and a wind-up torch

Andy Pag
is an award-winning freelance TV producer/cameraman and journalist and has run a number of vehicle-based expeditions across the Sahara
Top tip: Include flexibility in your plans. When you get to places with little or no infrastructure, the itinerary you thought up at home can quickly become irrelevant
Indispensable item: Nothing sentimental and nothing that can’t be replaced. I try to take repairable kit, rather than ‘indestructible’ kit, because a money-back guarantee is useless when you’re stuck in the middle of the Sahara

Paul Baker
is the founder of Dragon Exploration
Top tip: Always make sure that your team is balanced and that everyone will play a part. You can’t afford to have passengers
Indispensable item: An expedition diary, which I write in every evening

Jamie Buchanan-Dunlop
is the director of Digital Explorer, which aims to enhance young people’s emotional engagement with the wider world
Top tip: Integrate your communications and education plans from the outset. You have the ability to inspire a huge range of people and make a difference
Indispensable item: Satellite communications kit. It’s a real joy to be able to share an expedition in real-time with an audience back home

Paul Rose

is a BBC documentary presenter who spent ten years as base commander of Rothera Research Station, Antarctica, for the British Antarctic Survey
Top tip: You can only do so much planning. There are plenty of well-fitted-out expeditions that ‘aren’t quite ready yet’ so never leave
Indispensable item: Elacin made-to-measure earplugs. They cost about £100 from hearing specialists but they’re perfect for sleeping on noisy dive boats, in storm-bound tents or on airplanes

Oliver Steeds
is a broadcast journalist, expeditioner and presenter for the Discovery Channel and the Travel Channel, and co-founder of iNOMAD
Top tip: Think long-term: endurance, stamina, perspective and belief will see you through. You will only fail when you stop
Indispensable item: Satellite communications gear to connect from wherever I am in the world

Dominic Hall
is the director of Fieldskills UK, which provides training and logistical support for expeditioners both in the UK and in northern Borneo
Top tip: Keep it simple. Expeditions are like a jack-in-the-box: you try to force too much in, so when things change or go wrong, the whole lot flies out all over the place. And things will change and go wrong – that’s the joy of an expedition
Indispensable item: Gore-Tex socks. I scoffed for years, but from the first time my feet stayed dry inside my soaked boots I was a convert

Rob Murray-John
is a freelance location and logistics manager for film and TV
Top tip: Make sure you obtain a reliable and friendly local contact – preferably from the nearest village – and learn as many words of the local language as possible, even if it’s just ‘hello’, ‘please’ and ‘thank you’
Indispensable item: Iodine tincture: for water purification, cleaning cuts and so on

Felicity Aston

is a polar explorer and freelance travel writer
Top tip: Talk to people about your plans. Breakthrough contacts and information can come from the strangest of places, so talk to everyone from friends, family and colleagues to strangers you meet on the bus
Indispensable item: On polar expeditions, I always take a really good moisturiser: dry skin seems to be more susceptible to cold injuries as well as getting sore and chapped. On other trips, I take antibacterial handwash. Too often, the experience of a lifetime is ruined by the consequences of bad hygiene

Spike Reid
was the photographer, navigator and media liaison for the Latitude Expedition
Top tip: When crossing borders with a vehicle, prime your boot so that when the border guard opens it, bags of rubbish and dirty clothes fall out; the smellier and noisier, the better. After that, the guard is unlikely to want to investigate your equipment further
Indispensable item: A Kelly/Volcano Kettle. These sturdy, reliable kettles will burn almost any solid fuel, from rubbish to camel dung, and boil water in no time. I’m still using the one my grandfather bought 60 years ago

Hilary Bradt
co-founded Bradt Travel Guides in 1974 and last year was awarded an MBE for services to the tourism industry
Top tip: Allow yourself a little ‘escape’ time each day to read a favourite book, listen to music, and generally recharge your emotional batteries
Indispensable item: A single sheet of simple words of greeting, spelt phonetically, in the local language, and the phrase for ‘What is your name?’ It’s extraordinary how many barriers disappear once you can manage simple communication

Lois Pryce
is the author of Lois on the Loose and Red Tape and White Knuckles, which document her expeditions by trail bike
Top tip: Be prepared to be flexible: you never know what might happen along the way, so don’t get too hung up on a strict itinerary
Indispensable item: A head torch and a Leatherman multi-tool

Ben Saunders
is the youngest person to ski solo in the North Pole and holds the record for the longest solo Arctic journey by a Briton
Top tip: Aim high. With the burgeoning adventure holiday industry, Chris Moyles on Kilimanjaro and Ben Fogle in Antarctica, you could be forgiven for thinking that the days of pioneering endeavour and discovery are over, but there are still some enormous opportunities for modern-day explorers
Indispensable item: Barnaby the Bear, and a satellite phone so I can update my blog

Rob Lilwall
spent three years cycling from far eastern Siberia back to the UK
Top tip: Beware the pessimists. There’ll be plenty of people who’ll tell you that your expedition is crazy or impossible. Try to find the people who’ll tell you that it is possible and talk to them instead
Indispensable item: A pannier full of books, ideally about the country through which I’m travelling

Paul Goodyer

is the CEO and co-founder of Nomad travel stores and clinics
Top tip: Get the logistical side down on paper: a day-to-day planner and equipment and rations list, overlaid with a ‘what if’ back-up plan
Indispensable item: A good pair of work gloves. My favourite are US Airforce Nomex flying gloves, but if you can’t find them, Petzl Cordex Belay gloves are also great

Jason Lewis
completed Expedition 360 in 2007, circumnavigating the globe using only human power
Top tip: Write a mission statement. It’ll help you to clarify your objectives, keep you focused, and let potential funders know exactly where their money is going
Indispensable item: A sense of humour. If you don’t have one, bring along a friend who does

Charles Foster
is a writer and traveller with extensive experience organising desert expeditions
Top tip: Count the cost. Many people get sucked into expeditions by romantic visions of khaki-shorted derring-do, but they can eat dangerously into time, peace of mind and bank accounts
Indispensable item: Homer’s Odyssey. It’s the greatest travel book of all time, and it smells of the sea

Matthew Davies
is a partner at Hill Dickinson LLP law firm, which specialises in advising travel and leisure companies
Top tip: Train for what you’re going to do with the people you’re going to do it with and with the kit you’re going to use
Indispensable item: Sandy Sinclair, Fellow of the RGS, best man at my wedding and expedition buddy

Paul Deegan
is Geographical’s equipment editor. A freelance writer and veteran of numerous expeditions, he reached the summit of Mount Everest in 2004
Top tip: Choose an objective that doesn’t require external funding
Indispensable item: A pair of inexpensive yellow earplugs. A good night’s sleep noticeably increases the chance of being able to face the rigours of the following day’s travel

Ed Bassett
served in the British Army for ten years and now runs an adventure-holiday company, and lectures in expedition skills
Top tip: Always allocate specific tasks to team members and agree timescales
Indispensable item: I always take a small bag containing duct tape, string, knife, sewing kit, pieces of tent fabric and a knife

James Sawyer
is disaster relief operations manager for WSPA International
Top tip: Give yourself enough time. Expedition success is all about the planning: 90 per cent of your energy should go into planning and ten per cent into execution
Indispensable item: Decent footwear. If you don’t look after your feet, it’s game over




October 2009