My name is Richard Matthews and I am an “adventurer” and “explorer” who’s fairly obsessed with overlanding with inappropriate vehicles and mountaineering. I grew up and still live in Teignmouth, a small coastal town in Devon, England. Instead of heading to university to study geography, I worked as a quantity surveyor and estimator in the roofing industry for nearly 4 years while pursuing my outdoor pursuits. Now, I give talks, drive vans and lead groups all over the world on expeditions and recently become a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

What passion drives your adventures, and how did you discover it?

My adventures are driven by experiencing something new and gaining a better understanding of the world around us. Nearly all my big adventures have involved driving Nissan Micras, although there is also a lot of mountaineering adventures with hitchhiking attached. Generally speaking though, I will give any kind of adventure a go, looking for a new experience to share with people. This is one of the biggest adventures for me, really learning about new people and places and gaining a different perspective.

Growing up in Devon has given me an incredible playground to explore, having nearly everything to offer pretty close by or on my doorstep. My earliest adventure lifeguarding and kayaking in the sea, which then turned into hill walking on Dartmoor. This is still one of my favorite places in the world, and the place I discovered my passion for hill walking.

What is one of your favorite memories from your adventures?

One of my favorite memories would be from the Circumnavigation of the world. Having spent 4 days in Mexico underneath a Subaru Forrester having completely rebuilt the rear end, with a kind roadside mechanic. The three of us drove down to Tuscon to pick up my Micra and then head to Matazlan, Mexico for Christmas. Driving down through Mexico on my own with sun and music playing. This was important as I hadn’t been on my own for nearly 3 months at this point. For me this was an incredible moment one of the fondest I have all my adventures.

Tell us more about your adventure community:  Driven to Extremes and Adventure Stories.

Of course! The Adventure community here in the UK is diverse and these are just the main projects I am involved with. Driven to Extremes is a community interest company to help veterans with PTSD to recover using overlanding adventures in reasonably harsh conditions, using inappropriate vehicles. I became involved, to help with vehicles choices and planning for some of the trips and still help out where I can.
Adventure Stories, on the other hand, is an endeavor of my own, based off of a dare! It’s a community speaking platform with the aim to bring people of all backgrounds together to learn from each other while sharing their stories of adventure, travel and the outdoors.
I am also working on the biggest project yet, but I can’t say too much about it yet… You’ll have to check in on the social media links below.

What favorite quote or advice would you share with someone looking to pursue their passion?

“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge but rather a lack in will” Vince Lombardi. This quote among others, I see every day to keep me going to succeed. It was also instrumental in me going on my first big adventure, quitting my job with only just enough cash saved, it was a big risk, but worth it. At the end of the day, the question is, how badly do you want your passion and what are you willing to do to get there? Whatever the passion is there will be a lot of sacrifices, that will need to be made to achieve the goal.

What are your top 3 life goals or bucket list items?

1. Complete an overland trip on every continent, yes, including Antarctica, that would be an incredible achievement. Somewhat difficult and a lot of organization involved for sure but it would be amazing.
2. Go on an expedition to the Kamchatka Peninsula a truly remote and inhospitable place.
3. Create/collaborate with platform to help bring people from around the world together sharing ideas, thoughts, and adventures. Maybe in the form of a festival.

If you had to plan an adventure with little or no budget, what would you do and why?

This is every adventure to me! All of them on the tightest budget of possible in some cases running out of budget, like on the circumnavigation of the world. If I had to right now, it would be a trip around the Canary Islands that I have been thinking about doing for a while. Crossing all the of the 7 islands using 14 different modes of transport to cross the islands and sea between them. Although I would also love to hike the Jurassic Coast a fairly grueling 100 miles of cliff walking along the Dorest coastline.

What are 3-5 MUST HAVE items you always pack when travelling?

1. A knife, usually my Opinel, as a knife is such a useful tool to prepare food, getting splinters out and first aid for fixing cars 
2. My penguin, it’s a long story, but basically, it’s been on every adventure I’ve been on. He’s been lost several times in a few different countries, but his adventuring days are still not over.
3. A Shemagh. This sounds like a bit of an odd one, but I’ve had one on every trip as it’s so multipurpose. From a scarf and headscarf, to a belt, rucksack, blanket, seat cover, and a sling at one point.
4. A waterproof coat. Growing up in England with some of the best weather ever taking a coat no matter where it is I am gong is just a habit and sometimes a very good habit to have even if it means carrying a half kilo waterproof in 30+ degrees.

What are 5 fun facts or quirks about yourself?

1. I’ve been given the nickname of dustbin, whenever I am on an adventure with others, I always seem to end up with their leftovers. Which is useful to say the least, especially when a budget falls short. 
2. When I was younger I was somewhat obsessed with Egypt, it’s culture, history, and geography. Yet, having had so many adventures, I still haven’t visited there.
3. I’ve driven to higher altitudes in a car than I have climbed too. A bit of an odd one, but climbing mountains, the highest point up until now that I had climbed is Mount Triglav in Slovenia at 2,864m, whereas I’ve driven my trusty Micra to 4,737m!
4. With all my travels and adventures, I’ve somehow stayed away from some of the biggest destinations to travel to for Brits anyway. Southeast Asia, Ibiza, Kos, etc
5. I Live in shorts, yes, even in winter and have photos of me up to my ankles in snow, wearing shorts….!!

How can we connect with you?

I can be found exploring on several social media platforms:

• Richard Matthews
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter

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