Late at night in Yosemite, I mistook a cluster of lights for a constellation. They were actually climbers resting on El Capitan, suspended in hammocks above the valley floor. The real Big Dipper hung upside down overhead, turning the whole scene into something unforgettable.
We often take breathing for granted, but our bodies process 8,300 liters of air every day to get the oxygen we need to survive. In this article, I show the math and compare this amount to how much a tree produces, and how much a car burns. This is part of my Global Oxygen Depletion series.
What if your next adventure could change more than just you? Alastair Humphreys offers 20 thought-provoking questions to help adventurers add purpose, responsibility, and lasting impact to their journeys.
I think butterflies are one of the most amazing animals on Earth. And you can raise them right in your own backyard. Plant milkweed, watch tiny striped caterpillars grow, and witness the miraculous transformation from chrysalis to butterfly. Along the way, you’ll explore big questions about migration, instinct, and nature’s hidden mysteries. You might even find one in yourself.
Riding in a fully driverless Waymo in the Bay Area felt like stepping into an episode of Star Trek. Here's what it was like when Dennis and I took a ride. And, yes, this the Dennis who accompanied me halfway round the world.
In this story, Cat & Pat accept a half-joking offer: a pirate boat to Zanzibar. With no ferry running, little money and no stamps in their passports, they accept. They depart at 4 AM as "illegal cargo" on a dhow (a traditional sailing vessel with a design that dates back thousands of years) with no safety gear, no radio and no engine.
A bicycle interrupts a Wild West posse in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, revealing how progress arrives, and people struggle to adapt. In this latest article from my series Bicycle Quotes Explained, I examine a quote from the classic movie (based on a true story about notorious bank robbers) and explain how the bicycle changed the world.
Once again my name will be aboard the ship. And if I'm lucky, I will be chosen to attend the launch and promote this pinnicle of human apsiration.
Aquatic deoxygenation is accelerating worldwide, prompting scientists to propose it as a new planetary boundary. But the ocean’s 2% oxygen loss reveals an even bigger, overlooked threat: most of that oxygen outgasses into the atmosphere, masking the true rate of atmospheric decline. This article breaks down the science, the math, and why these hidden feedbacks may push Earth closer to an additional tipping point no one is talking about.
Pat & Cat Patterson share five intense days from their around-the-world bicycle journey. They pedaled deep into the West African jungle, navigating broken bridges, river crossings, border guards, firestorms, and moments of generosity that turned strangers into friends. A raw look at adventure at its most human and unpredictable.
Travel offers far more than beautiful views. In this article, I explore the unexpected benefits of travel—from surprises and life “lessens” to memories, emotions, and inspiring people. These are the deeper rewards that continue paying dividends long after the journey is over.
While visiting my parents’ home, I found an old note I’d written to myself: “I hereby declare I will swim the English Channel!” I had forgotten all about it—forgotten the dream, the confidence, and the young man who believed he could do anything. I never swam the Channel, but holding that note reminded me of something more important.