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Alex, like many of our Leaders is a true outdoor professional. He's been on 25 overseas expeditions, including leading for 15 teams as well as 8 recce expeditions where he travels alone to check up on providers and activities in country to ensure our itineraries are as good as they can be.
His passport has definitely seen a lot of action having travelled to Costa Rica, Peru, Bolivia, Norway, Finland, Romania, Morocco, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, India, Mongolia, China and Borneo with Outlook.
His best aspect of leading expeditions?
'For me, it's the development process of the students. I have really loved the effect you can have on an individual, especially when they've never been away from the UK before.'
Alex is also a very talented photographer, with a particularly good eye for capturing wildlife whilst on expedition. Many of the stunning images you see on this website and on other materials are the result of Alex's handiwork. Check out his website to see his work.
As an Expedition Leader, you have to utilise a whole range of skills. You might find yourself being a life coach, mechanic, wildlife or local culture expert, food critic, haggler, a shoulder to cry on, motivator, linguist, judge of character, logistics expert, accountant and so much more for your team. Your participants have worked so hard to be on their expedition, they deserve the best you can give them.
'Stay calm' is Bug's motto as it allows you to 'assimilate all the information and make a decision; a key leadership attribute'.
Bug is one of our most experienced Leaders and has led 11 teams since 2011, to Namibia, Peru (3), India HImayala (3), Finland, Morocco, Malawi and Vietnam.
He spent 35 years working as an Engineer Office in the Royal Navy so is well accustomed to challenging situations overseas. He now works as an Operational Area Search Dog Handler with his dog Oppo.
His most enjoyable aspect of leading expeditions is:
'is seeing the growth in the students; they change from timid teenagers to confident and self-assured adults during their time away'
Not afraid of a challenge himself, Bug was the first person to climb Chhubohe (5640m in the Nepal Himalayas) reaching the summit on his 56th birthday.
My advice to students thinking about going on expedition is - GO FOR IT! You'll have hoofing amounts of fun, make new friends and massively improve as a person - confidence, organisation, cultural awareness, financial management - all of these will make a huge difference as you head off to university, college or the work environment.
'All participants develop resilience, just being away from home and having to rely on themselves and the rest of the team'
Like many of our Leaders, Anna is a complete allrounder with experience in all sorts of outdoor activities both personally and professionally. She's a DofE, mountaineering and caving instructor and a cycle guide - all whilst taking part in activities herself including; mountainbiking, roadcycling, caving, open canoeing, sailing and marathon running.
Anna has led many expeditions for Outlook since 2011 - including Borneo, Cambodia, Morocco, Zambia, Romania, Tanzania, Southern India, Zanzibar, Costa Rica and Nepal.
She is most amazed by how students develop empathy and kindness whilst on expedition:
'Many groups realise that they are carrying around more stuff in their rucksacks than a lot of people we meet, actually own'
I love the adventure an expedition brings and the fact that everyday is different and the challenges and environments all have their own exciting edge to them.
Chaz has travelled the world extensively over the past 16 years or so. As a mountain guide, survival instructor and a teacher of bushcraft, Chaz is an expert in his field and as such also writes for adventure magazines and regularly speaks about his experiences at events.
He's led six expeditions for Outlook since 2016; 4 in Zambia & Botswana, 1 in Malawi and 1 in Morocco.
Chaz loves to see the growth in the students:
'Especially when they've stretched their own comfort zone and they then learn to adapt from the situation and grow as individuals.'
'You can also see their respect and understanding of other cultures developing and their minds broadening as a result.'
Chaz is no stranger to stretching his own comfort zone having completed three 'world first' source to sea treks along African rivers, The Zambezi, The Gambia and The Mangoky.
You can find more about Chaz's adventures on Facebook and Instagram.