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On my first expedition I learnt that if I threw myself in the deep end, I would learn how to swim (in my case, this meant cycling through a Siberian winter and learning to survive in the extreme cold). I found that fears get easier to face, the more you face them. And I learnt that there are a lot of kind people in the world. Most people want to help you, or if they can’t, to introduce you to someone who can. And finally I learnt that tough times don’t last.
It was probably either going through the jungles of Papua New Guinea with a bicycle, or dragging a home-made beach cart 1,000 km across China’s Desert of Death (The Taklamakan). Both very hard, but in different ways.
In the Takalamakan Desert in China, I almost gave up several times. I almost gave up when the dunes were too big to drag my cart across; when the police caught me; and when I got a lot of punctures from reeds. What helped was having a clear goal; calling my wife and my friends who gave encouragement and helped me regain perspective; and rewriting the negative story in my head with a more positive story about about how much I was learning, and how I still had options ahead.
Many to choose from. One morning in Siberia when it was minus 40 I woke up to see frozen waterfalls hanging off the side of the valley – extraordinary.
Follow Rob Lilwall's latest adventures
Observe the antics of wild chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, Uganda
Take a boat cruise down the Kazinga Channel in search of hippos
Spot rare black-maned, tree-climbing lions in Ishasha
Be humbled by a gorilla encounter in Bwindi Impenetrable NP
Enjoy unbelievable birdwatching opportunities in Africa
Auckland & Waiheke Island Lake Taupo & Rotorua Queenstown, Milford Sound & Southern Lakes New Zealand Australasia
Explore the chaos and colour of Addis Ababa
Meet Lucy, the skeleton of the world’s oldest human, in the National Museum
See rare Ethiopian wolves in Bale Mountains National Park
Marvel at the landscapes and lakes of Ethiopia’s Great Rift Valley
Discover the culture and traditions of the Omo River Valley tribes