We share our prime 10 posts of the yr, from a solo journey to China to a three-month stint in Antarctica
This time final yr, I wrote about Peter sumitting Denaliwhich introduced him one step nearer to climbing the seven summits. This yr, in basic Watson fashion, he’s in Antarcticabeginning a three-month stint as a wildlife monitor.
In the meantime, my milestones have primarily occurred at dwelling. My fifth novel, What Happens in the Darkgot here out in June. I began the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism that I’ve wished to do on-and-off for about 10 years. The New York Occasions named Take It Back considered one of 7 nice authorized thrillers. And better of all, I used to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (which is sort of a giant deal for writers). 🥳
This yr has proven me that, even in a time of maximum personal upheavalPeter and I nonetheless have one factor in widespread: we comply with our desires – even after they take us to the top of the earth.
I’m pleased with us and I’m pleased with this little nook of the web that now we have constructed collectively.
As is custom, I’m taking a second to look again and share our prime 10 posts of 2025.
Have an exquisite Christmas and we’ll see you subsequent yr.
1. I’m going to spend three months counting penguins in Antarctica
By Peter
Learn: I’m going to spend three months counting penguins in Antarctica
In 2023, Peter secured a coveted job on the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT), a charity accountable for preserving British heritage websites in Antarctica.
Yearly, UKAHT sends a small group to Port Lockroy to run the world’s southernmost submit workplace and a museum that serves as a time capsule of early polar science.
This yr, Peter might be becoming a member of the Port Lockroy group in Antarctica for 3 months. His job? Wildlife monitor, which entails counting penguins on the tiny football-pitch-sized Goudier Island on the Antarctic Peninsula, 9,000 miles away from London.
4. 10 local weather images that modified the way in which we see the world
By Kia
Learn: 10 climate photographs that changed the way we see the world
There are particular images which have modified the course of historical past. Normally, they’re political: Tank Man in Tiananmen Sq., Iraqi soldier on the Freeway of Demise, Napalm Lady in Vietnam. These images are chilling however highly effective.
Local weather images are much less celebrated however usually simply as highly effective. On this piece, we chart 10 local weather images which have introduced the disaster of our instances into sharp aid.
5. Is the GR20 the hardest trek in Europe?
By Peter
Learn: Is the GR20 the toughest trek in Europe?
The GR20 – or Grande Randonnée 20 – path takes hikers throughout steep, uncovered, technical terrain alongside the size of Corsica, the rocky Mediterranean island southeast of mainland France.
Shaped from the identical mountain-building forces that created a few of Europe’s highest peaks, Corsica’s ridges and cliffs share the identical historic rocks. Hundreds of thousands of years in the past, the island was related to the mainland earlier than it drifted to its present place, creating essentially the most mountainous island within the Mediterranean, therefore its moniker, the ‘mountain within the sea’.
After trekking the northern part of the GR20, Peter asks: is the GR20 the hardest trek in Europe?
6. Why we don’t mourn for daredevil adventurers
By Kia
Learn: Why we don’t mourn for daredevil adventurers
This yr, I used to be startled to learn the information that Felix Baumgartner had died. Baumgartner, also referred to as “Fearless Felix”, was most well-known for his 2012 skydive from the sting of house.
Baumgartner died on the age 56 throughout a paragliding incident in Italy. As a pioneer of maximum sports activities, he understood the dangers concerned. He would know properly that if you happen to courtroom demise, generally demise will reply you. This items asks: ought to we civilians mourn daredevil adventurers like him?
7. US nationwide parks had been created at a price to Native People
By Peter
Learn: US national parks were created at a cost to Native Americans
The institution of US nationwide parks had extreme penalties for Native American peoples throughout the continent. Research on the religious history of US national parks illustrates how non secular justifications for establishing parks contributed to the persecution of Indigenous tribes, a actuality that the Nationwide Park Service has begun to redress in latest a long time. This piece investigates.
8. 10 beautiful archaeological World Heritage Websites in peril
By Kia
Learn: 10 stunning archaeological World Heritage Sites in danger
If we requested you to call a well-known World Heritage Website, there’s a very good probability you’d say the Nice Pyramids of Giza. Different seemingly contenders are the Great Wall of Chinathe Taj Mahal, Machu Picchu and Petra. These archaeological websites are a few of man’s biggest marvels and are accordingly protected.
Not all World Heritage Websites, nevertheless, get pleasure from the identical safety. On this piece, we have a look at 10 archaeological World Heritage Websites at the moment in peril.
10. true-life out of doors survival films
By Kia
Learn: 10 true-life outdoor survival movies
It’s stated that people can survive three minutes with out air, three days with out water and three weeks with out meals. Every so often, nevertheless, people carry out extraordinary feats of survival that far surpass these limits.
Normally, they’re athletes used to courting hazard, however generally they’re laymen caught in a nightmare they couldn’t predict. On this piece, we share 10 extraordinary out of doors survival films primarily based on true-life tales.
Bonus: Atlas & Boots’ prime 100 journey experiences – ranked
By Peter & Kia
Learn: Atlas & Boots’ top 100 travel experiences – ranked
One from the archives: On this piece, Peter and I rank our prime 100 journey experiences, hand-picked from over 100 nations, seven continents and 1000’s of locations of curiosity.
Loved this submit? pin it for later…
Lead picture: Saulius Damulevicius/Shutterstock
Source link