Adventure Travel with Jim Young - Adventurous Ewe

Area/Topic
Worldwide, Trekking, Lifestyle

Jim Young
Founder & Director
Adventurous Ewe

From the heart of Snowdonia in North Wales, Jim founded Adventurous Ewe after years of guiding  overland expeditions and trekking through many remote patches of the planet. This combined with his profound passion for and knowledge of the world’s diverse environments, wildlife, cultures, and customs have equipped him with many stories to share.

Having lived and led expeditions across the rugged terrains of Africa, the mystical landscapes of Asia, and the vibrant locales of South America, Jim's experiences are as rich and varied as the destinations he explores. His charisma and familiarity with these regions, especially Morocco, make him something of a local celebrity, greeted warmly with endless handshakes and the familiar chants of "Jim!" echoing through the dusty streets of Imlil.

An accomplished high altitude guide, Jim holds a plethora of certifications, including Mountain Leader, Mountain Bike Leader, and Advanced Wilderness First Aid. He is also a certified 4-Star Level 2 Kayak Instructor, Rescue Boat Operator, and skilled bike mechanic. Despite his extensive qualifications, Jim is equally known for his hearty laughter and the occasional 'really bad' joke, bringing lightness and joy to every expedition.

At the heart of Jim's philosophy is a commitment to crafting unique, thrilling travel itineraries that go beyond standard travel packages. He thrives on creating experiences that are not only adventurous but also deeply connective, allowing travelers to explore the soul of each destination. When he's not scaling mountains or charting new, unexplored routes, Jim indulges in his love for sea kayaking, kite surfing, and journeying through the world’s wildest places. Accompanying him on many of his adventures is his beloved dog, Moshi, a steadfast companion in both spirit and adventure. Jim's life is a testament to the belief that travel should be more than just visiting a place; it should be an immersive journey that transforms and inspires.

https://www.adventurousewe.co.uk/

summary
Jim Young, founder and director of Adventurous Ewe, shares his journey from working in the family business to becoming an adventure travel leader. He started with overland trips in Africa and then expanded to South America, the Middle East, and Asia. Jim recounts some of his most challenging adventures, including driving on the Friendship Highway from Kathmandu to Beijing and getting stuck in the Tibetan Plateau. He also discusses the transformative experiences of his guests, who often start out nervous and unsure but grow in confidence and resilience throughout the trip. Jim emphasizes the importance of breaking down challenges into smaller parts and enjoying the journey. Jim Young shares his experiences in the travel industry, including the challenges and rewards of running a travel business. He emphasizes the importance of following your passion and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. Jim also discusses the impact of travel on mental health and the value of experiencing different cultures. He shares his excitement for new trips and itineraries, including cycling in Rwanda and treks to K2 Basecamp and Norway/Sweden. Overall, Jim's message is to embrace adventure and take the leap to explore the world.

takeaways

• Adventure travel can be a transformative experience, allowing individuals to grow in confidence and resilience.
• Breaking down challenges into smaller parts can help manage feelings of overwhelm and allow for a

Learn more about the Big World Made Small Podcast and join our private community to get episode updates, special access to our guests, and exclusive adventure travel offers at bigworldmadesmall.com.

Transcript

Jason Elkins (00:01)
All right, welcome back, everybody, to another episode of the Big World Made Small podcast for the Adventure Traveler. And today we've got a real adventurer. We've got Jim Young here. He is the founder and director of Adventurous Ewe And since this is a podcast, Jim, I want to make sure that everybody understands that's Adventurous Ewe, like E -W -E, like I would say a female sheep, just to kind of help people kind of visualize the name of the company. Jim, welcome to the show. Happy to have you

Jim Young (00:29)
Yeah, thank you very much, Jason. I'm excited to be here too.

Jason Elkins (00:33)
Yeah, it'll be a fun conversation. And since I preface this with its Adventurous Ewe EWE, I feel like we should just jump right into that before we do anything without going into too much detail and background, because we're going to get into that. But why Adventurous Ewe spelled that way?

Jim Young (00:48)
Because we're based in Wales, think, and there's a connection to sheep, think it has to be, basically, quick way saying it, yeah.

Jason Elkins (00:57)
All right, OK, that makes sense. I think that that helps connect the dots for us. And now we're going to go back into the past a little bit, because I think that your story is just as important as what you do now. So I want to figure out how did you get from wherever you were to where you are now? And we can go back as far as you think necessary.

Jim Young (01:18)
Well, I was working within our family business back here in North Wales. And I just wanted to go, you know, had a bit of a lust for travel. So I hit the road like many people and as everyone seemed to do in those days, we head to Australia and little trips to Indonesia and India and things. So I was away a while, 18 months and

I came back to the UK and thought, my goodness, I'm not made for this. So I kind of, yeah, had a look at things to do, what I wanted to do, and just piecing things together. And somebody once said to me at this time was the best job you could do in the world is what you enjoy doing and what you can do. And having worked in

in sort of as a mechanic in the mines and the family business with trucks and things. Looking through magazines, we didn't have internet in those days or anything and came across the Overland scene and really fancied that. Funny thing was at the time it was one of those magazines and it had the 10 best jobs in the world. Actually the first one was something like a Canadian

bush fireman or something like that. I thought I didn't quite see myself that being me really. yeah, the overland was there. So I got stuck into that.

Jason Elkins (02:44)
jeez.

Tell me more about, well, a couple things. One is roughly how old were you when you took this first big adventure?

Jim Young (03:01)
I guess in this day and age, probably quite late in life. I was 23. I know people do a lot younger now, but yeah, 23. No going live, sorry, yeah. Yeah.

Jason Elkins (03:08)
Okay.

Later in life, isn't that interesting how our perspectives change? And tell me, I'll be honest with you, I'm not super familiar with the term overland. you've used it a couple times, the overland scene or the overland life. So maybe that has a different significance in Wales. Tell me more about what is overland.

Jim Young (03:23)
Mmm. Mmm.

It was just a form of travel. I think probably originates from the 60s and 70s on the old hippie trail when people didn't fly so much and traveling through countries and continents over land. So we were using trucks and we would travel from one side of Africa to another or South America and things like that. That's how it started.

Jason Elkins (03:59)
Okay, I figured that's kind of what that meant, but I wanted to touch on that for myself and anybody else that's listening that got threw off by the word Overland. But yeah, that makes perfect sense. I imagine you've had, that sounds quite Adventurous. So I'm sure you've got some adventures you mentioned, traveling across Africa, South America, those types of places. So what was your first big Overland adventure?

Jim Young (04:24)
Well, when I first started with the company that I was with, I first got sent out to Africa, to Nairobi. Oddly enough, never had my mind set on going to Africa at the time. It was sort of more focused towards Asia. But when I got there, took a little time to settle into it, but it was just an amazing way of life. I think for me, it was

The development that I went through as a person really sort of, I found myself just growing as a person and getting into, you know, you know, leading these trips and guiding these trips through Africa and stuff. It was really Adventurous. I don't know, there were so many adventures really along the way. So many.

Jason Elkins (05:13)
That's very cool. So you were leading trips. What kind of trips? What was the typical trip that you were starting out with?

Jim Young (05:20)
So yeah, typically we'd be sort of in Nairobi. People would fly in there and the more popular one we would do would be nine weeks down to Cape Town. So the group would fly in. We would just have a pot of money sent from the office that we had to budget. I we'd have all people there. There was no, obviously no internet, no sat phones, nothing really.

And the principle was get from Nairobi to Cape Town and arrive on such a date. And just you had to tick certain things off along the way. So you'd go to like the Serengeti or Sandy, but various Victoria Falls places like that, that you would get on. But how we got there, on which roads we took were generally up to us really. we also had to look after the group, do the maintenance on the truck.

planet. you did everything really. It was, yeah, really fantastic.

Jason Elkins (06:23)
That's very cool. And what size was the typical group? How, you know, was this just a few people or a larger group?

Jim Young (06:29)
They were bad, I guess on average about between eight and 16, maximum 16. So obviously it varied, and the tours varied, but the nine week one was the longest. There were longer ones. Some people would do, I think the longest I did was 13 weeks in Africa.

Jason Elkins (06:50)
Wow. And this is, as you mentioned, this is all before cell phones, before GPS. you were actually a map and just like, okay, we're gonna hit these few spots along the way, do some other stuff in between and hopefully end up at the destination with the same number of people you started with. That's, really? Okay.

Jim Young (06:55)
Yeah,

Yeah, absolutely. We picked people up along the way and things like that. Yeah, so well, people would have departure dates along the way, sorry, not just random people on the side of the road. Yeah, was great. But for me, think when I got there, I guess I wasn't the most confident or the strongest person.

Jason Elkins (07:17)
Okay.

Jim Young (07:30)
And with me doing this, this is what happened. mean, when I did my first, when I was out there for the first three months training, I ended up doing, somebody said, right, Jim's going to take charge of Malawi, for instance. So he's going to do the briefings tonight. And I'd been with the group for a month at that point. And when it came around to me to talk to him, I was quite nervous and I knew them

And I got through it, you know, and we got to Cape Town and then I led my first trip. So like I say, for me, it was a huge development. It was a journey all the time. And you would see people come on the trips as well. And they were nervous at the beginning and the team would grow. They would grow. And you kind of thought these people are going to remember this forever. know, no money in the world can buy this. It's just, and you were, you were part of it. And that

It was really, really special. And even to this day, that resonates. Travel is just an amazing thing. And you can grow and see such great things. became my life from that point onwards, really, to where I am today. Yeah.

Jason Elkins (08:37)
Yeah. What I hear you saying, and I don't want to put words in your mouth, but it sounds like you kind of came out of your shell a little bit. Would you say that you were kind of more introverted before you got started with this? Because clearly in this conversation now, you're definitely not an introvert. seem very comfortable. I'm would

Jim Young (08:52)
Yeah, I wasn't the person I am today or the confidence that I had. Maybe I always had that ability, but maybe I didn't. I might jump ahead here, but that's been my journey all the way through. I would say it's been my journey with starting Adventure with you. was that same feeling that I had that time arriving in Nairobi, trying to move all those years for working as a tour guide to starting my business. It was like, I

arriving back in Nairobi. That whole can I do this and then learning and learning and learning and growing and growing. Yeah, it's just been that all the way through. yeah.

Jason Elkins (09:33)
That's very cool. from Africa, how long were you doing those overland trips in Africa?

Jim Young (09:38)
Well, I was in Africa for about five years, but overall doing the Overland like about nine years. So I was in South America for a couple of years and then back and forth between the Middle East and a lot in Asia as well.

Jason Elkins (09:54)
Where were the most challenging overland trips out of those areas that you just mentioned or maybe something you haven't even mentioned yet? were, you know, are there any areas that stand out that were like, wow, that's really tough place to do

Jim Young (10:03)
And, well,

Yeah, one really does stick out to me quite a lot. And that was when we went from Kathmandu to Beijing over what was then what is known as the Friendship Highway. But it wasn't it wasn't a highway. How lovely that way. was it was a gravel road. you know, those ones we see with those huge drops on the side with landslides and yeah, we had no notes. We we kind of made it up as we went along. We got stuck a lot.

The suspension broke on the track at 4000 meters. We got bogged and I in the middle of on on the plateau and I ended up leaving the group there and hitchhiking overnight to try and get some get some help and that one definitely sticks out. Yeah, it was great.

Jason Elkins (10:56)
Do you think that the guests that go on a trip that's challenging like that and has a lot of kind of surprises along the way, do you feel like they leave that feeling more like they've had more of an adventure than the ones that just kind of go smooth and easy?

Jim Young (11:13)
Yeah, I think so. think that's with all tours, isn't it? I think sometimes when the plan changes a little bit, it does make for more of an adventure and it can make it. But I think sometimes we would have the groups, certainly on the Overland, if you had a strong, confident group, as I said, you could go anywhere you wanted to really to get to certain destinations. If you had a team that was strong, you could try new roads in different ways because you knew if

if you came across a problem that everybody would work together.

Jason Elkins (11:46)
you know, I've been fortunate to have traveled quite a bit myself, both in the, from the perspective of leading trips or scouting trips, and then also just going with other tour operators on some of their tours to, you know, the fam trip type of thing. And one of the, one of the trips that I remember the most was pretty much exactly like that. It was in Namibia where we were in a new place that they had never, so I don't know, maybe they'd been there every week for six years,

We felt like it was the first time they'd ever been there. And then the idea was to drive up over the mountains through the desert down to the coast and up along the coast. And on a couple of these days that we were going up over the mountains, you know, we'd get stuck, you know, and these guys would get stuck in these big sand dunes. And I'm just like, I'm pretty Adventurous. But I was like, I don't see a way out of here. I think we're just going to die here.

Jim Young (12:28)
Mmm. Yeah.

Jason Elkins (12:39)
And these guys, you know, maybe it took them a couple hours, but they managed to get the get the vehicles out of the sand. And we continued our journey. And then along the way, they would find, you know, I remember they found some burial mounds like, wow, we just found these the other day. One of our guides was out scouting and we've never seen this before. We're not sure what this is. And but we've got some ideas. So you guys want to go look at it and we're like, yeah, of course we do. And it was like we I've I felt like and I think our entire group felt like it was we were the first ones to see

And I was and I remembered throughout this journey, I was like, man, if you could replicate this exact experience for like every group for, you know, every week to where everybody leaves feeling like they were the first ones to see it, they were the first ones to do it. And to this day, I still don't know if this was all scripted out or just really well planned, but it was an amazing adventure. And it's it's one of the highlights that stand out. So I can kind of envision you guys doing kind of the same type of thing. It's very cool.

Jim Young (13:36)
Yeah, yeah, I mean, mean, one for us really, we were heading towards Namsau Lake in Tibet and I really wanted to get there and we were that's when we got stuck and the road was really bad. So I thought I'll drive on the on the side of the road on the bog and we we got stuck. We went down, down, down, down all the way down. The bumper was on the floor and we couldn't and we were at 4000 meters and we're digging in the mud and we just could not get out. So in the end, we just got everybody

build camp. And I remembered earlier in the day that we had passed like some Chinese road construction workers, you know, with these big machines. So I got everyone to set camp up. then I said, right, we'll just walk, I'll just walk, you know, back. And my Chinese translator is like, Jimmy, you're mad. Yeah, you're mad. So we have to anyway, we picked up a motorbike and we got there. And they came in the morning, we got back to camp in the morning, these

Jason Elkins (14:25)
you

Jim Young (14:34)
these Chinese guys came in with these big machines and pulled us out onto the road. And I'm like, right, let's continue. So we continue along the road and we get to this river and the bridge is down. And I'm like, I reckon we can get through this river. I think I really think we can get through it. And the group went, if you get us stuck in there, you know, we're going to leave you here. We'll just do it.

So at that point I had to accept it that we weren't going to make it and turn around, but yeah, a lot of fun time.

Jason Elkins (15:06)
you

And I can imagine a lot of the guests, mean, these are probably pretty Adventurous guests that want to go do something like this, but I'm sure throughout your years of doing that, those types of trips, I'm sure you ran into a lot of people that were incredibly uncomfortable. They were really getting pushed outside their comfort zone. And I'm sure you've had some experiences and some stories of that. And I'm just curious, what do

And what kind of experiences do you have with that? Is there anything that comes to mind as far as somebody that shows up like, I don't want to be here. And then by the end of the trip, their life has

Jim Young (15:45)
Yeah, there's one person that does actually come to mind and it might have been because it was probably my first ever trip that I'd done as a tour leader, which again, would have been in Africa. That's not because it was in Africa or anything. I think it's memorable because it was my first one and the first time I'd seen it. And, you know, this person that they'd arrived, they'd probably got a taxi to the hotel in Nairobi and probably unpetrified. I think they had a bit of

a rough day along the street in the day or something like that. But they were really, really nervous now, you know, out of their depth. And then at the end, at the end, they grew. Because you used to try and build the team within the first week, but at the end of the nine weeks when we got to Cape Town, and I think I said it earlier, and you look back on it and that's when it was like, it really resonated. you think, wow, this is powerful. you know, this is a great thing. you know, I've, I guess I'd grown as a person and developed.

but also you could see these people that could just, yeah, they had an amazing adventure, but also for them, they'd grown as well and they managed it very well. So it was hugely rewarding. And also, I guess we we had get it a lot on the hike. Now we're doing jumping ahead to doing tracks on Kilian and Jaro and things. you get that a lot, you know, on the mountain tracks where people think they haven't got the strength or the mental strength or physical strength to

on these, especially the hiking, trekking we do now. And they get there and that's, yeah, that's really fantastic as

Jason Elkins (17:20)
I'm curious if there's maybe a couple words of advice that you have for somebody that's maybe it comes up on the trail as you're going up the mountain, but like words of advice that you'd give somebody that's thinking about going to do a type of trip like that. What could, what could you just say to them that is going to help them prepare maybe mentally, physically, whatever they need to do before the trip? Is there kind of common, common advice that you give?

Jim Young (17:44)
I don't know, I don't know really. I think what I do is I break things down into little bits rather than looking at the bigger picture. kind of, especially when you're there, is just take things as it come. But I'm a firm believer, enjoy the whole journey and I'm maybe relax and just relax and have confidence with the people that are around you and the people that, you know, the guide or all the people around you and everyone can work together as a team.

Jason Elkins (18:16)
I love that you said kind of break it, break it down into smaller parts, because that does a couple of things. One, it helps kind of keep from being overwhelmed. Cause if you're standing at the bottom of Kilimanjaro and is all you're thinking about is getting to the top, a couple of things can happen. One is you can feel very overwhelmed, I believe. And also just that the presence that you mentioned, like being present in the moment today, or maybe even right now after lunch, we're going to hike up to that ridge.

Jim Young (18:16)
That's

Yes.

Jason Elkins (18:42)
And here's what we're going to do along the way. And it just kind of helps people stay in the present and breaks it down into manageable, manageable bites, right?

Jim Young (18:51)
Yeah, I think so. And obviously with travel as well and adventure travel, it's about the journey and it's about each day and every moment, isn't it, rather than racing too far ahead.

Jason Elkins (19:04)
So what's on a track like Kilimanjaro? Is there a moment that it's all just comes together? Is it when you hit the summit or is there some other moment that typically is when it all comes together or when, when people are just like, Holy cow, I can't believe I'm here.

Jim Young (19:22)
I think that's a very individual thing. think people along the journey have their own different moments and their own different challenges. For some people it may be the top, for some people it might be the first day. So you can have those moments and you can have, hopefully, how you have many of those moments on any journey that you have to pinch yourself. So yeah, I don't think there's any particular moment. I think

It's down to the individual really.

Jason Elkins (19:53)
Alright, very, cool. And I want to go back now just a little bit and I'll circle back around to this. I'll try and circle back around to this, but let's go back to when you decided to leave the family business and go do all this. What was your family supportive of this? Was it just like I gotta go see a piece out or what was that like?

Jim Young (19:58)
Yeah, sorry,

you know, I can't remember. I do remember my friends thinking I was absolutely crazy. I think they were getting, they were beginning to think about maybe buying properties and you know, this, that and the other in their mid -20s. And I'm like, hey, I'm out of here. I'm off to go and work in Africa. And they were like, Africa? And they were like, wow, you must be getting loads of money. I'm like, six pound a day. How do you get paid six pounds a day?

Jason Elkins (20:22)
you

Jim Young (20:44)
you know, so I think for them guys, yeah, I don't know what my family thought. There was concern, I suppose. Maybe they had kind of always knew something like that. I would end up doing something. I don't know. I should ask, really.

Jason Elkins (20:57)
Yeah, okay. And did you grow up with siblings?

Jim Young (21:01)
I did, yes, I've got two elder sisters and a younger brother.

Jason Elkins (21:03)
Okay.

All right, did any of them kind of grasp onto the travel thing as well, or is it just you?

Jim Young (21:10)
Just me, they're all home kids,

Jason Elkins (21:14)
So you're to their kids, presuming if they have kids, you would be the crazy uncle.

Jim Young (21:20)
I guess that would be right, yes. Yeah, yeah. All the adventures fun, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jason Elkins (21:22)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. The one that comes home maybe for holidays or whatever, every once in a while and just shares stories like we just shared about going over the Tibetan Plateau or through Africa. That's

Jim Young (21:37)
I hope so. I you just reminded me of something I remember growing up and a friend of my mum's was an air hostess and I always remember her coming home or coming to visit. I was always in a little bit of awe, think, as a young person. I always thought, wow, this person, they've been on a plane or they've been away somewhere. So I don't know, maybe it's always been there, that lust for travel.

Jason Elkins (22:01)
Yeah, yeah, that's very, cool. Now, I don't want to get too personal, but what about you? Did you have a family? Do you have any kids?

Jim Young (22:12)
No, no, don't have any kids. have a, and Sue work in the business and she's spent all her life travelling around as well. Sue's Australian and now residing in Wales, so she's done lots of travelling, but we have a very spoiled dog, so.

Jason Elkins (22:29)
Yeah. Well, but it sounds like you found somebody that could accept your wanderlust and was on board with it. sounds like she's also into

Jim Young (22:41)
Yeah, we're both very the same. We're both competing who's going on the next trip really. Yes.

Jason Elkins (22:46)
Yeah, because that can be a challenge. I've been through that challenge myself. I've always had the wanderlust and need to go and need to see things. it's not always that easy to find somebody that's quite on the same page that has the same desire to go do those things. So that's

Jim Young (23:02)
Yeah, that's very difficult. think, yeah, mean, when I, again, when I was doing that Oberland thing, think most people would probably do it for two or three years because they would stop and then I, you know, go back to, go back to, not maybe their previous lives, but they would go back and start a family life. And I catch up with all these guys and they've all got their families and stuff. But yeah, I just, I just like being on the road really.

Jason Elkins (23:26)
Yeah, no, I get it completely. So, but you're living in Wales right now, is that right? Okay. And how much are you on the road leading trips or scouting destinations and doing stuff?

Jim Young (23:31)
Hmm, that's right. Yes.

slow down an awful lot, which is great. Now I have a good balance now. So get to do some hobbies and things like that as well. So we, I would probably say over a 12 month period, we're probably three to four months of the year, I would say out of the UK. And then the rest of the time we're

Jason Elkins (24:03)
Okay.

and maybe touching into your business a little bit. Tell us a little bit about Adventurous Ewe and kind of what your special, you mentioned a couple of things. you mentioned Kilimanjaro, you mentioned trekking. So tell us a little bit more about kind of what your passion is within your business and what should people know about Adventurous Ewe.

Jim Young (24:23)
Yeah, so we do a lot of UK and overseas stuff. The UK stuff runs usually from April to October, so we're very busy and that can be lots of team building and corporate events all over the UK and they can be like hiking, kayaking and trekking, various different activities and bespoke stuff. So that's what we in the UK. And then we have our overseas program,

I say it is our big passion really. And on that we do all sorts. Because we're a small company, we really try and make our itineraries and try and do things a little bit special or a little bit different. Obviously being a small company, we can't compete with everyone else, but we also believe we like to add a different type of trip and have different itineraries as well.

Jason Elkins (24:56)
Mm -hmm.

Jim Young (25:22)
So we try and that's what we really try and focus on our overseas trips and just ensuring that.

Jason Elkins (25:30)
you doing a lot of group trips or is this mostly maybe a family comes to you and says, I want to go here and you what we'd call an FIT, you know, for individual travel or whatever. What kind of trips are you mostly doing?

Jim Young (25:42)
We do both. do, you know, so we will, we, lot of our sort of clients that have been with us for 10, 15 years, they might come up with an idea and then we'll try and do it. So yeah, so we could do, we do small groups and large groups. We try and keep them between, you know, between six and 12, you know, that's as as we'd like to go really.

Jason Elkins (26:07)
Do you get many families traveling with, I'll say younger kids, but we can define what that means. But do get many families traveling with kids?

Jim Young (26:17)
No, not really. Most people I would say are in their early 30s up to a retirement age. We have got some family groups this year actually, but they're older, they're sort of early 20s as the youngsters might be, because it's more, they're more demanding I think really. That particular booking, they're going to Costa Rica doing a hike, bike and rafting, tend to be of an older age.

Jason Elkins (26:45)
Right. Cause I, cause I kind of wonder about, you know, younger children, maybe, maybe even teenagers and what that looks like with the current landscape of social media and telephones. And I imagine, you know, going on a trek somewhere. And I've had a similar conversation with some other tour operators that do tracks and it's like, how do you know, what would you say to parents with teenage kids that are thinking about doing this? And how do you keep the, you know, how do

Jim Young (26:56)
Yeah.

Jason Elkins (27:12)
basically get the kids to kind of go along with it. And I mean, I remember doing, you know, some what I would call tracks with my dad when I was a teenager. And frankly, at the time, I kind of hated it. I'm not going to lie. was like he was like a mountain goat. And, know, I was like, what are we doing? Can we? you know, but I didn't but I didn't have a telephone or anything competing. It was just literally it was just like, you know, the father son type of relationship dynamics.

Jim Young (27:15)
and that.

No, I

Yeah.

Jason Elkins (27:41)
But now I look back at it I think, wow, I'm so happy that I did that. I'm so happy that I spent that time with him. And I hope other people do it. But I also recognize there's more challenges now. I mean, I've got a teenage son and I've traveled with him. And yeah, it's like we've been sitting in amazing places and he wants to sit in the Airbnb on his computer playing GeoGuessr, which is a game about international travel. I'm like, we could just go outside. Let's just go outside, take a walk.

Jim Young (28:08)
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, we did get some people that bring sort of their children. Actually, we had a very interesting one today or great one today. So there's one lady who has been with us since probably more than 10 years and originally, she did Kilimanjaro with us and kept coming back. And her son came with us last year.

Jason Elkins (28:10)
so yeah, it's, it's a bit of a challenge. I just wondered if you guys had much experience with

Jim Young (28:35)
to Greenland on an expedition and she said, can he come? He said, he's old enough now. I forgot the age, let's say 17 or something like this, or maybe a bit younger. He came to Greenland all with adults. Absolutely had an amazing time. And today I've had an email from him saying, Jim, when I graduate next year, I'm gonna take some time out over next year.

and I'm really keen to go to Japan. Could we book on one of your, I want to go on one of your, maybe your self -guided trips and can you help me? And I'm like, so that's great. So now we've got the next generation coming along. And so that's really exciting.

Jason Elkins (29:21)
you remember just a few minutes ago, I said, I'm going to circle back around or I'm going to try and circle back around. We just came full circle because the question I'd already had in mind was, was that that younger person, you know, like you, you were working in the family business, doing something completely different and decided to go. Your friends thought you're crazy. All that, you know, I'm sure there was some pressure to continue in the company and the family business. So I wanted to ask you what words of advice.

do you give for somebody maybe like this young man who's going to take some time off, go travel or somebody that comes to you and says, Jim, I want to work for you. want to lead trips for you. want to, I want to do this, but my family, you know, there's family pressure, da da da da da. mean, what words of advice do you have for somebody like

Jim Young (30:05)
That is a tough one because times change, they? Things change, you know. I think you just have to kind of follow your... It sounds a bit... I suppose follow your passion. I'm really encouraging. We do every year try and... If people come to us saying they want to become mountain leaders, we do try and take one or two people on and try and encourage them and help them develop their skills to move on. So we do like to do that. But in terms of travel...

Jason Elkins (30:09)
Yeah, yep.

Jim Young (30:35)
I think you just got to get out there and put yourself out there a little bit and go for it. I do sometimes think whether people hold back a little bit too more. There's obviously Adventurous people out there, but there's a lot more caution. Oh, I think there is, but I could be wrong about stepping out there and doing it. And it's got to be easier now than it was 30 odd years ago. It's got to be.

Jason Elkins (31:01)
Yeah. But I think back to you mentioning when you were on your first trip and you had to step up and start kind of, I think you said Malawi, was kind of like, okay, Jim's in charge of Malawi. And what a great opportunity that was for you to break through some barriers. And I agree with you. think that traveling and taking off and exploring really kind of helps.

can help open up the world. Even if you decide after a few years to go back and have a family, you still take all that valuable, valuable stuff with you. I don't think it has to be. And it's fun.

Jim Young (31:30)
Yeah, And it's really fun. So it's yeah, yeah, it's really frightening taking that step. It's really frightening to take that step. And it whatever it is, if it's going on a train to your local to a city nearby when you don't want one that can be daunting, you know, but go and do it and you'll find that it's not but I think also in life

good to have not to be wrapped up in a bubble and push yourself a little bit out of your comfort zone. And you'll be surprised how far you can go and where it can lead you in some amazing places with some, and meet some just the most incredible people.

Jason Elkins (32:14)
you know, you mentioned when we were talking about like climbing them out and what, you know, how do you kind of coach your clients through that? It's like focus on, you know, the smaller bits, break it down into bits. And I've been traveling full time for the last two and a half years. And I, if I go back in hindsight and I realize the, one of the biggest challenges I had and probably not the way I should have done it was I was like, I just made the decision. going, I sold all my stuff, sold my car, bought a one way ticket.

Jim Young (32:25)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Jason Elkins (32:44)
and just started going. And what I realized is in a sense, it kept me going because I didn't have a lot of options to fall back on. Because when I say I sold my stuff, I didn't have enough stuff to like put a lot of money in the bank. It was just, I just got rid of my stuff. And I think that a lot of people are reluctant to go start a journey because they think they have to commit to it for years. you know, it's like, okay, if I'm going to go be a digital nomad, I need to go do it for years.

Jim Young (32:56)
Yeah.

Jason Elkins (33:12)
And I think that can number one be very overwhelming. But also what happens is once you've told all your friends, maybe you, for example, I'm going to Africa and I'm going to be, you know, an overland guide in Africa for the next, if you say for the next five years and you start telling yourself for the next five years, then when you get there, if you do change your mind, decide to go a different direction, it can be difficult to change because you've, you've created this identity. you've told all these people that you're going to do it for so long.

And I say, you know, I just encourage people just go on a trip. Just go somewhere. It doesn't, you know, go for a month. If you can take off a month, if you can take off a year as a gap year, go do it. you don't have to commit to doing this forever, but go out and do it. If it's enjoyable, if it works for you, you can pretty much just continue it. And if not, you know, it's OK to go home if that's what your preference is.

Jim Young (34:08)
Yeah, I don't think I ever had a long term plan. I don't think I ever had a plan that anything was going to be more than a couple of weeks or months ever. know, it never was. And what am I, 26 years now leading groups. you know, at one point it's like, I'll just do another year. A little bit more, a little bit more. And I felt ready, a little bit more. And then before, yeah, the whole life of

Jason Elkins (34:18)
Yeah, yeah.

And that mindset isn't necessarily supported by a lot of families and a lot of just our society and our culture. Because I think we're told by the time we're in high school, OK, what are you going to do in college? What are you going to study? What kind of work are you going to do? Where are you going to live? Where are you going to buy your house? And you better have a plan. And you better have that consistency. And that works for some people. But that can.

Jim Young (34:50)
Yes.

Yes.

course.

Jason Elkins (35:01)
feel I've talked to, I've had so many folks here on the show that were kind of, going that direction. This is kind of what my family wanted me to do. And this is what I thought I should do. And then at the age of 40 or 45 or 50, I decided I'm miserable. This is not what I want to be doing. So I just, yeah, I agree with you. think it's for me anyway, for my personality, obviously for your personality, it's like, okay, I'm just going to take a step. I'm just going to take a step and

I'll just keep doing it because I enjoy it. I'm getting a lot out of it. And then there can be a lot of value in that. So I'm not sure where I was going with all that.

Jim Young (35:34)
Absolutely. No, but I mean, it's, think it's, you just got to make decisions for yourself on what, you it's not, it's not for everyone. Although I sit here now talking, am I, I'm really excited to sat right here talking about this and bringing all these memories back. And it is my life and it, and absolutely, I would never be the person I want would be today. And I'm so glad where I'm sat and where I am today.

Jason Elkins (35:49)
Mm -hmm.

Jim Young (36:01)
Thanks to travel and all the people that I've met and where it's you were saying about, you know, I've been on buses thinking where the hell, what the hell am I doing on this thing in the middle of the night in the dark thinking, you know, and I've taken that, but it's turned out all right and it's been great. And yes, it's very powerful.

Jason Elkins (36:13)
you

So we've talked about some of the fun things, exciting things, and some of, you you and I have some similar passions. I can see it on your face for those that are listening to this, just the audio portion. They don't get to see your face all lit up. But I also think it's worth sometimes sharing some of the downsides that people don't think of. know, maybe that's thinking about making a big commitment, going to Africa, doing that. There are some challenges that come up as well. So I'm curious for you.

What have been the surprises or the downsides that you kind of feel like you'd like to share with somebody that hasn't been through what you've been through?

Jim Young (36:57)
Yeah, I guess there are sacrifices. you miss a lot of things at home. There was, know, I hear a lot of my siblings and things and they had a lot of summers where they were on my dad's boat and things like that. I was never there. Family times when, you know, you feel like you should be there and you couldn't. So that's quite how Christmas isn't. So there are those things that you miss.

together good overall stuff, know, makes always makes always you know, but yeah, I think.

Jason Elkins (37:27)
Yeah

I'm imagining you sitting in a camp on the way up Kilimanjaro and a group of clients are sitting around with you and they're like, Jim, you've got the most amazing job. you're so lucky to be able to do this. they only see you sitting there having a small glass of wine or something with them on the side of the mountain. I don't even know if you do that. But I know that my career in tourism is quite often has been my clients are like, wow, Jason, you've got the best job ever.

but there's so much they don't see behind the scenes that they don't know how many hours you maybe modern days sitting in front of a computer working on itineraries or financing or trying to deal with local guides that don't always respond in a timely manner and stuff like that. So what are some of the challenges? If you had to look at them and say, yeah, it's great, but you don't realize this, what would that part be that you'd share

Jim Young (38:02)
Yes.

Yeah, for me, yeah, but now running your own, you know, travel business that everyone does say, you've got an amazing job, but there are hours. I don't think you can count the hours of how much you work and things like that. I hate accounts. That's a challenge. I hate accounts. I hate doing accounts and things, but yeah, that's probably my biggest thing,

Jason Elkins (38:48)
Say that again? yeah, yeah.

Jim Young (38:57)
It is challenging running your own business, definitely. But again, the rewards, the rewards beat the, you know, the hard work.

Jason Elkins (39:06)
Yep, absolutely. So what's your favorite point from, let's say you start building an itinerary, you've got an idea in your head for some sort of trip or track that maybe you want to lead it as a group leader. So from the moment you kind of sit down and start, okay, here's what we're going to do day one, day two, you start planning it out until the moment that you read the reviews after the trip. So the trip has already happened. you've read, now you read it, you've read the reviews.

Jim Young (39:29)
Yeah.

Jason Elkins (39:33)
So what point during that process do you feel the biggest high or the biggest like excitement level and the biggest sense of whatever that is for

Jim Young (39:45)
Yeah, there is a great high when you sort of come up with an idea and you build this idea together as a trip. We've got one in Sweden, which we built ourselves and it's gone really well over the last nine years. We were the only ones doing it and stuff. So, and that was hugely rewarding to come up with the idea, build it, build it and see it grow and see people come on it. And they still say to us, it's, you

such a great trip it is. That's great fun. yeah, I think it's just seeing everybody at the end and seeing them have a great time and you're like, we've built this fantastic trip. I really enjoy doing

Jason Elkins (40:31)
I don't know why it was with me. It's kind of weird and I've always been trying to figure it out, but my high is usually right after I say goodbye to the clients in the airport. And I don't know why, cause that sounds like I'm like, finally I don't have to deal with these people anymore. But it was never that it was more of a, you know, the hugs and the, like, man, can't wait to go do this again. And they would all go to their gates and I would be like, okay.

It's it's done, but not and it's a done like thank God it's done because I don't like these people. It was more of a. We did it. They had fun. I'm sending them home with good memories, so I was curious if you have a similar type of

Jim Young (41:07)
I get excited.

Okay. Yeah, I get excited meeting people. Before the briefing and when I'm briefing them. That's when I get excited. I feel, yeah, the front end and then when they're leaving, actually, I feel quite sad and sometimes you feel a bit lonely because you've built, they become friends, know, they become friends, dear friends and we stay in touch and things like that. They really, really do. The beginning,

Jason Elkins (41:18)
Okay.

All right, on the front end.

Jim Young (41:39)
A little bit apprehensive, even now, sometimes the night before, I still don't sleep after all these years of doing it, thinking, how's it going to go? How's it going to go? And then meet everyone. And then I, yeah, I get, I get, I get really excited then. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Jason Elkins (41:55)
All right. Yeah, I know that's that's cool. I can relate. I can relate to that like then the night before it's like, okay, because you want everything to go so well and you know that you can only I mean you can do a lot of planning. you can do a lot of things to avoid surprises, but there's always and then there's always what's the dynamic of the group going to be? you know it's so there's that that worries so all right.

Jim Young (42:01)
Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. But that's exciting, I think, because that's the interesting, because it changes all the time. you you can do the same tour. I think we touched on it earlier, doing the same tour time and time again. But you've always got a different dynamic. It's never the same. Everything always changes and always different problems or different things, different personalities and things. And that's what makes it exciting as well, you know, being the tour leader.

Jason Elkins (42:43)
I noticed that we spoke once earlier, we spoke about your first briefing that you gave in Africa. And then you just now basically said the time that I'm the most exciting is when I'm giving the first briefing, you know? And it's like, isn't that interesting that the thing that you were probably the most nervous about and that you remembered as the most uncomfortable thing for you in the beginning has now become the thing that

Jim Young (42:49)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Jason Elkins (43:11)
based on what you just said, you seem to enjoy the most. That's interesting. Huh, yeah,

Jim Young (43:13)
I've never thought about that before, but yeah, yeah. I guess that's what I've kind of been saying as well is that for me, it was the development, which is why I stuck it in it, you know, from one year onwards. I was always learning and growing as a person and things, know. Something else comes to mind, which might be a little bit different, but where I remember traveling was what travel can do for you as well. And I was like, shall I start up a business?

And then I don't know where we were. We were in India, something like this. I was looking around on the street and see people, there might have been a lady with little triangles of tomatoes, let's say that they're trying to sell at the end, you know, for the day to feed the family or something. And you're like, I'm really worried about why am I worried about? Because all these people here are all business people. know, that lady's got to sell her tomatoes to feed her family at the end of the day.

Jason Elkins (44:11)
Mm -hmm.

Jim Young (44:12)
And she's given it she's got to find the right place the right street and everything to do it and maybe So why am I so frightened about doing it when so many people out there live their lives doing it? I'm not I think come from being traveling and seeing what's going on around the world It's very important. I you know to see what's going on around and you see that and you go I I need to think I could do something. I'll have a go at something.

Jason Elkins (44:40)
If she can do it, maybe I can do it. you're just not selling tomatoes. you're selling experiences to go visit people that are selling tomatoes or whatever, right? That's cool.

Jim Young (44:43)
Yeah, or

Yeah, I guess. don't know. was just a moment of just thinking, yeah, you know, have a go. Yeah.

Jason Elkins (44:55)
And when did you actually start the business?

Jim Young (45:02)
2007, but if I'm honest, had no, again, learning, I had no idea what I was doing. So I think it took a few, another clue. you know, for instance, I would put posters up at the bottom of a mountain offering guiding services when I guess there's people are already walking up the mountain, you know, so wasn't really going to get many calls.

Jason Elkins (45:21)
Hahaha!

That's where you wanna sell evacuation services maybe, or hey, if you change your mind, call us, we'll come get you, bring you back down the mountain. Well, the rest of your group goes up, but yeah, I get it. I can relate to that,

Jim Young (45:29)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, so, you know, so I say about 2011 where it began to support me, you know, I did a bit of work in between I worked in a little bit of work in mental health as well. While I was starting up the business and and yeah, 2011 it was kind of myself on my own. It was supporting me then. It took a while.

Jason Elkins (46:03)
So I want to ask you a question that maybe came up recently because of, you know, things that were happening around the world. If all of the sudden you could not do travel, if somebody just came to you and said, Jim, it's still out there. Other people are doing it, but you cannot do it for whatever reason. Just hypothetically speaking, what would you want to go do?

Jim Young (46:27)
I don't know. I had that moment during COVID. I really did. was just, you know, hands in your head thinking, what am I going to you know, but then again, I think through travel, you think about all these people that live through different, various different lives. And then you think, actually, it's not so bad. you know, there are other people having really terrible times around the world. And I think from having traveled,

Jason Elkins (46:32)
Yeah, I suspect.

Jim Young (46:56)
That lets you reflect on still what you have got and what you know, and that you things can be all right. But I didn't know what I was going to do. I can't think of not working in the travel industry. think if this adventure should end, I think I would just I often thought about I'd get on a push bike and just cycle around the world and just keep going. I think that's something I would do. then go. But I was going to say work in like lodges and things like that. But obviously, if we're talking out of tourism.

Jason Elkins (47:16)
Yeah, OK.

Jim Young (47:26)
I think I would just have to get on the Porsche bike and just cycle and see what.

Jason Elkins (47:31)
Part of why I asked that is because you'd mentioned that for a period of time as you were getting the business going, you were working in the mental health field. And I think that there's a lot of connection psychology between travel, adventures, experiences, mental health and all that. I recognize that COVID was probably as much a mental health crisis as it was a physical health crisis, economical crisis, so many things that impacted.

Jim Young (47:52)
Absolutely.

Hmm.

Jason Elkins (48:00)
Impacted mental health. So that's I was kind of wasn't sure where to go with that. But,

Jim Young (48:03)
Yeah, no, but yeah, was, it was a difficult time. was for everybody. So yeah.

Jason Elkins (48:12)
Fortunately, the world is traveling again. And has been for a while. There's actually quite a rebound there. When we came out of that, were

Jim Young (48:15)
That's it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're back.

Jason Elkins (48:27)
I I don't know what was your, like, as we started to come out of it, as people were starting to travel again, were there any surprises that came up for

Jim Young (48:36)
I think as a business, we were quite lucky because we were quite diverse. So we have our stuff in the UK and then we have our overseas. So when everything started to come out of COVID and in the UK, everybody had to stay within the UK, our summer boomed because we had stuff within the UK. Those tour operators that sold just overseas didn't have, we had that. We also,

Jason Elkins (49:04)
Mm -hmm.

Jim Young (49:06)
So that was a good thing. And then obviously, slowly but surely, people have started to travel more. And yeah, we've got to be working on some great new itineraries and get out there to some new places.

Jason Elkins (49:20)
Yeah, because there were a lot of people that that pent up demand. They like I need to get out of the house and for your if you've got clients in the UK and tours in the UK, then that that made it possible. I'm curious what's what's on the horizon for you? Any big new programs, additions, any anything that you want to announce here on the show or is it business as usual? What's going

Jim Young (49:41)
We're always trying to think of new ideas really. We're trying to get some stuff. Looking towards K2 Basecamp. We've got treks going up there. We're also looking at, in August, we're going to look at a new Hut to Hut trek through Norway and Sweden, which is quite exciting.

And I'm actually taking a group cycling in Rwanda in February. So I'm really excited about that. Very hilly. So that I hope we're to build that into a new program as well. Yeah, don't stop thinking of ideas. They sure.

Jason Elkins (50:29)
Yeah, I can tell the, the just, just what you said. I'm cycling in Rwanda. Sounds pretty cool. So very, very cool. So, and the link to your website is going to be in the show notes. Anybody listening to this? If, if you got, if, if, if he's caught your attention, yeah, which he's got mine for sure. They'll be able to click through and look at, and hopefully see some of those new trips on your website soon or reach out to you to maybe help do something, something custom. Jim, we covered quite a few things. I appreciate that. There's a lot more we did not cover.

Jim Young (50:32)
Yeah. Yeah.

Jason Elkins (50:59)
There's a lot of things out there, but I'm curious, what did I forget to ask you? What should I have asked you that you want to make sure that our listeners here before we wrap it

Jim Young (51:07)
I'm happy with everything we've covered. It's been really nice meeting you. I've really, really enjoyed our chat. It's been absolutely fantastic. yeah, I've got no questions. thank you very much. It's been absolutely great.

Jason Elkins (51:14)
Good.

Well, thanks. Thanks for coming on. And I got to tell you when I first saw your business name, Adventurous you. I thought of a mountain sheep or a mountain goat of some sort climbing up the mountain because I grew up in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming. So to me, I was like, that's such a clear connection. Adventure is you. It's you know, it's it's a mountain goat, a sheep, it's tracking and all that stuff. I think it's a it's a great name, not just a sheep in Wales.

Jim Young (51:36)
Okay.

It just came from, yeah, it just came from, it made me laugh. It was as simple as that. There's a lot of serious sort of adventure names out there and I think travel should be fun. And that's it. And it made me laugh. So I thought, well, that's great.

Jason Elkins (51:52)
But I've seen your website. I know that you've implemented some of those ideas that I just mentioned.

Well, made me laugh, got my attention, and that's why you're here on the show with me. So thank you for taking time out of your day to come share some of your stories, adventures, and just your perspectives on life and travel. And look forward to collaborating on some stuff with you in the future. Look forward to meeting you in

Jim Young (52:14)
guys.

Brilliant. Yeah, yeah, that'd be great. Thank you very much for your time. you too. Bye.

Jason Elkins (52:31)
Thanks, Jim. Have a great

Bye.