I’m always pitching and for Women’s History Month I proposed a piece on exploration and top women explorers past and present. There are so many women (and male) explorers and adventurers that I admire that I hoped my enthusiasm would catch on. BBC Radio Scotland got right back to me and I spent a very happy morning chatting about being a Scottish adventurer to Mark Stephen and Helen Needham of Scotland Outdoors. Radio interviews – like any good conversation – take on a life of their own and we ended up talking about all sorts.  Why I swapped high heels for desert gaiters, the benefits of having a leathery bottom and how I am trying to follow in the footsteps of those top women explorers.

Listen to it here on BBC Sounds. 

And if you have children in your life, start them young! This is me and my Gran, who I am named after.

There are lots of amazing women explorers and adventurers both past and present – and men too – who have achieved great things. We didn’t get to talk about them much on Scotland Outdoors in the end, so here are a few links you may find interesting.

I have a deep interest in the Middle East and Africa and love the exploits of Freya Stark, Gertrude Bell and Wilfred Thesiger. My Dad gave me Thesiger’s book The Arabian Sands for Christmas and it remains one of the best things I have ever read. But I am also really interested in people who are doing great things now like Raha Moharrak, the first Saudi woman to climb Everest. Also,  the all-female wildlife ranger unit in Kenya – Team Lioness.

Listen to the podcast here on BBC Sounds. 

Or if you fancy a bit of armchair adventuring of your own, there is always Adventures in Morocco.