Dan Raven-Ellison is an explorer of ideas, landscapes, and what’s possible. As the founder of Slow Ways, he’s building a grassroots national walking network to connect every town and city in Britain. Before that, he spearheaded the campaign to make London the world’s first National Park City, challenging how we perceive urban nature. A self-described guerrilla geographer, Dan blends creativity, activism, and deep curiosity to explore big questions: What makes a place wild? Who gets to access it? And how do we make everyday adventure more accessible?
This is Dan’s second appearance on the Living Adventurously podcast (check out episode 49 for our first chat). In this conversation, we dive deeper into Dan’s mission to reimagine geography, walking, childhood, and cities. From rewilding Britain to the future of Slow Ways, we cover bold ideas, tough trade-offs, and the power of imagination in driving real change. Whether you're a walker, parent, teacher, or dreamer, there’s something here for you.
Topics We Cover in This Episode
1. Big Picture: What’s the Real Mission?
2. Slow Ways – Do We Really Need This?
3. Childhoods as Places
4. Rewilding Britain: Wildlife, Housing, and Adventure
5. Cities as National Parks – Serious or Symbolic?
6. Slow Ways – The Future Vision
In this rich, wide-ranging conversation, Alastair Humphreys chats with Craig Mod about the overlapping worlds of adventure, creativity, and publishing. The two explore their different but kindred approaches to long walks — Craig’s meticulous, high-tech planning versus Alastair’s spontaneous, minimalist style — and how these journeys feed into their creative work. Craig shares the thinking behind his wildly successful newsletters, membership programme, and beautiful, obsessively designed books. They also dive into broader themes like cultural responsibility, self-discipline, nature connection, and why sometimes walking is just the best way to think deeply.
🧭 Topics and Themes
📚 Books Mentioned
💡 Concepts & Quotes
🧾 Links & Recommendations
