Title photograph by Ben Statham
Andy Browning is a geographer, explorer, expedition leader, outdoor instructor, writer, speaker, and teacher with a passion for exploration and adventure.
If you're interested in booking Andy for a talk, then click here to find out more and send him a message.
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Growing up in Essex, Andy first found a love for the outdoors and adventure by building shelters and climbing trees in Epping Forest. Exploring this ancient woodland and hours spent poring over old copies of National Geographic magazines, ensured Andy developed a sense of wonder about the world which has never left him.
Whilst studying Earth Science at the University of East Anglia, Andy managed to convince someone to let him spend a year poking volcanoes in Mexico, and on the beautiful Caribbean island of Montserrat. These trips cemented a love for exploration, and sparked what was to become a fascination with the lesser visited corners of our planet. Since then Andy has traversed the African continent solely by public transport, ventured into deserts in search of secret pyramids, explored and mapped uncharted tributaries in the Amazon rainforest, sweated through more jungles and deserts in search of active lava lakes, trekked across the East African savanna, and spent a year living on one of the world's smallest and most remote islands.
Often travelling overland on ramshackle public transport, eating whatever debatable delicacy can be bought through the window, and sleeping wherever the bus inevitably breaks down, Andy embraces the lifestyle of the budget explorer, proving that you don't need huge sums of cash in order to experience the wonder of new places; he is living testament to how far even the most modest budget will get you if you are prepared to approach things slightly differently.
Continuing the overland theme, Andy recently discovered the excitement of travelling long distances by bicycle and not so long ago completed the classic British cycle journey John O Groats to Lands End. Looking for the next challenge, Andy then cycled across the breadth of the country, this time from the UK's eastern cardinal point in Suffolk to the Welsh coast, and then took his two-wheeled adventuring into Europe, cycling from the UK to the most northerly point of Denmark.
As well as his own adventures, Andy is also an expedition leader, and has used his knowledge and experience to lead several groups of young people in a variety of exciting locations including the Iringa highlands of Tanzania, the Scottish mountains, and most recently the Amazon jungle. In 2017 Andy was nominated by the British Exploring Society for the New Leader of the Year award, and in 2018 he was nominated again, this time for the Leader of the Year award…
"Andy was a fantastic role model throughout the expedition. He showed a vast range of knowledge and enthused others and his passion for the outdoors was at the heart of all he did."
‘Andy is one of those incredible people who can turn his hand to anything - translating for a meeting with community elders, digging latrines in wet clay soil amidst a fog of mosquitoes, managing casualties in a tropical storm, sharing his passion for mapping wild spaces and inspiring young people to greater heights. Without a doubt, he’s the person you want on your team in every expedition situation.’
When not travelling to far flung corners, and when global pandemics allow, Andy can be found trying (and usually failing!) to look cool in a variety of hipster coffee shops, lugging a rucksack around the mountains of the United Kingdom in his role as a Mountain Leader, or using his teaching skills and experiences to try and convince young people (and older young people) that geography really is the best subject they can study.
He hopes that this website and the stories and photographs within, will serve as inspiration for you to get out there and have your own adventure.
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Keen to find out more? Why not contact Andy via his social media channels, or sign up to his newsletter to keep up to date?