Lisa Drewe

What drives you to spend time outside?

I’m always curious about what’s around the corner, discovering new places, finding new routes, documenting them and sharing them with others. I love bumping into fellow travellers and islanders and experiencing awe-inspiring places and wildlife.

Where are your favourite places to go?

British islands; anywhere near water; and mountains

What is your favourite thing to do outdoors?

Sometimes to just stop, take a breath, be still and soak it all up.

Who inspires you and how?

Mother Nature. I’m in awe of her beauty and power, her gentleness and healing and her resilience and ability to teach us more about ourselves.

What are your focuses this year to help people get outside more often?

My mission is to visit, document and circumnavigate, where possible, all the islands of the British Isles and inspire and enable others do the same. I am sharing my guides on all 170 islands already visited along with the new islands I explore. Each has a ‘how to guide’ for getting there, climbing the highpoint, family adventures, challenge events, outdoor activities, festivals, walks, history, geological features, island larders, swims and camps.

My other focus is to discover more of the water around us and to celebrate our deep connection to it. Science has proven that proximity to water strengthens the positive effects the environment has on wellbeing. It’s all around us all the time, hidden in plain sight. I’m nuts about water and will be sharing inspiring ways to discover and enjoy rivers and ponds, fountains and moats, snow and mist, waterfalls and waves, estuaries and springs and some other sources that are a bit more unusual. I have identified 55 ‘sources’ of water so far that everyone can enjoy and benefit from by walk alongside it, move across its surface, getting under it, sitting in it, jumping into it, listening to it, touching it and appreciating it in all its shapes, colours and forms.

What are your 3 biggest life achievements?

1. Publishing my first book ‘Islandeering: adventures around the edge of Britain’s hidden islands’. I have documented and shared my journeys around the islands of Britain through talks, a website and blogs and now a book so that others can grab an OS Map and explore more of the island gems that lay off our shores. The second book is already in the pipeline.

2. Inspiring others. As an instructor and Board member of British Nordic Walking I have enabled those affected by Parkinson’s and cancer or recovering from hip and knee operations to get outside safely and confidently. I have also taught and led groups to discover the beautiful paths of Wiltshire as well as used the power of the poles to teach marathon and ultra-distance runners to run uphill more efficiently using mote of the muscles of their body and not just their legs. This is not rambling.

3. Marine conservation. Becoming the Chair of Whale and Dolphin Conservation I feel that am playing my small part in working towards our vision of ‘A world where every whale and dolphin is safe and free’. We are moving into an exciting time talking about re-wilding oceans, the role of whales in mitigating climate change, plastic-free oceans as well as the celebrating the wonder of these magnificent animals. I’m really inspired by seeing more people getting outside and taking part in Shorewatch and providing valuable data that helps us understand more about these amazing creatures on our shores.

3 words you live by…

Wild, free and compassion

Do you have any guilty pleasures?

I’m a dedicated crisp monster (especially pickled onion Monster Munch) and I love chocolate for breakfast.