Phoebe Smith talks travel, technology and her Australian to do list.

Phoebe Smith is author of Wilderness Weekends: Wild Adventures in Britain’s Rugged Corners. She has seen her love of dramatic landscapes and wild places take her on adventures all around the world – from wild camping on the Scottish islands, to meeting sea gypsies in Burma and watching the Northern Lights from a heated wigwam above the Arctic Circle. She is editor of Wanderlust, the UK’s best adventure travel magazine and author of several other books including Extreme Sleeps: Adventures of a Wild Camper.

Phoebe Smith's Long Distance Walks

Phoebe Smith’s Long Distance Walks

She is as passionate about the outdoors as she is about travel and has written about both extensively in a range of magazines and newspapers in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. In addition to writing Phoebe has appeared on radio and TV talking wild camping, travel and women in the outdoors.

You can find her at www.phoebe-smith.com and follow her adventures on Twitter @PhoebeRSmith. But before you do any of that, you can find her here, as we caught with Phoebe at this weekend’s Adventure Travel Show at Olympia.

What are your feelings about technology? Do you love it, loathe it or feel excited by the possibilities it presents?
A little bit of all of the above! Sometimes I love it – for example being able to charge a phone while out in the wilds, sometimes I hate it – when said phone rings and I’m trying to get away from it all and immerse myself in nature, but as a journalist I am truly excited by the way it has opened up so many ways to communicate with readers.

Do you use technology when you head off on an adventure, or is it merely a useful tool when planning?
Definitely use it more when planning. I try and take as little technology as I can with me when I had out into wild places – both in the UK and overseas – I’m a bit old skool – give me a pen and notebook and a paper map and compass over an iPad any day.

What items of technology do you use?
My one luxury item is always my iPhone. I like to share what I do with followers on Twitter as I have made it my mission to encourage as many people as possible to #GetOutside. I think inspiring others to realise that they can have adventures wherever they are – whether in their local park or somewhere more exotic – can be even more rewarding than having an adventure myself.

Phoebe Smith's Long Distance Walks

What are the drawbacks of travelling technology?
I think the one problem with technology is that the more it progresses the more our expectations build for its abilities to be endless and then we are disappointed when it doesn’t perform – that’s why I don’t like to rely on it too heavily. Lots of technology works amazingly well but I find that, particularly in the outdoors and wilder places, the battery life is yet to catch up with the rest of technology.

Is there some item on your wish list that manufacturers haven’t created yet?
Other than the ability to slow down time – I never seem to have enough of it – then no, I like to be surprised!

If you could create an Australian bucket list, what places/experiences would be on it?
I’ve already travelled Australia extensively – and love it. So my top 5 it would be:

1. Camping out in a swag in the middle of the Red Centre
2. Jungle surfing above the canopy in Cape Tribulation
3. Walking the Overland Track in Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain National Park
4. Driving the Great Ocean Road in Victoria
5. Snorkelling with whale sharks in Ningaloo

Inspired? Start planning your own Australian travels – and if like Phoebe the Red Centre is top of your things to do in Australia, you’ll find more about it here.

We first met Phoebe at ATS 2014. Read that interview here.

Read more interviews from Adventure Travel Show 2015
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