James Willcox is the co-founder of Untamed Borders, an adventure travel company that specialises in getting people off the beaten track. Want a week by an infinity pool? He’s not your man. Want to tackle the Marathon of Afghanistan? He most definitely is your man (not least because he founded it).

James guides many trips for Untamed Borders and arranges adventures for his guests that take them to offbeat destinations including Chechnya and Mogadishu. We met with James to talk about his love/hate relationship with travel technology, and his ambition to take one of Australia’s most iconic journeys.

Technology: a benefit or curse to travel?
I do miss the days when there was no way of being connected. You really got immersed in the place you visited. For example, the first bit of “love on the road” for me in the 1990s resulted in me and the girl writing each other letters for a while. It sounds like something from a Victorian novel but in the days before e-mail that is what you did. Almost unthinkable know in our 24/7 connected world. However now with GPSs, sat phones, solar power and other such things you can plan and execute a pretty wild adventure and minimise risk to a great degree.

Is technology a planning tool or something you use on an adventure?
Both. Our connected world allows you to find people and things from all over the world. It is great for ideas too. Just this week I got sent a video of ski-archery in Chechnya. Something for the bucket list. On trips GPS, sat phones, travel towels and head torches are all invaluable kit. On a lot of trips I guide, the guests have a lot of tech with them, so even if I did not want to carry something, I need to be able to have the same good sources of info they do.

What technology has proved most useful, and what are the drawbacks?
Solar packs are good for a back-up power source in countries where there is plenty of sun (i.e. not the UK) although for shorter trips spare batteries are better. GPS is handy to ensure you know where you are. Sat phone for emergency is really necessary in a lot of situations. Advances in photo tech is also amazing. With go-pros, drones and hi-end SLRs you can shoot professional footage on a comparative shoe string.

As for drawbacks, you are reliant on access to power or internet connections. Total reliance on technology in wilderness environments is risky. If it all gets screwed up you need to know how to get back to basics and navigate with map and compass.

James Willcox

What was the initial inspiration to start adventuring?
Somehow saving up and, rather than working, spending your money bumming around the world was more socially acceptable than saving up and then sitting around drinking and watching footy. When I first went on a big trip after I left school, no-one else I knew had done much travelling but, like many generations of Brits before me, it seemed like a good idea to leave the damp island at the top of the North Sea and see some of the world.

What was your first adventure?
Four years old, going on a donkey ride on Skegness beach in the UK.

What was the best experience you ever had?
I think some of the travel firsts I have arranged for Untamed Borders have been the most rewarding. First ski trip to Afghanistan, arranging the first ever Marathon of Afghanistan. First British company to arrange trips to Dagestan, Chechnya and Somalia.

What’s your most useful bit of kit?
A small knife is always handy. And for some reason if I do not have a knife no-one else does either. Just last week I was in Somalia. We needed to cut up some fruit and we did not have a knife. Between us in the vehicles there were 5 Kalashnikovs and 4 hand guns but not one knife.

James Willcox

What was the best bit of advice you were ever given – and did you take it?
Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.

What’s on your Australian travel bucket list?
I’d love to go to Ningaloo and drive the Nullarbor. Furthermore, as someone who visits Afghanistan two or three times a year, a ride on the Ghan* across Oz would be a must.

*The Ghan is one of Australia’s most iconic railway journeys. Before the railway, it was down to camels to transport goods through Australia’s most inhospitable regions. Experienced cameleers were imported alongside their camels, and many came from Afghanistan. The ‘Ghans gave their name to the railway that followed in their footsteps.

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