PIP STEWART // 44-45 BEN FOGEL

WORDS & INTERVIEW JAI MCINTOSH

PHOTOGRAPHY JON WILLIAMS

Journalist, broadcaster, and adventurer Pip Stewart has been one of the leading figures in the world of exploration and adventure over the last decade. Speaking with Pip, I found her to be highly enthusiastic and full of intrigue, despite being a little terrified by the prospect of living with a parasite for a while…

JAI How has your 2022 been so far?

PS So refreshing! How lovely is it to start seeing people again? Although, like many of us, I've realised I've also become massively socially awkward - I mean, when we see each other, do we hug, kiss, shake hands or do that weird wave hello thing and take a step back? I also got married at the end of last year so we kick-started 2022 with a honeymoon to Spain. Another highlight was seeing my first book, Life Lessons from the Amazon, published and out in the world!

JAI Ness Knight, Laura Bingham, and yourself spent a large section of 2018 paddling along the Essequibo River, from source to sea becoming the first to ever do so. How was that?

PS It was an absolute privilege to have travelled to one of the wildest and most remote places on earth and we couldn't have done it without the help of our guides from the Wai Wai indigenous community. More people have been into space than set foot into where the source of the river begins. Together we faced danger every day as we kayaked rapids, hacked our way through the mountainous jungle of the Guiana Shield before finally reaching the Atlantic Ocean.

It was a journey of over 1,000km where we witnessed incredible highs such as the wildlife and life under the pristine virgin rainforest - as well as incredible lows such as deforestation associated with gold mining. It was an emotional journey as well as physical - we learned about the value of patience and self-belief as well as finding happiness in the small things.

JAI I believe you became well acquainted with a parasite, what happened?

PS Unfortunately, I brought back an unwanted souvenir from our expedition - a flesh-eating parasite transmitted through the bite of a sandfly. I ended up having a form of outdated chemo that dates from the 1940s to try and heal the ever growing hole in my neck. The doctors told me if I didn't treat it, there was a chance it might spread to my face and eat away at my nose and soft palette. Fairly terrifying if I'm honest. However, more worrying is the global healthcare inequality. Leishmaniasis (the disease I had) is the second biggest parasitic killer after malaria that impacts over 1 billion people in 98 countries around the world, yet treatment options remain under-researched and underfunded mainly because the people impacted are poor and live in remote areas. I now campaign to raise awareness of neglected diseases like leishmaniasis off the back of my experience.

JAI Across 2013/14 you cycled from Malaysia to London, what inspired you to do so?

PS My husband and I had been living in Malaysia and we'd always talked about coming back overland. Charlie mentioned to me one day that he'd read about people who cycled around the world and the idea started percolating. I figured, if I could sit at a desk from 9 to 5 I could probably sit on a bike! It was an amazing opportunity to see the world in a way that was fast enough to get there but slow enough to take things in. It took us 13 months and we calculated that for every hour in a plane it took us a month on the ground.

JAI How do you stay inspired to explore new adventures?

PS Adventure is really all about mindset - my little mantra is everyone can teach you something. You don't have to do these grand adventures to explore either. It's about seeing where you are, right now, with new eyes.

JAI What is the plan for the remainder of 2022?

PS We're hiking in the USA, spending a month in Canada, and a trip to Scandinavia. Should be fun. A few people told me when I got pregnant that that would be the end of my travelling days. However, I'm super keen to introduce Willow, our two-year old, to how amazing the world is and the people in it. I realised with my brush with the flesh-eating parasite that life is guaranteed to no-one so go out there and grab it with two hands.