The famous Antarctic expedition leader Ernest Shackleton identified four qualities necessary for a successful explorer: optimism, patience, idealism and courage. While historical figures like Shackleton, Christopher Columbus, Francis Drake and Marco Polo may first spring to mind when it comes to famous explorers, there are still plenty of international travellers charting unmapped territory and breaking records around the globe – these four modern explorers could even inspire your next adventure getaway:
Aldo Kane – While Aldo Kane’s resume includes stints as a sniper, marine, author and TV presenter, he’s best known as a mountaineering expert and explorer who achieved record-breaking status in 2016 – Kane was part of the first team to row across the Atlantic Ocean from the European mainland to the South American mainland, travelling a distance of 6180km in 50 days, 10 hours and 36 minutes (and raising £120,000 for charity in the process); having been recently taken on by Exodus Travels as their brand ambassador, this intrepid Scottish explorer has also taken part in ascents and expeditions (including one in an active volcano) in America, Madagascar and Slovakia.
Wasfia Nazreen – As the first woman to hold both the National Geographic Explorer & Adventurer awards (and the first ever Bengali to have ascended both K2 and the Seven Summits), this Bangladeshi-born explorer is a truly inspirational figure. Nazreen has been hailed as one of the most adventurous women of the last 25 years, also receiving praise for her extensive activist work which includes founding the Osel Foundation for marginalised women and girls in her home country.
Mike Horn – Born in Johannesburg in 1966, this well-known modern-day explorer and adventurer has achieved plenty of awe-inspiring feats in his life so far, including walking to the North Pole at the height of winter, scaling 4 of the world’s highest mountains and circling the world not one, but twice! Horn achieved fame as an extreme explorer by traversing the Equator in 2001 and later travelling around the Arctic Circle in 2006; along with Norwegian adventurer Børge Ousland and a small crew, Horn also made the first-ever full crossing of the Arctic Ocean (via the North Pole) in 2019.
Sarah McNair Landry – Raised by arctic guide parents and having first skied to the South Pole at the age of 18 and travelled to the North Pole by dog sled at 19, it’s no surprise that Sarah McNair Landry has become one of the better-known modern explorers in the world today. Hailing from Baffin Island in Canada, McNairy Landry’s illustrious various achievements include conquering the Greenland Ice Cap five times – her epic 2016 expedition with Ben Stookesberry and Erik Boomer (a 42-day trek across the Cap in search of kayaking paths to the Atlantic) was immortalised in the popular exploration documentary Into Twin Galaxies back in 2017.