Exploration
How to finance an expedition, as revealed by a real life adventurer
Ever dreamed of being an adventurer but been too cash-strapped to try? Mollie Hughes, the youngest woman to scale Everest from both sides, reveals how to go from broke to Bear Grylls in no time.
There’s a reason you’re not currently reading this on some sort of satellite-enabled smart phone in the middle of the Amazon rainforest: it’s expensive to live a life of adventure! Visas, insurance, food, supplies, tents, machetes, airfare, SOS beacons – it all adds up. And if you’re slaving away through a 9-5, managing to pay the rent while having enough dosh left over for a night out once a month can feel like enough of an adventure.
Well, not quite. To help you take the first steps towards financial freedom and the call of the wild, we roped in Mollie Hughes, the youngest woman in the world to summit Everest from both the north and south sides. Here she talks about securing sponsorship, what you’ll need on your kit list, and how to save so you can finally get your feet out the door, and up a giant mountain.
What's the main obstacle to leaving your normal life and setting out on an adventure?
There are none. Friends should support you, not hold you back. Jobs, friends, life – these are just excuses for people not to step out of their comfort zone and take their first steps into an adventure. If you are serious about achieving things in the outdoors you need friends, a job and a lifestyle that can support you. Trust me, it takes time but it is easier than it sounds!
How do you choose which expedition is right for you, including the cost?
I choose expeditions that excite me. I commit myself to a trip and then I work out how I can find the money. One of the questions I often get asked is how I have managed to fund two big Everest expeditions. Mount Everest is one of the most expensive mountains in the world to climb. An expedition to either the north or south side of this mountain can cost anywhere between £30-80k, an unimaginable amount of money! Over the last five years I have dedicated much of my life to attempting to raise this sponsorship for my chance to climb Mount Everest from both sides.
How can the average person save money every day?
If you have your heart set on a small scale expedition, saving money everyday is easy. We spend so much on unnecessary things; cut back on those coffees on the way to work, learn to cook amazing food instead of going out for dinner and put all that money you save into your adventure pot. Larger scale expeditions are harder to save for. I think it would have taken me my whole life to save up for one Everest expedition, so this is the time to start thinking about sponsorship.
What are the most expensive bits of kit for any adventure?
It completely depends on the expedition. If it is a hiking trip, investing in a good pair of boots and a lightweight backpack can set you back. If you’re attempting a cycling expedition, then of course your bike is your most important and most expensive item. For climbing Everest, the kit was ridiculously expensive. My down suit cost almost £800, and the same with my boots.
But often in the outdoors, your kit is your only defence against everything the weather can throw at you, and on Everest that is a lot. Temperatures of -40c, fierce winds – I was very pleased with how all of my kit performed. I am a strong believer that you need to save up and fork out on quality kit, which will last you years and work so much harder for you on an adventure.
How do you go about fundraising? What are the challenges?
The biggest chunk of my Everest funding came from corporate sponsorship. I spent a long time creating and refining a sponsorship proposal, highlighting everything I could offer a company in return for sponsoring my expeditions.
One of the most important aspects of engaging with corporations is to have a unique selling point. For my first Everest expedition in 2012 I was attempting to be the youngest British female to summit Everest. For my second expedition I became the youngest woman in the world to summit Mount Everest from both sides. You need to find what your USP is. What is going to grab someone’s attention when they first open your proposal? It doesn’t have to be a world record. You could be attempting to be the fastest, the slowest, an all-female team or the first person from Wolverhampton. Find what you’re aiming for and own it.
How likely are you to get a massive book deal or TV show that can fund your adventure life?
This is very unlikely, and definitely not everyone’s main goal when setting out on an adventure. But I have found that the more media you do, the more opportunities come your way. It is definitely about putting yourself out there, being open to doing PR interviews, radio, TV, magazines – because the more people get to know you, the more they want from you, and therefore the more opportunities you will have to turn it into a career.
What do you do for work in the downtime between adventures?
These days I make the majority of my income through motivational speaking at schools, corporates, mountaineering clubs, girl guides – anything. I also work a couple of days a week for an outdoor retail company called Tiso. I create content for their website including blogs, kit reviews, video and imagery. They are an incredible company to work for and completely understand that I need months of at a time to go on expeditions. In fact, they are often my number one sponsor.
What's the best thing about living a life of adventure?
Can I say 'everything'? It would be impossible to pick one element. Adventure, whether it's expeditions, exploration or stepping out of your comfort zone, changes you. It helps you realise just how much resilience and perseverance we are all capable of. If it was up to me, ‘adventure’ would be the number one thing taught on the curriculum in schools.
What do you know now that you wish you'd known at the start?
That absolutely anything is achievable if you want it enough. Raising thousands of pounds for an expedition to scaling the highest mountain in the world, it's all achievable for almost anyone, you just have to put the work in.
Follow Mollie's adventures and exploits at Molliehughes.co.uk