The World According to Andy Campbell, disabled adventurer
Preparing to go 30,000 miles around the world in a wheelchair gives you a different perspective on the planet
Mountain, without a doubt. There’s something hugely satisfying and clarifying about looking down on the world from a mountain top that makes it special, especially from a wheelchair.
First travel experience?
As a child: Summer holidays in a caravan and exploring farmer’s fields until my parents reported me missing to the police.
As an adult: Being sent to Bosnia-Herzegovina as part of British peacekeeping forces during the war.
As a paraplegic: The top of a small hill outside my hospital ward I’d been staring at everyday for six months before finally having the strength to push myself there in a wheelchair.
Favourite journey?
Through the Spiti Valley in the Himalayas to the Kee Gompa Tibetan Buddhist Monastery at over 13,000ft. The monastery itself is an amazing patchwork of buildings built atop each other for almost 1000 years and where the current Dalai Lama intends to retire, which as destinations go is quite a recommendation. But the journey there is something special and just being in the Himalayas was like a pilgrimage in itself for me.
Top five places worldwide?
Haines, Alaska – heliskiing; Olu Deniz, Turkey – paragliding; Simonstown, South Africa – scuba diving; Shimla, India – curry; Knoydart, Scotland – for a quiet beer.
Special place to stay?
Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, warm and cosy under a tarp listening to nothing but the rain while planning a route by head-torch.
