Hey guys, my names Alex and I am one of the founders of Vespucci Adventures. We are a company that aims to inspire people to put down their phones, pick up their maps and get out hiking in the Great British countryside. Excitingly this month we have teamed up with Mind Body and Soil for their Spring Forward box.
What is the inspiration behind Vespucci Adventures?
There are probably two main reasons why I started Vespucci. The first is I’m a big believer in spending time in nature and the outdoors and the benefits that come with it in a physical sense, but perhaps more importantly at the moment with lockdown, the mental health benefits that it can have.
When I first started getting into hiking when I was living in London, I started experiencing some of the areas you can get to within a day just outside of London. I discovered that there are some unbelievable pockets of nature that are relatively unknown, at least I didn’t know about them or any of my friends ! I wanted to educate people about these areas, and then I wanted to inspire them to try and get out hiking and experience the benefits that I got. And then the second reason behind starting the company was to show them how and to empower them to go do it through our packs.
How does a Vespucci adventure work?
What you get is a guide book, and each walk has a different curator who is local to the area and knows all about it and puts the walk together ( so we are getting the inside scoop!). Inside the guide book you get the points of interest in there, history about the area, how to get to the start line and what kit to bring, so everything you need to make this walk happen and make your life easy on the day.
You also get a map. We partnered with ordinance survey so we use their mapping and put our routes on top and then you get navigational points on top of that! And for anyone thinking following a route on a map might be a stretch too far, we also have a QR code on the top of each map that takes you through the OS app with the route on it and to see where you are in relation ( or aren’t !)
What is your most memorable walk?
I did a walk from Poland into Slovakia over the Tatra Mountains which was pretty amazing, so that would be one of them! But actually when we just starting Vespucci, very much in the concept stage I went for a walk with Peter (my cofounder) and two of my friends. We went along the west highland way up in Scotland for three days. That was when the idea was brewing and that was just a great trip and I think as a result we started the business.
How important has it been to you to get outside in the last year?
I am someone who is not built for being inside for long periods of time, and I knew that before lockdown hit. So I have made sure I have got out everyday, I’ve done a lot of walking (obviously), running and if there are any positives to take from the last twelve months its that so many people have realised the importance of going out, at least once a day, and you switching off and resetting.
I just hope that people who have been introduced to the benefits of outside like walking and running, that they carry it on post lockdown and hopefully we can inspire them to walk someone new and discover areas of the UK that they haven’t seen.
We are so proud to be including Vespucci Adventure in our March box. Check out more below!
