Let’s Make Birdwatching Cool - With Georgia Barker

Support the Show: Join the new Patreon for exclusive after-shows, extended newsrooms, immersive short stories and meetups at adventurediaries.com/go

In this highlights episode, we revisit an inspiring conversation with Georgia Barker, who is on a mission to make birdwatching cool again. Georgia takes us back to her unconventional childhood growing up on a goat farm in Essex, complete with goat funerals and walking them on leads. She shares the pivotal moment she realized a standard office job wasn't for her—fearing that a two-week annual holiday was the only thing to look forward to—which spurred a one-way ticket to Australia.

Full Episode with Georgia

From working in rough Outback pubs to terrifying whitewater rafting adventures in Victoria Falls, Georgia recounts the transformative experiences of her travels. She also discusses her "Happiness Project," where she collected definitions of happiness from strangers, and reveals the quiet epiphany she had in a bird hide that changed her perspective on nature and life. Finally, Georgia shares her simple "Call to Adventure" for anyone looking to reconnect with the outdoors.

Timestamped Chapters

00:00 - Growing Up with Goats
02:50 - The Fear of a Two-Week Holiday
04:29 - Working in the Outback
06:52 - Rafting Victoria Falls
08:59 - The Happiness Project
11:31 - Birdwatching Epiphany
12:31 - Call to Adventure

Transcript

Growing Up with Goats

[00:00:00] As we prepare for the launch of the Adventure Diaries Podcast, season five at the end of February, 2026, we are revisiting the highlights in cult adventure from each episode in season four. To keep you entertained and inspired to get you outdoors. And now.

Here are some of those short highlights from my episode with Georgia Barker and her mission to make birdwatching cool again. Enjoy.

Georgia: We had 150 goats.

So not your typical Essex upbringing. I was walking goats on leads. Yeah, it was, it was interesting. 

Chris: Yeah. And, and not to stereotype Essex, but people probably from the UK would, it's not a, it's not a conventional upbringing, is it? For someone down in that neck of the woods? 

Georgia: Absolutely not. I mean, we, we can give it a little bit of a stereotype.

Tau has blessed us with that. 

Chris: Yes. 

Georgia: So, yeah, not very conventional [00:01:00] for this county, I'd say. 

Chris: Yeah. So what, growing up on, on a farm then, were you actively, were you helping out with a family? What, what was, was it a working farm or what, can you tell us a little bit more about that? 

Georgia: Absolutely not. I was not helping out at all.

I'd like, I, I'm always about being transparent and I'd love to paint this picture of the, my family loved nature. They was, it was a working farm. It wasn't, so basically my father bought a plot of land. Was completely green, I think Green belt or something like that, and he was a bit of a Del Boy character, so he just wanted to build a house on this plot of land, and he found a bit of a loophole and thought, I'll get some goats.

Like I say, I would love to say it come from this love of nature, and my family always loved it, but it wasn't. My dad just kind of thought, we'll get some goats and get this ball rolling. But yeah, it was, it [00:02:00] was a great childhood. I lived there until I was seven and running around with a goats and walking goats on leads and being surrounded by animals and being outside all the time.

It was a great childhood. I loved it, from what I can remember anyway. 

Chris: Did you have a favorite goat? Did you give them names? 

Georgia: I did. I had, my two favorite goats were snow white. When Snow White died, I actually had a goat funeral on top of a hill. And then we also had Fat Boy Slim. That was like my second favorite, which is wild when I think about it because I don't think I really knew who Fat Boy Slim was as a child.

So I years old, don't dunno why I decided, put the stove at that onto a goat. But quite, 

Chris: yeah, 

Georgia: quite cool. Looking back now that I had Fat Boy Slim. And so what they were the two fives?

The Fear of a Two-Week Holiday

Georgia: It sounds really silly, but this was in the days where Instagram was quite new. Well, I mean we still [00:03:00] have it on Instagram now, but do you know like the little memes and they have words on them, like the inspirational quotes and stuff like that. I remember reading this photo meme quote thing on Instagram, and I can't remember the exact words, but it read something like, my Greatest Fear is the only thing I look forward to every year is a two week holiday.

And I dunno why. Just at the time I was sitting doing this office job and I was looking around at four walls, and it really hit me because I was thinking that could potentially be the only thing that I'm looking forward to every year, just going on a holiday. And I just thought, I don't want my life to be like this.

I don't wanna just have. These fleeting moments where I have to escape reality in my two week holiday every year is the only thing that's getting me through the year. And it hit me so bad that I then decided to book a one-way ticket to [00:04:00] Australia when I'm gonna go traveling. 'cause I was the least likely person to do that.

I wasn't a candidate to go backpacking. I was much more your stereotypic Essex girl. Not entirely, but there was definitely strong sprinklings there. So when I told people that they thought I was, they was like, she's never gonna last. She's gonna be back in a few months.

Working in the Outback

Georgia: I worked in this very random, like it was, it was 18 hours in from Brisbane, so 18 hours on a bus from the coast. And looking back now, God knows why. I thought it was a good idea. I went into a shop in Brisbane and. They advertised jobs, but it was jobs where you kind of got your meals paid for your accommodation pay, like all sorted in the package and you got a little bit of a wage.

And I just went, what? What you got going? And they was like, you can [00:05:00] go out here to this place called Long Beach. So I was like, yeah, cool. Just jumped on a bus and just went out here and arrived at what can only be described, um, or actually is described on the internet as one of the roughest pubs in Queensland.

I don't think it should be going anymore. Like I think it shut down. And yeah, I was basically doing a little bit of everything, but mainly it was like work behind the bar and working. They call it a bottle way. So that's where you buy your alcohol. Like you don't buy your alcohol in the supermarket, you buy it in a bottle and they have like drive through bottle.

So I was working in the bar and in the bottle it was this experience.

Chris: Did you feel safe doing that? That sounds a bit wild. Absolutely. Well, 

Georgia: I mean, I think all throughout all my traveling and all the experiences I've had, I don't have very good stranger danger now because I kind of just go, oh, like I think that probably was one of the experiences built me up now to [00:06:00] not have good stranger danger because I kind of just, I'm very yolo.

But weirdly I did feel quite safe out there. I think I was a little bit young and naive, but I think as well, like traveling really like makes you realize that yes, that is awful, like things that happen in the world and that is awful people, but the majority in the vast majority of people are good and a lot of it is like highlight without me getting too deep about it.

But a lot of it's highlighted by the media and how things are portrayed. But yeah, I mean there were some times that I was like, this is a little bit crazy out here, but more crazy, like mind boggling rather than safety concerns. Crazy. If that makes sense. Yeah.

errs Zimbabwe, if I remember correctly.

And that has gotta be one of my best travel memories. The health and safety was nil and we went rafting.

Georgia: We went 

Rafting Victoria Falls

Georgia: whitewater rafting. I think that was my first time. Yes, it was my first time. And they literally threw on these life jackets, like [00:07:00] life vests that I'm pretty sure that they got from the Titanic.

They looked like they'd been fished from the depths of the ocean. And we was like, here you go. Put them on. And we rafted down the river. And it was so much fun. So much fun. And yeah, we done devil's pool, which is mm-hmm on the edge of the waterfall. That, and again, the health and safety is nuts. Like all you've got is this guy just on the edge of this waterfall, just, just holding your arm.

There's no ropes, snow, strings, nothing. And I remember me and my friend done it 'cause she traveled Africa with me some for some parts and she was hung over and there's like, you have to swim to get to that part of Devil's Pool. And she was hung over and feeling a bit weak. And I could see like the river pulling her.

I'm going d.[00:08:00]

Chris: Hi everyone. Chris here with just a wee reminder. If you've been enjoying the stories here on the Adventure Dies, could you please take a moment to press that follow or subscribe button on Spotify or Apple Podcasts? It's such a small thing, but it makes such a huge difference to the show. It helps the show reach more ears, brings more voices to the table, and really helps keep this adventure going.

So if you're up for more wild stories, more adventures, and more thoughtful conversations, then please hit that follow button on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts. And thanks for being here and spending time with us today. It is really appreciated. So hit that follow button. And now let's get back to this episode.

Chris: One thing I did want to ask is I did, I did hear that you speak about this before about your 

The Happiness Project

Chris: [00:09:00] happiness project. You, for a short period of time, you were capturing people's views on happiness. I think that's, uh, that's, that's wonderful. Who was, how wa how was that and do you still have that book today?

Georgia: I still have that book and I occasionally get it out to read through what people had wrote, and it's such a nice thing to have from my traveling. So. I started a, about a year or two into traveling and because there was a lot going on with the reasons why I was traveling and like I say, there was probably a few mental health issues.

Like I was quite thinking about what is the definition of happiness, and I thought, you know what? I'm gonna see what other people think about this. During, I remember I was in Fiji and I backpacking on the islands and I, I think I started it there and I started asking people that this it, well, it was a really [00:10:00] good icebreaker as well.

I really recommend it for anyone that's traveling now, because a lot of my travels were so low sometimes just going up to people being like, hi, well, you've been my friend. Just feels a bit awkward. So having that tangible item that you can give someone and have that icebreaker and starting point makes the relationship start off quite interesting.

But yeah, I wish I'd have done it more. I only kept up with it for part of my travels, but I would've loved to have done it throughout because I've had so many different perspectives. Yeah. But even what I've got is nice. 

Chris: Yeah. Do you have the contact details for the people that actually recorded their happiness quotes?

Georgia: No. I literally just have the name and what wrote Yeah. 

Chris: Quite a, I mean, quite a, 'cause I think your definition of that might change over time. And, and I, I, it's a question I was going to ask you, you later, because, you know, it looks like you're finding a, a lot of purpose in what you're doing at the minute, and, you know, if you asked Georgia seven years ago when she was traveling, what happened, I [00:11:00] suppose compared to today, I, I'm pretty sure that you would've very different answers to, to that something you should start up again.

I think that would be a fantastic project. 

Georgia: Yeah, I think it would be lovely to do because like you say as well, even to do like a comparison down the line, like people's views on things change so much with the more you experience in life. So that would be super interesting as well to see how it's changed.

Georgia: And it was RSPB found me, which is just outside of Cambridge. And I 

Birdwatching Epiphany

Georgia: went to this reserve and I was like, oh my God, places like this exist in England. This is gorgeous. What's going on here? And walked around it and sat in the hide. Never sat in a hide before in my life. And in a hide you are forced to slow down and pay attention.

So I was looking around and. Noticing birds, which was kind of, it was the weirdest experience because it felt like [00:12:00] I was noticing birds for the first time in my life and kind of having this epiphany of, was these around all this time? They're really, they're quite nice. Are they? And then it just spiraled from there.

And once I noticed it once, then I kept keeping an eye out for it and kept thinking, has this really been here all this time? Because these are so beautiful, so diverse. And I was just captivated. And it's been a domino effect. So yeah, it's a bit of, a bit of a random one.

Chris: So what would your 

Call to Adventure

Chris: call to adventure be, Georgia.

Georgia: Mine would be strip it back, make it simple. So there is so much nature, birds, wildlife, all around you. So a lot of people say to me, how do I start? You can simply start by going to your local park or going to an area around you and just sitting down and paying attention. And I've done this so many times [00:13:00] throughout the area that I live and discovered so many things that I didn't even know was there.

Parks, birds. So I would say get yourself out, even if it's just before work. Caught after work. Doesn't need to be a weekend, doesn't need to take up a lot of your time and just explore your local area. If you've got a pair of binoculars, great, but if you haven't, don't worry. Just use your ears and just use your sight.

So string it that make it simple. Go out, slow down, pay attention, and enjoy yourself.

. So I hope you enjoyed these short highlights from my episode with Georgia Barker, and if you haven't listened to the full conversation yet, then I highly recommend you go back and do that. And I'll link to the full interview in the show notes below now. If you're enjoying the Adventure Diaries Podcast, could I ask that you take time to leave a quick rating or review?

'cause it really helps to show more than you think, and it's the simplest way to support the show for free and get it out to a wider [00:14:00] audience. And I thank you in advance. Now, one other important update. Season five launches at the end of February, 2026. And alongside that, I am launching a new Patreon on the same day.

With one simple single tier, which is $5 or three pounds at 70, and if you join, you'll get the quickfire after show q and a segments with all the guests, plus a new monthly extended newsroom episode. Occasional short and immersive audio stories will be uploaded as well. And then two, support and meetups each year, uh, will be included.

Now, if that sounds like your kinda thing and you want more from the the podcast, then go to adventure diaries.com/go. And just follow the Patreon link, uh, and get ready for its launch. Alright, that says, for this highlights episode now coming up as the final set of highlights before we launch season five, which is exciting.

And those come from my [00:15:00] episode with Katharina Kneipp and her human powered and wind powered northern loop of the earth. Walking, skiing and hitchhiking on sailboats across some of the most remote regions on the planet. A fantastic episode to close out season four and get ready for season five. Peace. I.