Episode 9 - What Could You Do With 32 Minutes?

What could you change simply by using the time you already have differently?

This week, Julia shares how a 32-minute drive and a well-timed audiobook sparked some big thoughts about growth, values and making sure life still feels like you.

We also catch up with Pete’s weekly round robin and preview the Shropshire Three Peaks Challenge. There’s news from across the Adventure Geek community, a well-deserved congratulations for Snay and an update on Julia’s troublesome left foot.

Plus, Mandy reveals last week’s mystery sound, there’s a brand-new one to solve—and a rather strange recording Julia can’t explain!

Grab a cuppa, pull on your walking boots and join us for another warm and slightly quirky catch-up from Adventure Geek.

Adventure Geek is a friendly adventure community based in the UK, helping people improve wellbeing through walking, travel, friendship and real-life experiences.

🥾 Walking groups
 🌍 UK & overseas adventures
 💚 Wellness, community & connection

Find out more:
 https://adventuregeek.co.uk
https://adventuregeektravel.co.uk

If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, share or leave a review — it genuinely helps more people discover the community.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to episode 9 of the Adventure Geek Radio Show. My name is Julia, and this is your weekly catch-up from the Adventure Geek community with, as always, a little bit of walk-in, a little bit of travel, a few familiar voices, and this week rather more mystery than I care to sensibly explain. So coming up, we've got as usual Cheeky Pete with a round robbing question, some lovely voices from Lichborough, an update on my troublesome left foot, a serious Shropshire challenge, and not one but two mystery sounds. Well, I think one of them is a sound. I actually, if I'm gonna be honest with you, I found it on my phone and it's something that I must have recorded ages ago, and I don't know what the sound is, and I have no idea whose voice it is at the end either, and I've played it over and over on my phone. So if you know who it is, uh then solve the mystery, that would be awesome. Anyway, before we get into any of that, let's start with this week's quote of the day or quote of the week. So let me know what you think to this one. So growth doesn't always require more time, sometimes it simply means using the time that we already have just a little bit differently. Now I really like that because often we talk as though we need to find extra that extra hour or we need to clear a whole day to wait until life calms down before we can do something useful. But sometimes the time is already there, it's just hiding in a place that we haven't thought to look. Which brings me to 32 minutes. What could you do with 32 minutes? So, over the last few weeks, as some of you already know, I've started spending a couple of days a week at the Nat West Accelerator Hub in Milton Keynes. By the way, as a side note, they've just released that they're launching it in a brand new building in September, and there they have a podcast studio which is free for us to use. So the quality of this podcast will hopefully like go really really well by September onwards. So, anyway, I digress. So, anyway, um it's a 32-minute drive from home. You know, it's not a huge journey, but long enough uh to feel like time that could easily sort of just disappear or feel like wasted time. So instead of treating it as lost time, I've turned it into learning time. The good thing about being in a car is that you've got no emails, no notifications if you use the driving with focus mode, uh, no trying to do six things at once, just a podcast or an audio book, and a little bit of space and time to think. So this week I finished a book called The Diary of a CEO by Stephen Bartlett. So if you don't know Stephen Bartlett, he's one of the dragons, uh multi multimillionaire by the age of 26, absolutely fascinating guy, and he had a really quite a tough upbringing as well. But anyway, one of the ideas that stayed with me is that we should build our life and our work around our values, not just our goals. So, don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of goals. Goals are useful, of course, that they get us moving, but values are what tells us whether we're moving in the right direction or not. This was also a reminder to surround yourself with people who share those values and not to be frightened of stepping away from the people or the things that constantly drain your energy. Another thing he mentioned was by creating a really good business was just by doing absolutely absurd things. And I was smiling because you know, some of the things that I've done over the years, I remember when I had my recruitment agency, I had this brilliant idea, uh marketing idea. I'm cringing as I'm thinking of it, but you know, the sort of desk pads that you used to have in the 80s, or you probably some people do now, I don't know, but you have them designed, recruiters used to do it a lot, and then um I had a picture of me um on these these desk pads, and the picture I'd removed my hair so I was bold, and the idea was to hand them out to all my clients um to all my clients, and they would obviously draw a hat or draw some sort of weird hair and glasses or something like that on this desk pad, and send the drawings in, and then once a month I would you know give a prize for the the best artistic impression. That was the idea anyway. But I'm forgetting that one of my clients was uh was Daintry Hospital. I'm laughing, but it was just not funny at the time. So I'd send I'd spent a fortune on these desk pads, and I'd I'd sent probably about 20 up to Daintree Hospital, and obviously I hadn't even thought about it, but it looked like I'd got cancer because I'd got no hair, um, and they were really offended by it. But you know, it it was it was a memorable thing, it was thing things that people were talking about, even if it was in the wrong context, and I still tell that story today, but um yeah, doing absurd things. Well, and they haven't all been a disaster. If you think about it, one of the most absurd things I ever thought about doing was a morning miracle walk. It doesn't seem as absurd now, but when we first did it, it was like who on earth is gonna get up at six o'clock in the morning to go for a walk? And now look at it, like three years on how however long it is, and it's probably our most popular walks of the of the week. And people will meet you know, all throughout the winter as well, at six o'clock in the morning. You're all bonkers, but it's great. Anyway, I've probably been a little bit too sensible with new ideas lately, but I'm working on that. I've had some ideas about um oh actually I'm not gonna tell you, but yeah, wait and see. But obviously, you know, the AI glasses as well is a new thing, and I I just feel a little bit more inspired. So there may be some weird and wacky stuff heading your way. You have been warned. But the idea that landed most strongly from reading this book was if your life or your business no longer reflects who you are, eventually you're gonna fall out of love with it. So Venture Geek has grown enormously over the last few years, but I'm incredibly proud of that. But growth isn't always about adding more walks or more trips or more systems and more stuff. Sometimes growth means removing what no longer fits. It means stopping for a moment and asking whether the thing that you've built still feels like you. So from one 32 minute drive a day, I've ended up with an audiobook finish, quite a few thoughts scribbled down and a journal full of new ideas. Small change but a big shift. So have you read or listened to something recently that seemed to arrive at exactly the moment that you needed it? I'm a big believer of fate. If you have, send me your recommendations because I've finished this book and I'm always looking for the next. Although I've already moved straight on to another book by Stephen Bartley called Happy Sexy Millionaire. Slightly questionable title I know, but I'm really enjoying it. It's our less it's less about building a business and more about happiness, success and the stories we tell ourselves about what we need in order to feel fulfilled. It fits with something I've believed for a long time that being rich doesn't necessarily mean having lots of money and having lots of stuff. It's just culture that says that we need all those things. But really, if you're not happy within yourself, you're never gonna be happy. Anyway, before we get into the doom and gloom, let's head on over to the Lichborough interviews. So I caught up with some AG members in the on the Lichborough walk on Thursday evening, and we talked about walking the first walk, a little bit of reminiscence, well-being, and why getting outside deserves a proper place in our lives. So have a listen to this. Alright, so we are on the Lichborough walk, and I have actually no idea what we're going to talk about. So there's only eight of us, so I thought it's quite a nice little crowd. So who remembers their very first walk?

SPEAKER_03 8:06

I do.

SPEAKER_01 8:07

Okay, right, Tweedy, what was your first walk?

SPEAKER_03 8:10

My first walk was round the corner in Toaster when I found you at half past seven on Thursday night. The walk was six o'clock the next morning. I sent you an email, you said come along. I had no time to change my mind. And the rest is history.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

So your first walk was at six in the morning, the morning miracle walk.

SPEAKER_03 8:29

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 8:30

God, how crazy is that? And you are you is that your favourite walks?

SPEAKER_03 8:35

What's it oh I don't I I can't remember them, that's my problem.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

No, your favourite. So you like do you like do you like the morning miracle walks more than any others?

SPEAKER_03 8:43

I I miss doing the daytime walks, but you can't work and do those, that's the trouble. Okay. But I did those for a few months, which was quite nice. Yeah. But now obviously I just do the evenings and then the weekend adventure ones when I can.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

Cool. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 8:58

Anyone else?

SPEAKER_04 8:58

Who else had their first walk? Remember? Yeah, I remember mine. Um it was I think it's called Autumn near Rugby. And it was with Paula. Last November, November 25. Right. Um you park near the tune in the wall. God, that's a trek for you. You live in Samson. That's like my furthest that I would go. I think it's about 35 minutes. And that was your first walk? Yeah. That is in there. I remember that. One of the dogs on the walk was along the canal.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

That was probably my dog, was it?

SPEAKER_04 9:29

No, it was um I can't remember the name of the lady, but they're just fishing out and then she it was really cold actually, so she took him home because he was like, His little teeth was shattering.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

Brilliant, okay. Anyone else? I remember mine. Oh and then.

SPEAKER_03 9:43

Oh that mine was only about six weeks ago.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Oh yeah, it's your newbie, really.

SPEAKER_04 9:52

Yeah, that was six weeks ago. That was in Dunchurch.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

Dunchurch, okay.

SPEAKER_04 9:55

And it absolutely threw it.

SPEAKER_01 9:57

I remember that walk.

SPEAKER_03 10:00

And we were like, yeah, I don't think it was any more than that. Maybe eight weeks ago.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

That was you and Tina, and you both signed up the next day.

SPEAKER_04 10:07

And we got absolutely close to the city. We were so through to the skin, yeah. Tina led the walk, it was lovely walk, but yeah, it was very wet.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

Yeah, I haven't got a clue where we were going that night. I'm glad Paula was leaving. So yeah. Brilliant, okay, and never look back. No, absolutely. Tommy and Kelly, where was yours? Do you know I can't answer remember? You haven't been with us that long. I know! I remember your first walk. It was Greens Norton. That's the place, yeah. Yeah, now you've mentioned it, yeah. Uh me and Kelly went to school together, that's why I remember because we just reminisced throughout the whole walk. Which we've done again tonight, actually. So we get together. Yes, that's true. Yeah. So it happens on a walk, stays on a walk. Alright, thanks very much. Say goodbye, everyone. Well, I'm gonna add a funny transition now. Here's a transition into AG News.

SPEAKER_02 11:05

Can you hear that?

SPEAKER_01 11:16

Very vehicle sheep this morning. So that was taken on the Morning Miracle walk this morning. Anyway, um, let's hop on to the adventure geek news. The first thing is my left foot. So loads of you have been asking how it's going since I had my little procedure last week. Uh, I'd love to say it's absolutely dandy, but actually, there's still a little bit of pain, so I'm just gonna ease myself back into it, and I'm being sensible or as sensible as I can be anyway. A huge thanks to all the walk leaders who covered for me, especially those at the last minute. I really do appreciate the support. Uh, there have also been next news is there's been some Eventbrite gremlins again. So, for reasons unknown only to Eventbrite, all the published events suddenly changed back to drafts, and so nobody could find them either on the app or online or anything like that. So that meant some of you couldn't see events, you couldn't cancel your tickets if you weren't turning up, and it just caused absolute mayhem. Anyway, I fixed it for now. Everything's back to published, but how long that will stay like that for, I really don't know. But it's made me even more determined to get this new website up and running so that I can finally move away from Eventbrite. So all the September events will be added to the new website, although booking may now not open until late August. So please please bear with me while I try and get everything ready. The other ongoing puzzle is next year's Island Trip. So, for those of you who've been waiting for me to tell you all about the island trip being live, um, the steampacket ferry, which goes from the Isle of Man to Island, have revoked their times and they've disappeared again, and I've now been told that it might not be released until October. It's so frustrating. So, rather than sitting around waiting, I've arranged a meeting with another supplier to explore a different way forward rather than doing the minibus thing. Anyway, I'm determined to get this adventure sorted, so fingers crossed, and I'll let you know the meeting with that person is next Tuesday. So I should have a better answer for you next week. Anyway, on a happier note, I've just finished creating a self-guided itinerary for a couple heading to Turkey in September. So they begin in Istanbul, they spend three days in Cappadocia for hot air balloons, uh, and then they go on to Love Valley and the the fairy chimneys, and then they fly south to begin walking the Lycian Way or the Lycian Way, depends how you pronounce it. I I just love putting this one together for them. So if you do know someone who would rather enjoy uh a similar sort of tailor-made adventure, I'm only doing tailor-made adventures for adventures that I know well. Uh, then please, please put them in touch. Uh, a big congratulations to Snay. Snee completed the big hype marathon in Suffolk last weekend in the blazing heat as well. Well done, you Snay. She's been raising money for uh a cancer charity, or sorry, Cancer Research UK, uh, and I know it's very close to her heart. A fantastic achievement. Well done, you. Now let's find out what's been happening elsewhere in the community as Pete is back with his round robbing question. So, just for some context, the round robbing question was it is National Amelia Earhart Day. Have you ever flown an aeroplane or another type of flying machine? So listen to Pete's answer.

SPEAKER_00 14:43

Pete's in Daventry, I've never flown anything, but I was lucky enough recently to go up in one of these new experimental gas planes.

SPEAKER_05 15:00

Very good, very good.

SPEAKER_01 15:02

Okay, thanks, Pete. Uh it's it's just so funny. I don't know where he gets them from. Um, anyway, if uh if you're interested in joining a walk next week, we've got lows to tempt you with. Um, but looking at the forecast, it's going to be boiling hot again. Uh temperatures are soaring up into the 30s, so please remember to keep a close eye on WhatsApp and your emails next week because the weather forecast is just looking rather lively. If a walk needs a cooler or a safer plan B, everyone booked will be added to a WhatsApp group and the new details will go in there. And please give a message and a thumbs up so that we know that you've seen it. Uh, in addition, I'll also send an email through to Event through from Eventbrite. Hopefully, they will arrive. Uh, at the end of the day, safety comes first, and there's always another way for us to enjoy some time together. Alright, let's talk about this week's featured trip. So, as I'm building this new website, I haven't had time to put on a brand new trip this week, but I would like to tell you about the Shropshire Three Peaks Challenge. This week's featured trip is for those who like a proper challenge in the Shropshire Hills, so or the Stroppy Hills as Richard calls it. It's three summits, uh, one spectacular valley, and approximately 16 and a half miles of serious Shropshire Hill walking. Led by experienced walk leader Richard Jones, the route climbs uh up a place called Pole Bank along the Long Mind, uh drops down through the beautiful Ashes Hollow, it tackles Ragleth Hill and then finishes with the toughest, toughest summit of the day, and that's Keradoc. Is that how you pronounce it? I'm sure I've butchered that, so I do apologize. There is around a thousand metres of ascent, and you can expect between eight and ten hours on your feet that day. I'll be there as well. Um, I'll be at the rear being a bit of tower walking and just supporting Richard. But this is for one uh of the experienced walkers only, please. Uh those with good hill fitness, it isn't a race. Uh, the group will all walk together, support one another, and hopefully finish with some tired legs, brilliant memories, and a very well-earned sense of achievement. And you can find the full details over on the Adventure Geek Travel website. It's not the regular website, this is the travel website, which is all the W's adventure geektravel.co.uk. Okay, we're on to a quick dose of good news. So before we get into our mystery sounds, here are three bits of good news from beyond Adventure Geek World. So for the first time ever, solar power supplied uh solar power supplied a quarter of the EU's electricity across an entire month. So that's the for the first time ever. So in June it produced more electricity than nuclear, gas, wind or hydro. A lovely reminder of how quickly cleaner energy can grow when people commit to it. I love that one. I think this next one is my favourite. So there's a UK trial that found that teenagers who restricted their social media use reported better sleep, better mood, better concentration, and study time and family interactions just increase. How cool is that? Those who stopped completely saw the biggest improvements, although they also felt more socially disconnected. I think that's quite sad. So perhaps the answer isn't necessarily to remove social media altogether, but just to make sure that we control it rather than letting it control us. And the last one is um there's a new species of monkey that's been identified in the remote rainforest of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Um, I've seen a photo of it and it's really quite cute. It's got black fur and it's got these distinctive like orange patches on its face, and it's only the fifth uh new African primate species identified in the last 75 years. Don't you think that it's amazing that our planet still surprises us like that, and we're still finding brand new species, like even millions of years on? So, anyway, I think that's quite cool, and it's good to share that sort of good news. So, I just want to say congratulations to Emma Satsford and a couple of others as well, who uh replied to say that the mystery voice last week was the lovely Paula Cannon, and uh I had this voice note from Mandy which did make me smile.

SPEAKER_02 19:19

Hi Julia, lovely to hear your voice, and I hope your foot gets on okay this week. Um, the vo the um cocktail monster is Paula. Okay, bye.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

Right on Mandy, and uh I love getting the voice notes, so if people can keep sending them to me, that would be awesome. Um, I've got two mystery sounds. So here's the first one. This is the one that I'd organised, and uh for those that are on the Lichborough walk, you're not allowed to enter because I know you guys know what it is. But uh yeah, if you know what the sound is, let me know. Alright, so we're on the Lichborough walk, and guess what we're doing. Answers on Fisco. Just want to say thanks to Paula for helping me out with that one. Uh, and the next up is this weird mystery sound. So if you know A what it is, or if you recognise the voice, or if it is your voice, then just let me know because it's bugging me. So here's the extra weird mystery sound. So that's almost it for episode 9. So this week uh your challenges challenge is to see if you can spot one small pocket of time that normally just disappears from life. It doesn't have to be 32 minutes, it doesn't have to involve a business book, it might be 10 minutes for a walk around the block, it might be a phone call to someone that you've been meaning to catch up with, or simply a little bit of time to yourself with no notifications and no demands. Small changes really can create surprisingly big shifts. If you'd like to get out with us, have a look at the local walks on Adventure Geek website. If a bigger walk or a bigger venture is calling, then take a peek at the holidays and challenges on Adventure Geek travel. All that leaves me to say is have a fantastic week. Look after yourself, look after each other, live your best life, and I'll see you on the next one. Take care for now, take care, bye bye.