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Journey into the Outdoors #16 - Annasley Park

By :Lauren Cattell 0 comments
Journey into the Outdoors #16 - Annasley Park

What drew you to take on a solo row across the Atlantic, what was the motivation behind it?

Sports and landscapes have always been the thread running through my life. From the discipline of pro cycling to running my own chalet in the French Alps, living in a forest with a hammock as my home guiding on rivers, and working on superyachts with some of the rich and famous... I threw myself into industries that pushed me to my edges. It wasn’t always about chasing titles or comfort though. More so, it was about testing what I was made of in anything that I pursued. For years though I feared failure and tried everything I could to keep pushing even when my mind, body and emotions told me to stop. In 2023 I hit rock bottom and said to myself, “you don’t find yourself by playing it safe and you can't be the change for others if you aren't willing to change yourself.” I learnt that you find your true potential by stepping into the unknown and seeing what you’re capable of when the ground gives way. So that's where the challenge of rowing an ocean solo, unsupported and independent.

When I set out to row the Atlantic, the competitive mind crept in and the thought of potentially being able to gain a record took over. However, deep down there was a much deeper personal reason for needing to do this and ten hours in, when the ocean flipped my world upside down, I learned the real lesson: surrender is not weakness, it's a starting point. It took me roughly 2 weeks of fighting not just the external world with huge walls of water and powerful hits from all directions but more so my internal world. Then on day 17 of my 55 day solo, unsupported and independent 3000 mile rowing expedition I just let go of it all. The sun was setting and for a moment the ocean gave me a moment to take my first conscious breath and with that came a pod of dolphins that stayed with me to the following morning. I started to really see that growth lives where things get uncomfortable, where fear shows up and you keep going anyway. Adventure isn’t about proving something to the world, in which I had tried to seek that validation for years; However, it’s about rediscovering the parts of yourself that can’t be shaken and I really had to do a lot of “check in's” and catch myself when I was going into this victim mind-set or patterns/habits that I knew weren't serving me or others around me. See, whether you’re an athlete, a parent, a leader, or just someone standing at the edge of something bigger than yourself, one of the many lessons I found was that true adventure starts when you stop chasing the outcome and commit fully to the process.

 

How did you mentally prepare for the solitude, and what did you discover about yourself out there? 

Preparing for the ocean wasn’t just about building physical strength; it was about getting honest with myself about what real solitude would mean.  I could train my body to row for hours, but no training truly prepared me for what it feels like to be completely alone, day after day, with nothing but my own mind for company. They say that you can only be 80% ready to row an ocean and the last 20% you learn along the way. In my opinion I would say it is a 60% /40 split. I had to learn how to sit with discomfort not just physical, but emotional. I had an incredible land team on 24hr call, which was also imperative to my mental wellbeing and safety. But, I had to get used to hearing every thought, facing every fear, and staying present when it would have been easier to drift into distraction or doubt. Out there, in the middle of an ocean, there was no hiding from myself. The ocean striped away all the internal noise, the expectations, the labels, the things I thought defined me. What was left was raw and real. I discovered that solitude didn’t isolate me; it revealed me in more ways than I ever expected! It taught me that resilience isn’t just about strength — it’s about honesty. Being able to sit with fear, uncertainty, and vulnerability without letting them own me and having a community / network of people to lean on when I have exhausted every avenue to tap into my mind and body intrinsically.  That kind of growth only happens when I was willing to meet myself exactly where I was, without shortcuts, and without a safety net.


 Was there a particular moment at sea that will stay with you forever? 

There were so many moments that will stay with me forever, it’s hard to pick just one. But if I had to go into a deep one, it would be learning the hard way with mother nature and every day opening that cabin door I knew it was going to be another wild ride. Just like the sea state and weather,  life isn’t something I can fight into shape. There were days everything felt like it was working against me. I used to push harder, question why things weren’t going my way, try to control what couldn’t be controlled. But the ocean doesn’t respond to force. When I stopped fighting, when I trusted instead of questioning, the ocean answered — with calmer seas, with following winds, with incredible encounters with wildlife that felt like they were meant just for me. It taught me that sometimes, you don’t get the reward by forcing the outcome. You get it by letting go, showing up, and letting the experience reveal its own magic. Having the delight of this one bird that followed me from the very start to the very last day of my row was one magical experience that is a story in itself!

 What did your daily routine look like in the middle of the ocean? 

I did have a routine, but out there, I had to wear every hat — skipper, navigator, welfare officer, nutritionist, electrician, rower, and more. My day would usually start around 5am and follow a pattern of three hours rowing, one hour off, running through until about midnight. Rest was built in, but it wasn’t like switching off completely. Even when I was lying down, I was drifting with the currents, listening for changes in the wind and sea state and staying tuned into the boat. I had to balance working hard with resting smart. Some days demanded more from me physically, others mentally and emotionally. Out there, routine wasn’t about control — it was about rhythm, adaptability, and keeping myself steady in a place that constantly shifted beneath me.


How has this journey shaped your relationship with the outdoors? 

I struggled in school and found it hard with my dyslexia. The outdoors has always been my way of being able to formulate a conversation that never demanded a response or had judgment. Out there it was my companion and this time it felt like it was talking to me. I couldn't outrun the discomfort, and I couldn’t force a response. As mentioned above I had to listen, adapt, and move with what was given to me. Now we live in a world and generation that’s obsessed with certainty, speed, and control, which puts us in a survival mode. However, I was being taught how to be fully alive and thrive as well as staying grounded when things changed, and having the humility to respond with a stoic mind instead of react (harder said than done sometimes). The outdoors doesn’t ask for perfection; it asks for presence. And in that, we find something I feel a lot of us are missing — a real connection, not just to the world around us, but to ourselves too. 


 At Kickback we love adventures, can you summarise what the word adventure means to you? 

Adventure strips you back. It’s not about what you achieve — it’s about what you’re willing to face. It’s about stepping into the unknown, where you can’t hide from yourself or the reality around you. It’s standing in discomfort, figuring it out as you go, getting things wrong, and learning without guarantees. It’s not clean or polished. It’s messy, raw, sometimes brutal. But it's where you actually build on your own human capacity! It’s not by talking about it, but by living it. Out there, you don’t just find new places — you find new parts of yourself you didn’t know existed. So, get after it. You won't regret it! 

categories : Trail Seekers

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