9 January 2023
Personal

50 Cool and Unusual Things I’ve Done (In No Particular Order)

Here's a slightly random list of cool and unusual things I've done over the years. If you find yourself chatting to me at a conference, party or social event and are unsure what to talk about, feel free to pick something from this list to ask me about.

  1. Dived an active underwater volcano

  2. Watched the sunrise over Angkor Wat

  3. Went to a “wrap party” on the 007 stage at Pinewood studios

  4. Learnt to free dive in a navy submarine escape training tube (SETT)

  5. Got a private tour of the Kennedy Space Centre from the head of rocket propulsion

  6. Ran a police road block

  7. Partied all night at The Hacienda

  8. Dived with a school of 100 hammerhead sharks on a remote island in the South China Sea

  9. Flew solo before I was legally allowed to drive

  10. Ate food blessed by the Dali Lama

  11. Dived one of the worlds largest underwater cave systems

  12. Watched a full solar eclipse from a deserted city in India

  13. Had high tea in a Maharajas Palace

  14. Tracked tigers from the back of an elephant

  15. Faced down a white rhino

  16. Rafted the Kali Gandaki in Nepal

  17. Explored a WW2 shipwreck full of live munitions

  18. Got my pilots licence

  19. Wrote a book that outsold Harry Potter (for a week)

  20. Attended Pushkar Mela, a gathering of over 1 million people (and their camels)

  21. Danced on the sand at a Full Moon Party

  22. Climbed up Mount Merapi to watch the sun rise

  23. Experienced bioluminescence

  24. Eaten at 25 of the top 50 restaurants in the world

  25. Got a backstage pass to a secret Foo Fighters gig

  26. Took a helicopter ride over an active volcano in Iceland

  27. Took a dip in geothermal river

  28. Crossed a desert by camel

  29. Visited the burning ghats in Varanasi

  30. Eaten Fugu in Japan

  31. Stayed in a Ryokan once visited by The Emperor of Japan

  32. Watch the sun rise over the temples of Borobudur

  33. Took a helicopter tour of Manhattan island

  34. Bribed an official in a foreign country

  35. Attended Burning Man

  36. Saw the Northern Lights at the hotel where Ex Machina was filmed

  37. Walked (part of) the Great Wall of China

  38. Learnt to dive in the Andaman Islands

  39. Started my own company

  40. Sold my own company

  41. Ran a dive school on the island of Koh Phi Phi

  42. Soaked in an ancient Japanese Onsen once used by actual samurai

  43. Learnt to eat, breath and juggle with fire

  44. Lived in a tent for 6 months (while trying my hand at being a surf bum)

  45. Seen seahorses in their natural habitat

  46. Worked as a shark safety diver on the Great Barrier Reef

  47. Learned to drive a powerboat

  48. Swam with a Manta Ray

  49. Trekked the Himalayas

  50. Had the Pyramids at Giza almost entirely to myself