Roz Savage can only be described as phenomenal.  Having rowed over 15,000 miles across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans setting four world records in her wake.  She received the National Geographic adventurer of the year in 2010.  Now Roz is putting her energy into environmental campaigning.

The departureboard.com is honoured that Roz has taken time out to answer our 7 Wonders Questions.

1) I wonder, when looking at the airport departure board, where have you thought, ‘I really would like to go there someday’, and why?

Top of my list of places to go would be Antarctica, but you don’t see that on many departure boards. So second choice would be Bhutan. I love the idea of a country that measures Gross National Happiness. I sometimes think that we in the West have forgotten how to be happy, and I’d like to see how they do it.

2) I wonder if you travel by guidebook or trust your instinct and simply explore.

Most of my recent travels have been on the ocean, where this question doesn’t really apply. But when on land, I stand by the maxim that “the best way to travel is with not much money and lots of time”. There is something beautiful about just trusting to instinct and serendipity.

3) I wonder from your travels, what is the favourite photo you’ve taken and the story behind it?

It’s hard to narrow it down to one, but I love this picture I took in Peru on the pilgrimage of Qoyllur Riti. About 10,000 pilgrims gather on a glacier for several days, then trek together through the night to a neighbouring mountaintop so they can watch the sun rise over the sacred mountain. I was traveling with a group of Quechua dancers and I don’t speak Quechua so most of the time I had no idea what was going on, but still felt a tremendous kinship with them at that sunrise celebration.

4) I wonder whilst travelling, what is the one thing you can’t live without?

Over the years I’ve had so much stuff stolen or destroyed, by humans and the ocean, and I’ve found there is very little I can’t live without. So long as I’ve got my health and my sanity, I can get by. But if I had to choose, it would be my iPhone and my trusty old travel mug. The mug is a bit dented now, but that just adds character.

Ocean Rower Roz Savage

5) I wonder what’s the most effort you’ve taken to travel somewhere…… and was it worth it?

My style of ocean rowing is very much about the journey, not the destination. The Atlantic crossing was the hardest – 103 days alone at sea in supposedly the worst year for Atlantic weather since records began. All my oars broke, my comms failed, my stove broke so I had no hot food, and worst of all, my stereo broke too. It was brutal. I happened to arrive in Antigua, which is gorgeous, but I would have been deliriously happy to see any dry land by that stage.

6) I wonder if I could ask you, why rowing?

I wanted to do a solo adventure in order to find out what I was capable of, and the fact that I’d rowed at college made me think that maybe rowing across an ocean was something that would be challenging, but do-able.

7) I wonder what you have planned next and where can people find out more about you?

I am now hanging up my ocean rowing oars to focus on more eco-centric projects. This summer I plan to kayak and cycle around Britain, doing beach cleanups en route and campaigning for an end to plastic pollution. I am looking forward to doing an expedition closer to home, and to meeting people as I travel. I will, as usual, be blogging, podcasting, photographing, videoing and Tweeting as I go – all at www.rozsavage.com.

A huge thank you to Roz and we wish you good luck with your future projects.  Please support Roz and drop by her website rozsavage.com.  Read Rowing the Atlantic: Lessons Learned on the Open Ocean for a fantastic adventure (Click on the cover to purchase).

Roz you are oar inspiring, apologies always wanted to say that!

What we are reading: We know people who love to travel love to read about travel.

Simon is reading The Backpacker by John Harris: If you enjoyed Alex Garland’s The Beach or William Sutcliffe’s Are You Experienced? then The Backpacker by John Harris should entertain you. The true story starts with John and his girlfriend in India then following her returning home he embarks on a series of increasingly bizarre journeys.

Gavin is reading At Home by Bill Bryson: If you think that your mind is always in overdrive, spare a thought for Bill Bryson, who can’t seem to switch off no matter where he is! If you enjoy an element of history and travel in your reading material, ‘At Home’ would be a worthy purchase. It is a book written along the same lines as ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’, but it also has many similarities with his travel books, written in his usual witty style, just set at home. ‘At Home’ succeeds in answering many questions, some of which you wanted to know and others, you probably had never given any thought!

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