Host & founder · Adventure Diaries
A diary, kept out loud.
I’m Chris Watson. Adventure Diaries is an award-winning podcast about adventure, exploration and the natural world — long-form conversations with people who have spent real time in wild places, and what the rest of us can take from them.
People’s Choice, Best Outdoor Podcast · Recommended by The Sunday Times · Glasgow, Scotland
Meet the host
Meet Chris Watson.
I’m the creator and host of Adventure Diaries — a podcast where we bring you authentic stories of adventure, exploration and the natural world.
These are stories and guests from the far reaches of our planet to the more local endeavours, and all are curated in a way that will get you inspired.
But the show is not just about listening to other people’s adventures. It’s designed to get you outside, to pay attention, and — wherever possible — to take action and support the people and projects protecting the world we love.
I grew up navigating childhood trauma, and found some quiet in the outdoors — first as an escape, later as a way to heal and live more fully. A corporate career, the long pause of the pandemic, and becoming a dad pushed me to live more intentionally, and to help other people do the same.
I’m based in Glasgow, Scotland with my wife, daughter and dog, and spend most of my free time in and around the Scottish Highlands, Loch Lomond and the west coast of Scotland — hiking, paddling and camping. It’s a wonderful part of the world, and I’m grateful to have it on my doorstep.
I’m a certified paddlesport instructor — and a former water-phobic, which is its own kind of qualification. Alongside the show I’ve judged at the Head Outside Awards, supported animal welfare and conservation projects, and build tools inspired by podcast episodes that are designed to get people outdoors — like the Local Seven Summits and waterfall-hike route planners.
Adventure Diaries is part passion project, part therapy for me. I put everything into it — for myself, for the listeners, and for the community around it. I love it.
I hope you enjoy it — and more than anything, I hope it inspires you to get outside, more often.
01 · The promise
What the show gives you.
Adventure Diaries brings you authentic stories of adventure, exploration and the natural world — and invites you to act on them. Every episode carries a practical Call to Adventure and a conservation-minded Pay It Forward, so you can do something this week and help protect the places you love.
01
A real adventure story
Long-form conversations with people who have crossed oceans, climbed mountains, filmed wildlife, survived remote expeditions, protected wild places, or found adventure close to home.
02
A call to adventure
Each guest leaves you with one practical invitation — a single thing you can act on this week, with accessibility in mind. No sponsor, no sabbatical required.
03
Pay it forward
Every episode points to a cause, charity, community or conservation effort worth supporting — so the story does a little work beyond the listen.
02 · What I stand for
The values behind the show.
Curiosity before credentials
Questions that reveal the human being behind the headline.
Experience over posturing
Adventure is something you live, then share — never the other way round. It doesn’t need to be grand or out of reach.
Conservation is non-negotiable
Adventure should protect places, species and cultures.
Accountability matters
Public commitments, calendars and community keep us moving — and living with a bit more intent.
Family as foundation
Adventures that deepen bonds and model stewardship for the next generation, as I try to with my daughter.
Radical accessibility
No gatekeeping. Adventure is for everyone, everywhere.
What to expect
In every episode.
- Practical promptsMicro-adventures and quests you can plan in minutes.
- Real talkMental health, fear, failure, and how nature helps us heal.
- Fresh anglesResearch-led questions that skip the usual press-tour soundbites.
- Conservation actionsSpecific ways to give back: donate, volunteer, share or partner.
- Family-friendlySkills, safety and simple rituals to bring the kids along.
My story
How the show began.
It didn’t start with a microphone. It started with needing the outdoors.
Survival to purpose
It began with childhood trauma, and later corporate burnout — experiences that pushed me towards living with intent and telling stories that matter. Adventure Diaries grew out of that shift: a place where exploration meets purpose.
Overcoming the fear of water
I was once terrified of water and couldn’t swim. I turned that fear into fuel, qualified as a paddlesport instructor, and now lead trips that help other people face their own.
Nature as therapy
The outdoors became the place I went to process, reconnect and rebuild. The podcast passes that on — stories that help people heal through nature, one Call to Adventure at a time.
Impact without ego
Adventure should leave places better than we found them. Pay It Forward turns conversations and trips into real conservation action — no guilt trips, no gatekeeping, no performance.
Behind the legends
The show goes past the highlight reel. I ask the questions others don’t, to find the human being behind the achievement — and to show that greatness is reachable, not reserved.
Adventure storytelling sparks action, accountability, conservation and healing — most of all when it comes with a clear, doable invitation.
Recognition
Proof it lands, and that people act.
In its first year, Adventure Diaries was a Top Outdoor Podcast (UK) nominee, finishing third. In its second, it won the People’s Choice Award for Best Outdoor Podcast at the Outdoor Media Summit — decided by more than 20,000 votes worldwide. Chris now judges the Head Outside Awards.
Where it’s heard
A global audience.
66%
24%
5%
1%
<1%
<1%
- North America66%
- Europe24%
- Oceania5%
- Asia1%
- Africa<1%
- South America<1%
What listeners say
“My favourite podcast — timely and absolutely brilliant listen.”
Alison S.“Your show fills me up and inspires more of my own adventures.”
A’ndrea F.“So many fascinating stories from fascinating people.”
Ellie R.“Spot-on guests and perfect interviewing — your prompts let guests truly talk.”
Jacko J.“Episodes end and I want to hit a hillside immediately.”
Listener message“Women inspiring women — so glad our daughters now have real adventurers to look up to.”
Kirsty T.“Found you via a conservation film; subscribed immediately — phenomenal connections.”
Norman H.“This talk with Sean Conway is next level.”
Sam R.“Your podcast redirected my midlife crisis into everyday adventure — I’m regaining my pilot’s licence, and my first triathlon’s this weekend.”
Nick B.“I love Chris’s style and enthusiasm — always engaging and informative.”
F. Munro“Your conversations bring joy to my commute — now I’m planning my own kayak adventure.”
Listener message“Thanks for bringing the world to us in such wonderful stories.”
Beth D.
Shared with permission, lightly edited for length. Read the award announcement →
03 · From the field
Out there, off mic.
Who it’s for
Is this for you?
Adventure Diaries is for people who feel pulled towards the outdoors — whether that means a polar expedition, a weekend paddle, a hill walk, a family camp, or simply learning more about the natural world. It’s for listeners who want depth over hype, and stories that feel human, grounded and possible.
- Outdoor lovers
- Paddlers, walkers, hikers and travellers
- Parents raising adventurous kids
- Anyone drawn to wildlife, conservation and exploration
- People stuck in routine who want a nudge back outside
- Fans of long-form, thoughtful interviews
04 · Start here
Start with recent episodes.
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Tenth walking shark catalogued in Papua New Guinea’s coastal shallows.
A walking shark swimming across seagrass and coral reefs has been named from Milne Bay; Brazil’s yearlong campaign has cut new mining scars across Yanomami land by 99 per cent; and poachers in Naples are stripping entire sea-urchin colonies in single nocturnal raids, leaving predators with nothing to hunt.
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Mount Everest summits surge past 900 as mangrove forests stage global comeback.
More than 900 climbers reached Everest’s summit in 2026 amid unusually stable weather, while satellite data reveals mangrove forests rebounding worldwide after decades of decline. Wildlife responds to human presence across 37 species, a coronal mass ejection may brush Earth tomorrow, and scientists document 24 new marine species in the South Atlantic’s midwater zone.
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A rare crown, and a squid in the dark.
Five stories this week, drawn from adventure, exploration, conservation and the natural world. A climber completes a rare set of summits. A giant squid is found off Australia without anyone laying eyes on it. And in the Cairngorms, a wildcat written off only a few years ago is raising kittens in the wild.
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Crossing the Darién Gap: cartels, jungle and hostage training, with Daniel Eggington
The Colombian military just took Daniel Eggington’s passport. A boat waited at dawn. He’d been hiding in a top-floor room in Juradó for ten days, slipping out only at night to meet his fixer. From the town you could hear…
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Kayaking the Mangoky, Madagascar’s longest river, with Oscar Scafidi
The frame crashes into the back of his head again. Oscar stumbles, catches himself, adjusts the unwieldy birchwood skeleton strapped to his shoulders. It rocks with every step — two and a half metres of folded Klepper kayak, jutting above…
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Crossing Australia’s deadliest desert unsupported, with Louis-Philippe Loncke
The dunes stretch ahead like a frozen sea, one after another, relentless. Louis-Philippe Loncke crests the ridge and looks down into the valley — a carpet of white flowers has bloomed overnight. He turns. Two eyes reflect his head torch.…
The bigger mission
Get more people outside, more often.
Adventure Diaries exists to help listeners care more deeply about the places, wildlife and communities that make adventure possible — and to get more of us outside, more often.
The show is built on a simple belief: adventure doesn’t have to be extreme to matter. A small act can change a week. A story can change how you see your life. A guest’s challenge can be the thing that gets someone back outside.
05 · Work with the show
Work with Adventure Diaries.
Be a guest
For adventurers, explorers, conservationists, authors, filmmakers and people with a story rooted in adventure or the natural world.
Pitch a guest →Partner with the show
For brands and organisations who want to reach an engaged audience of outdoor, adventure and nature-minded listeners.
View the media kit →Press and media
For interviews, quotes, features and press enquiries about the show or its host.
Contact Chris →Ready to listen
Start with one story.
Take one idea from it. Then go and do something with it.
