Dave's Full Story

Dave Cornthwaite is a British adventurer, author and motivational speaker. He has broken five world records, written three books and completed more expeditions than you have fingers, most of them with a sense of humour.

Dave's adventures are shaped by a passion for combining sport and travel to encourage people to look after their own little corner of the planet by thinking big, staying healthy and smiling as much as possible.

Dave is probably best known for his Expedition1000 project, an ambitious series of twenty five journeys of at least 1000 miles in length, each one using a different method of non-motorised transport. He aims to raise £1,000,000 for his selected charities by the end of the project, which will take him over three oceans, to both poles, and across every continent on Earth.

Dave Cornthwaite is the most tenacious adventurer in the world right now.
He is constantly pushing forwards.
Tim Moss, Author of How to Get To The North Pole

Dave's first taste of adventure came in 1999, when a gap year teaching scheme organised by Africa & Asia Venture took him to Uganda in East Africa and encouraged a passion for writing about pastures new. At University Dave spent more time travelling than studying, but he helped raise over £100,000 for Link Community Development as country-leader for an annual charity hitchhike to Morocco.

During the final two years of his BscEcon in International Development, Dave held down a full-time position as Editor of the Swansea University newspaper before following graduation by founding his own newspaper and becoming a graphic designer. Thankfully, he wasn't very good.

In 2005, what he hopes will become a quarter life crisis encouraged Dave to take up skateboarding for the first time. Not long afterwards he left his job and founded BoardFree, a charitable initiative designed to raise funds and awareness for three children's charities based on one plan: Dave wanted to try and skateboard further than anyone else ever had.

In late Spring 2006 Dave became the first person to skate the length of Britain, covering 896 miles between John O'Groats and Lands End. This was just a warm-up. On January 22nd 2007 Dave completed his second journey, a five-month world-record 5823km skate between Perth, in Western Australia, and Brisbane on Australia's east coast. Soon after that, his first book, BoardFree, was published.

In 2007 Dave formed BounceFree, which revolved around a human powered hydrofoil called an Aquaskipper. In September '07 he broke the British 100m record, although he may have been the first person to attempt it!

In December 2009, after living on a canal boat and learning how to paddle, Dave completed a two and a half month, 2476km expedition along Australia's largest river, the Murray. It was this journey that convinced Dave he should continue trying to make a living from adventure and trying new things.

In Spring/ Summer 2010 Dave began training for a world record breaking Stand Up Paddle journey by paddling 85km across Lake Geneva with his friend Seb Terry, and then 150 miles across the UK from Bath to London, with fellow Adventurer Sarah Outen.

In February 2011 Dave spent three weeks in Nepal getting over vertigo by learning how to paraglide in preparation for a 1000-mile flight over Nepal. One month later, he completed the 3rd journey of Expedition1000 by pedalling a tandem bicycle 1400 miles in 14 days from Vancouver, BC to Las Vegas.

In the Summer of 2011 Dave became the first person to Stand Up Paddleboard the length of the Mississippi without motorised assistance, breaking two world records along the way. The longest distance paddled by SUP in one day, and the longest distance paddled by SUP in one journey, 2404 miles.

In quick succession in early 2012 Dave complete the 5th and 6th journeys of Expedition1000. He sailed 3156 miles across the Pacific on the scientific research yacht, Sea Dragon, before pedalling a 4-wheeled Bikecar 1000.3 miles from Memphis, Tennessee to Miami, Florida.

In addition to his first book, BoardFree, Dave writes a regular blog and is busy working on a series of new books, which he sees as his pension. His second book, DATE, the tale of a man trying to find a girlfriend by dating 1000 women in 100 days, was released in January 2012. On the way are his next three; Up The Creek, about his Murray River expedition, Stand Up Huck, about Dave's record-breaking Mississippi River descent, and Blogs on Life, a compilation of diaries, articles and blogs from the first five years of his adventure career.

Dave is an established motivational speaker who has addressed audiences on six continents, including two nationwide tours of Australia.

Adventure has also given Dave a chance to hone his filmmaking skills, and in addition to his popular YouTube expedition episodes he has produced short documentaries about Staying Awake For 72 Hours and the Lake Geneva Crossing. He also produced Sarah Outen's documentary, A Dip In the Ocean.

In October 2012 Dave reached St Louis, MO to finish his hardest expedition yet, a 1001 mile swim down the Lower Missouri River. Dave towed and pushed his gear on a raft, at the same time leading a team who paddled the full distance on Lakeshore SUP boards and in a Mad River Canoe.

He plans to rest up for the first five months of 2013 in order to write a book, or three. His next expedition will involve 3000 miles across Europe on an ElliptiGO with Adventurer Squash Falconer. It starts May 1st.

If you still have one remaining question, Why? Then read Dave's Philosophy of Adventure.

Follow Dave's Adventures on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube