Seminar Title: Nepal Riverboarding Expedition
Speaker: Huw Miles
Company Name: Miles Away
Topic: Huw and his team navigated 280km of the Sun Kosi River in Eastern Nepal, home to some of the wildest whitewater in Asia, with little more than a bodyboard and a set of fins. Welcome to the world of riverboarding. Come along and find out how you can get involved.
Why do you love to travel?
I love to see different cultures and people. I love the challenges that travel brings and the adventure of it all. Sometimes it might necessarily broaden your horizons, but it will always leave you with a few stories for the grand kids.
Who would be your ideal travel partner and why?
My ideal travel partner needs to have a great sense of humour and a laid back approach to travel. Someone who is level headed. The highs and lows of travel can be extreme and I like to travel with people who doesn’t get too carried away with either end of the spectrum.
What was your favourite destination last year and why?
Nepal, the Sun Kosi river. Nepal has such amazing scenery, the friendliest people and a history of adventure that makes you feel like you’re walking through a giant adventure museum.
Describe the most unusual situation you’ve found yourself in while travelling.
I was in a bus full of cabbages deep in rural eastern Nepal, travelling for 18 hrs back to Kathmandu after our riverboarding expedition. At three in the morning the bus stops and three westerners jump on the bus. One has a heated argument with one of my team mates as they sat on his injured leg. We diffused the situation quickly. Two days later as I was preparing for a national press conference, the guy who stands up to introduce me is the guy we argued with on the bus. Turns out he was the head of Guide Training at the International rafting Federation. Awkward smiles all round!
Name two up-and-coming destinations for 2013 and why.
Nepal, it is one of the most stunning countries in the world and your money still goes along way out there, with the way the economy is right now, that’s pretty important to everyone.
New Zealand, such a small country with a bit of everything crammed into one place. Rugged and wild scenery, sandy beaches, buzzing cities, wine tours, part towns and more adventure than you can shake a stick at. It’s a classic and always will be.
If you could return to any country you’ve been to, what would it be and why?
Ecuador. I undertook my first serious riverboarding expedition there and I made a lot of friends who helped me along the way. Now because of my work as a Riverboarding Guide Trainer, I hope I can pay back some of those river folk.
What’s the one thing you can’t travel without and why?
Gaffer tape and journal. Gaffer tape is the cornerstone of engineering, a journal helps tell the stories that pictures can’t capture
Give us an overview of what you’ll be discussing at the TNT Travel Show:
I will be talking about our record setting world’s first riverboarding expedition down the remote and animated white water rapids of the Sun Kosi river. It’s a story that starts as a stupid idea and an itch on my foot and ends up with an incredible world’s first. I’ll be talking about how people can get involved in riverboarding too.
Who will find your talk relevant?
This will interest people with a keen sense of adventure and those who are driven by leanring new skills and facing challenges. This will be particularly interesting to those keen to learn more about riverboarding- tackling whitewater rapids with a body board and a set of fins!
