Adventure at the farthest source of the Amazon

Rising from glacial meltwater on the ridge of Mismi – 5,597-metres high in the Chila mountains – the Apurimac River is a force. Remote, fierce, relentless. It slices through narrow gorges and thunders down deep canyons as it flows northwest, jungle bound. Joining the Ucayali – the main headstream of the Amazon – it’s the perfect setting for a group expedition. And a big one at that.

Over three days, you’ll raft the pulsing white-water rapids of the Apurimac and hike the fertile lands it nourishes – pausing nightly to rest at luxury campsites set up especially for you.

Above all, you’ll revel in the immaterial. In watching towering Andean cliffs rise in the distance and hearing bird calls rise above the water’s roar. In striking the balance – together – between resilience and surrendering to the incessant flow of this sacred “talking river”. Come hell or high water, this is a journey that’ll linger. That you’ll still talk about years after you’ve returned.

BEST FOR: Smaller, adventurous groups, with a maximum of 8 people. Swimming skills are key.

Lead your peloton over the mountain’s edge

Formed when the East African Rift tore the continent apart, Mount Kenya – a now extinct stratovolcano – pierces the skies for miles around. Vents, valleys, basalt, and plateaus, striated by glaciers and blade-like crevices.

But this is only part of its story. For the Kikuyu people, Mount Kenya is the home of Mwene Nyaga, the creator god. And this is his throne.

Journeying to 4,000 meters above sea level by helicopter, you – together – will make a euphoric, life-changing descent by mountain bike from the serrated peaks of this sacred place; pursuing a ribbon of tracks and trails that cross the face of this sun-painted, snow-slaked mountain, 4,000ft above the blistering earth. What begins with a wide plateau gives way to plunging, dog-legged bends and chunky slopes – the ferocious crest of the mountain – and the valleys that feed it – rearing up around you. The sense of achievement – and the pumping of adrenaline – will feel like nothing else on earth.

BEST FOR: Smaller groups of experienced cyclists

Through swords, secrecy, and ritual, step into the legendary world of shinobi

The ninja – those ‘who are invisible’ – have a legendary place in the annals of Japan. The art of stealth is the art of refinement, poise, and mastery – and not a little mystery. Since the 15th century, they were both feared and feted; practicing their craft in secretive guilds and clans. There’s a reason they were known as masters of bakemono-jutsu, the ‘ghost technique’.

Over a course of days, you’ll step into the storied world of the shinobi – treading, softly, beneath the surface. Within the halls of the legendary Asakusa Dojo, you’ll get to grips – as your own shinobi clan – with shuriken, etiquette, jujitsu, breathing, and sword. For as much as the ninja is about war, it’s also about meditation, the senses, and mindfulness. These days of collective trials and training will culminate with a ritual purification and armour-dressed war ceremony. This is how your own legend is born.

At the world’s last great frontier, teamwork is everything

March - May

Svalbard had no ‘official’ name until 1827. Svalbarði. It means ‘cold edge’. Stained red by iron, its bruised peaks mushroom from dark volcanic soil – and shivering seas. For centuries, this outer wild was a place for whalers and walrus-hunters. Their shacks and blubber ovens, worn soft by time, still litter the shores of Smeerenburg. Eventually, it would become the final base-station for Arctic explorers.

This might feel like a desolate place. But appearances can be deceiving. From the comfort of your fully equipped basecamp, you’ll mount your own polar expedition – with snowmobiles, dog-mushing, and pulk-pulling, as well as a roaring fire around which – at the day’s adventurous end – you’ll be fed and feted by the camp’s dedicated chefs, hearing stories, at civilization’s edge, from explorers who’ve been crossing this awe-inspiring wilderness for years.

Venture to the southernmost extreme of the Americas

December - February

In December 1831, HMS Beagle departed from England to survey the southerly coasts of South America. Almost exactly a year later – with Charles Darwin aboard – the ship anchored in the Bay of Good Success on the Tierra del Fuego. This remote land of snow-capped peaks, dense evergreen forests, glaciers, and glistening fjords is wild and mythical. In his journal, Darwin described how ‘a single glance at the landscape was sufficient to show me how widely different it was from anything I had ever beheld’.

Just as the Atlantic and the Pacific meet in these far-flung latitudes, so will you – linking up for the expedition of a lifetime. Across this wild terrain, you’ll hike, sail, and ride by horseback to the terminus of the Andes, staying in nomad campsites and shelters along the way – joined, for the duration, by a local expedition guide who has written extensively on the region. Endurance, resilience, teamwork. That’s what this moment’s all about.

BEST FOR: Adventurous groups with a high level of fitness. Minimum age of 18 years.

Share the road of Europe’s most blissed-out pilgrimage

In 990 AD, Sigeric the Serious – the newly minted Archbishop of Canterbury – traveled the long road to Rome to receive his ecclesiastical vestments, of palest white and black. The path he followed was the legendary Via Francigena, ‘the road that comes from France’ – an ancient pilgrimage trodden by Icelandic poets, Welsh kings, and Benedictine monks. The Alps, the Apennines, Tuscany. It’s an eye-popping, geographic mixtape.

Through the jaw-dropping vales of the Val d’Elsa, the miles and days will bring you closer than ever. At its close, you’ll take to the skies by hot-air balloon to cast your eyes over the landscape you’ve crossed. Crested hills, the end-of-day pulling off of boots, the tables you’ll gather around – elbow to elbow, raising a glass. This is your pilgrimage. These are your tales.