UIOK 75: Grant "Axe" Rawlinson

Today I chat with Grant Rawlinson, better known as Axe. Axe is what you would define as an adventurer, specifically a human powered adventurer. He has taken part in multiple human powered adventures, from Getting from the Summit of Mount Ruapehu to the summit of Mount Cook in three weeks. Climbing Mount Everest, twice among many others. His current adventure is called rowing from home to home, where he is rowing from his home in Singapore, to his birthplace of New Zealand, with a significant cycle through Australia on the way.

His stories of adventure are epic, but what is even more epic is the insight he has gleaned from them. I enjoy his approach to risk mitigation, his concepts around preparation, and how he identifies what he wants to go after.

Topics we chat through in the show include;

+ The reason he moved from New Zealand to Singapore

+ The pull of adventure

+ Playing in the Hong Kong sevens

+ Following curiosity until it turns into passion

+ The importance of planning

+ Grant's approach to risk management

+ Attempting to climb Mount Everest and the lessons learned

+ Traversing from the top of Mt Ruapehu to the top of Mt Cook purely under human power

+ His current adventure rowing and cycling from Singapore to New Zealand

+ And of course - getting uncomfortable

Guest: Grant "Axe" Rawlinson