Words: Tom Warburton

Photographs: Callum Howard

Vedangi Kulkarni is the youngest woman to cycle around the world and now a full-time expedition planner for commercial expeditions and individuals. She’s handled expeditions ranging from full Antarctica traverses to Canoeing down the world’s largest rivers. We speak to Vedangi about the importance of good expedition planning and what the common mistakes everyone makes.

We’ve all thought about that big adventure, sat in the office staring out the window thinking, Everest, why not? Yet, what turns your big dream into a reality. Funding yes, willpower yes, and an empty calendar? Yes. Yet, the most underrated but most important factor in an expedition is planning, and good planning at that.

I can tell you from personal experience the importance of good planning, been stuck in the middle of a city centre, realising you’ll have to walk ALL of your expedition equipment, skis, sledge and the kitchen sink, as it won’t fit in a taxi. Planning involves the smallest of details, thinking outside the box, focusing not on the end glory or the thrill of the mountains, but on what you’re going to do in that 2-hour stopover in Bangkok.

So how did you get into expedition planning?

I grew up with tons of wonderful travel experiences in India as well as abroad. My parents always encouraged me to plan some segments of our family trips, entrusting me with a lot of responsibility. They always believed in my ability to come up with something unique and interesting for all of us to do.

In 2016, at the age of 17, I did my first “big” trip, when I rode my bike across the Indian Himalayas. Whilst I was riding alone, my parents were in a car, keeping at a 15km radius, seeing how I get on! After that I moved to the UK, not knowing a single person in the UK, I ended up riding my bike across the country, just sleeping at bus shelters or ditches by the road, or even knocking on people’s doors. I wasn’t carrying any sleeping bag or roll mat or any sort of camping gear for that matter.

I love mountaineering, hiking and riding my bike for really long distances. In 2018, I rode 29000km around the world in 159 days, becoming the youngest woman to circumnavigate the world on bicycle. I had started at the journey at the age of 19 and finished when I was 20. Most of it was solo and unsupported. Having always had an interest in expedition planning, I decided to do more research within the area, use my previous experiences, talk to people who are planning their next expedition and eventually, start my own business in that.

What’s the most common mistake people make when planning an expedition?

I'm not sure there's a thing such as a common mistake that's made, I think it’s more about what gets left out from the planning. That’s what it comes down to when you're in the field! I think one of the most important things, when I'm planning something, is to consider the risks and I do enjoy that process, as I love problem solving! It's always good to consider the bad things that can happen during an expedition because you're looking at how you can solve them, and then if those things do happen, then it doesn't come as surprise, and you know how to fix that.

So can you tell us a bit about the expeditions you’re currently supporting?

I'm currently supporting a couple of Antarctic expeditions, an expedition to paddle the Ganges in India, assisting with a triathlon around the world, a Trans-Arctic circumnaviagtion, and a couple more expeditions that I'm not allowed to mention yet but they are pretty fucking big, and they include a lot of running!

How do you begin planning for an expedition?

When planning for a big adventure, it's really important to treat it like a business plan. There are several elements that you should include within it, you should know what your mission is, i.e. what your goal is- what you’re trying to achieve, what your vision- which is thinking about the bigger picture, and finally the purpose of the whole thing. Then the route planning, risk assessments, sponsorships, team-building, etc comes in (not exactly in that order).

You offer quite a unique service in the world of exploration, what is that?

So I've set up a company called the Adventure Shed, and my motto is to make adventure accessible. The way I want to do it is by offering my services for planning and managing other people’s expeditions, brand management, risk management, putting operations and communications team where necessary and if there are any media teams required, if people need to get out into touch with the right people, I offer those kinds of services too.

One of my favourite parts is seeking sponsorship, and I’m aware it's not easy and I’m not the most experienced person out there with that, but I certainly do have the passion for it. I want to see my clients’ dream expedition happen and my job would be to facilitate that as much as I can.

You’e got quite an extensive and varied exploration background, was there any mishaps or dramas that made you realise the importance of planning?

I had a lot of problems with my film crew during my ride around the world ride. When I left, I planned for me to ride a bike, but I didn't plan much for the film crew, so I ended up having to do on-the-spot planning whilst I was riding 200 miles a day, which wasn’t easy. Planning for other people whilst cycling around the world is a nightmare, I should have planned the transport and accommodation, etc for them well in advance!

I’ve had so many visa issues as well! I hold an Indian passport and getting the right visas at the right time was a bit of a nightmare! I remember when I'd just got halfway around the world in 53 days, and I didn't have the right visa to fly out of Halifax and that took a week and a half which ruined my chances for the record attempt (to become the fastest woman to circumnavigate the world). Well, little did I know that if it wasn’t the visa issues that stopped it, it was going to be those strangers who attacked me and mugged me at knifepoint!

Do you have any funny stories from your years of exploration?

Where do I start! Hands down, the funniest thing that’s happened to me was being chased by a grizzly bear. It wasn’t funny at the time. I was in Canada, on a climb, and riding my bike in my own space, listening to an audiobook, and then to my right, I saw a family of grizzlies and one of them decided I was a risk and charged in my direction. I was sprinting, giving it my everything. Thank God for that lorry which screeched and honked to drive that bear away. It was so fucking scary! I was fascinated by those grizzlies when I saw them. I mean, you don’t get to see bears everyday! And then it started chasing me and I wasn't fascinated anymore!

Another funny incident would be when I had a bit of an “accident” whilst riding in the middle of Australia, where I had a really bad case of stomach bug!