Dave Cornthwaite - The Creative Explorer

On Thursday evening The Marketers Forum were lucky enough to host a talk by Dave Cornthwaite, an adventurer, author, documentary maker and motivational speaker.

“Choose comfort or choose ambition. They don’t come in the same box”

At 25 Dave had a well paid, but unfulfilling job as a graphic designer, his own house, a long term girlfriend and a cat… however he gave all of it up in pursuit of a dream. Having always wanted to write, Dave realised he needed ‘stories’ in order to enable his writing. A turn on a longboard in 2005, gave birth to an idea to travel the world, raising awareness for causes he was passionate about, whilst creating material he could write about…

He began planning 2 incredible journeys, which saw him skate the length of Britain from John O’ Groats to Lands End and then in early 2007 he pushed his skateboard Elisa, 5823km across Australia between Perth and Brisbane. Dave became the first person to cover these distances on a skateboard and has a Guinness World Record to mark his achievement, a host of global media coverage and a remarkable book entitled BoardFree, detailing his journey.

Dave’s odyssey across Oz, fuelled his passion for adventure and travel and he threw himself into further experiences, activities and charities. Soon after, he became the face of Aquaskipping, a human-powered hydrofoil and broke the British speed record. This was followed by a kayaking expedition in late 2009 along the Murray, Australia’s longest river, from the source to mouth. Dave has put together a documentary about his experience to raise awareness for environmental and climatic factors affecting the once great river.

Soon after, Dave tried stand-up paddle boarding and crossed Lake Geneva in the summer of 2010, a distance of 86.9km in a record breaking 2 days. Once again, he has captured and documented his journey.

All these adventures have led to Dave dreaming up ‘Expedition 1000′. His aim is to raise a million pounds for charity by “undertaking 25 separate journeys in excess of 1000 miles in distance, each using a different form of non-motorised transport. The project will cover every continent, cross the three major oceans and see Dave reach both poles.”

You can find out more about ‘Expedition 1000′ by visiting Dave’s website.

Dave’s intention is to inspire people to follow their dreams and think outside the box. Dave closed his talk with TMF by encouraging the audience to make a list of everything they want to achieve in life, be it small or large and then make it happen.

He did.

For more information about Dave, what’s he’s up to and how to support him you can visit his website or connect with him on Facebook (Dave Cornthwaite) or Twitter (@DaveCorn)