Travel talks: 5 minutes with explorer, sailor and philanthropist Justin Packshaw

Proficient sailor, former military man, intrepid explorer and unyielding philanthropist, Justin Packshaw has spoken at the famous Ted Talks about Human Excellence, created luxury fashion brand De Roemer, raised millions of pounds for charity and facilitated scientific research in some of the most remote corners of the world. With no intention of slowing down, Packshaw shares his extraordinary experiences.

1. What do you love most about going on expeditions?

For me, people are a big part of my trips. I have been terribly lucky as I have done them with stunningly able, capable and colourful people who also have similar aims as myself to learn, survive and work within these very different and difficult environments.

These far-flung regions are so beautiful in their remoteness and austerity and to actually be able to work and see them in-situ is unique. One always returns having learnt superb lessons about oneself and life.

Packshaw represented Great Britain in the 1990 Whitbread Race — now known as the Volvo Ocean Race — a gruelling world-the-world sailing competition held every three years.

I loved every aspect of this phenomenal race! The challenge, the people, the excitement, the technology, its unpredictability, its competitiveness and its kinship. Yet balanced against all of this, it highlights and encompasses fantastic attributes in the human spirit — respect, humility, courage, trust, honour and compassion.

It was an eighteen-month project from the boat build all the way through to us crossing the finish line having sailed the last 2,000 miles into Southampton under ‘jury-rig’. The whole thing was a total privilege to be involved in.

We were a British Combined Service Military team (Army, Navy & Air Force) so there was a good level of camaraderie and dare I say it, inter service competitiveness, which kept us all on our toes. We had a couple of civilian sailing veterans in the crew too who took some time to get used to the military's warped sense of humour and unique way of doing things. Our learning curve was steep as we were racing a purpose-built Class 1 Maxi yacht, a thoroughbred which took some time to tame let alone learn how to push her to her limits! It was a hell of a journey and we all came back somewhat taller if not a little shell shocked as to how we had survived the sheer power and beauty of all of Mother Nature's moods.

I was very lucky as I grew up exploring Malta so I was messing around in boats almost before I could walk. This sowed a deep-rooted love of sailing and all the possibilities of adventure that that brings. I cut my teeth early on racing dinghies and that progressed into eventually representing Britain.

We used to build our own boats so we spent endless hours trying to make our boats lighter, faster and more efficient. Our last Mirror 10 I remember we graphite painted the hull which we would polish so she slipped through the water, or so we hoped!

My folks always had yachts when we were growing up and every summer we would de-camp onto the boat and head off on an adventure for a good month. It was absolutely stunning as we did a lot of exploring around the Mediterranean which, in the 1970s, was quite a different place than it is today. It was all very simple, elegant and unspoiled.

They were very happy times and it is amazing what important life lessons one learns from having a good understating of boats, how they work, how they are made and how much understanding and respect one needs to have for the environment they live in. All of these lessons have helped me enormously on my journey thus far.

All of them have had their challenges and it would be difficult to pick one out, however the ones I am most proud of are the expeditions where we have taken wounded soldiers from my old Regiment in the British Army, The Royal Dragoon Guards, with us.

Two particular trips stand out for me, one where we retraced part of Captain Scott’s epic 1912 race to the South Pole against Roald Amundsen, and the other when we followed in the footsteps of Ernest Shackleton’s phenomenal rescue of his crew from Elephant Island on the Antarctic Peninsular in 1914.

Both were huge journeys emulating extraordinarily inspirational and brave explorers, amplified more so by the remarkable soldiers we had with us. They are full of humility, grit, have a remarkable can-do attitude and do not see their injuries as any kind of hindrance. They were total team players and were truly remarkable really! They also have stunning senses of humour, which is much needed at times.

The first of these trips we did in 2012 replicated part of Captain Scott’s epic race against the Norwegian Roald Amundsen to be the first to the South Pole in 1912. Captain Lawrence Oates was part of Scott’s final team and was also in what is now The Royal Dragon Guards. He has gone down in history for his selfless act of bravery as he realised that he was holding his teammates up due to terrible frostbite among other things. He gallantly walked out of the team’s tent into a raging storm uttering the immortal words "I’m just going outside and I might be some time" and walked to his death. So rather poignantly a hundred years on from that we took three intrepid wounded soldiers from his old Regiment and trekked to the Pole where we had a moving and rather surreal Remembrance Service.

The second expedition was a seven-week adventure retracing a true hero of mine, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s epic ‘Endurance expedition’ that he attempted in 1914 to try and cross Antarctica. This did not go according to plan for him as his boat got caught in sea ice very early on, got crushed and there started an incredible story of resilience, belief and exceptional leadership. Against all the odds, Shackleton was able to bring all his crew home safely, albeit after a mad two-year escapade of the most insane proportions. School boy stuff really and it was astounding to have replicated part of the trip with two wounded soldiers who amplified many of the unique qualities that Shackleton and his crew resonated a century before.

Getting to the top is your ‘secondary goal’; making sure you and all your team make it safely back home is your ‘primary goal’.

We tackled Everest up the north-east ridge, which is via Tibet so a less travelled route than the south side. Very few teams are given permits so it is totally uncluttered, in fact I never saw a piece of litter the whole time I was there. Tibet is awesome and it was such a privilege to get a feel of it as we travel through.

We did much of our acclimatising in Nepal and then drove to Tibet through the border crossing at Friendship Bridge. Once through we then slowly made out way through Nyalam, Zangmu and Tingri steadily climbing and eventually arrived at the Rongphu Monastery at the base of Everest which is the highest inhabited place on earth at 5,468 metres. The views throughout were spectacular and I would push anyone if they can, to try and get to see the splendour and majesty of this huge and spectacular mountain range that is the Himalayas.

The north-east ridge is the route that George Mallory and Sandy Irvine famously attempted in 1924 to be the first to stand on the world’s highest mountain, so it was really nostalgic and poignant for us to attempt the same route.

We were a strong and happy team and we all got on incredibly well, considering we were away from home for eight weeks. We could not have prepared better and in the end four of the ten of us managed to stand on the summit but most importantly all of us managed to get off the mountain safely, which is often not the case. It was an awe-inspiring journey and I could not have been surrounded by a more diligent, conscientious and professional group of individuals who all assisted in me being able to make the summit.

I have been so lucky to have seen some truly fabulous parts of the world from the high Arctic to Antarctica and many gems in between but to be honest, I am happiest when I am on a yacht somewhere with my family and great mates. Last summer it was the Dalmatian Coast in Croatia and this summer we are heading to the Aeolian Islands. Pure heaven.

Packshaw's bucket list:

Bhutan: I’ve been dying to go to this magical place to do some trekking and see its colourful history first hand. You have got to love a country where GDH (Gross Domestic Happiness) is valued as highly as GDP!

RMS Titanic: having been to the four corners of the globe I am now keen to explore under the sea a bit and would love to start with taking a submarine down to see this beauty.

The Pole of Inaccessibility: Situated right in the middle of Antarctica, I am keen to replicate a trip a mate of mine did kite-surfing from the coast to it a few years ago.

The Serengeti’s great migration: I have been to Africa many times and done some stunning trips there but I have never properly seen this magical sight of millions of wildebeest, zebras, gazelles, lions etc making their 1,200 mile odyssey across the Serengeti chasing the rains in a race for life.

Space: The next frontier! What Richard Branson is doing with Virgin Galactic is so exciting and I will definitely try and get involved on one of the flights.

I have lived for many years by a fabulous quote from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."

It properly sums up why we all need to keep following our dreams, push ourselves and really explore as much of this magnificent world as we possibly can. We only have one life and it is imperative that we utilise every second of it.

We all need to try and make a positive difference in life, no matter how big or small. It is all about belief in yourself, belief in the world around you and belief in a cause.

I have long thought that there is a powerful and effective link between ‘human endeavour’ and effective philanthropy as it seems to ignite individual’s imagination and desire to ‘want’ to make a difference. I think this is particularly relevant within the commercial sector and most of my fundraising has been done here underpinned by bright and successful business minds and leaders and their progressive organisations.

justinpackshaw.com