Extreme adventurer and founder of Get Lost Adventures, Gaven Sinclair, has been taking the road less travelled for years in a noble effort to raise awareness around chronic diseases.
This is no random act of kindness though. Gaven grew up living with chronic fatigue, attention deficit disorder (ADD) and dyslexia. Spurred on by his lived experiences to encourage others on their journeys, it’s fair to say he has also walked the talk.
Gaven cycled solo from Cape To Cairo in 2017, then took a 4000 km run across four African countries, and most recently ran 1000 km from Gqeberha to Cape Town. We were fortunate to have a chat with him and gain some more insights into his adventures and more.
Before taking on the unknown great outdoors, you lived a regimented life working in corporate. What inspired the change?
I’ve been involved in business partnerships and two small start-ups over the years. Part of my reason was to build a business model around personal branding. Towards the end of 2016, I wanted to reinvent myself and focus on a deeper purpose that had meaning and impacted a cause greater than myself.
Your extreme adventures are often fueled by themes of health and well-being. Why are these issues so important to you?
Living with chronic fatigue, ADD and dyslexia is not easy so in one way I am also driven by my own personal experiences with my health and wellness challenges. But my main reason is the desire to make a difference and to inspire and motivate others to believe that anything is achievable if you believe in yourself. You can’t allow a label to sabotage your life. Your mind is more powerful, so if you are going to fall, fall forward. And the amazing thing is, when you change your attitude, you change the attitude of those around you. This domino effect will ultimately help us become healthier individuals, communities, countries, nations and the world.
The work you do requires intense physical activity, but that can’t be easy to do living with an iron deficiency which is often characterised by fatigue. How do you push yourself past that to keep going?
Using sports drinks, tablets and foods can give you that much-needed energy boost when you’re doing high-level endurance sports or intense workouts. Bursting with caffeine and essential vitamins, energy supplements can increase your energy and improve your performance during extreme endurance challenges. Eating the right foods at the right times is also energising and fights fatigue. It’s a combination of adequate food plus adequate sleep. Making dietary adjustments addressing your food plan! At the end of the day, it’s the choices we make in our lifestyle and the mental decisions we make every day to not let a condition define us.
The first cycle you did in 2017 was from Cape to Cairo. How long did that take you and what were some of the challenges you encountered along the way?
I cycled solo unsupported which is much more challenging as you have no support or backup following you or helping you out there in deep Africa. It took me 7 months to complete having spent so much time in Cairo with friends before returning back home. Sleep deprivation was one of my main challenges. But it’s important to accept your current conditions and your environment and to understand there is always a degree of risk involved in any challenge, day or adventure.
I’ve had to deal with mechanical bicycle issues, extreme weather conditions, malaria, dehydration, sunstroke, being followed, pedalling for my life, stones thrown at me while passing, and literally almost being sucked into the back wheels by the vortex created by the truck as it near missed me, and looking for a safe place to pitch my tent at night. You see when you’re out there on your own, carrying a 15kg backpack while running or cycling insane distances, on a daily basis, you need to calculate the calories required and hydration portions, so strategy and intuition become the two most important survival skills. The Pro is achieving what you set out to accomplish and coming back in one piece or alive. As you might have already figured out, I love pushing myself physically and mentally – it’s about the dopamine high, feeling liberated truly free and alive.
What other adventures did you partake in and for what causes were they?
In 2018 I ran solo unsupported across four African countries which took me 7 months to complete and again to raise funds and awareness for Missing Children South Africa. In 2019 I swam solo from Ilha de Mozambique Island to the mainland. In 2020 I ran solo unsupported just with my backpack along the coastline of Mozambique for 10 days. I teamed up with the Syntro-P Wellbeing programme as an ambassador and ran a 1000 km solo unsupported from Gqeberha to Cape Town in 30 days along the coastline and inland alternating. The Syntro-P Heel2Heal challenge was about raising awareness around chronic disease in the country and promoting health and well-being by putting one foot in front of the next, making 1mm shifts and taking steps towards a healthier South Africa.
Could you share the five locations you have enjoyed the most along your adventures? What about these places caught your heart?
It’s hard to pinpoint five particular locations as I have fallen in love with the whole continent of Africa, exploring it in its truest form. It’s an exhilarating place, a melting pot of culture, environment and extraordinary African people. Africa is varied and manifold, consisting of a mixture of tribes that each has their own unique characteristics, a product of the diverse populations that today inhabit the continent. What captures my heart, beyond the memories, are all the travel photos which emanate the love, passion and warmth which truly capture the human element. It’s all about the characters and their stories.
What has the reception been to your work? And what impact have the adventures had on the communities you are supporting and raising awareness with?
On my last challenge with Syntro-P Wellbeing, we generated over R9.2 million in PR value and 6.2 million in media reach in 30 days. Amazingly, the campaign is still gaining traction today and we are probably at around R10.5 million in PR value which clearly reflects the overwhelming support from the communities and media coverage from local and international media. I have been very fortunate that the likes of Supersport and DSTV have further documented my adventures and helped raise awareness for the causes I was “extreming” for. Over the years, I have also enjoyed top global sponsorship endorsements from brands such as Garmin and Falke. But what’s most important to me is all the people who support and follow me. Because ultimately, my aim, my focus, is the impact I can make on humanity, our planet and our wildlife.
These adventures must have been challenging on both a physical and personal level. What are some lessons you have drawn from them?
To appreciate the simplicity of life and how little one really needs and, of course, my philosophy: “GET LOST. IT’S THE BEST WAY TO FIND YOURSELF”
Finally Gaven, what message do you have for the audience?
The next time you are really afraid to do something or it gives you butterflies, move into it, not away from it. Fear tells us what we need to do. Never stop exploring. Adventure is a philosophy of life. Pack light and pack right. And do what sets your soul on fire.
Pictures: supplied
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