Intrepid Explorer Laura Bingham

She has sailed across the Atlantic, crossed South America penniless using only pedal power, and followed Guyana’s longest river from source to sea by kayak. All this, and Laura Bingham is barely 30.

As if that were not enough, she has managed to combine her adventures with a growing family. She and husband Ed Stafford (himself a famous explorer and survivalist) have a six-year-old son Ran (named after polar explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes) and twin three-year-old daughters Molly and Millie.

It makes for a charmingly chaotic interview, with the kids appearing regularly on screen to say hi. Laura spins the camera round to reveal a stunning natural vista, pointing out the ocean and mountains in the distance – they all decamped to Costa Rica in April, with the aim of building an exciting new life while the kids are still young.

Cadet camaraderie

Cadets played a major part in Laura’s early life. At the age of 15, she joined Z Company (once part of Hampshire and Isle of Wight ACF) in her hometown of Winchester. ‘We met every Wednesday and we had amazing fun,’ she recalls.

‘I loved the camps, first aid, tuck shop, drill and shooting. These were things I was good at, and in a place where everyone was friends – unlike school, where I found the popularity dynamics hard to navigate. At Cadets, we all had a common aim and focus, and there was a real camaraderie in that.

‘It also made us take responsibility for ourselves. We took huge pride in our uniform and, if anyone found out someone’s mum had ironed it for them, we’d tease them.’

In 2009, at a national training camp in Norfolk, Laura joined 600 cadets and 200 adult instructors for a gruelling but thrilling week-long schedule of (deep breath) kayaking, climbing, mountain biking, map reading, go-karting, first aid, shooting, marching with heavy backpacks and overnight exercises.

‘Some parts weren’t enjoyable at all,’ she laughs, ‘such as getting soaked on a recce mission in the middle of the night. But it felt good afterwards, because we’d all been through it together.

‘It builds resilience, and that’s why I’m so comfortable with being uncomfortable on expeditions now – I know I’ll get through it quickly and it’s something cool to talk about afterwards.’

Adventures in South Africa

Laura grew up one of four siblings and, from the age of six, travelled to South Africa regularly to visit relatives. ‘It instilled an adventurous streak in me,’ she remembers. ‘We went paragliding, white-water rafting and on safari. I even did a term of school out there.’

She admits, however, that in her early teens she became more indoorsy. ‘I loved TV, and was especially into Hannah Montana!’

Cadets got her out and about, but it was a difficult personal period in her late teens that pushed her towards extreme travel. ‘It started out as self[1]punishment,’ she explains. ‘The travels got bigger as my comfort zone expanded, until I found myself sailing across the Atlantic and leading the first guided expedition down the Essequibo River.

‘And,’ she confesses, ‘as the youngest of four, I loved the attention I received from carrying out these adventures.’

Bucket list

Aged 18, Laura wrote a bucket list of 83 things to cram into her lifetime. Some were standard: have an organised wardrobe, give blood. Others were decidedly more left field: meet monks, ride on the roof of a train in Ecuador (not advisable).

Several now have a big tick next to them. ‘Learn a language’ came into its own in Mexico, where Laura worked as an English teacher in 2014 while volunteering in jaguar conservation work for the government.

When it was time to go home, she realised she couldn’t afford a plane ticket, so did her research and found a crew (two men and a cat called Cuba) who needed an extra pair of hands for the two-month sail back to Britain on a 38ft trimaran. ‘My mum offered to pay for the flight, but I’d made up my mind,’ she laughs.

Big bike ride

Next on the list came ‘cycle across a continent’. Having learnt Spanish, Laura plumped for South America. Her 7,000km, 164-day journey began in Manta on Ecuador’s Pacific coast, passed through Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay, and culminated in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires. It has since been immortalised in a series of books for young children, under the title of One Girl and Her Bicycle, written by Laura and illustrated by Laura Wall.

Even the Great British Explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes described it as a ‘risky undertaking’, not least because she was travelling cash-free to raise awareness of extreme poverty. Inspired by the UK-based charity Operation South America, which provided homes and education for disadvantaged young women in Paraguay, she carried minimal equipment and relied upon what she could scavenge or trade, and on the kindness of strangers.

It was tough at times. ‘I became a shell of a person until Paraguay. The other countries were less friendly and I felt like a burden to society, like I should crawl into a hole and disappear.’

Despite the hardship, Laura learnt some important life lessons. ‘I realised that what people need most, often more than money, is acknowledgement – to be seen.’

Family life

In preparation for her Latin American quest, Laura contacted adventurer and survivalist Ed Stafford. She was considering making a documentary about her upcoming adventure and thought Ed would be able to give her advice about getting a production crew on board. Ed, a former Army captain, had starred in several TV documentaries and, like Laura. loved a challenge – he was the first person to walk the entire length of the River Amazon.

As they discussed Laura’s plans for the epic bike ride, they realised they had a lot in common. They were engaged three months later and have been together for eight years. ‘We are both whirlwinds. It’s hard to find someone who understands why you’d want to do crazy things like leave everyone at home to paddle down a river for two and a half months.’

The Essequibo

Ran was eight months old when Laura got itchy feet. ‘When you become a mother, your identity shifts and I didn’t want to lose my former self; I had to do something that was true to me,’ she explains. Her own idea of crossing the Darién Gap, connecting Panama and Colombia, was rejected on the grounds that it was too dangerous due to flash flooding and guerilla warfare. Ed had his own eye on the Essequibo, having explored parts of Guyana while filming his BBC series Lost Land of the Jaguar. He suggested it to Laura. ‘When he told me I’d be one of the first people to go there, that was it – I was going,’ وہ کہتی ہے۔.

Her handpicked team of three included Ness Knight (Ran’s godmother) and a comparatively new acquaintance, Pip Stewart. Together they found the river source by trekking through uncharted parts of the mountains and hacking their way through the jungle by hand – the first third of the Essequibo ticked ‘find an untouched paradise’ off her bucket list. At the end, where the river meets the Atlantic, they were paddling alongside gargantuan vessels in fearsome-looking waves.

They set a shining example to everyone, but especially young girls and women with dreams of adventure. ‘The guy who met us off the plane wasn’t expecting three girls,’ she laughs. ‘But I choose my team on the basis that I would get along with them – you’re pushed to your emotional limits on a trip like that.’

Make your own story

Laura’s message to cadets, whatever their gender, is that they have the ability to make their own story.

‘Even if you have no money or you’re not from an amazing family, you can make your own connections,’ وہ کہتی ہے۔.

‘You can always find reasons not to do things, but it’s within your power to find solutions to the problems in front of you. Remember: excuses are what we tell ourselves to convince ourselves out of a dream.

‘Don’t be discouraged if you’re not good at something. I’m not that good at anything, but I persevere. Just by doing that, you become the last person in the race when everyone else gives up – or your skills develop until you’re the best.’