Sue Stockdale talks to Alice Morrison, an adventurer, author, and TV presenter. Alice has journeyed across deserts, trekked through mountains, and immersed herself in diverse cultures from Morocco to Saudi Arabia. Alice shares her experiences of resilience, discovery, and connection, including surviving the Moroccan earthquake, navigating Saudi Arabia on foot, and the joy of storytelling. Alice discusses her passion for adventure, the importance of cultural understanding, and why she believes exploration is about more than just physical endurance -it’s about connection, curiosity, and seeing the world through new perspectives.
About Alice Morrison
Alice Morrison is an adventurer, TV presenter, and writer known for her bold expeditions and compelling storytelling. From racing her bike across Africa in the Tour d’Afrique to running the Everest Trail Race and walking thousands of kilometres across Morocco, she has consistently chosen the path less travelled. Her adventures are driven by a desire to understand our rapidly changing world, celebrate shared humanity, and bear witness to environmental and cultural transformation. A former BBC News Editor and CEO of Vision+Media, Alice turned a major career change into a springboard for a life of exploration. Her work is now showcased in documentaries such as From Morocco to Timbuktuand Arabian Adventures: Secrets of the Nabataeans, alongside her acclaimed books Dodging Elephants, Walking with Nomads, and Adventures in Morocco.
Born in Edinburgh and raised in Africa, Alice’s early years ignited her love of wild places and untold stories. With a background in Arabic and Turkish, and a career that spanned international journalism and digital innovation, she brings both rigour and empathy to her adventures. Now based in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, she lives immersed in the landscapes she writes about, walking alongside Amazigh guides and camels, podcasting from remote deserts, and sharing insights through public speaking, leadership mentoring, and media appearances. Her adventures are as much about connection as they are about endurance, inviting others to see the world with fresh eyes, and to find their own adventure along the way.
Connect with Alice Morrison – Website: Instagram : Podcast : YouTube : TikTok
Key Quotes
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- “Adventure isn’t about searching for yourself; it’s about experiencing as much of the world as possible.”
- “I treasure my freedom, and I’m grateful every day that I have the opportunity to explore, to learn, and to share stories with others.”
- “The reality of Saudi Arabia was so different from the stereotype—I found warmth, humor, and incredible hospitality at every step.”
- “People are fundamentally good everywhere in the world. The more we meet and understand each other, the more barriers we break down.”
Time Stamps
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Alice Morrison Transcription
Sue: Welcome to Access to Inspiration, the podcast where we bring you conversations with remarkable people who inspire us to think differently about the world and our place in it. I’m Sue Stockdale, your host, and today I’m speaking with Alice Morrison, adventurer, author, and TV presenter. Alice has walked across deserts, and immersed herself in cultures from Morocco to Saudi Arabia. In this episode, Alice shares her experiences of resilience, discovery, and connection from surviving the Moroccan earthquake to navigating the vast landscapes of Saudi Arabia on foot. Her insights into adventure, cultural understanding, and the power of storytelling I’m sure will leave you feeling both inspired and curious about the world beyond your doorstep. As always, you can follow along with this episode by reading the transcription on our website at accesstoinspiration.org. Welcome to the podcast, Alice Morrison. It’s lovely to speak to you.
Alice: Well, thank you for having me choose Scottish Adventurers on one podcast.
Sue: I know. That’s fantastic. It’s really exciting. now I know you’re in, you’re in Scotland as we are having this call,
Alice: I am.
Sue: but normally o of course you would be in Morocco or in your home base there.
Alice: Yeah.
Experiencing Ramadan in Morocco
Sue: And it’s Ramadan just now. How does that shape things when you’re in Morocco?
Alice: Well, Ramadan’s very, very important obviously. So there are 2 billion Muslims worldwide and people usually start fasting for Ramadan when they’re about 11. They do a few days and then once they get older they do the full thing. [00:02:00] So all my neighbors are fasting and it’s means that you don’t eat or drink anything between the break of dawn and then sunset. So what that means at this time of year is 13 hours of no food, no water, or you certainly can’t have a cigarette or anything like that. So it’s kind of nil by mouth. And it shapes everything really. I mean, the truth is I’m slightly fleeing Ramadan because I have to do it when I’m at home. And this year I did five days and then I was like, oh mate, I dunno if I’ve got the strength because I’m not Muslim and it, it is really, really difficult. So I completely take my hat off to all my lovely Muslim friends and brothers and sisters and it is such an effort of will and of sacrifice and. It’s a really good thing. And the thing I would say about Ramadan is it genuinely, like, truthfully, makes you think properly about all of those who don’t have food and who don’t have access to clean [00:03:00] water and for whom hunger is a daily necessity. Because actually being properly hungry, like properly hungry is, is awful. It you, it messes with your head. You can’t concentrate. It stops you from, from reaching your full potential, I would say.
Sue: But I guess you’ve had your fair share of challenges, Alice, whether it’s eating, no food or other things along in your lifetime as an adventurer. What sticks out in your mind? Most of all that’s been most challenging, during your journeys.
Challenges of Adventuring in Saudi Arabia
Alice: very hard ’cause every single journey, every single adventure, I would say has its challenges. I mean, if we’re talking about the latest [00:04:00] one, which is Saudi. The biggest challenge was I had terrible blisters. So for three weeks at least, I was walking on feet that were agony, really. So every step I took was self-inflicted pain and I think that is very difficult to come to terms with a, you are in pain. Nobody wants to be in pain, and b, you are doing it to yourself. ’cause the answer to stopping the pain is stopping walking. But of course, I believed I couldn’t do that because I was on this quest and it’s very important to me. So I had to make the choice to knowingly and willingly and freely inflict. Serious pain on myself. So that was a bit of a psychological mess up and, and a physical one. And also again, like hunger pain really messes with you. it makes you very, very tired. I think just keeping your head together f for the hours you’ve got to walk and, and you are in pain, so you feel that all the time.So yeah, that was the hardest [00:05:00] thing most recently.
Sue: Well, and you’ve go, you’re going back for The second half of your, your epic is it two and a half thousand kilometers
Alice: Yeah,
Sue: the north to south of
Alice: it’ll be slightly less. We think in the end it’ll probably be. It’ll be a bit less, probably 2,300, but we haven’t quite plotted the route yet for the second half. Yeah, no, I can’t wait to get back. To be honest, it was the most incredible and uplifting and joyous experience walking across Saudi so far.So, yeah, I’m looking, actually looking forward to it. I’ll just make sure that I, I need to manage my feet a bit better.
Sue: Well, at least you know what to do or look out for next time. I must say I’ve been in Saudi a few times wor working over the last few years, and it, it certainly challenged my preconceptions about the country and its people having got there. from the things I’ve read that you’ve expressed about your journey so far, Alice, that seems to have been something that’s been quite, eye-opening for you [00:06:00] about the welcome that you’ve had from the Saudi people.
Alice: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, if you’ve been there, obviously you’ve experienced this yourself, I would say. I just encountered. So much warmth and hospitality, genuine hospitality, and everybody wanted to help us. Everybody wanted to give me some assistance. Now, they’ve never met me. I’m a strange Scottish woman walking across Saudi Arabia. I look odd. I am odd. And yet they would bend over backwards to try and give me some assistance to welcome me to the country. They were just so warm. I mean, really. So fantastic. And then also the other thing I think, I don’t know if you found this, Sue, they’re really funny people. They like a lot. these are party animals. Any excuse for some kind of celebration or, marking of an occasion. And they’re, they love a prank. Oh my [00:07:00] goodness. And a joke. So, you know, I had an amazing time. And it’s really not what you, I think the stereotype in the presses of a religiously very severe country where people are oppressed. Yeah. Well that’s not what I found. I’ve found a nation of incredibly hospitable, very jolly people.
Alice’s Background and Attraction to the Middle East
Sue: Now one could almost imagine and describe you as a modern day Gertrude Bell one of the books I’m reading just now,The Virago ook of Women Travelers. I’m sure if there’s another new edition of this, your name will be in there, Alice, awith all of the amazing adventures you’ve done for, for the listener, that that doesn’t have a sense of your cv. There’s many, many places that you’ve been, to me, it seems predominantly Middle East and Africa, you’ve done something in the Himalayas as well. What attracts you to [00:08:00] that region of the world?
Alice: It was very simple. It’s my background, so I was brought up in Africa. I was brought up until. Well, really until I was about 11 in East and West Africa. My first eight years were in Uganda. My parents were teachers there. So those very, very early memories are incredibly important. And I’m sure if you know you’ve got children or grandchildren or you, yourself, will see. How as you go through life, you tend to gravitate back towards those very early experiences. They’re very meaningful. They imprint on you. So I, I think it’s no surprise that I feel very comfortable going back to Africa. And then the Middle East, because I studied Arabic at university here in Edinburgh. And it’s, so, it’s been a life, I mean, since I was 18, it’s been one of the very important aspects of my life. Studying Arabic, Islam, middle Eastern culture gave me a huge insight into a culture that was totally different from my own. And so rich, that it [00:09:00] again is, it was quite early on in my life and it just stayed with me. And even if I haven’t always worked in it, it I’ve, I’m coming back to it and now it’s, it’s such a great pleasure for me to use my Arabic all the time and to learn more and more and more about the countries I’m going around and the people I meet and, and the culture I, I mean, I find it endlessly fascinating.
Sue: in those university days, Alice. What even made you want to study Arabic in the first place?
Alice: I’ve talked about this before because it was very good advice for my parents. My parents have been, obviously as everyone’s parents are huge influence on my life, a very positive influence on my life. And they, when I was, I mean I had to choose ’cause I went to. School in Scotland. So I left when I was 17, so I chose my university subjects when I was 16.I mean, what do you know when you were 16?
The Importance of Storytelling
Sue: Nothing. I think I wanted to be a cook on an oil rig then.
Alice: That’s quite, that’s quite an exciting option. I hadn’t thought of that one. That’s it when I think when you’re 16, you know, very little. And my parents really guided me. I was good at languages, I was good at English. They guided me towards Arabic and I studied Arabic and it’s, it was, you know, if you like the best piece of advice I’ve ever been given, so, yeah.
Sue: And then in between doing your studies and being a full-time adventurer, you’ve had a career in journalism how do you think that shaped what you’re doing today? Because to, to me it might be obvious around storytelling, that that seems to be what you’re passionate about doing as well as exploring.
Alice: thank you. Well, that’s a very nice, I’m so glad you’ve extrapolated that because it’s true. there are three things I love about my life, and number one is doing, doing it. Basically just doing it, and especially the expeditions. I absolutely, like, love, I can’t wait for, you know, tomorrow I’m gonna have to get at like five in the morning. I’ve got to pack tonight and I’ll be setting off to walk across the coastal path. I can’t wait. I’m, I’m really excited. I love doing it. I love the feeling of it and just being so in tune with the natural world, being so in tune with yourself, even when it’s. A bit rubbish. ’cause it quite often is like when everything hurts and you’re cold, or you’re wet or you’re hot, or you’re hungry. Hungry. Oh we’re thirsty. But I love doing it. The second thing I love is communicating it. I love taking photos, doing videos, writing, blogging, podcasting everything. I love communicating the adventure because I think, just. Telling people about what the amazing things that are out there. If and if, if they like the stories. Of course. That’s just fantastic. And then the third thing I like is if people like it and they say, well, you’re marvelous. I’m like, oh, thank you so much. So I think that’s a very truthful answer, but the storytelling’s hugely important to me. I also use storytelling very much as a way to make sense of my own. Experience in life. And if I, if you don’t mind if I give you an example of that.
Sue: Oh, I’d love to have an example.
Surviving the Moroccan Earthquake
Alice: So, last a year past September, I was caught in the Moroccan earthquake, which tragically killed 3000 people. And there are still many thousands who are still living in tents waiting to rebuild their houses. So it was a, a terrible catastrophe and it was absolutely terrifying when it happened. I did think I was gonna die. It and I was in my community, I was with people, thank God, and, and looked after and all the rest of it. But I remember we, we all escaped from our houses and left the mountain because we’re in the mountains, which are very fragile as you can imagine. And I live with four families, so we all went down our little tiny community. We went down to the big car park at the bottom of the mountain because it’s flat and concrete The whole road was destroyed by boulders. Houses were falling down, so we, we wanted to be away from stuff falling on us, and we spent the night in the car park. And that night in the car park, I wrote a blog about being in the earthquake and posted it the next morning before I’d even phoned anyone to say I was okay, because I had to cycle out of the valley to find mobile phone signal. And then I did loads of reporting for BBC, and for other outlets. But the reason I did that was I wanted to tell the story, but also I wanted to make sense of it to myself and kind of calm myself down, if you like, and be able to detach a little bit from the fact that I’m in a small mountain village with no signal, no electricity in the pitch, black in the car park, freezing after to death. And there’s just been a ginormous earthquake. And we dunno what’s happening because we can’t communicate with anyone. So. That’s, that’s [00:14:00] another aspect of storytelling. It is partly to make sense of things for me.
Sue: Yeah, that, that makes complete sense. Alice, and, and I was noting down before our conversation, I thought, what are the big themes that seem to come out for me from your experiences that I’ve read about and watched and listened to? And so there’s, there’s actually six, now, six words I’ve
Alice: Oh.
Sue: here. So I want, I want to see what you make of it. This is, this is my summary of
Alice: Okay.
Sue: have come out, number, and they’re not in any
Alice: Yeah.
Sue: : Freedom, curiosity, Africa, physical movement, big skies, and now self-reliance.
Alice: Well,
Sue: And I’m wondering if I’m, if I’m touching on the right things or not here.
Themes of Freedom and Self-Reliance
Alice: well I think you are probably I think the self-reliance one is very interesting because I think I am very. Self-reliant, but I also get a huge amount of help and support. So, when I’m doing these big adventures, I’m with guides, local people from the community, and that’s. To help me help. So I don’t die in the desert. Very important, but also to learn about the country and I think, I think the one you’ve missed actually, so my self-reliance, I think as a person, as a human, I’m very, very self-reliant. But I do use, I do ask for help all the time and, and, communicate with people at the time. And then I think perhaps what you’ve missed is connection. It’s really important to me to connect to other people.
Sue: I had thought about it and I thought, is it connection or relationships? And then I thought, no, I’m gonna leave that one out. So I’m really pleased to confirmed that I was on the right lines there.
Alice: And you actually did it in the right order because freedom’s probably my, you know, when I see people trapped or unable to change their [00:16:00] circumstances or. Being, being trapped within their people, judging them because of something that is in their appearance. that lack of freedom makes me just feel for them. I treasure my freedom. I’m so glad I was born in Scotland and that I’ve got, you know, all this freedom of movement and freedom to earn money and freedom as a woman. So, yeah, I really, really treasure it. I really do.
Sue: I can hear that in your voice
Alice: Yeah.
Community vs. Individuality
Sue: there’s a passion in there, Alice, in, in terms of when you’re talking about it, I want to almost come back to this point about self-reliance because one of the things I’ve noticed very prevalent with the younger generation, certainly in the UK these days, is that ability. Or a of self-reliance seems to be diminishing a, along with the or propensity for risk taking. So people. Tend, in my view, sometimes to be less self-reliant. I’m wondering what your observations are in the regions of the world that you travel in, whether there’s a similar sense whether younger people.
Alice: Well, I think in the areas of the world I live in, it’s very different. So in our. Society, you know, individuality is very prized and people, you would live away from your parents, for example. And in the societies I live in, in the Middle East, it’s a very communal society, so it wouldn’t. people are less self-reliant because they’re community reliant, but they also take [00:18:00] huge responsibility for their community. So in a way, it’s very interesting. You’ve hit upon a very interesting difference, I would say between, you know, Morocco, middle East, Africa, where everything is based on community and our country, where everything is based on the individual. I’m not saying either is right or wrong. both work, but in very, very different ways. And I think that is a huge, huge difference actually between, between the places I live in.
Sue: Yeah, and it strikes me that, When you’re on your journey and for example, on your more recent Saudi Arabian journey, you’re there with, men and camels, so you’re not just there on your own. It is a sense of a small community that’s traveling across the desert.
Alice: And it’s one of the things I really enjoy. It’s one of the things I absolutely treasure on my expeditions. I think because I’m not married, I don’t have children, two cats. I’d like to have my camels more camels close to me but be because of that. And I live in a family community, so I’m surrounded by family that I know who’ve become my second family. Because I am alone effectively. So I really, really, enjoy when I, in the expedition, when we’re all members of the expedition. Now, every, not everyone, for example, in this latest one is walking. No, we’ve got a, a backup car and a cook. We’ve got a cameleer so. People are doing different jobs, but we’re all part of the team and I really genuinely enjoy that. And interesting. Well, you might find it interesting, I find it interesting where I live in Morocco, it’s very female oriented because in all the societies I tend to move in it’s gendered and the genders have different, they socialize separately. Men and women, they often eat separately, Except in the family. So. [00:20:00] In Morocco, I, when I’m at home, I’m in my little, with the four of my four family neighbours. So it’s all the women are who I socialize with primarily. Absolutely. Primarily. I do also socialize with the men ’cause I go walking in the mountains, but I primarily socialize with women. So one of the things I really enjoyed on my Saudi trip and on all the expeditions is I’m mainly with in the team, not meeting, but in the team, I’m mainly with men and actually I really like having that different energy.
Sue: It it. And how do you think that they view you, given what you’ve just said about the societal nuances in the regions that you live in and travel.
Alice: I hope they love me as much as I love them. one of the many things I have in my favour, but one, a really big thing, and it’s very important to talk about this is age. Because I’m older, the, the kind of sexual tension has gone, it really has gone. So I think that is hugely useful. Because the men can look at you as an auntie or a sister, an older sister or their mother, and that that gives them a point of the, again, I’m talking about, reasonably traditional communities, so that gives them a point of reference of how to behave and then you are free to behave however, and usually, I mean. People have got a sense of fun and you are, you know, you are doing all these silly games and fun things and little in jokes and bits of singing, so you just have fun together and I find that, that, that makes everything okay.
Sue: That, that’s one big advantage of getting older, isn’t it, Alice?
Alice: because I’ve been traveling in the Middle East since I was. Young since I was in my early teens and traveling on my own in the Middle East since I was a young woman, you know, and it used to be so difficult and now it’s so easy. I love it. I absolutely love it.
Sue: Now for the listener who, who may not have visited yet Saudi Arabia or other countries in the Middle East or Africa, and may, as we mentioned a few moments ago, have a perception, a little bit of a fear perhaps, about how they might be received in those places. What would you say to them to help them overcome their fear?
Alice:Well, I mean, I think everyone should make a judgment. And of course countries are very, very different. I mean, you know, don’t go swanning off to the Congo at the moment. It’s got horrible civil war going on. But what I have found is. It’s just that people are so open to you and so welcome, genuinely welcoming and there’s so much to see and experience that, that for me. These regions are really beautiful, rich, fabulous places to go to. So do, if you get the chance. But all you have to do, I mean you do have to choose your, your place. You know that there are, I mean, you wouldn’t go to Palestine at the moment, for example. Sadly, but really. In terms of personal safety, so far I’ve always felt very personally safe unless there’s a conflict and if there’s a conflict, then you know, the last thing you should be doing as a tourist is, is going into a place of conflict where people are suffering and dying. that would be weird, frankly.
Sue: I hope you’re enjoying what Alice has to say. And while this podcast is free to listen to, it’s not free to make. So if you’d like to support us, then take a moment to click on the buy me a coffee link on the show notes to make a small donation, which means we can buy a cup of coffee with that when producing the next episode. Your support really encourages us to continue producing quality audio content for our listeners. Now back to Alice. you talked about having done so many journeys, one of the things that is a bug bear of mine, and I’m about to do myself, and you’re doing it this evening as well, is packing for a
Alice: Oh God.
Sue: What, what, what do you pack as, as a, as an explorer, what, what are your top tips for packing?
Packing Tips for Explorers
Alice: Well, I mean, you’ve got to have enough garments that will protect you from the weather. number one. You’ve got to be warm enough. At night, for example. So even in the desert in Saudi Arabia, you know, we had ice on our tents one morning. It was very exciting. So I made sure that I packed warm enough, warm clothing for the night times, including like a mountain equipment, fantastic down jacket that I wore every night. And also Mountain Equipment, actually down sleeping bag that’s like from minus 15, because you need to be warm enough or dry enough. Or actually for the very hot climates again that I walk in, I think you need to be fully covered and you need to wear appropriate clothing. I’m not out there in a t-shirt and shorts, I’m in trousers and long sleeves. I cover my head, but that is partly to protect my body. I’m very fair skinned and I don’t want any flesh showing. Because it burns, it just burns horribly. You are much better to cover up. So a culturally appropriate and, you know, covered clothing for very hot regions. when you are packing for. Say you’re packing for your tent. I mean, I’m packing now to carry all my own stuff. So I’m keeping everything to a minimum. And I’ve just found out that water’s gonna be a bit of a problem because, I mean, I’m hoping a lot of the burns will still have plenty in, but I’m gonna have to carry water, so it’s gonna be heavy.
But everything else I keep to a minimum. So for example, for this three day walk, I’ve just got what I’ll be wearing. And then one like pair of warm leggings and a fleece for nighttime, a down jacket, a lightweight one, and then waterproof. But I’m not taking anything extra. I’m not taking anything extra. Not extra knickers. No extra socks. Just take what you need. Keep it all to an absolute minimum if you’re carrying it, because every gram makes a difference. And then if you are like me on my big expeditions, I’ve got support. And the things that you need to remember then are communications. You need to have enough battery power or solar panels to recharge your devices. And then you need to have a bit of comfort. So my top tip, actually, genuinely my top tip is a blow up pillow. So the weight is insignificant and a blow up pillow is just gonna make your life a million times better. unfortunately, my cat in Morocco. Blooming pounced on my pillow and clawed it so it fell down. So now I had to find new one from Decathlon, but it for this walk. But they, they are really good.
And also if you do a lot of walking, you might find that your legs hurt. And a blow up pillow, you could either use it for your head or you could put it between your knees, or you could elevate your ankles on it or put it under your knees. Just to give your legs a bit of respite. So, top tip, blow up pillow.
Sue: See, I, I knew I was gonna find something very useful from you Alice.
Alice: What’s your favorite piece of Kit Sue?
Sue: oh I can’t think actually, there’s nothing that all, there’s nothing that always goes in necessarily, but I think the, the simple thing that we do take, people take everywhere, of course, these days, isn’t, it is sunglasses. you know, whether I, I’m in the Arctic and you’ve got glare from the snow, or you’re in a warm country
Alice: Yeah.
Sue: or the Middle
Alice: Yeah,
Sue: sunglasses are a must
Alice: yeah,
Alice: Good point. There we go.
Sue: Now, of course, you know, all of your journeys or many of your journeys apart from when you’ve been running are, are, are done at a, a slow, a walking pace, Alice. there is something to be said, of course, for slowing down and looking at the world that speed and being connected to nature in a different way. As you’re going along on your journeys, I’m just wondering what, what have you learned from, from the natural world about adaptability, resilience, perhaps by looking at nature around you.
Lessons from Nature and Camels
Alice: well it is.This, this is gonna make you laugh, I hope so. I walked across Morocco and the Sahara with six camels, my favourite one being called Hamish. They were all [00:29:00] male and they were in heat most of the time because of the way we, the seasons that we walked in. So I have learned more about the male psyche. From walking with those camels than I ever did in my relationships and partnerships, because when those camels were in heat, all they could think about was sex. And honestly, I swear to God, sorry guys, but I was like, oh my goodness. This is what it’s like to be a bloke. This is hilarious. So, just to give you an example, when a male camel’s in heat, its stomach actually physiologically gets smaller so it doesn’t have to graze as much. So it can spend more time in the pursuit of lady camels. And so I did, I actually honestly wish that I had had that experience when I was 19 because it would’ve just informed my whole young womanhood. It really would’ve. So there you go.
Sue: Now we, again, just coming back to the idea of storytelling. Alice, you, you’ve mentioned that that is a, a. Something that you love to be able to do is to tell stories. I guess I’m curious about what, what’s coming up in the next chapters for you and your life and your journeys? that will go into that story?
Alice: Well, that, that’s really easy because I’ve only walked half of Saudi Arabia. So in October, on October 10th, hopefully I’m starting on the second leg. So, I’m full planning for that. You know, one of the reasons I’m doing the Coastal Path is just to keep fit. I’m gonna do the Hebridean way in August again to, because it’s very hot in Morocco So I come over to Scotland, stay with my parents, and then go off and do stuff. ’cause I love being in Scotland. Of course. It’s my home country. So What makes God love people who plan, but in shallah, God willing this, the next few months are all about writing the first half of my book, getting funding for the second half of the expedition, staying fit or even getting fitter. And then I. And working to earn more money, finding more sponsors. ’cause I need new sponsors for the expedition, which is always, you know, very difficult to find. And then I will be starting again in October and work walking right up till Christmas. So really the beauty of this year is it’s a very all encompassing, focused year.
Sue: And do you look further ahead than that?
Future Adventures and Goals
Alice: I’m very determined to try and do something. I, my, my, my modus opera operandi is try and do something very big every second year or because. Realistically doing something very big takes so much planning that, you know, there’s got to be an element of something smaller in the years in between.So yeah, I just want to keep going basically and keep exploring. I mean, I’ve got a whole, I’ve got a massive list of countries I want to go to. I mean, at the moment, I’d say very much at the forefront of my mind are Iraq, Algeria, Tunisia, and Chad. None of those countries are without their issues.I also just want to go to these countries and see what they have to offer and then tell other people about them. And, you know, Algeria’s just really starting to try and open up and change and, and it’s got so many fascinating caves and petroglyphs and desert landscapes and nomadic peoples in the south. Iraq I just want to go to, Iraq is just such a central part of Islamic civilisation [00:34:00] and. It used to be the absolute number one country before the Iraq War for Learning and so on and so forth. For medicine, it’s got so many ruins and fantastic history, like rich, rich history, art, culture, food. So I really would love to go there and see what it is.
Sue: Yes, it’s an. It, it, it certainly is. And, and, and it, it just strikes me from what you’re saying that the con, the, the, a way, what [00:35:00] I glean from what you’re saying, the story that you want. It seems to me that you want to convey to, to us the, the watcher, the listener, the reader of your books, is about the history and the culture and the civilizations of the Middle East and Africa region that perhaps us in the UK and other parts of the world are less familiar with. And if you can, and you are conveying those messages to us with such enthusiasm and in a way that makes it appealing. we’ll want to understand and learn more about these places. That’s a sense I get.
Alice: Yeah, well I think you’re bang on. I mean, I always say, I don’t do anything of importance in the world, but if the one thing I would like to do is kind of promote peace and mutual understanding, kinda one Salam malekom at a time. I live in a very small village in the Atlas Mountains. They know a lot about Scotland. Oh my goodness. They do. Nobody’s had [00:36:00] any doubt about where Scotland is and what Scotland is where I live. And that’s quite, if you think about it, as I say, there are far, far away, but it’s about I think anyone, anyone who travels, anyone who goes outside of the country, you are also an ambassador for your country. You know the person from the country you’ve gone to who meets you, will judge your country on you.
Sue: That’s, that’s so, so true.
Alice: Maya Angelou said, and I’m paraphrasing, but she basically said that, look, travel can’t change everything. But perhaps if we get to know each other more, we can become friends, or at least we can understand each other. And I do think if we try and work towards that kind of mutual understanding. We’re in a very polarized world, which is entirely unnecessary because all that I have ever found everywhere I’ve been is that human beings are basically the same, and the human beings are basically decent.
Sue: you’re touching upon there, really, one of the reasons why we started this Access to Inspiration podcast was to be to be inspired by people who may be unlike us or maybe we, we may perceive as unlike us from other countries, other cultures, other backgrounds. And in that theme of inspiration Alice I’m wondering who or what inspires you.
Alice: I find myself very inspired by. People have been put in terrible situations and, and make every effort to come out of them. I’m inspired by my parents because they lived a very adventurous life without, feeling the need like I do to put it all over social media which they find hilarious. But I, I, let me give you an example because this is, this is the kind of person that really inspires me. So I was in Berlin. Last month. I’ve just written a blog about it actually on Alice morrison.co uk so you can read it there. And in the Uber on the way back to the airport. Now I speak a bit of German, but my German’s pretty crappy. But I do speak a bit, so I go off in German and then the guy says, his name’s Hanni, and I’m like, oh, you speak Arabic, you know, ’cause I’m from Syria. So I switched to Arabic and we have the most amazing conversation for the next. 45 minutes. Now, Hanni is a young man in his thirties. He fled from Syria when the war started the Civil War, he was put into prison for a week underground. Now we’ve all just seen those pictures of those underground prisons. He was captured and put in prison underground because he was from an area called Idlib, which is actually where the new the new leader comes from. And that was why when he came out of that prison.
After a week, his father said, you have to go. You have to run. You have to go. And so he ran. He got to Greece in a boat, and then he walked, he and 24 other men walked from Greece to Germany and he they walked. They couldn’t carry anything. Were they, you know, they were, they were, they were hiding. They were illegal. So they survived on two stickers a day, which is one of the things I write about. And these men, they walked to Germany. Germany brought, took them in so absolute kudos to Germany. He is now a taxi driver, but he’s trained as, he’s trained as a, a marketeer and a businessman. And he says he will go back to Syria when he can. Because when it’s safe, he married his wife who was also a refugee from the same village that his mom match made for him in Syria. ’cause she’s still there. he had to leave because his life was genuinely in danger. I said to him, what are you looking forward to most about going back to Syria? this is what he said, and I want you to imagine this is you. He said, I want to visit my father’s grave because my father died while I was here and I haven’t seen his grave. And that’s the truth for so many people in our world, and it’s like that’s the people who inspire me. This young man, he’s living his life. He’s just got married, he’s earning his money. He doesn’t want to be an Uber driver, but he’s earning enough money to live. He’s applied for his re residency in Germany, and when he can, he will go back home. That’s who inspires me
Sue: And I think you’re just summarizing your earlier point that basically people are good
Alice: Yeah.
Sue: and they have the same heart. The world over. We, we just happen to live and operate in different regions.
Alice: exactly.
Sue: And in different cultures
Alice: [00:41:00] Exactly.
Sue: So my final question to you, a Alice, as we draw this fascinating conversation to a close is on the subject of food, because that is certainly always my number one motivator and expedition is what I’m having next to eat when I’m struggling with dehydrated food or whatever it might be. So I’m wondering, when you’re in those tough times on, on your travels, what do you look most forward to eating?
Alice:Well, it genuinely, I look forward to the next thing, whatever that might be. I. Look, I have to give a shout out to Abu Abdulla, who was our cook for the Saudi expedition. He, because he was in the car, so he was driving the backup car. He had a, you know the things, you plug it, you know, a cigarette lighter, your power,
Sue: Yes.
Alice: he had a pressure cooker. He plugged into the cigarette lighter and he cooked the most amazing meals in this fresher cooker. So his kind of go-to was rice and either chicken or meat like, but with lots and [00:42:00] lots of spices. So we ate breakfast at seven 30 and we’re on the road by eight 30, And then we had snacks at around one 30, like orange and orange biscuits. Crisps, whatever. And then when we’d eat, when we finished, which would would usually be about four. So by four o’clock you’re absolutely ravenously hungry ’cause you’ve walked a half marathon. Honestly, I was so hungry. And then you’d come up and you’d be like, and well Abu Abdulla and be sitting there with this great big pressure cooker, which he’d then flip upside down and it would kind of explode onto a shared platter. Because in Saudis, you eat on the ground with your hands. And it would always be so delicious. So honestly, it’s I, I look forward to the next thing, but in this case it was always good because he just cooked so well. And I do think as Sue, I dunno what you think, I’m lucky enough that my expeditions, I’m usually with camels or backup trucks or backup cars or whatever. So we have real food, but I do think it’s like, was it an army? Marches on his stomach? I’d say an adventurer marches on her stomach also.
Sue: Yeah. Yeah, I definitely agree with you. I was out with some Bedouin and camels going across the Wadi rum desert, and, and I had exactly the same experience as you that I, of what you would think would be virtually nothing. An amazing feast appeared every evening, and it’s it’s at those moments that definitely can put a smile on your face.
Alice: Yeah. And you’re also hungry. I mean, that’s the other thing. I think the other thing about doing, doing physical things is, is your body’s doing its natural thing, so you are actually hungry. You’re psychologically hungry. You are physically really hungry, and that’s a great feeling
Sue: Absolutely. Well, it’s leaving me hungry for more conversation with you, Alice, but of course, sadly we have to draw things to a close.
Alice: I see what you did there.
Sue: And I know we will put links on the show notes to your social media and to your website, Alice morrison.co.uk Maybe I could just say that my, like my social media, Instagram and Twitter and so on, are all Alice out there in the number one, and then my podcast is Alice in Wanderland with an a.
Sue: Fantastic. thank you, Alice, for your time and the best of luck on your few days trail in Scotland over the next few
Alice: Thank you very much.
Sue: Well, what an incredible conversation with Alice Morrison. Her passion for exploration and cultural connection is a reminder that adventure isn’t just about the physical journey. It’s about the stories we collect, the people we meet, and the perspectives we gain along the way. And if you want to follow Alice’s Adventures, check out our website@alicemorrison.co.uk and you can follow her on social me media at Alice out there one.
Of course, we’ll put links to all her social social media connections on the show notes. Of course, we’ll put links to all her social media connections on the show notes. And of course, don’t forget to listen to her own podcast, which is called Alice in Wanderland. Now if you enjoyed this Es episode, if you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe and follow us on the platform that you’re listening to us on, and leave us a review and share it with, and you can share this episode with just one other person that leads a little bit of inspiration today.
Thanks for listening, and next time we’ll be back with our hundred and 50th episode and we’ve got a fantastic guest Kris Tompkins. I hope you can join us then.
Sound Editor: Matias de Ezcurra
Producer : Sue Stockdale