Oceanographic Magazine (OM): Ness, you’re an explorer which doesn’t necessarily sound like the most conventional job path. How did you become an explorer?

Ness Knight: “I was born in South Africa and lived in Johannesburg for 15 years of my life. From a young age, I was exposed to extraordinary wildlife and wilderness, so the seed of being a part of nature, not apart from it, was planted very early on. That’s how I was brought up. Back in the day you didn’t have many modern female explorer role models getting exposure, so I never even considered that a career as one was a possibility. The old school explorers you heard about were generally male figures. Fast forward a few years, and I’d done a degree in furniture and product design, I’d done a degree in business, specialised in e-commerce, taught myself how to do programming, and worked for a social enterprise in London teaching entrepreneurship. It was a very, very different world; none of which deeply resonated with me. I decided to quit my job decided to stand-up paddleboard 1,000 miles down a river in the USA to take a break. I handed in my resignation, and off I went. I’d never done anything like this in my life. By the end of those 1,000 miles, I still didn’t know what the next chapter of my life should entail.”

OM: That must’ve been a daunting thing to do. What came next for you?

Ness Knight: “I bought a bicycle that was older than me. I got given panniers from the 1960s that were crumbling, but just about usable. I had to borrow men’s shoes two sizes too big, and simply headed west across the USA on my own. I just needed more time, because I didn’t yet know what to do with my life when I got back. It was a delay tactic. At the same time, social media was in its infancy, and I knew that I could share my story with family and friends online. I started writing about it on a blog and my social media accounts. I’ve always been a book worm and have loved writing all my life, so I had this innate passion for storytelling. Suddenly and unexpectedly, there was an international audience that was living vicariously through my journeys, and sponsors offering to fund more mad and marvellous adventures. They wanted people who were pushing back the limits of human endeavour, going beyond what we think is physically possible, and suddenly there was a window of opportunity to secure funding for a new career that I had fallen in love with. It was all hugely accidental. I had no clue that any of it would lead to where I am today.”

OM: Once you were on this journey of exploring the world, what focus did your adventures take on?

Ness Knight: “When you go out and explore the  remotest corners of planet Earth, especially for such long extended periods of time, it changes you. In the early days, in my 20s, it was very much about mind, body and pushing back the limits of human potential. I wanted to prove myself, and it was really just about trying to find myself in the early stages. I thought the most important thing was successfully achieving new world records. But then, the world changes you. You meet people, you go to remote places and surround yourself with Indigenous communities, with nature, with wildlife, with the battles that incredible conservationists are having, that you’ve never even heard of. You live, eat, sleep and breathe that new perspective, fully emersed. Suddenly this new direction evolved, and if you’re open to that, you begin to see these undiscovered avenues of possibility. For me, that avenue of storytelling shifted from focusing on myself, to becoming a messenger for crucial causes around the world, for the wildlife and the people that needed their voice to be heard. That’s really where things shifted significantly for me.”

OM: In retrospect, was it quite an easy feat for you to quit your job?

Ness Knight: “Absolutely not, because there’s stability in having a 9 to 5. But with that also comes a relative picket fence, which was not my personality. So, in one sense, yes, it was easy because I knew it wasn’t what I wanted to do. But in another sense, it was terrifying because I had no idea what would be next. It was a complete unknown for me and it’s not easy to wrap your head around that, especially in your mid 20s. I suppose I was lucky enough that, when it came to raising sponsorship and planning expeditions, I had a strong background in marketing. I knew how to bring companies, individuals and philanthropists across the line to financially back worthwhile expeditions, focussing on science, uncharted regions and conservation. But my purpose wasn’t something that I was born with. I didn’t come out of the womb with an encyclopaedia in one hand and a compass in the other. I had to figure it out step by step, and I’m grateful for that because it has meant that I’ve not been stuck in one rigid way of thinking or with the belief that there’s only a limited set of paths to take. I’ve come to love blazing trails where people didn’t think they could, or should, be blazed. I’ve been quite opportunistic and organic about how I choose to evolve my career path over the years and decades. For so many scientists, conservationists and explorers, the work involved behind-the-scenes to fund these activities across the board is just phenomenal. It’s relentless. There are so many hundreds of emails that come back with a blunt ‘no’ again and again and again. I think some level of resilience and patience and real grit is needed to endure that, especially in the early days. That’s a side that people rarely ever see.”

OM: What personality traits do you think helped you to quit your job and become the explorer you are today? What distinguishes you from other people that might have the same dream but would never, in reality, go through with it?

Ness Knight: “You would probably think otherwise, but I am a natural introvert. I had to learn how to leverage powerful communication skills from scratch, especially when it came to getting comfortable doing public speaking to thousands of people, and delivering in front of a film crew for various projects. I had to learn the hard way how to conjour up the courage to go out into the unknown and the unexpected. I had to learn how to get comfort in discomfort. When I a kid, I had some terrible friendships that really knocked my confidence and self belief down. I also didn’t know who I was or wanted to become, and trying to figure that out as a youngster was difficult. I had this huge capacity for creativity but didn’t know how to express that.

So, for me, I started out on this journey as an explorer, filmmaker and storyteller with shaky and questionable levels of confidence. But when you go on an expedition and you achieve things that you didn’t expect you could achieve, naturally you’re going to come out the other side walking six inches taller. I say this over and over again in talks that I do, and to people who are starting out in similar careers; if you can get yourself to the start line and get momentum, even though you’re terrified of the unknown, you are in fact 90% of the way there, because most people simply can’t even get to the start line of their dreams and aspirations because the fear of failure. I guarantee you, if you can hold your composure long enough to get through that business pitch, or that expedition, or that scientific research project, you will succeed in developing the ability to forge your path forward. Hone the skill and mindset of holding your composure long enough to push past your fear of failure, and you are going to reap the rewards that mean so much to you. A trick I used on myself early on in my expedition career was to simply book the flight to the startline of the journey, without having anything else planned and in place. It forced me to rule out any possibility of back out. I was then committed to figuring out the rest of the pieces of the puzzle to make the expedition happen. By sitting on the sofa, nothing can change. You’ve got to throw yourself into the current, you’ve got to get out there and start. And it doesn’t need to be huge, just start small. But start.

Life is a progressive journey of developing your inner confidence, your purpose, experience and your hard skills. The hard skills are something that I had to learn from scratch. Fast-forward a decade and I have fallen in love with taking on disciplines and projects that are completely unknown and alien to me. I think that’s a beautiful process. A hard and fast rule is that no innovation, in any industry or as an individual, can happen without the willingness to fail and get back up again, over and over. Being outside of your comfort zone, seeking out something that stretches you, knowing that you will fail repeatedly, and that innovation doesn’t happen without failure is one of the greatest life lessons I have ever taken onboard. You asked about what personality trait has helped me succeed as an explorer, speaker and filmmaker, and  the answer is a capacity to push beyond failures, and ultimately see them as life’s tuition. With that mindset and perspective, it becomes easier to break the glass ceiling, innovate and develop, whether as an individual or a business.”

OM: Your first adventure saw you stand-up paddling 1,000 miles up the Missouri River. How did you prepare for this project?

Ness Knight: “In the grand scheme of things, the preparation was fairly minimal. I knew the kit that we needed and that was 90% of the planning because the conditions that we went through tending to swing quite quickly from scorching heat to frigid temperature, torrential rain and the threat of hypothermia. Explorers, survivalists and expedition leaders tend to lean towards the rule that there’s no such thing as bad weather, there’s only bad equipment and clothing. That preparation needed to be absolutely nailed down, which it was. One thing that fascinated me was the physical side of it. I didn’t train physically for this in advance, but my body transformed while I was on the river. I had shoulders that any rugby team worth its salt would be proud of. When I got off the river, I had powerful arms but my leg strength lacked quite notably. Within a week of getting on the bicycle to cycle solo across the USA, my body adapted and, once again, completely transformed to support this new human powered journey. That was phenomenal to realise. I have an enormous amount of appreciation for the strength, power and adaptability of our bodies to adjust to the demands it is placed under.”

OM: What is one of the most important things you’ve learned across your expeditions to date?

Ness Knight: “During our expedition to find the source of the Essequibo River in Guyana in South America, we were through some of the remotest jungle on the planet without contact with the outside world. Central to the entire expedition was the involvement of the Wai-Wai community. They live deep in the south of Guyana on the banks of the river, absolutely cut off with no roads in or out. They sent five of their best warriors and hunters to come with us on the expedition, and we were promptly told by them that were were, in fact, ‘jungle toddlers’. We thought we knew so much about survival in the jungle, until we witnessed the unbelievable oneness they have with this hostile environment. The jungle is essentially their backyard they grew up in generation after generation. It is their medicine cabinet, their supermarket, and their source for building materials that they need. Was stood out was that they only took from this environment the bare minimum of what was needed to survive. They tread lightly, and act as guardians for this pristine primary rainforest,  because they hold an understanding that we are a part of nature, not apart from it. That there must be a two way relationship with our wilderness and wildlife, not one of exploitation and overindulgence for our own convenience. That’s the crisis that we see globally, now. We’ve extracted the resources of our planet to a breaking point. Now comes the urgency of asking, ‘how do we fix this tipping point when we’ve gone past it?’ There are huge life lessons to be harnessed for all of us from Indigenous communities. We have come to a point now where the west, the global north, who have always thought of ourselves as so advanced and so developed in terms of technology, comfort and convenience, must come to the realisation that the place that we need to tap wisdom from is Indigenous communities who have a relationship that is symbiotic and respectful of the environment. A big picture perspective that accounts for balance, and health. Those indigeounous peoples are thriving, yet many people look at it from a surface and superficial level and say they must be struggling because they don’t have modern-day amenities. They’re absolutely thriving. Or at least they were… that’s changing now with the impacts of climate change, the introduction of cash economies from outsiders, being pushed out of their ancestral lands and so on.”

OM: What’s the main aim of your projects and adventures today? What are you trying to achieve with them?

Ness Knight: “I’m in a space now where any expeditions I do need to have a thought-out purpose behind them. The reason why I’m going is no longer just for the sake of adventure and exploration. I’m geared towards wildlife, environmental challenges, conservation, and scientific research, alongside spending time with Indigenous communities to educate the world on the incredible knowledge, wisdom and understanding that they bring to the table.”

OM: What is planned for the future? Any exciting project coming up?

Ness Knight: “I can’t deny that have a few screws loose upstairs which drives me to want to push back the limits of human endeavour, and explore edgy or remote regions of the world. But I’m pairing this love for extremes with some powerful conservation and environmental investigations. I can’t reveal too much yet on any of the upcoming projects, but one exciting expedition will be coming to fruition next year, for which I’ll be airborne using an electric motor. It will be a world record attempt, but it will also have an extraordinary story to uncover that involves science, conservation and insight into what a green future from our planet holds.”

OM: You’re a mom of a three-year-old daughter now. How has your sense of adventure changed by becoming a parent?

Ness Knight: “It changed me in the sense that a deeper purpose now drives me. You really, truly think about the future, about what they’re going to experience and live through, and you want to have an impact on that. Being a mom has not changed my sense of adventure, and Ava is thoroughly weaved into that. Last year, we took her overlanding to very remote locations in Southern Africa for three to four months, so she has already been exposed to travel and full blown exploration at the age of two! I remember sitting in a dry riverbed in the middle of nowhere with this herd of elephants going past, while I was breastfeeding, crosslegged in the sand. It was absolutely bonkers and beautiful. Of course, some things have to change when you become a parent. When you’re young and single, it’s very easy to take high-level risks, as you are not responsible for a tiny human. I’ve had to reel that in a little bit and find other ways to explore the part of myself that likes to be on the riskier side of things, or the frontlines of the clash between wildlife rangers and criminal syndicates, for example. Being literally in the line of possible gunfire in order to film some grim realities is not an option. I need to make sure that whatever I do, I’m not risking not coming home. Expeditions to hostile environments and remote locations need to be planned with precision now. So really, she has helped me take less cowboy risks and value only calculated risk. With that comes the need to develop hard skills that ensure safety is at the forefront of our priority out there.

As with most things, when you close one door (like going on expeditions that are so remote or challenging that there is no possibility of extraction if something goes wrong, or taking a year to row across the pacific ocean solo), others tend to open. Suddenly you see all these opportunities that you didn’t before. I could easily feel frustrated with having to shut the door on certain dream expeditions (the truly bonkers ones), but what I’ve found is a new and incredibly exciting direction that is seeing me invest heavily in hard skills like ropework and remote medicine, as well as take on far more meaningful projects. Being a mother now is about evolving in a fantastic way and getting much more mature and deeply involved in projects that have far more impact on the ground. I’m growing as a person because of that.”

OM: What has been the hardest challenge mentally or physically for you?

Ness Knight: “Mentally, just going to these extreme environments, like uncharted jungle regions, it is impossible to express to somebody that has never spent any time there just how hard it is. Three months in the jungle the toughest thing I’ve ever done. A a fleshy, hairless being pushing your way through the dense jungle canopy, everything just hones in on you – the leeches, the parasites, the sandflies… Pip Stewart, who was part of the Essequibo expedition, was bitten by a sandfly and ended up with Leishmaniasis, which is a flesh-eating parasite. That was incredibly serious and required extremely invasive treatment to overcome. I think this journey pushed me so far, mentally and physically, beyond the realms of what I thought existed on this planet. It’s funny because you go into these expeditions worrying about jaguars, spiders and snakes, but in the end it’s the small cuts and scrapes that tend to bring you to your knees. The bacteria, protozoa and infections. Physically, the jungle is this wall of green that you just melt into, and within that world lives so many life forms that it is hard to even begin to comprehend. You’re at the mercy of that environment, so the only thing you can do is look after your personal admin. Complacency is a killer out there.

The other extreme was going into the Namibian desert where I dealt with daytime temperatures that peaked at 50 degrees Celsius and frigid nighttime temperatures that chilled your bones. I very nearly failed due to insufficient effort to leverage local knowledge and expertise. I had no idea that the country had been been in the grips of severe drought for several years in a row, so all natural water sources – the water holes, little streams, the rivers that I hoped would resupply me with crucial hydration – were bone dry. On one of those days, pushing through these excruciating temperatures, I lost consciousness in the middle of the the arid and desolate landscape, 200 yards from the scene of a pride of lions and their fresh kill. I was dehydrated and the lion warden (you have to take one in certain conservation regions) found me wandering around in a daze. I have no memory of that. I had to be forcefully bundled into the Land Rover and medically checked over.

These are all lessons in how we comport ourselves through life in various situations. I think you see this time and time again; people who try to achieve world records or challenges have prepared physically, and are built like absolute units, but they haven’t worked on their mental capacity as much as their physical. Once they’re in these harsh conditions, they start to break down mentally and things start unravelling quickly. That is where I’ve seen most people failing. Those who somehow just keep going and have this huge mental capacity are usually the ones that get to the finish line. I’d say around 70% of the success of an expedition is actually your mental capacity to get through unimaginable difficulties and unexpected hurdles, to think logically, to be able to compose yourself, to take a step back, and have the patience to get through these challenges. I think so many people go into expeditions or journeys or world record attempts thinking that the physical investment is going to get them across the line, but that’s only one element of a far bigger picture.”

OM: How do you train your mental capacity? What can we do to increase it?

Ness Knight: “You can absolutely train it. I was this shy, introverted person and I thought ‘oh well, this is my lot’. I think that a lot of people who struggle with anxiety or other mental and emotional battles are thinking it’s their nature and that it can’t be changed. They don’t get to their dreams and aspirations because of the fear of failure and not being able to manage and cope with it. I was one of those people who didn’t believe that anything of this sort would ever be on the cards for me; especially things like public speaking. However, change can absolutely happen through nurture and only you can make the choice to do this. I feel like it’s so important to choose who you surround yourself with because we are so influenced by the environments that we’re in. If you choose the right people, you can put yourself in an environment that’s more conducive to building yourself up and gaining the knowledge you need. That internal work also has to happen, of course, and so it’s a long game. It happens over time, not overnight. Even when you’re at the top of your game, you realise it’s an ongoing endeavour to maintain peak mental performance.

One of the things that I always speak about in talks and presentations is the difference between motivation and purpose. Motivation is fleeting. You can be inspired by a documentary or a YouTube video, and feel determined to change your outlook, but half an hour later, you’ll most likely scroll through social media again and that motivation is all but forgotten. If we’re going to build our mental resilience, one of the key things is purpose. It is something that runs deep, and threads through the core of who you are, unwavering in the face of external trials and tribulations. This is a solid foundation on which to build and progress your career and self. Motivation is a nice to have, as and when it appears.”

Oceanographic: How are you partnering with ThruDark? In what way are they supporting your adventures?

Ness Knight: “I heard about ThruDark in the company’s infancy. I remember following their journey from the start and one thing that really struck a chord with me was their ‘endeavour through adversity’ motto. It embodies everything that has been ingrained in me for the last decade and a half. The ThruDark team is built on the extraordinary first-hand military and exploration experiences of their founders, Staz and Louis, thus they inherently understand the requirements of equipment and clothing designed to perform under extreme conditions. If you can nail that aspect, then you remove a huge percentage of the possibility of failure in these extreme environments and that is crucial. That’s what ThruDark gets right. They make that part easy. ThruDark kitted me out through desert, jungle, river and mountain crossings across southern Africa, in some of the most testing environments imaginable. I have put the clothing through their paces on hellish terrain, yet still the durability of material has been second to none. Not a single tear or break, and that is unusual for the nature of expeditions I have tested them on. Every piece is rigorously tested and thought through, with the end result being ranges that feel like a second skin – so agile movement flows effortlessly, which is a top priority. ThruDark’s kit has been a godsend for me on expeditions and throughout my training.”