Laura Bingham has recently returned to the UK after making a documentary about cycling from Ecuador to Argentina.

IF YOU’VE ever felt a sense of resentment to the place you live and a longing to get out and explore the world then you’ll be able to relate to Laura Bingham and the life she has been living. Tired of a mundane job and the bad memories around her in England she decided to set herself the challenge of sailing the Atlantic.

She soon found she had a passion for this kind of adventure and has gone on to find new challenges around the world. She has relished the opportunities to immerse herself in new cultures and environments.

Laura’s latest adventure has seen her cycle from Ecuador to Argentina to raise awareness for Operation South America, a charity dedicated to helping impoverished young girls on that continent. In this very candid interview Laura talks to us about some of the highs and lows of the challenge as well as the story behind what has given her such a unique and endearing perspective on the world and its limitless possibilities for adventure and happiness.

To find out more about Laura and to get connected with her over her social media channels go to www.laurabingham.org.

When did you first realise you had a passion for adventure and travel and who or what were any major influences?

The realisation that I had a real passion for adventure and travel came after I sailed the Atlantic, before it was just something I did because I wasn’t happy with my life. I wasn’t happy in a job or place so I’d move in hope I’d find somewhere better, this happened for about three years. When I got back to England having sailed from Orlando to England everyone went crazy and told me how brave I was and how amazing it was, I realised I liked the attention I got from doing crazy things… this then escalated and turned into a five-month cycling trip with no money.

The first major influence was that I didn’t like England, it held bad memories for me and made me unhappy so I went searching for a place I liked and felt happy.

Laura is a global adventurer who has set herself challenges in a number of countries around the world.

Tell us about some of your previous adventures and where they have taken you?

My adventures have included sailing the Atlantic and travelling to and pursuing projects in Greece, London, Indonesia, the US, South Africa and Belgium. You can find out more about my adventures in these countries in detail on my website www.laurabingham.org.

Congratulations on making it to Argentina! Could you tell us about your cycle challenge from Ecuador and a little about the documentary you’ve been making?

Thank you for the congrats! Its been hard! the first few months were the hardest but as I got further South the people became kinder and kinder and I got used to the routine.

Filming a trip like this just makes it harder. I have to carry a lot more kit and I have to put the camera down, cycle a bit then cycle back to pick up the camera, hoping that someone doesn’t stop and pick it up or run over it. Someone nearly did pick it up in Peru! I had to cycle back VERY quickly to stop him from stealing it. I’m now just praying a channel sees it and wants to air it!

I’ve cried a lot, laughed a lot and learnt a lot of lessons! Including how hard it is emotionally for someone to live without the knowledge they can buy themselves out of a situation or buy the luxuries they want. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted an ice cream and been stuck with water.

Laura’s recent cycle challenge saw her visit and enjoy a variety of landscapes and environments.

What made you set yourself this latest challenge and what have you been raising awareness for?

When I got back after sailing, I though ooooh I like this adventure stuff, maybe I’ll cycle around the world and try to gain a record, then I realised I wasn’t the ‘race’ type. I love South America so thought I’d just cycle that, then I realised so many people cycle South America and I’m not just anyone, so I bravely or stupidly decided to do it without money to see what it was like for people who have no money.

After a bit of thinking, I realised the whole adventure was just about me, and to ease my guilty conscience I started searching for a charity and I found the perfect one. It was Operation South America. They are based in Paraguay and look after young girls for various reasons, either their parents are violent, their parents don’t have enough money to feed them, or they just don’t have parents. I fell in love with the charity immediately and even more now that I had the privilege to go there and visit the girls.

At what point during the challenge did you face your toughest moment?

Ecuador was a real low point for me. Probably the most impacting moment on the trip was when we had been pushing the bikes up the Andes in Ecuador for days, because of the altitude it was cold, we had downfalls of rain on pretty much a daily basis which meant our clothes were wet a lot of the time so the cold bit into us, our bikes were so heavy and we were trailing too much weight which made the days so much harder than they had to be. My stomach was cramping with hunger, I was so tired and physically drained, hungry, cold and wet – i just wanted to crawl into a hole. I stopped outside a house. I wanted to ask but I was so scared because we had had so many people saying no to us, I just started crying but uncontrollably crying. Cho, my partner, went and asked the woman in the garden if she could help and give us a place to put our tents to sleep. She looked me in the eyes as I was crying and said no, and shook her finger so I could clearly see her response. I wanted to give up but I had to pick up the bike and go on, there was nothing else to do.

Laura’s cycle challenge saw her raise money and awareness for the charity Operation South America.

How has the cycle taken its toll on your body and have you suffered any injuries?

Bum ache is something Ive pretty much just gotten used too, my leg muscles have grown enough to cope with the cycling and weight, my back went through a very tough time when I was cycling through the Andes the first and second time but I had strengthened by core and back muscles by the third so it didnt hurt, I also learnt the power of stretching! It’s vert important, as soon as I get back ache, I get off and start stretching and it helps so much. I also have bad neck ache but I get that at home as well as on the bike, point is, everything hurts at one point or another! You either just get used to it, stretch it out or you build up the muscles.

Tell us more about your website and blog and how important it is to you to connect with like-minded people across the web?

Instagram is my favourite! 100% I love the visualness of the whole thing, showing people what the world looks like, pictures can tell a thousand words in a second. I also like writing articles and bits but in an expedition it’s so hard to have the discipline and energy to write. Cycling 100km and then writing a 2,000 word article is just ugh, which is another reason why I love Instagram. But within an article you can go into the truth more, how it felt and the all the small details, pictures always tend to paint a pretty picture whereas an article speaks then truth.

To find out more about Laura and to read her blogs and see her pictures visit www.laurabingham.org.

It’s important to me to share what I do, the highs and the lows to try to motivate people to get out there, see the world and not just from a hotel and organised tour. Also for those who want to see the world but can’t take time from work or don’t have the ability to travel, they still deserve to know whats out there.

I love what I do and I want to share what I do with everyone so they can see the passion and commitment involved. I’ve grown and learnt so much as a person doing these things.

What’s in store for the rest of the year and beyond? Do you have any other challenges or projects lined up and if so what are they?

Well, perhaps one of the biggest challenges I’ll face in my life is coming up – I’m getting married this September. He is also an explorer so we are very well matched.

And I’m also planning another expedition, this time a world record first, but that’s a secret and you’ll have to follow me on social media to find out more later this year, but I will tell you this – it’s a jungle one.

After a busy summer, September will see Laura get married, you can expect news of her next challenge sometime soon after that!