Sometimes with Bermudas, sometimes wearing nothing but a pair of leaves. In many cases, we saw that even those leaves didn’t exist. Left for surviving in the middle of virgin land with just video equipment to capture himself, we know a man who jumped into countless challenges hard to watch from TV. No food, no company and no indispensable gear. That is more like… Ed Stafford, the naked adventurer.
Who is Ed Stafford ?
Like Bear Grylls and Nirmal Purja, Edward James Stafford used to be a soldier in the British Army, too. Born in Cambridgeshire, England on 26 December 1976, he was adopted by the Staffords and went to boarding school. Graduated from Newcastle University with a BSc in Geography, Ed Stafford decided to serve in military till he became a captain in 2002. Six months before he left the army, to pursue a career on TV with extraordinary documentaries.
You may be wondering how he turned to be ‘Ed Stafford’, the crazy adventurer as we know since 2010. When he completed walking entire Amazon River over 860 days, earning a place in the Guinness Book of Records. Actually, years later, he would discover his gypsy heritage that answered the questions. ”I didn’t necessarily fit in with my upbringing in Leicestershire and going to boarding school. I got into all sorts of trouble and I ended up channeling that energy into something inherently quite nomadic, walking along the Amazon and doing expeditions.”
Walking the Amazon River from source to mouth
However, that Amazon feat he gained recognition caused him to endanger himself many times. Apart from a shortage of food, an indigenous tribe captured Ed accusing him of someone’s disappearance because he appeared instantly with a white face. Moreover, while crossing the Red Zone, an autonomous region in Peru, he was too close to death. Drug traffickers held him at gunpoint thinking he was a journalist who was reporting their illegal activities.
If it wasn’t life threatening – it would be hilarious.
Ed Stafford.
And, he risked his life not only in the great outdoors but also in the city. Ed Stafford’s one of the recent adventures was spending 60 winter days on the streets of Great Britain. With no money and no shelter. He was aiming to get a first-hand view of Britain’s growing homelessness crisis. From Manchester to Glasgow, he lived and slept rough with homeless people thinking he wouldn’t find enough food and thus, lose weight and his endurance. Yet, he was shocked by the amount of food available for them and the money they can make up to per night after entering the community. In Glasgow, Ed met one who complained overfeeding.
First Man Out
His exploring part of life that began with the ‘Walking the Amazon’ in 2008 and survival instinct combined with desire to compete with someone else rather than himself created his ongoing TV program. ‘First Man Out‘. In which he meets other survival experts every week to race to be the first man out, in the harsh Thai jungle or mangrove swamps of Borneo. Additionally, Ed Stafford’s another 60 days spent with the Romani gypsies this time that he accidentally found out whom his ancestors actually were is the freshest two-part documentary broadcast on Channel 4 in 2022.
If you want to learn more about Ed, the naked adventurer, visit his personal website and Instagram account.
