Graham Hughes

Graham Hughes is a 38-year-old Guinness World Record breaking travel blogger, author, filmmaker and motivational speaker from Liverpool. He studied Politics & Modern History at Manchester University, during which time he debated as part of the official Manchester team at Oxford and Cambridge.
Graham was featured in The Guinness Book of Records (2016) and Ripley’s Believe It Or Not (2015) for visiting every country in the world without flying (2009 – 2012), during which he devised, produced, filmed and presented the eight-part TV series “Lonely Planet’s The Odyssey” (Australia, 2010) for Lonely Planet, National Geographic and BBC Worldwide. He is the first – and currently, only – person in the world to have achieved this feat. What’s more, he did it alone, on a shoestring budget and without any professional support. Along the way he raised over £10,000 for WaterAid.  A YouTube compilation of his journey has enjoyed over 1.5 million views. He has been branded “The World’s Most Adventurous Man” and “The Thinking Woman’s Indiana Jones”.

Shortly after completing that journey, Graham was declared the winner of the inaugural “SOS Island” (US, 2013), a survival series in the same vein as The Island with Bear Grylls. He subsequently lived for three years off-grid on his prize: his very own tropical island in Panama – think solar power, rain water collection and a lot of coconuts!

Graham’s first book, “Man of the World” (ATBOSH publishing) was released last year. According to Kirkus Reviews, it’s “a riveting journey recounted by an irrepressible, highly likable narrator”. He has also narrated the audiobook in his trademark Scouse accent. Further volumes detailing his further adventures will follow.

Fiercely proud of his Liverpool roots, Graham founded Global Scouse Day, which has become a local institution in recent years – with over 150 bars, cafes and restaurants in Liverpool and around the world putting scouse (Liverpool stew) on the menu for the day in celebration of all things Liverpool.
Graham is one of these people who says “Yes!” then worries afterwards about how he’ll do it. He is tremendously tenacious, has a somewhat encyclopaedic knowledge of the world and the ability to radically change plans and re-visualise objectives at a moment’s notice. He works to inspire people to realise their dreams and motivate them to find creative ways of getting around the obstacles holding them back.
His speaking style is bright and breezy; he is brimming with hundreds of fascinating anecdotes, jokes and hilarious tales from adventures around the world, including being thrown in jail in Africa (twice), climbing to the top of the Great Pyramid of Giza, travelling 650km over open ocean in a leaky wooden canoe, drinking with the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, joining a Bwiti tribe in Gabon, breaking down in the middle of the Australian outback, and being rescued from Islamic fundamentalists by a ladyboy called Jem.

He has spoken at dozens of events and conferences around the world, including TEDActive in California, several TEDx events around the UK, Thinking Digital and the Telegraph Adventure show, and he has been invited to speak at institutions across the Higher and Further Education sectors. He never reads from a script, and can talk extensively on a surprising array of subjects with minimal preparation. His down-to-Earth charm and self-deprecating sense of humour lends itself well to events big and small, formal and informal.

As Graham is now based in the UK for the foreseeable future, he is keen to make more of speaking opportunities and is happy to travel anywhere… obviously!