Levison Wood

Major Levison James Wood FRGS (born 5 May 1982)[1] is a British Army officer and explorer. He is best known for his extended walking expeditions in Africa, Asia and Central America.

Levison Wood

FRGS
Born (1982-05-05) 5 May 1982
Hartshill, Staffordshire, England
OccupationMilitary officer, explorer, photographer and journalist
Military career
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service2005–2010, 2012–present
RankMajor
Service number564688
UnitParachute Regiment
77th Brigade
Battles/warsWar in Afghanistan
Websitewww.levisonwood.com

Beginning in December 2013, over the course of nine months he undertook the first ever expedition to walk the entire length of the river Nile from the Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda. The expedition was commissioned as a four-part documentary series for Channel 4 in the UK. He also wrote a Sunday Times bestselling book detailing the expedition, Walking the Nile.

In 2015, he walked the length of the Himalayas, from Afghanistan in the west to Bhutan in the east. A year later he walked from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, where the early Spanish conquistadors landed, to Colombia, a journey of 1,800 miles (2,900 km) following the spine of Central America, crossing the infamous Darién Gap. His book Walking the Americas became a bestseller in the UK and USA.

From 2017 to the spring of 2018 he undertook another two journeys. Russia to Iran followed his early hitchhiking adventures as a student, retracing his steps from the Black Sea to the Caspian, following the Caucasus mountains through the North Caucasian republics, via Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia and Iran.

In September 2017 he began his most ambitious challenge to date: a full circumnavigation of the Arabian Peninsula: travelling from Syria, through Iraq, the Gulf, crossing part of the Empty Quarter desert in Oman, traversing Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the Holy Land to finish in Lebanon; an expedition totalling 5,000 miles (8,000 km). During the course of the journey he was embedded with Iraqi troops fighting ISIS where he witnessed the liberation of Sharqat and also encountered Palestinian guerrillas and Hezbollah operatives. He visited the city of Palmyra which was then under Russian control. This journey was documented in the Discovery series Arabia With Levison Wood.

He has also undertaken numerous other overland journeys, including a foot crossing of Madagascar and mountain climbing in Iraq.

He documents his journeys through books, documentaries and photography.

Life

The son of teachers Janice Wood (née Curzon) and Levison Wood Sr., Wood was born on 5 May 1982 at the North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary in Hartshill, Staffordshire, and grew up in nearby Forsbrook.[2] Levison was educated at Painsley Catholic College,[3] before obtaining an honours degree in history at the University of Nottingham. He was commissioned as an officer into the Parachute Regiment on 13 April 2006[4] where he spent four years, serving in Afghanistan in Helmand, Kandahar and Zabul. Wood was promoted to Captain on 13 October 2008.[5]

He left the army in April 2010, took up a career in writing and photography, and has become a bestselling author. He has extensive experience in travel and exploration in over 100 countries and in 2011 was made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He is an elected Fellow of the Explorers Club in New York, an Honorary Fellow of CASS Business School and holds an honorary doctorate at Staffordshire University.

Wood acts as patron and ambassador for a number of charities including the Tusk Trust, The Glacier Trust[6] and the ABF The Soldiers' Charity.[7] He rejoined the army in 2012, serving as a reservist Major in the 77th Brigade.

Overland expeditions

The expedition to walk the length of the Nile was inspired by explorers John Hanning Speke, Richard Francis Burton, David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley.[8] Wood was accompanied by numerous guides, journalists (including Matthew Power) and friends along the different stages of the route. The expedition was commissioned into a television programme for Channel 4 that aired in January 2015, and Wood detailed the trip in his book Walking the Nile.[9] Power died during the programme from severe heat stroke. Wood was forced to abandon a 450-mile (720 km) section in South Sudan due to heavy fighting caused by civil war.[10]

In 2015, Wood embarked on another challenge: to walk the length of the Himalayas from Afghanistan to Bhutan, filming a documentary series and writing another book about the experience, which was published in January 2016.[7][11]

Channel 4 broadcast Walking the Americas from January 2017, featuring an expedition from Mexico to Colombia.[7] The channel then broadcast his journey along the Caucasus in the four-episode series From Russia to Iran: Crossing Wild Frontiers.[12]

In May 2020, Channel 4 commenced broadcasting Walking with Elephants, where Levison followed the 650-mile migration of elephants across Botswana.[13]

Awards

Military Awards & Decorations
Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan with Afghanistan clasp
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
Army Achievement Medal (US Army award)[14]

Literary Awards

Walking the Himalayas was voted "Adventure Travel Book of the Year" for 2016 at the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards.[15]

Bibliography
  • 2015 – Walking the Nile[16]
  • 2016 – Walking the Himalayas: An Adventure of Survival and Endurance
  • 2017 – Eastern Horizons: Hitchhiking the Silk Road
  • 2017 – Walking the Americas[17]
  • 2018 – Arabia: A Journey Through The Heart of the Middle East
  • 2019 – Incredible Journeys: Discovery, Adventure, Danger, Endurance ISBN 9781526360434
  • 2020 - The Last Giants

References
  1. Wood, Levison [@Levisonwood] (5 May 2015). "What a place to spend a birthday!" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 December 2015 – via Twitter.
  2. Taylor, Jeremy (10 January 2016). "Relative Values: the explorer Levison Wood and his father". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  3. Hermione Eyre (8 April 2015). "Tough guy: Levison Wood on walking the Nile and being ten times tougher than Bear Grylls". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  4. "No. 57994". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 May 2006. p. 7379.
  5. "No. 58912". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 December 2008. p. 19637.
  6. "Levison Wood joins The Glacier Trust". The Glacier Trust. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  7. "Biography". LevisonWood.com. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  8. James Meikle (14 November 2013). "Briton to walk length of the Nile on 4,250-mile trek from Rwanda to Egypt". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  9. Wood, Levison. "Walking the Nile on Channel 4". Channel 4.
  10. "Explorer Levison Wood completes River Nile walk". BBC News. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  11. "Channel 4 tracks Levison Wood Walking the Himalayas". Channel 4. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  12. "From Russia to Iran: Crossing Wild Frontiers: From Russia to Iran: Crossing Wild Frontiers – Episode Guide". Channel 4. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  13. Channel 4 - Walking with Elephants
  14. ""Instagram post 'They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old...'"". Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  15. "Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2016". Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards. 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  16. London: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781471135637
  17. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 9781473654068
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