How to Use Adventure Travel to Beat Stress with Ray Zahab

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Professional explorer Ray Zahab has crossed some of the most unforgiving environments on Earth. He ran across the Sahara in 111 days and traversed Baffin Island nine times, most of them at the height of winter. In conversation with Medcan CEO Shaun Francis, Zahab argues for the age-defying and stress-busting benefits of adventure travel. Like Shaun, Zahab is an advocate for the Japanese practice of “forest bathing” and argues that we can access similar perks by just getting outside and exploring nature. It’s an inspiring conversation with a 52-year-old explorer who is not letting the pandemic keep him down. In fact, he’s vowed to exit lockdown restrictions in the best shape of his life. </span></p> <p><strong>INSIGHTS</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It is one of Zahab’s most foundational beliefs that people underrate themselves. He argues that most anyone has the capacity to accomplish so-called impossible tasks. Zahab’s experience conforms to that edict. After all, he won the first ultramarathon he ever entered. “Many of us underestimate ourselves physically, mentally [and] emotionally at some point in our lives. And we're capable of so much more,” he says. (12:34 - 12:48) </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Someone recently messaged Zahab asking how to start running: “I’m not a runner, but I would really love to do a run someday. I don't even own running shoes. What do I do?” Zahab said, “you get off the couch on day one, and you walk to your front door, and you put on whatever shoes you have any kind of shoe, you lace them up, then you take them off and you walk back to the couch. That's the end of day one. Day two, you put the shoes on, you walk down to the end of your laneway or the end of your block, turn around, you walk home. Day three, you walk to the running shoe store — you get what I'm saying? A marathon starts with the first step.”  (14:05)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Running gets a bad rap. Everything’s all about how to