#7 A Belgian with a love of long journeys in remote places - Willem Vandoorne

In this episode we talk about Willem’s signature trip style, including how he plans his trips and what it is he enjoys most about multi-week adventures. We chat about some of his earlier trips in Scandinavia, Greenland, a packraft-assisted traverse of the South Island of New Zealand and a near-death experience during a four month traverse of Norway.Willem’s written trip recounts and photographs have provided inspiration for people all over the world, with many packrafters following his routes. However, he has grappled with sharing online and in 2013 he stopped sharing GPS coordinates of his routes. We discuss some of the consequences of sharing detailed trip recounts, including environmental impacts in South Greenland and how the death of two Belgian packrafters last summer has impacted him.In 2016 Willem was the recipient of the Golden Paddle Award from the American Packrafting Association.LinksWillem's personal blogInto the Arctic (Willem's outdoor tour business)Podcast sponsored by Alpacka Raft:Alpacka Raft has been handcrafting packrafts for 20 years and has spearheaded packrafting into its modern, more accessible era. All of their boats are made-to-order, in Mancos, Colorado. Whether you’re looking for the perfect whitewater packraft, an ultra-light option for bikerafting or backpacking, or the ultimate do-everything backcountry adventure tool, Alpacka Raft has a packraft for you. Find out more at their website AlpackaRaft.comMusic: Original music by Evan Phillips, a musician from Anchorage, Alaska. He’s also the host and producer of The Firn Line, a podcast about the lives of mountain climbers.