The Chief Explorer’s Almanac — Issue 6

As I write this, we are just a few days away from setting off on a 24-day road trip through France, Germany, and Belgium. There is no kitchen table piled with paper maps this time around — planning for us is almost entirely digital these days. With a bit of help from AI to structure the route, alongside a handful of trusted guidebooks, we’ve built a clear outline that intentionally leaves plenty of room for serendipity. The best parts of any long journey usually happen in those open spaces.

Looking back, it’s funny to think about how this Almanac has evolved. Issue 1 started out as an informal email newsletter for the team and associates I was working with at the time. Issue 2 was a literal postcard sent while travelling through France. Since then, it’s found a home on the website as a periodic pause — a chance to stop, look back, and share what’s unfolding. Previous issues are in the blog archive.

With the trip fast approaching, it felt like the right time to share a quick update on a few projects taking shape.

On the Page: The Fifth Element

My main writing focus over recent months has been The Fifth Element, subtitled From Tourist to Explorer, and I’m glad to say it is now nearly there. It’s going to be my longest book by quite some margin. It seems the precision of the poetic voice needs to breathe in this book.

It has turned out to be an ambitious book in its own way, bringing together the different strands that have run through my work, coaching, and creative practice over many years. In my earlier book The Inner Fire, I explored transformation through the four classic elements — Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. The Fifth Element looks at what holds them all together: Space. Not just physical distance, but the pause between breaths, the silence between musical notes, and the essential room required to move from being a passive tourist in our own lives to an active explorer. It reclaims the idea of exploration away from historical conquest or collecting destinations, treating it instead as a practice of curiosity and humility — a way of letting the places, people, and quiet moments we encounter genuinely change us.

What makes the book feel particularly alive right now — especially on the eve of another 24 days on the road — is how it bridges outer field notes with inner reflection. The manuscript pairs physical journeys across France, Portugal, Greece, Malta, and beyond with inner landscapes mapped through meditation and active imagination. It also introduces a new archetypal voice to my cast of characters: Freyja, who acts as the Weaver or Integrator, helping to make sense of how our outer travels mirror our internal shifts. It feels like the most complete expression yet of what it means to live, write, and work with spaciousness, and I’m looking forward to sharing it soon.

In the Works: The Kingfisher Collection & Sound

On the creative front, I’ve started pulling together ideas for The Kingfisher Collection. No title yet, although I have been playing with The Unseen Kingfisher which came about because I have never actually seen one, but that may just be far too prosaic a title.

This project builds on three poetry chapbooks I’ve written across the decades (1992, 2001, and 2012), bringing those pieces together alongside new work to form a fresh collection. I’m also exploring the idea of creating an accompanying sound project to go alongside the poems — much like the experiment I did a few years back with Blue: Experiments in Sound. That earlier work became a sound project in the form of an album released on bandcamp — music and spoken word by a poet who couldn’t play music! It was a project where I demonstrated the creative process that I coach about in the Creative You. Working at the intersection of text and audio is always a fascinating space to inhabit, and I’m enjoying seeing how this one begins to shape up.

In Conversation: Coaching

My work with the NHS continues through group coaching — working with cohorts of Early Career Researchers as they work through development programmes, the coaching supports them as they learn about health research and, just as importantly, about themselves. It remains deeply rewarding work, helping people explore their potential and navigate complex environments together.

Alongside this, my one-to-one coaching continues through my individual programmes — including The Fellow Explorer, The Wayfinder, The Creative You, and The Productive You. Earlier this year, I decided to put a firm cap on the number of individual clients I work with at any one time so I can give every relationship the depth and space it deserves. I also wanted to be sure that I left space to write. As it stands, I currently have just one single opening available before I start a waiting list for new clients.

On the Bookshelf

A key part of keeping the explorer mindset alive is paying attention to what feeds the mind along the way. A few books I’ve read and really enjoyed recently:

• The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life by Suleika Jaouad — A rich, luminous exploration of journaling and creative practice as a way of transforming difficult life experiences into meaning.
• The Planets Within: The Astrological Psychology of Marsilio Ficino by Thomas Moore — A fascinating dive into Renaissance soul-gardening and archetypal psychology that pairs brilliantly with Jungian inner work.
• At Work in the Ruins by Dougald Hine — A direct confrontation with the reality of the world today—a call to action and a deep provocation that challenges us to think, live, and act differently.

I keep a running record of everything I read over on Goodreads. If you’d like to browse my reading list or connect over books, you can browse my reading list and connect with me here.

Into the World

Once this issue goes out, we will complete our packing as we head across the Channel. I’m sure the 24 days ahead will generate plenty of fresh material, quiet reflections, and unexpected detours for future issues.

Thank you, as always, for reading and following along with these updates. I hope late summer is treating you well, wherever you are.