Q&A with Phoebe Smith
Read our interview with 2025 Ness Award recipient, Phoebe Smith.聽
Phoebe Smith is the recipient of the Ness Award recognised for popularising geography and the wider understanding of our world and its environments.
Follow your passion. Believe in the power of your own voice. And above all, don鈥檛 give up.Phoebe Smith
What did you want to be, or where did you want to work, when you were a teenager?
"I always loved to write and tell stories, it was how I made sense of the world and my place in it. I never did get to travel abroad as a child, but I went everywhere in books.
"I remember my mum would take me on journeys through the pages of her vast collection of coffee table books. Together we would visit India, Australia, South America and the Arctic without ever leaving our living room. She would show me pictures of people from all over the world and tell me how beautiful the lines on their faces were 鈥� because each one told a story and marked an experience 鈥� it made me want my own wrinkles.
"I saw first-hand the power of words and pictures and I believe it planted the seed in me then to want to discover the world, meet people from other cultures and share what I learned with as many people as possible.
"By the time I was a teenager, while all my friends were interested in make-up and fashion, I was writing for fun 鈥� poetry, stories, songs. I didn鈥檛 see it at the time, but I think it was already on the cards that I would make it my career and, make my career my life."
What role do you do now and how would you describe your work?
"I鈥檓 an adventurer and storyteller. My work is varied 鈥� just as I like it!
"From planning expeditions (for me or for the charity I run 鈥� the #WeTwo Foundation), to researching and recording my Wander Woman Podcast, writing my next book, reporting on a place for the radio or newspaper, mentoring a young person, public speaking or running around after my 4-year-old, life is a juggle but is never boring."
What has been the highlight of your career, regardless of how big or small, so far?
"Definitely starting the #WeTwo Foundation, a charity I co-founded with my friend and fellow explorer Dwayne Fields. It was an uphill battle to fundraise to take our first group of underprivileged young people to Antarctica on a carbon neutral expedition 鈥� we had to walk the length of mainland Britain, over 40 nights, wild camping all the way and pulling our equipment on wheeled sleds 鈥� in winter.
"Though it was perhaps even harder choosing which 10 people to take with us out of 700 nominations of very worthy candidates.聽But that moment when we landed as a team on the Peninsula of the White Continent and saw their faces light up with possibility it made everything worthwhile.
"Since then, being there to see them get jobs, become the first in their families to go to university, to just start to believe in themselves has been the most rewarding experience of my life. The young people we work with inspire me way more than I think I inspire them."
What projects are you working on right now?
"A fair few things as is normal鈥� my podcast 鈥� Wander Woman 鈥� keeps my very busy, I use it as a way of highlighting places, communities and people doing extraordinary things to help wildlife, culture and the environment, while flying the flag for responsible travel.
"I鈥檓 working on my next book following the success of my memoir Wayfarer: Love, Loss and Life on Britain鈥檚 Pilgrim Paths.
"I鈥檓 busy with Dwayne planning and fundraising for the next #WeTwo Foundation expedition (our third one), and have a number of other projects in their early stages I鈥檓 very excited to unleash on the world 鈥� soon."
Do you have any advice for someone wanting to go into your field?
"Follow your passion. Believe in the power of your own voice. And above all, don鈥檛 give up. You will always be told by someone that you can鈥檛, won鈥檛 or shouldn鈥檛 do something you dream about doing.But the difference between those who make it and those who don鈥檛, is that those who make it never gave up."
What three words would you use to describe your life and work?
"Passionate, tenacious, wild."
What legacy do you hope you鈥檒l leave?
"That you can make a difference - no matter where you come from."
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