Education
In this episode, we talk to Dave Cornthwaite who, a few days after we spoke to him, turned 40. Dave is an Adventurer and Community Leader and he'll be something else soon. Fifteen years previously, on the morning of his 25th birthday, Dave woke up at home in Swansea and spoke to his cat Kiwar. He had a 10 hour a day Playstation habit (Dave not Kiwar), a job he hated and a girlfriend he didn't like. Despite having everything he'd been told a successful adult needed. He didn't see any reason to be around. He was in his words . . . a loser. That was the moment . . . the moment he decided to swap negativity for positivity, the moment he decided to say yes more. Very quickly Dave was exploring Swansea on a skateboard . . . his first-ever skateboard. This was the start of a journey that lead very quickly to him breaking the world record for the longest journey by skateboard. . . Perth to Brisbane . . . 3618 miles. Many adventures have followed including paddle-boarding the Mississippi with alligators and Marathon DeSable, the world's toughest race. Many more have followed. It would be wrong to assume that Dave's conversation with his cat was a turning from which everything panned out just fine. What Dave has experienced is 15 years of real adventure . . . and all that comes with it. Dave has learned that the periods he feels most alive will inevitably be followed by periods of gloom . . . like long hangovers. But . . . on balance, Dave considers the ups to be worth the downs because he knows a 'just existing life' just isn't enough. "My mother went through all that pain bringing me into the world. The least I can do is make the most of life" Dave Cornthwaite