Holly Budge, Founder of How Many Elephants

The Copilot Spotlight navigates into the minds and experiences of travel professionals and professional travelers. Join us in the cockpit with Holly Budge, Founder of award-winning charity, How Many Elephants.

Who:

Holly Budge

What you do:

Everest summiteer, world record adventurer, first woman to skydive Everest, expedition leader. I’m a passionate conservationist, artist and founder of award-winning charity, How Many Elephants. I’m also a motivational speaker, sharing tales from my adventures and conservation work. So far, I’ve raised £300k for charitable initiatives.

Holly on Everest.

Where is the last place you visited? 

I’ve recently returned from Zimbabwe where I literally hit the front line running. Through my conservation and charity work, I earn’t a rare privilege of accompanying the highly skilled Akashinga rangers, a fully armed, all-female, anti-poaching team, whilst patrolling the front lines in the Lower Zambesi Valley. It’s 5:45 am. I’m standing in line with four armed rangers, ready to go out on foot patrol. “You may not see any wildlife Holly, this is not a safari trip” says Nyaradzo, my go-to ranger. I pinch myself as the realization of what I am about to do gets real. These women are fighting a war on poaching and the poachers are not the only threat out there. 

Holly with an Akashinga ranger.

Where is next for you? Why?

My next adventure is to hike the Great Wall of China in its entirety of 3000 miles to humbly carry out research into how elephant ivory fits into their culture and their deep-rooted traditions and beliefs. My hard-hitting, but non gory, How Many Elephants exhibition showcases 35,000 elephants, the annual death toll in Africa, and will be exhibited in major cities in China coinciding with the adventure. It will be a journey of discovery into a different land and culture, fuelled by passion and a thirst for new knowledge and insight. It will be an adventure of physical and mental endurance to raise awareness and funds for my How Many Elephants Charity. 

Why do you choose to travel?

I love the outdoors and the adventures that go with it! Being an adventurer has allowed me to travel to some of the world’s remotest and most inhospitable places. I have met some hugely inspiring people on the way and I really love the unknown element of adventure, travel and pushing myself as much as I can! I support various conservation initiatives by raising funds through my adventures and it is very rewarding to visit places and see projects in action that I have helped raise money for. This is a huge driving force for me.

Holly training for the “Coast to Coast” race in New Zealand 2020.

How has travel helped to define your world view?

Through travelling, immersing myself in different cultures and meeting inspiring individuals and organisations, I’m sure this has helped define my world view through being open to learning new ideas and narratives. 

Where is the favorite place you’ve traveled and why? 

To the Himalayas, I could lose myself there for a lifetime; wandering, climbing, hiking, day-dreaming, sketching, writing and just being. I have spent a lot of time in the Himalayas already, with some big mountains under my belt, including Ama Dablam and Everest. The culture, the colours, the smells, even Kathmandu has become endearing to me! The Himalayas is a magical place to explore but also a very unpredictable place too. I have a huge respect for the mountains and never underestimate how small I am in this environment. Safety outweighs success every time for me.

Hiking

When on your travels have you felt the most out of your comfort zone? 

Probably the time I was trapped at 8300m in the Death Zone on Mount Everest, waiting out a raging storm, on my way back down from the summit. I lay in my tent for hours shivering, watching the sides being thrashed by the winds. felt shattered but alert. It had been 72 hours since I left Advanced Base Camp for my summit push. My climbing partner and I lay side by side in our down suits, inside our sleeping bags. We forced ourselves to eat dehydrated food, washed down with boiled water. The next morning when I peered out of the vestibule, we were one of only three tents left standing. Remnants of tents were blowing in the wind. It was eerie and time to go. I didn’t know what lay ahead for us, but I knew one thing more than anything, we couldn’t stay here any longer….

Who is the most interesting person you have ever met while traveling and why?

It’s difficult to narrow it down to just one person. I have a huge respect for the Sherpas, especially those whom I have had the pleasure to climb and work with. Sometimes I think they deserve a lot more acknowledgement than they get. Without them, the vast majority of climbers on big Himalayan peaks, especially Everest, would not reach the summit or make it back down safely. They are skilled professionals and I always treat them with the respect they deserve. I’d had the great honour and pleasure of visiting their homes and meeting their families.

What is the most adventurous food you have tried while on the road?

Whilst racing semi wild horses 1000kms across Mongolia, as part of a world record to complete the world’s longest horse race, I ate with the locals. On one occasion I was offered Marmot, (a large ground-dwelling squirrel), also a delicacy in their culture. How could I decline? The alarm bells started ringing when I watched the cooking process which involved blow-torching the small rodent, thankfully already dead. It swelled up to the size of a football and they scrapped the hair away. They then cut it open and told me “you can eat this bit, but this bit and all the rest of it will give you a very bad stomach!”. Great, thanks for the warning. It tasted like chicken!

What’s the next trend in travel? 

Travel with purpose and authenticity: As travelers wake up, sometimes abruptly, to the challenges of joining some 1.4 billion other tourists to the world’s most enticing destinations, the threats—and consequences—of over tourism are becoming more visible each day. We all have the power to make changes through the choices we make. Be proactive, find out what the situations are in the places you are planning to visit. Look at travel options that take you off the beaten track and possibilities of visiting out of high season too. Often when travelers have the opportunity to volunteer and directly support conservation efforts during their stay, they come away wanting to help even more—to preserve and protect the places they visit.

Holly inspiring young minds.

Any funny anecdotes from the road?

You never where you are going to end up when on the road! I was climbing in Nepal and ended up at an impromptu 11th birthday party. It was true rural Nepalese culture at its finest. I was the only western there. We drank beers around the fire, ate cake and sang Nepalese songs (well I just hummed along)! I asked the gaggle of excited and curious children of all different ages what they wanted to do when they were older and I got told “scientist,” “pilot,” “doctor,” “nurse,” I love the spirit that lives in children. They have little more than the clothes on their back but were clearly thinking big and dreaming bigger. The adults ate ‘sucadee’ jerky, their hands dripping in meat juice and oil. I was observing a testosterone fueled sheep farmer’s meat feast! I asked what they were talking about and got told “how to make more efficient compost out of sheep poop!” Oh right, I wasn’t missing much then!

To discover more about Holly Budge visit www.hollybudge.com or follow her on Instagram www.instagram.com/hollybudge. Her conservation focused campaign is www.howmanyelephants.org and www.instagram.com/howmanyelephants.