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In this quietly powerful episode of Adventure Unfiltered, Lorna sits down once again with adventurer and polar explorer Mollie Hughes - this time to talk about her solo, unassisted journey across Antarctica.

When Mollie joined the podcast previously, the focus was Everest: fear, exposure, altitude and the constant external risk of the world’s most mythologised mountain. Antarctica is different. Flatter. Whiter. Quieter. And - in many ways - harder.

Lorna knew the headline before they recorded: nearly 700 miles skied alone across a frozen continent. What she didn’t fully know was the inner story behind it - the silence, the boredom, the self-doubt, the mental strategies and the slow, deliberate psychological work required just to keep moving when there is no summit, no team and no variation in the landscape.

What unfolds is not a story about endurance for its own sake, but a deeply human conversation about solitude.

Together, they explore:

• What it really means to travel solo and unassisted in Antarctica
• How Antarctica differs psychologically from Everest
• The mental impact of prolonged silence and repetition
• Christmas Day alone on the Antarctic ice
• Boredom, fear and the quiet creep of self-doubt
• Realising she hadn’t laughed or smiled for over two weeks
• Why speaking out loud - even mockingly - helped reset her mindset
• The importance of humour, kindness and self-regulation in isolation
• How resilience isn’t always about pushing harder
• What solitude reveals when distraction is removed

Mollie speaks with striking honesty about the moments when silence became uncomfortable and her inner dialogue turned unhelpful — and how she learned to stay with herself rather than fight the experience.

This conversation isn’t about suffering. It’s about steadiness.

In a world that feels increasingly noisy, busy and digitally crowded, this episode invites us to reflect on what happens when the noise falls away — and how learning to meet silence well might be one of the most important skills we have.

This is exactly why Adventure Unfiltered exists - to move beyond the headline and into the human story.

About Mollie Hughes

Mollie Hughes is a record-breaking adventurer, mountaineer and polar explorer.

Website: molliehughes.co.uk
Instagram: @mollieJhughes

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Whether you’re planning a local wander, dreaming of a global expedition, craving the outdoors, looking for inspiration or searching for a role model — you’re in the right place.

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