Adventurer to marry girlfriend after becoming first woman to complete epic world trip

Adventurer Sarah Outen has completed her attempt to ‘loop’ the globe using only a kayak, bike and rowing boat.

An adventurer who recently became the first woman to cross the globe ‘on her own steam’ can finally marry the girlfriend she proposed whilst half way around the world.

Sarah Outen, 30, came to the end of her gruelling four-and-a-half-year world trip and was met by jubilant fans as she rowed under Tower Bridge, in London.

Since setting off in April 2011, Ms Outen has cycled, kayaked and rowed a whopping 25,000 miles.

And when she was midway across the Pacific back in 2013, Ms Outen asked long-term girlfriend Lucy Allen to marry her.

The touching moment came as Ms Outen yelled the proposal down a satellite phone – struggling to hear Ms Allen’s answer.

It was – thankfully – “yes”!

Ms Allen spoke of her joy at having her fiancée home – and the pair plan to marry next summer.

“I am so excited to have her back,” she told The Telegraph.

“We can finally plan the wedding, which we’ve got in the diary for June 2016.”

“I’m so proud of what Sarah’s achieved, we’re just getting ready for dinner – there will be a lot of celebrating.”

Ms Outen’s adventures saw her kayak across the Channel, cycle for 11,000 miles across Europe and Asia and row across the North Pacific – all in aid of charity.

Unsurprisingly, the journey was not without its risks.

During the trip, she was not only shipwrecked in the Pacific, but survived a near crash with a cargo ship, before avoiding the jaws of venomous snakes and grizzly bears in Alaska.

However, Ms Outen was quick to point out that her journey was not a “solo one” – and that she could not have done it without the support of others.

“For me this expedition has always been about the adventure, the challenge and importantly about the learning,” she told The Telegraph.

“But I also wanted to share this experience with others, to show people, especially young people, that you can do whatever you put your mind to.

“This is a belief inspired by my late father and is one I carry with me always.”

“So many people, strangers and friends alike have also helped me along the way,” she added.

“And so while I spent much of the time out there on my own, this has by no means been a solo expedition. I could not have done it without them.”

• TV
• Dec 18 2024

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