🎧 Follow the show here— it really helps Adventure Diaries reach more listeners. Thank youIn 2008, Louis-Philippe Loncke became the first person to walk the full length of Australia's Simpson Desert unsupported — 35 days, a 215kg cart, no water cache, no drops, no helicopter rescue within range. Last year, he tried again. He covered 75 kilometres in 13 days and turned back. Climate change, he believes, may have made this crossing permanently impossible. The Belgian engineer turned explorer nicknamed The Mad Belgian first understood the scale of what he'd done when Jon Muir — who had been to both Poles — wrote that unsupported desert crossings make Mount Everest look like child's play. Louis-Philippe has catalogued 21 near-death experiences and is building a classification system to prove exactly why Everest barely makes a Class 2. What You'll Learn:• Why Australia has two million wild Afghan camels — and why eating them is an ecological good• The frog that lies dormant in a salt crust for 30 years and revives when floodwater returns• Why Mount Everest rates only Class 2 on the Mad Belgian's expedition scale• How a 10-degree temperature rise may have closed the Simpson Desert to solo crossings forever• What it's like to be chased by 14 wild camels with nowhere to run LOUIS-PHILIPPE LONCKE | The Mad Belgianwww.louis-philippe-loncke.comYouTube: Luffy Tests | Meet Explorers with Lou-PhiCharity: Jane Goodall Institute — tree-planting events across EuropeProject: Expedition Database — global index of adventurers and expeditions ABOUT LOUIS-PHILIPPE LONCKEBelgian adventurer and Explorers Club Fellow known as The Mad Belgian. In 2008 he completed theworld's first unsupported north-to-south crossing of the Simpson Desert in 35 days. A former bankIT engineer, he has completed 20-plus expeditions across Tasmania, Australia, Poland, andAzerbaijan, surviving 21 documented near-death experiences. Currently building the ExpeditionDatabase, a free global index designed to work like IMDB for the adventure community. 00:00 Louis-Philippe Loncke — who is The Mad Belgian Explorer?01:49 Growing up in Belgium: from furniture makers to Boy Scouts06:00 From ING Bank Singapore to hiking 2,000km across Australia13:19 Why the Simpson Desert? Finding the world's most impossible walk18:37 The 2008 world first: crossing the Simpson Desert unsupported26:00 How to survive without resupply in the world's most arid desert31:00 Wild camels, dingoes and the world's most venomous snake41:00 Going back: the 2016 backpack attempt and 2024 cart failure54:00 How to grade an expedition — the Class 1 to 6 adventure scale1:04:00 The Expedition Database: IMDB for the world's adventurers1:13:00 21 near-death experiences: barge cables, cliff falls and floods1:19:00 What's next: Azerbaijan, the Tintin rocket and future films1:31:00 Pay it forward, call to adventure and quick-fire questions For full show notes and links, visit: adventurediSend us Fan Mail Support the showThanks For Listening.If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a comment and subscribe for more exciting content.Please visit AdventureDiaries.com/GO  For more authentic stories of Adventure Exploration and the natural worldThe Adventure Diaries Podcast also covers a broad spectrum OF topics withIN the fields of Adventure, Exploration, Micro-adventure, Survival, Mental Resilience, Conservation, Scotland, Hiking, Solo Travel, Cycling, Nature, Storytelling, Mountaineering