Residence London, United Kingdom Siblings Peter Wood Role Armed force officer | Name Levison Wood Website www.levisonwood.com | |
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Born 5 May 1982 (age 42) ( 1982-05-05 ) Staffordshire, United Kingdom Occupation Military officer, explorer, photographer and journalist Parents Janice Wood, Levison Wood Senior | ||
Levison wood biography levison wood british army officer levison wood life achievements
Major Levison James Wood (born 5 May 1982) is a British Army officer and explorer. He is best known for his extended walking expeditions in Africa, Asia, and Central America; over the course of nine months, from 2013-2014, he undertook the first ever expedition to walk the entire length of the river Nile from Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda, beginning in December 2013. The expedition was commissioned as a four-part documentary series for Channel 4 in the UK. He also wrote The Sunday Times bestselling book detailing the expedition, Walking the Nile.
Contents
- Levison wood biography levison wood british army officer levison wood life achievements
- Levison Wood
- Life
- Walking expeditions
- References
In 2015, he walked the length of the Himalayas, from Afghanistan in the west to Bhutan in the east. He has also undertaken numerous other overland journeys including a foot crossing of Madagascar and mountain climbing in Iraq. He documents his journeys through books, documentaries, and photography.
Levison Wood
Life
The son of teachers Janice (née Curzon) and Levison Wood Sr, Wood was born on 5 May 1982 at the North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary in Hartshill, Staffordshire and grew up in nearby Forsbrook. Levison was educated at Painsley Catholic College, before obtaining an honours degree in History at the University of Nottingham. He was commissioned as an officer into the Parachute Regiment on 13 April 2006 where he spent four years, serving in Afghanistan in Helmand, Kandahar, and Zabul. Wood was promoted to Captain on 13 October 2008.
He left the army in April 2010, took up a career in journalism and photography, and has become a bestselling author. He has extensive experience in travel and exploration in over 80 countries and in 2011 was made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
Wood acts as patron and ambassador for a number of charities including the Tusk Trust and the ABF The Soldiers' Charity. He recently rejoined the army, serving as a reservist Major in the 77th Brigade.
Walking expeditions
The expedition to walk the length of the Nile was inspired by explorers John Hanning Speke, Richard Francis Burton, David Livingstone, and Henry Morton Stanley. Wood was accompanied by numerous guides, journalists (including Matthew Power), and friends along the different stages of the route. The expedition was commissioned into a television programme for Channel 4 that aired in January 2015, and Wood detailed the trip in his book Walking the Nile. Power died during the programme from severe heatstroke. Wood was forced to abandon a 450 mile section in South Sudan due to heavy fighting caused by civil war.
In 2015, Wood embarked on another challenge: to walk the length of the Himalayas from Afghanistan to Bhutan, filming a documentary series and writing another book about the experience, which was published in January 2016.
Channel 4 aired Walking the Americas from January 2017, featuring an expedition from Mexico to Colombia.