The Life of an Adventurepreneur
Best Life Adventures is the ‘business baby’ of married moguls, Ben and Sophee Southall. These two lovebirds both have a passion for adventure and living life to the max – an obsession, which steered their lives from the very beginning…
1975 | Born to be wild
Born in Coventry on March 6, Ben is the son of Margaret and Duncan, two quintessentially British parents. Family holidays started early, but rarely extended beyond camping trips to Scotland. This was Ben’s first taste of adventure.
1980-1991 | Clowning around
From the moment he stepped through the school gates, Ben proudly adopted his role as the chatty, scatty, class clown – much to his teachers’ frustration. One thing he did enjoy focusing on was
1992-1997 | The engineer
Ben wasn’t ready to rock the boat of tradition quite yet, so he continued on with a tertiary education. Attending Kingston University, Ben studied automotive engineering. This field of expertise would eventually come in handy, but not in the way it was intended (jump to 2008)…
1997-2004 | Mumms the word
Ben lands a dream job as the Events and Promotions Manager for Champagne Mumm. This was the moment he stepped into the role he was destined for – creating good times for others at sports events around the world. Ben spent his summers in the UK and winters in South Africa – a love of ‘the Dark Continent’ was born.
2008 | Afritrex
Ben had a big idea: to run five marathons and climb five mountains whilst circumnavigating Africa to raise money for charity. But first, he needed to find the perfect steed – enter Colonel Mustard, Ben’s beloved Land Rover Defender. After one year, 65,000km and 32 countries, Ben’s first overland adventure was complete.
2009 | Best Job Ben
It was the moment that saw Ben Southall become a household name, internationally. He famously trumped 34,684 candidates to win the Best Job in the World and become Caretaker of the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef. Life became a whirlwind of travel, media interviews (including Oprah), TV gigs (such as NatGeo) and speaking engagements. Sharing his experiences with the world via social media, he became one of the original influencers.
2010 | The woman of his dreams
Ben was emceeing the Whitsunday Tourism Awards on Daydream
2011 | Best Job to Best Expedition
Within six months of meeting, Ben and
2012 | Island Wedding
Having survived
2013 | Aussie 8
Ben quickly became addicted to extreme endurance challenges. Fortunately, he discovered two blokes who were just as mad as he was and convinced them to go on a mammoth mission with him. The three adventure amigos – Ben, Luke and Pat – summited the highest peak in each Aussie state in eight days. Their ‘Aussie 8’ record was turned into a documentary and quickly became the target of other trail runners.
2014 | New Zealand 9
Through blood, sweat and tears, Ben and his boys traversed the nine Great Walks of New Zealand in nine days, setting yet another world record. The concept of ‘extreme dreams’ missions had been formed. Ben had cemented his passion for innovation in the adventure space; he’d become an ‘adventurepreneur’ and discovered his passion for inspiring others to realise their potential in the great outdoors.
2015 |SINGAPORE TO LONDON
It was time to dust the cobwebs off Colonel Mustard and take him for another serious spin. Ben and
2016 | Life on Everest
When Ben was invited to film a documentary for the Travel Channel and call the Himalayas home, he jumped at the chance. The opportunity to live at Everest Base Camp for three months, immerse oneself in the local culture and get to know ‘the mountain of mountains’ was an extraordinary adventure – one which Ben would go on to share with others through his EBC treks.
2017 | TWO BIRTHS
After a lifetime of incredible adventures, it was time to become a fully-fledged
2019 | EXTRAORDINARY VENTURERS
Best Life Adventures is no longer a hobby business. It’s a movement; it’s a community. Dubbed the ‘Society of Extraordinary Venturers’, we’ve become a cohort of likeminded souls, who relish the experience of stepping out of ones comfort zone, exploring new ground and living life to the fullest. Our story is still being written…
2022 | WHAT COVID?
After the madness of a global pandemic, business returned with a vengeance. The travel bug (a good one this time) returned to the world’s adventurous minds and Best Life delivered expeditions to the Torres Strait, Africa and New Zealand.
The business world decided it was time to get outdoors again with new bespoke programs designed and delivered for our loyal corporate and government clients – with the Venturer Program reignited for the Office of the Queensland Chief Entrepreneur.
2023 | BACK TO EVEREST….WITH ATLAS
It’s been called the “Ultimate High-Altitude Daddy Daycare Day”.
When Sophee and Ben’s work lives clashed with both being away ‘on business’ there was only one option – take Atlas along for his first true Best Life Adventure – a trek to Everest Base Camp at 5365 metres above sea-level.
Trekking along side the 16 fundraisers from Momentum Mental Health was an unforgettable experience for Ben and the entire team, and the best thing about it – Atlas got home safely and saw snow for the first time.
Extreme parenting? Not at all. It’s more about giving the next generation of young people a life experience they’ll never forget and something pretty cool for ‘show and share’.
