Tough Girl Podcast Angela Maxwell: Walking 20,000 Miles Around the World — Choosing Courage Every Step of the Way
Angela Maxwell spent nearly seven years walking around the world — solo. Covering over 20,000 miles across four continents and 16 countries, she braved the Australian outback, battled dengue fever in Vietnam, and faced the daily challenge of finding safe places to sleep, often in a tent.
A self-described introvert and novice adventurer when she began, Angela's journey was as much an inner transformation as a physical one — fuelled by fear, curiosity, and an unwavering commitment to explore what it means to live with courage.
Angela walked with purpose, raising funds to support girls rescued from human trafficking, and continues that mission through mentoring and women's empowerment workshops. She's been featured by Lonely Planet, BBC Travel, and Outside Magazine, and most recently became one of the first women to swim across the Caspian Sea — a feat that took 28 days and redefined her relationship with fear and endurance.
Now based in Wales (for the moment), Angela is writing a book about her world walk and sharing her philosophy that "courage is a verb." Whether she's walking, swimming, or simply choosing the unknown, Angela lives by example — proving that adventure doesn't require expertise, just the decision to begin.
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Show notes
- Who is Angela
- Spending 6.5 years walking west around the world
- Setting a world record by swimming across the Caspian Sea
- Being settled in Wales for the Winter
- Having a mutual friend - Miriam Lancewood
- Her childhood and growing up
- Getting chicken pox at 30
- Not having any friends and being an introvert as a young kid
- Her love for nature coming later on in life
- Liking her own company
- Daydreaming about travel
- Spending time alone
- Being inspired from a young age
- WHY?!
- Starting walking because she was terrified
- Where does an idea come from?
- The route and what the journey looked like
- Starting in Australia and walking North to South on the West Coast
- Heading over to Vietnam
- Heading to Europe and the UK
- Flying back and forth due to visa issues
- Writing a book about the walk
- The challenge of writing a book
- Not wanting to share the journey on social media
- Wanting to be totally present and have the journey for herself
- Raising funds for women and girls
- Self funding the walk
- Being inspired by Rosie Swale Pope who ran around the world
- Book: Just a Little Run Around the World: 5 Years, 3 Packs of Wolves and 53 Pairs of Shoes
- Living on a budget of $5 per day
- Women for Women International
- Adventuring with a purpose
- Bad days while walking
- Thriving on the little daily adventures
- The joy of not knowing and what might be around the corner
- Still enjoying walking now
- The classic thru-hikes
- Walking the Pennine Way in the UK
- Walking part of Te Araroa in New Zealand
- Her thoughts on courage
- Dealing with self doubt, before and during the walk
- Ted Talk - "Courage is a verb"
- Making the decision to continue
- The most dangerous place for a woman is in the home
- The fear at the end of the walk, what was going to be next
- Little feeling of depression at the end
- Swimming across the Caspian Sea
- Swimming V walking
- Having a fear of open water and not being a good swimmer
- Funding the challenge
- What it was like day to day on the water
- Taking 28 days to do the crossing, swimming 6hrs per day
- Other around the world challenges?!
- Not having a compulsion to share her stories
- Living on very little and funding her current lifestyle
- Using Trusted Housesitters
- Running workshops for women
- Guilty pleasures….
- Injuries?
- Book: Wilder Journeys: True Stories of Nature, Adventure and Connection
- Future plans for 2026
- How to connect with Angela
- Final words of advice on courage
- Choosing courage on a day to day basis
Social Media
Website www.SheWalksTheEarth.com
Instagram @AngelaMarieMaxwell