Laura Stokes, Cheltenham Lifestyle & Business
'Karen Espley guides us on her journey starting from a shaky childhood, via the freedom of university and into the corporate chasm of the 1990’s. We follow our impulsive explorer as she stands full height (all 5’2” of it) and faces childhood trauma, depression and sexism to head off on the adventure she’d always dreamt of.
As she joins a research trip to Antarctica, Karen’s descriptive writing and humour brings to life the colourful characters she meets along the way, together with the bleak Russian base camp, partying with the Uruguayans, pizza fuelled nights of salsa dancing and encounters with smelly penguins,angry sea lions and ferocious skuas. The confined living quarters, different personalities and difficult group dynamics are balanced by stunning scenery, once in a life time events and wonderful memories shared from what was clearly a life altering experience.
I had the privilege of reading this delightfully honest and exhilarating tale before publication and Karen’s friendly tone as she describes her physical and mental journey makes it feel as though you’re with an old friend, it’s one of those books you want to read from beginning to end in one glorious
go.'
Andrew Middleton - Founder of INDY (I’m Not Done Yet)
‘The Impulsive Explorer is about bravery, of not letting arbitrary limits diminish your potential and opportunities, and living your life to its fullest.
Karen demonstrates more bravery and chutzpah than 99% of the UK population.
It’s a bloody good adventure showing that sometimes you
just have to JFDI.’