Roz Savage is an Ocean Rower, is the first woman to solo row across 3 oceans and has earned 4 world record. She has transcended self imposed limits to build a global platform of environmental activism.
Roz Savage wasn’t always a public figure and international voice for the environment. She was working into her 30s as a management consultant in London and in her words, living a materialist lifestyle. Roz joined the Go Hunt Life podcast to share her story from a normal life with a normal job to an internationally known activist for the environment and along the way, encourages us all to make a difference.
Roz Savage on finding the courage to pull the ripcord on her old life.
“I wrote two versions of my obituary. The first one was the fantasy version and the second one was the one that I was headed for.”
“I needed to spend a little bit longer in that life until I reached an absolute low point. I then started to reinvent my life.”
“I had been afraid to fail up to that point but failing at a number of major things simultaneously was a real revelation to me.”
“Life was passing, the future is unpredictable and you have to crack on and get out there.”
Roz Savage on deciding to row across oceans by herself.
“My first thought was that’s absolutely perfect and the second thought was that is absolutely insane.”
“The fate of humans and the fate of the earth are interconnected. If we don’t look after out planet, it’s not going to work out for us humans.”
“I wanted to find some way to get people’s attention so I could talk to them to get a message across that we all need to take care of the earth.”
“I had enough naive optimization to get myself into it and then too much stubborn pride to get myself back out of it.”
“Every single day I felt like I was failing.”
“It was a baptism by fire.”
On courage, failing and persevering.
“I was always convinced that I could make it but I wasn’t always convinced that I wanted to make it.”
“I could just go for a long swim and not come back but it was just a moment of despair.”
“I lost all radio communication for 24 days.”
“I was so desperate to get off of the ocean after 103 days and it was so demoralizing that I had made a 60 mile mistake.”
“I had suffered so much on the Atlantic, I also felt like I had learned so much mostly by doing it wrong.”
“I wanted to take that ocean going version of me that I had developed a lot of respect for and I wanted to integrate her into who I am on dry land.”
On the dread of getting back on the ocean to row across the Pacific.
“I wanted to put myself to the test again”
“Believe it or not I do have a healthy bit of self preservation.”
On courage and how to live a courageous life.
“Day after day, you are taking the more courageous path versus the path of least resistance. My hypothesis is that over a the course of a lifetime you will end up in a very different place and you’ve achieved a lot more if you’ve made courageous decisions along the way.”
“Courage is about moral energy and making proactive decisions.”
“Keep the faith, this ocean is going to test you severely once again.”
On crafting a minimalistic lifestyle.
“We need to make space in our heads for these thoughts of, am I on the right track, and an easier way to make these decisions is to simplify our lives to get off of that materialistic treadmill.”
“All of my personal stuff I could still fit into the back of an SUV.”
“There’s no point in shopping when you don’t have anywhere to put the stuff that you buy.”
On pollution in the oceans and ‘refusing and reusing.’
“80% of the plastic in the ocean comes from land. The plastic in the streets makes it into the streams and rivers and ultimately makes it into the ocean.”
“To me it seems completely crazy to make single use items out of a relatively indestructible substance. Plastic bags, drink bottles and caps on Starbucks cups all contribute to a massive plastic footprint.”
“We all have the power to make a difference.”
Check out Roz Savage’s latest mission at rozsavage.com.
Thank you, looking forward to more stories to get me to pull the ripcord!