I joined Yumping.co.uk in September 2022 as an intern in the Content Department of the UK website. I started out writing and translating guides to the different activities that we offer. Since becoming a full team member as a Content Manager in early 2023, my role has diversified. I create new company profiles and price pages, bring existing content up to date and contribute to the adventure sports blog.
This has been a big change for me after six years of teaching English as a second language, but those years helping students communicate clearly and precisely, while fostering in them a love for the language, have prepared me well for a writer’s role.
Training
I graduated from the
University of Sussex with a History degree and stayed on to do a Master’s in Contemporary History. My love of this subject stems from my desire to uncover and retell stories. After my time at university, I completed a CertTESOL English language teaching course, packed my bags, and set off to see the world.
Professional experience
When I was at university I worked for a language travel company
Education First. I spent two years as an activity leader, accompanying groups of teenagers from all over Europe on the summer holiday of their lives! We visited interesting places in Brighton, London and the surrounding area, took part in challenges and games, and enjoyed some leisure time, kayaking and playing laser tag and tennis.
I’ve spent the years since uni teaching English. At first, teaching was a means to an end - a job that would allow me to live in different countries, explore the world and see things from a different point of view - but I quickly fell in love with the profession. Through teaching, I met thousands of people from all over the world and heard about their home countries, interests and stories in
Duoc &
ETC.
Adventure sports experience
I’ve always been an active, outdoorsy person. My parents took me on holidays to far-flung corners of the UK and off-the-beaten-track destinations in Europe when I was a child. We’d go hiking, hire mountain bikes, take boat trips and more as we discovered these places. As a teenager, I took part in the
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme, which involved completing 5-day through-hikes in the wilds of Dartmoor National Park. The programme also gave me the opportunity to try other sports such as kayaking, sailing and downhill mountain biking.
In recent years, I’ve completed longer and more challenging hikes than ever before. In 2021, I walked the
Camino de Santiago from the French border at Somport to Muxia on the coast of Galicia. The more demanding hikes have been the peaks of the Pyrenees, at heights that you can’t even dream of finding in the UK! I’m also a keen boulderer, frequenting local climbing walls and pushing myself to attempt more daring routes. Recently, I had my first experience of canyoning and I already know it won’t be my last!
Questions to Martin Buxton about Yumping
What three adventure activities do you have to do at least once in your life?
I know I’m not the only one who’s attracted to flying sports, but the one that tempts me most - for its simplicity more than anything else - is paragliding. Aside from that, I’d love to get into Vias Ferrata and I think that a long canoe trip, perhaps down a Scottish river, would be a wonderful way to spend a few days.
What activity or sport would you like to be an instructor?
As I become a better climber, I’d like to be able to pass on the skills and techniques that I’ve learnt to others. But that’s a long way off yet.
What activities would you recommend doing in your city of birth?
I didn’t grow up in my city of birth but in Southwest England. Here, Coast is King. Dancing Ledge is one of the best places in the UK for coasteering, you’ll often see windsurfers in Kimmeridge Bay on da’s when no one else will brave the waters, and coastal winds make for good paragliding on the Purbeck Hills.
