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A year after a tropical storm swamped her vessel, British adventurer Sarah Outen has
overcome her personal demons to continue her man-powered expedition around the globe. She
returned to the water to cross the Pacific from Japan to Alaska, and after 150 days at
sea, she finally completed the challenge.
I was really exhausted when I got to land. The final few weeks were really difficult.
We're making... I was trying to row as much as I possibly could through some quite challenging
conditions and just get in as quickly as possible within a weather window. And particularly
the last few days, my whole body was like jelly.
The voyage was the latest stage of her 20,000-mile trek around the globe called "London2London"
using only her body power. Since departing London April 1, 2011, the 28-year-old has
travelled 11,000 miles through Europe, Central Asia, China, Russia and Japan by kayak, bicycle
and rowing her 21ft boat. However, the expedition was almost washed away in 2012, when her first
effort to cross the North Pacific was halted by Tropical Storm Mawar and forced her to
return to London for nine months of training and regrouping.
I came back pretty torn up by what happened. Psychologically, it's a quite massive thing
to be in that sort of situation and particularly by yourself because there's no one else there
that you can relate to, talk to, process it with. I lost my boat, so I came home and it
all felt very abstract and very huge. It took me a long while to get my head straight again.
Outen will now return to the UK to prepare and train for the next stage her trip which
will begin back on Adak Island. She'll complete her journey back to London with a North Atlantic
crossing in 2015.