Many travellers dream of having major adventures in the world’s most remote destinations but, for one British filmmaker, exploring far-flung – and often dangerous – corners of the globe is all in a day’s work.
British extreme cameraman Stan Gaskell has clocked up visits to 39 countries while working 20-hour days and living in a van called Nelly, filming the adrenaline-filled journeys of real-life explorers.
At just 24 years old, he’s been to a Hindu festival that only happens every 144 years in Prayagraj, locked down in a military census curfew in Iraq and crossed the world’s most pirated waters.
Gaskell, from North Yorkshire, started freelancing as a camera operator when he was 16 before getting his ‘big break’ working on Project Africa in March 2023.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Gaskell shares how he travelled the entire length of Africa in 352 days while documenting Russell Cook’s (aka ‘the Hardest Geezer’) mission to become the first person to run the 10,000-mile journey.
While he’s captured on camera incredible scenery, and enjoyed local food and hospitality, he’s also endured some seriously sketchy moments, including a terrifying ‘near-death’ experience while crossing the Gulf of Guinea.
He explains how he ended up ‘squaring up’ to sailors during one trip after a plan to avoid a conflict zone in Nigeria saw his crew take a path that ended up being just as treacherous.
‘I was just coming off my first malaria bout in Cameroon when we were due to strap our van to a boat and cross the ocean to Nigeria, avoiding a warzone on land,’ he says.
Stan Gaskell, from North Yorkshire, started freelancing as a camera operator when he was 16 before getting his ‘big break’ in March 2023. He is pictured filming on the English Channel
British extreme endurance athlete Russ Cook (L), known as the ‘Hardest Geezer’ and Stan (R) are pictured in Senegal during filming for Project Africa
‘I was sailing on an oversized plank of wood across the world’s most pirated waters with our van strapped to the top, in a thunderstorm,’ says Gaskell
‘We had to load our van onto a really rickety cargo boat, which was made of wood and falling apart. When we arrived at the boat, we met our fixer – who still haunts our dreams to this day.
Gaskell, who returned from Africa in April 2024, explains: ‘He wanted to lift our 4.5-tonne van onto the boat with a crane. We carefully considered whether the warzone sounded quite nice after all!’
After two days of arguing back and forth, the van, which nearly slipped into the sea during the process, was rolled onto the boat.
‘I squared up to more big sailors than I should have,’ admits Gaskell. And when they finally set sail, they headed into an almighty storm.
‘When we got out to sea, there was a big thunderstorm that was rocking the boat 45 degrees each way. It was one of the few times that I thought to myself, “We might not make it out of here.”’ Gaskell recalls.
‘Feeling about as stable as a seesaw made of middle-aged men, my colleague Jamie and I calmly discussed if the van would make it.
‘We decided it probably wouldn’t, but there was nothing we could do.
‘At that moment, we hit a huge wave, and the main supporting beam of the boat cracked slightly in front of us.’
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After two days of arguing back and forth, the van, which nearly slipped into the sea during the process, was rolled onto the boat in Cameroon, in preparation for the crossing
Gaskell is pictured in Nigeria after the van was shipped from Cameroon
He says he and his colleague briefly discussed how they might not ‘make it out alive’ but realised there was no alternative except to nervously ride it out.
‘I was sailing on an oversized plank of wood across the world’s most pirated waters with our van strapped to the top, in a thunderstorm.
‘Safe to say we didn’t actually drown that day, but it’s one of the closest times either of us has ever felt to death, and it’s stuck with me for a long time.’
It’s not the only time Gaskell has feared for his life while capturing footage. On another occasion, his van broke down in the Mauritanian Sahara.
‘This was when Jamie and I were forced to split up from the others in the roadless section of the Sahara,’ he says.
‘This meant going off on our own, with no satellite phone, along barely used tyre tracks in the middle of nowhere, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest road, hoping we’d find a trail that would take us to the Algerian border.
‘After a day of aimless driving, we finally found the main route again, but a sandstorm halted our progress for the day. We got to bed early, ready to set off at first light.’
But when they woke up the next morning, their troubles were far from over.
‘Within an hour of starting the next day, the engine turned off. We carried on cautiously for half an hour, then the same again. Half an hour more, and it wouldn’t start back up. This was bad.
Gaskell is pictured in the Cappadocia region of Turkey, famous for its ‘moonscaped’ landscape, which includes cone-like pillars and honeycombed hills
Stan is pictured camping in the roadless Sahara Desert, Mauritania
‘We were 12km away from a military base at the border to Western Sahara, so we tried to go there, and somehow, very slowly, made it.
‘The guards initially pointed their weapons at us, but after some dodgy chat in broken Arabic and French, they were actually very kind to us, and as luck would have it, there was a desert outpost not far away, with a mechanic. We slowly pulled the van there.
‘Even more luckily, this breakdown had stopped us following the planned route, into Western Sahara, where Morocco was actively bombing civilian vehicles. If we’d broken down literally two hours later, I might not be telling this story.
‘When the mechanic rocked up, we explained the problem to him, and he got to work. After four hours, he gave up. There was no fix without ordering parts, and this place didn’t exactly have Amazon Prime. We were officially stuck.
‘The next morning, the mechanics returned and showed us a trick to restart the engine by pouring petrol into the ignition to create a small explosion that would start the motor. We still had 400km to go, but we decided to try it and hope. Bad move. An hour in, and the engine wouldn’t even start with the petrol trick.
‘Then came our salvation. Algerian truckers, on their way to the border, agreed to pull us all the way. They shared their food, stories and trucky homes with us. They really did save us.’
What goes through the mind when it feels like the worst could happen?
‘At that point, I was so used to things going wrong that I wasn’t even that worried,’ Gaskell says.
Pictured: The state of the van after being towed 250km out of the roadless Sahara Desert by an Algerian Trucker, following the breakdown
Stan has clocked up 39 countries across two expeditions. He is pictured while filming in Guinea
‘I think it was only afterwards that I comprehended how much of a close call it was. You just have to adopt a mindset of expecting things to go wrong. It’s part of the day job.’
After Project Africa, Gaskell, who works for Blue Door Productions, booked a job as a creative producer for Project Limitless, where he documented British adventurer Mitchell Hutchcraft’s record-breaking mission to complete the longest climb of Mount Everest in history.
Starting in September 2024 and finishing in May this year, this involved eight months of filming in challenging environments, covering 19 countries and 13,000km.
After visiting so many varied countries, Gaskell says it’s hard to pick a favourite.
‘The one that pops into my head is Algeria,’ he says. ‘It’s a rarely-visited country; they’ve only recently started opening up for tourists in the last few years.
‘We were the first Westerners to cross over the particular crossing we did because it’s right out in the middle of the desert. Up until that point, it had only been open for trade.
‘That was really special because we got to visit some places that are rarely visited by Western people.
‘We received incredible hospitality everywhere we went, but Algeria was really special. Even in the most incredibly remote parts of the country, people were willing to share whatever they had with us.’
After visiting so many varied countries, Stan says it’s hard to pick a favourite. But if he had to choose, it would be Algeria
Stan documented Mitchell Hutchcraft’s mission to complete the longest climb of Mount Everest in history. Pictured: Reaching the summit of Lobuche East (6119m) in Nepal
When it comes to Gaskell’s advice for taking great videos while travelling, he says: ‘The most important thing that people should understand is that to make a great travel video, you don’t need to have fancy cameras or a massive production budget.
‘The heart of it is always the story and you can capture that with a phone camera or GoPro. Everyone has an incredible camera in their pockets these days.
‘What it’s really about is capturing what you see around you and trying to find your personal story within that.
‘It isn’t about visuals, it’s purely about the story and the people.’
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