Mikael Strandberg was born in 1962 in Sweden. He started his professional career as an explorer 25 years ago. The multitalented Mikael is currently working as an explorer, a lecturer and a writer. Mikael has also produced four documentaries for television “PATAGONIA – 3,000 kilometres by horse” and “THE MASAAI PEOPLE – 1,000 kilometres by foot” ,-58 degrees – exploring Siberia on skies and Expedition Yemen 52 degrees in the shadow.”

Frozen Frontier from Outwild TV on Vimeo.

1986-1987 Mikael went by bicycle from Chile to Alaska, a distance of 27,500 kilometres. He crossed the El Darién Jungle, 800 kilometres of virgin rainforest between Panama and Colombia, without any roads. He carried his bike through swamps and a dense jungle for a month.

1989-1992 He went by bicycle from Norway to South Africa a distance of 33,000 kilometres, passing through the Sahara Desert. It took 3 months to push the bike through the dessert, with the help of only a manual compass.

1994 –1996 Mikael went by bicycle from New Zealand to Cairo traversing Asia, a distance of 90,000 kilometres.

1997- 1998 As a newly wed man Mikael was accompanied by his ex wife on his next expedition. This was also their honeymoon. Patagonia 3,000 kilometres by horse through an isolated, windy and painfully cold part of the world.

2000 Mikael walked through Maasailand in Eastern Africa, exploring all clans of the Maasai people.

2004 Mikael explored the unknown Kolyma River in North-Eastern Siberia. 3500 km:s by canoe and by skis in temperatures below -58 degrees Celsius.

2009/10 Expedition Arabia. On Hold! 12 500 km:s of travelling through the hottest inhabited places on earth, in the Arabian deserts and Sahara, with camel.

2011 Expedition Yemen By Camel Mikael traveled through this great country in the midst of having a possible civil war on his hands, together with two friends, Amin and Ahmed, and the camel Antar, from Zabid to Sanaa. 380 km:s really rough terrain just to show the world that Yemen is something totally different to what global media says.

2012 Expedition Yemen By Camel; Crossing The Sands of Al Mahra. Under the threat of getting kidnapped by Al Qaeda, Mikael and his partner Tanya Holm, crossed this one of the hottest deserts in the summer together with their camel Kensington and their 4 different Bedu guides. They carried Explorers Clubs Flag 179.

2013 Expedition Frozen Frontier: Travelling through Siberia with reindeer and sleds. Together with 4 Eveny reindeer herders, Slava Serginov, Tolya Andreyev, Vika Andreyevna and Yura Grigorovich Osenin and 3 Yakut, Egor Petrovich Makarov, Yura Stepanovich Berezhnev and Bolot Bochkarev, Mikael travelled 650 km:s from Oymyakon to the village of Arkah. Temperatures reached close to -60 degrees Celsius during this February trip. They carried Explorer Clubs Flag 179.

Mikael has written seven books and numerous articles. He is frequently used by broadcasters for travel and adventure programmes. In Sweden Mikael has become a household name and Swedish Television SVT and National Geographic have made a documentary about his life.

Mikael is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, the Explorers’ Club, Travellers Club and the Long Riders Guild.

During the Siberian Expedition they carried Explorer Club´s Flag # 95 as a sign of it’s scientific interest and importance. The same applied during the Yemen Expedition 2012, number 179. And during The Frozen Frontier Expedition to Siberia 2013. Same Flag, 179.

He´ s an Honorary Ambassador of his native district Älvdalen. (2005)

He´s also an Honorary Ambassador for Cappadocia, Turkey. (2010)

He´ s the first Swede to lecture at the Royal Geographical Society since Charles John Anderson, 1867. And at the Explorers Club in New York, where he has lectured twice.

He was awarded The Determination in the Face of Adversity Medal by the Explorers Club 2005.

The  Travellers Club of Sweden awarded him the prestigious Silver Medal in 2006.

Travellers Club in Finland awarded Mikael the prestigious Mannerheim Medal at a ceremony in October, 2006.

Mikael is considered as one of the worlds 50 most important and famous explorers, together with, for example, Sir Edmund Hillary, Jane Goddall, Reinhart Messner, Borge Ousland, Wade Davies, George Schaller and many more. They´re all featured in the book “Faces of Exploration”.

Explorers Club in London considers Mikael “the best contemporary explorer in the world” at the present.

Mikael has travelled to 121 countries.

He has slept more than 2500 nights in his tent.

Mikael is also a guide for various travel companies to places such as Galapagos, Patagonia, Siberia, Oman, New Guinea and the Polar areas.

Mikael has also been included in the pages of Adventurous Dreams, Adventurous Lives, with 120 other outstanding individuals, representing a Who’s Who of international exploration, relating those indelible moments in their youth when the dreams that launched their remarkable lives were born.

Mikaels Siberian Journey was picked as one of the most important Expeditions in the 21^st Century and was included in Explorers Clubs book, in the autumn of 2007, “They Lived To Tell the Tale – True Stories of Modern Adventure from the Legendary Explorers Club”.