After 15 years working in large businesses, clawing her way up the greasy career ladder starting as an admin assistant, through to being the business manager on a GBP12m IT project, where she worked increasingly long hours with almost unbearable levels of stress, Karen realised there must be more to life. Having had a life-changing trip to the Antarctic in 2000 and saved enough money to last a year, she took the plunge and began her journey to find a different way to live and to escape from the expectations she grew up with. Karen worked in start-ups, businesses that failed, a business that grew from nothing to 150 employees that was then sold. She was an owner and shareholder of a successful consultancy practice, and has been a freelance consultant. In addition, she studied for an MBA to understand in more depth how business works. She's learned (sometimes painful) lessons and has helped many businesses grow using her broad experience and the lessons she's learned along the way. She has also published a book, The Profitable Business, to help small businesses grow and succeed. Karen is widely travelled having had some epic journeys around the world, including West Africa, Australia and New Zealand as well as the Antarctic. The Impulsive Explorer is the first of a trilogy about Karen's adventures; it will be followed by The Curious Explorer and The Escaping Explorer. She lives in West Sussex with her two cats and is planning the next stage of her adventures.