Adventure, travel, the challenge of the unpredictable: these are the ingredients of Eric Newby's life. As a boy he sailed round the world, apprentice on the last of the four-masted sailing ships carrying grain from Australia. He has climbed mountains in Nuristan, canoed down uncharted rivers with Red Indians in Canada, and travelled to every part of the world. In this film Eric Newby looks back not too seriously at some of the adventures in his extraordinary life. With the aid of many of his own photographs of his travels, he expresses his belief that to make the most of life one must grasp the opportunities it offers - not only in distant places but close to home and around us.