Kim was no stranger to adventure when she booked an Uncharted Expedition through Central Asia back in 2019, but not knowing where she’d be going each day gave her the kind of raw, authentic travel moments she’d always craved.
Kim Murray has walked in the footsteps of Siberian reindeer herders, cycled through Vietnam and searched high and low for orangutans in the Sumatran jungle. It’s safe to say she’s no stranger to adventurous travel. But it was an Intrepid trip six years ago – an unscripted Uncharted Expedition with a mystery itinerary – that proved to be Kim’s most transformative travel experience to date.
‘Imagine stepping into a place with no expectations, no itinerary and no spoilers,’ Kim says, reflecting on the appeal of the Uncharted Expedition. ‘Every moment is a surprise, every turn a discovery. You learn to trust your instincts, embrace uncertainty and find joy in the unfamiliar. A real adventure.’
Let’s take it back to 2019. As Kim’s plane descended into Astana, Kazakhstan’s capital, she felt like she was crossing a threshold into the unknown. Snowcapped mountains stretched endlessly across the horizon, their peaks ablaze in the afternoon sun. Though she knew she would arrive in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in three weeks’ time, she had no idea what the intervening days might entail.
When you’re not sure what the next hour will bring, let alone the next day, you have no choice but to live in the moment.
‘It wasn’t just the landscape that stirred something in me,’ Kim says. ‘It was a feeling – the pure joy of not knowing what was to come. Who would I meet? What stories would unfold? What challenges would define the journey?’ The first evening was electric. Twelve strangers united by curiosity, courage and a hunger for something real. They spoke late into the night about travel and meaning and why they had chosen to be part of the Uncharted Expedition.
For Kim, Uncharted was a chance to lean into the journey instead of the destination. When you’re not sure what the next hour will bring, let alone the next day, you have no choice but to live in the moment. She has always courted spontaneity and surprise in her travels, but she thought the expedition could take things to another level. There was a purity to it, a realness that’s hard to replicate in the age of information, and the other travellers were similarly motivated. They were curious about the world; open to new experiences, to challenges and taking chances.
‘It’s a night I’ll never forget,’ Kim says about that first evening in Kazakhstan. ‘And to this day, it’s hard to put the [entire] experience into words.’
The 2019 Uncharted Expedition saw the group travel from Kazakhstan to Mongolia via Russia. Planned by Intrepid’s destination experts, the itinerary was kept secret as a way to recapture the spirit of authentic travel that inspired the creation of Intrepid in 1989 – a spirit of being challenged, surprised and, most importantly, awed.
For Kim, the trip’s highlight came deep in the Mongolian wilderness, hours from paved roads and phone reception. To reach the evening’s camp, at the edge of the Potanin Glacier, the group would need to drive through a deep river fed by glacial run-off. Everything went to plan until it didn’t.
‘We were driving through this river on the way to the glacier and we looked behind to see our food van was stuck,’ Kim says. ‘We were safe, of course, and the way everyone – the group, Intrepid, the drivers – handled it was unbelievable. What could’ve been a setback turned into a defining moment. I can still picture the mountains, and the glacier coming down. We were in the middle of nowhere. Just mountains, blue skies, the river and this beautiful silence. I remember thinking: oh my goodness, where are we?’
It’s a fair question, given the Uncharted Expedition’s billing as a mystery trip with no fixed itinerary. Not knowing is kind of the point. Still, each evening the group’s leader, Anton, would hint at what the next day might bring. He’d point to a remote region on a map, or inform the group they’d be going for a walk at a certain elevation, or taking a long train trip. Eighteen hours later, they could be riding the rails across the Eastern Kazakh Steppe, breaking a sweat in a Russian banya or playing basketball in a remote village with kids who had never seen a tourist.
Kim could scarcely believe where she was. Whose idea was it to drive Soviet trucks through the Altai Mountains, she wondered, or to camp by a glacier and wake at the crack of dawn to crackling ice? The trip was so unique, so unrepeatable, she still struggles to convey the depth of experience.
‘That kind of travel is rare,’ Kim says. ‘Not just new sights, but raw, unforgettable moments. The kind you don’t plan or pose for. It felt like real freedom in a world where everything is scheduled and reviewed. Sometimes, in quiet moments, or when I cross paths with one of the other travellers, the memories come rushing back. We laugh and reminisce. And for a moment, I’m back there. On that first night in Astana on the edge of something extraordinary. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life and I’ll always remember it.’
After a six-year hiatus, Intrepid has just announced its next Uncharted Expedition, leaving mid-2026. The 14-day trip starts in Harare, Zimbabwe, and ends in Ilha de Mozambique, and the rest, well, a lucky few travellers will find out when they get there. Enter now for a chance to reserve a spot.
