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GeoWizard

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GeoWizard
GeoWizard channel logo
Personal information
Born (1990-09-22) 22 September 1990 (age 34)
NationalityBritish
OccupationYouTuber
Websiteofficialgeowizardstore.com
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2015–present
Genres
  • Geography trivia
  • Wilderness adventure
Subscribers1.31 million[1]
Total views213 million[1]
100,000 subscribers
1,000,000 subscribers2021
Last updated: 4 June 2024

Tom Davies (born 22 September 1990[2][3][4]), known online as GeoWizard, is a British YouTuber and adventurer known for his skill in playing the internet geography game GeoGuessr and his "straight line mission" adventures, in which he attempts to cross regions on foot in as close to a straight line as possible.

Career

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Growing up in Aldridge, West Midlands, Davies held a number of jobs before becoming successful on YouTube, including as a fishmonger, van driver, and bartender.[5]

GeoGuessr

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Davies registered his YouTube channel, "GeoWizard", on 15 May 2015,[6] building it around the game GeoGuessr,[7][8] a browser game in which the player must identify locations in Google Street View.[9][10] As of June 2024, Davies has over 1.3 million subscribers and over 213 million views across all his public videos.[6]

Straight line missions

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Davies undertakes "straight line missions", in which he uses a GPS device to attempt to cross a geographic area in a straight line. His first attempt, in 2019, was to cross Wales. Bad weather and steeper terrain than expected resulted in failure 9 mi (14 km) from the coast.[11][12][13][14] In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, Davies and his friend Greg attempted to cross Wales, but the effort was aborted midway for health reasons. Later in 2020, Davies successfully crossed Norway in a straight line.[15] In early 2021, Davies and Greg attempted to cross Scotland but failed when they were caught by police for breaking local COVID-19 guidelines.[16] Their video was criticized for showing them crossing a live railway line, and Davies edited that scene out of the video following a visit from the British Transport Police.[16][17] In October 2021, Davies and his brother Ben attempted to cross Wales for a third time. The pair managed to complete the crossing, but a GPS battery malfunction on day three caused them to temporarily leave the line, making it non-continuous.[18] Davies pursued a fourth crossing of Wales in late January and early February 2023, which proved a success.[19] He later noted that one of his main motivations for attempting it once more was due to competition, notably from Adam and Archie Fieldhouse, fellow straight-line adventurers who had successfully crossed Scotland, a feat that Davies was unable to do.[19][20] The Fieldhouses would also act as a major motivation for Davies' straight-line mission across England in late January to early February 2024.[21]

No roads missions

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In April 2022, Davies premiered a new type of adventure, called the "No Roads Mission", where he attempts to cross an urban area without walking down roads. His first mission was across the Black Country and resulted in a success.[22] In June 2023, he embarked on a mission, this time over two episodes, in which he, along with his brother Ben, attempted to cross Birmingham without using roads or the city's canal network, with some help from their uncle Ed (in place of Davies' wife Verity, who had been his assistant during some of his previous missions).[23][24]

Other missions/adventures

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In August 2022, Davies and a small support crew including Russ Cook dribbled a football across the width of Britain along Hadrian's Wall Path in a continuous run. Starting on the west coast, they walked and jogged the 73-mile (117 km) route in approximately 23 hours, stopping only for brief periods for food and water. Davies was the only member of the team to touch the football, making no hand contact with it at any point and becoming the first person to achieve this feat. The event was recorded and named "Dribbling Britain"[25] and raised £70,000 for charities supporting efforts to end youth homelessness, improve men's mental health, and reduce youth violence.[26] Later that year, Davies—along with friends Ben Cook and Adam Cook—ran across Wales from the border with England, near Anchor, to the coast at Aberystwyth, in under fourteen hours. Parts of the route were covered by more than one foot (0.30 m) of snow, with temperatures reaching −9 °C (16 °F).[27]

In December 2023, Davies and fellow straight-line mission YouTubers Adam and Archie Fieldhouse raced each other across the Isle of Man, in the channel's first "straight line race", which was won by the Fieldhouse team.[28]

How Not to Travel

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In his series How Not to Travel, Davies and Greg embark on long journeys with little planning and the intent of using as many methods of transport as possible, such as hitchhiking, cycling, kayaking, or scootering. This series currently has two seasons: How Not to Travel Europe (2019–2020), documenting a journey from Geneva, Switzerland to Bratislava, Slovakia; and How Not to Travel America (2022–2023), covering a trip down the East Coast of the United States from Boston to Miami.[29][30]

Music

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Davies composes music under the name Amynedd, which he uses to underscore his videos. In 2020, he released the album 16-Bit Adventure.[31][32][33]

Personal life

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Davies is married to Verity,[34] who has appeared in his videos and acted as support crew for his straight line missions.[35][36] Davies has also said that as of the publication of his straight-line mission across England, he and Verity are expecting a child.[37]

References

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  1. ^ a b "About GeoWizard". YouTube.
  2. ^ Gillibrand, Peter (13 May 2023). "YouTuber Tom Davies walks straight line across Wales". BBC News. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  3. ^ GeoWizard (18 October 2023). Guessing the date & location of more nostalgic photos with TimeGuessr. Retrieved 19 October 2023. "I'm gonna say 1990. The year I was born".
  4. ^ GeoWizard (22 January 2023). Two Brits hike through rural Virginia and accidentally trespass... (How NOT to travel America #5)]. Event occurs at 40:28. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  5. ^ Hall, Rachel (11 June 2021). "Straight story? The YouTuber taking a direct route to success". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  6. ^ a b "GeoWizard – YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  7. ^ Romano, Andrea (26 June 2020). "This Guy Only Needs 10 Seconds to Guess Which Country He's Looking at in Google Street View". Travel + Leisure. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  8. ^ "This Geography Genius Can Figure Out Exactly Where a Photo Was Shot". petapixel.com. 4 March 2021. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  9. ^ Norman, Max (24 June 2022). "The Charming Bloke Who Dominates GeoGuessr". The New Yorker. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  10. ^ Browning, Kellen (7 July 2022). "Siberia or Japan? Expert Google Maps Players Can Tell at a Glimpse". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  11. ^ "Un youtuber busca ser la primera persona en cruzar a pie un país en línea recta". Radio Mitre (in Spanish). 30 July 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  12. ^ Jorge, Michael (30 July 2019). "Un youtuber está tratando de cruzar Gales a pie en línea recta, y lo está pasando mal". Gizmodo (in European Spanish). Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  13. ^ "¿Lo logrará? Youtuber quiere ser el primero en atravesar un país a pie y en línea recta". HSB Televisión (in Spanish). 4 August 2019. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  14. ^ "走一直線能有多難？ 瘋狂YouTuber挑戰直線穿越一個國家 - 生活". Liberty Times (in Chinese). 28 August 2019. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  15. ^ Campbell, Oliver-James (16 February 2021). "Meet the Man Who Walks Across Entire Countries in a Straight Line". Atlas Obscura. Archived from the original on 22 February 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  16. ^ a b Cutler, Martin. "STRAIGHT-LINE YouTubers facing prosecution after crossing high-speed railway line and motorways on foot". Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  17. ^ Tom Davies (2 July 2021). British Transport Police knocked on my door because of this video (SCOTLAND PART 2) (video). GeoWizard. Retrieved 18 July 2023 – via YouTube.
  18. ^ Tom Davies (22 December 2021). The most action packed straight-line-mission to date (DAY 1: Ferns & Tractors) (video). GeoWizard. Retrieved 22 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  19. ^ a b GeoWizard (23 April 2023). Crossing Wales in a straight line just became a race. (my fourth and hopefully final attempt). Retrieved 9 June 2024 – via YouTube.
  20. ^ Archie Fieldhouse (10 April 2022). Can we finish a Straight Line Mission across Scotland!? #3 inspired by Geowizard. Retrieved 9 June 2024 – via YouTube.
  21. ^ GeoWizard (26 May 2024). I attempted to cross England in a completely straight line. (PART 1). Retrieved 9 June 2024 – via YouTube.
  22. ^ Introducing the "No Roads Mission" ...a very urban adventure [PART 1], retrieved 11 February 2024
  23. ^ Tom Davies (16 June 2023). Can we cross the UK's 2nd largest city without using a single road? (video). GeoWizard – via YouTube.
  24. ^ Tom Davies (28 June 2023). Dead rats, used needles and orange sewage [Birmingham No Roads Mission PART 2] (video). GeoWizard – via YouTube.
  25. ^ Tom Davies (24 August 2022). I attempted to kick a football across Britain in under 24 hours [PART 1 of 2] (video). GeoWizard. Retrieved 9 March 2023 – via YouTube.
  26. ^ "Dribbling Britain Main Page". Just Giving. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  27. ^ Tom Davies (21 May 2023). We picked the worst day imaginable to run across a country (video). GeoWizard – via YouTube.
  28. ^ Tom Davies (4 March 2024) I raced my straight line rivals across the Isle of Man (and it was epic), retrieved 9 March 2024 (video) GeoWizard – via YouTube
  29. ^ Tom Davies (26 December 2019). How NOT to travel Europe (playlist). GeoWizard. Retrieved 17 February 2023 – via YouTube.
  30. ^ Tom Davies (4 December 2019). How NOT to travel America (playlist). GeoWizard. Retrieved 17 February 2023 – via YouTube.
  31. ^ "16-Bit Adventure, by Amynedd". Amynedd. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  32. ^ Tom Davies (22 December 2021). 16-Bit Adventure (video). GeoWizard. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021 – via YouTube.
  33. ^ Kristoffersen, Kai Jæger (19 December 2020). "Dro til Norge for å krysse landet i en rett linje: – Var ikke forberedt på dette". NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Archived from the original on 23 February 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  34. ^ GeoWizard (31 July 2023). Geoguessr Maps: Areas with Tragic or Disturbing Backstories #2 [PLAY ALONG] (video). Event occurs at 01:25. Retrieved 1 August 2023. I'm on my honeymoon right now as we speak [...] wedding was perfect by the way, couldn't have gone better.
  35. ^ GeoWizard (19 January 2022). Can we complete this extraordinary straight line mission? [DAY 4: Come Here Coast]. Event occurs at 40:12. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  36. ^ Tom Davies (16 January 2020). Real Life Geoguessr – Blindfolded and Dumped in a Random UK Location – PART 1 (video). GeoWizard. Retrieved 14 June 2023 – via YouTube.
  37. ^ GeoWizard (26 May 2024). I attempted to cross England in a completely straight line. (PART 1). Retrieved 9 June 2024 – via YouTube.
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