Aaron Pufal
Aaron Pufal - Biography
Aaron Pufal is a storyteller, adventurer, and creative visionary whose life and work embody the pursuit of meaning through motion. As the host and producer of the ADV Cannonball Podcast, he has built a reputation for turning raw, real-world adventure into rich cinematic storytelling, capturing the grit, humor, and humanity of long-distance motorcyclists pushing themselves across continents. His work blends the authenticity of travel writing with the intimacy of narrative nonfiction, creating a bridge between modern adventure culture and timeless human stories.
The Book
He is also the author of Chasing Legends: Motorcycle Stories from the Podcast Trail, which brings together the most compelling voices and journeys from his years behind the microphone. The book has been recognised with some of the most prestigious honours in independent publishing.
New Non-Fiction
Non-Fiction
Sports Category
Outstanding Literary Achievement, Biographies & Memoirs
New Non-Fiction
Magazine Reading List
The Podcast
The ADV Cannonball Podcast has become one of the most decorated independent motorcycle podcasts in the world, winning the DotComm Award, the MarCom Award, the AVA Digital Award, and the Communicator Award. Guests have included some of the most remarkable names in motorcycling and adventure travel from around the world.
A Life at Sea
Before stepping into the world of podcasting and writing, Aaron spent over two decades sailing the globe as a professional yacht captain, commanding vessels for billionaires, royal families, and heads of state in some of the most remote and storied waters on earth. That life of constant movement and far-flung ports gave him a sharp understanding of logistics, leadership, and human psychology. The insight he gained from navigating both storms and social hierarchies now informs much of his writing and storytelling, revealing the contrast between privilege and perseverance, comfort and authenticity.
Service Beyond Adventure
Aaron's drive to lead has never been limited to luxury or leisure. When Hurricane Matthew devastated the Bahamas, he flew several relief missions into the islands, delivering the first aid supplies to reach the hardest-hit communities. While living in Washington State, he served as a volunteer firefighter and Emergency Medical Responder, answering the call whenever it came.
When war erupted in Ukraine, he put himself on the front lines of the humanitarian effort, running body armor, field medical supplies, and intelligence into the country by day and training freedom fighters in battlefield medical techniques by night. The depth and reality of that experience was something he discussed openly with Charley Boorman during their interview on the podcast, a conversation that touched on the human cost of the conflict and what compels people to put themselves in harm's way for others. For Aaron, service is not separate from adventure. It is the highest expression of it.
The ADV Cannonball Rally
Today, Aaron channels his hard-won experience into the ADV Cannonball Rally, a coast-to-coast motorcycle endurance event that celebrates self-reliance, endurance, and the spirit of adventure. The rally attracts riders from around the world who share one common goal: to test their limits on the open road. Under his leadership, the Cannonball has become both a competition and a community, part endurance rally and part pilgrimage for those drawn to challenge and camaraderie.
What Comes Next
When he is not organizing events or recording new episodes, Aaron is writing a novel that blends his deep love of adventure motorcycling with the intrigue of espionage and personal redemption. He divides his time between the Pacific Northwest and the open road, chasing stories that explore the boundaries between man, machine, and meaning. Whether at sea, on a mountain pass, or behind a microphone, Aaron Pufal remains true to his core philosophy: the road is not an escape. It is where life is lived most honestly.
Music
In support of the podcast, Aaron and ADV Cannonball Records produce original music available on Spotify, Apple iTunes, and many other platforms.
Aaron’s Motorcycle Book Club and Motorcycle Film Club
Chasing Legends
Motorcycle Stories from the Podcast Trail
Three seasons. Dozens of interviews. One former superyacht captain's obsessive quest to map the invisible connections between the motorcycle legends who changed adventure travel forever.
After being fired by the billionaire family he'd served for a decade, Aaron Pufal traded yachts for a microphone and started chasing the riders who defined what's possible on two wheels. From Ted Simon's stone house in France to Lyndon Poskitt's Yorkshire workshop, from legendary cafés to Dakar bivouacs across three continents, Chasing Legends weaves together the stories that reveal how a community of adventurers, filmmakers, engineers, and dreamers are all connected by invisible threads of influence and inspiration.
You'll meet the woman who rode around the world at twenty-three and then disappeared for thirty years. The paralyzed rally racer who finished Dakar. The documentarian imprisoned in a war zone. The blood bikers racing through London nights with neonatal transfusions. The Mennonite who rode through the Middle East questioning everything. The record-holding Cannonballer averaging 86.5 miles per hour across America for thirty-two hours straight.
This is not a collection of interviews. It's a map of how one person's courage inspires another, which inspires another, creating ripples that circle the globe and come back transformed.
For riders who understand that the road isn't an escape. It's where life is lived most honestly.
"The interruptions are the journey." —Ted Simon
"My body doesn't make the rules. My mind was going to finish." —Joey Evans
"If you're not crashing, you're not trying." —Charley Boorman
