But the 33-year-old Wellingtonian jokes his greatest challenge in life is getting his two young children to eat their vegetables.
Whatever the size of the challenge, Mr Fitzgerald has a simple message about the need to find the purpose underpinning the task at hand.
On Saturday, he was in Dunedin to share that message with about 300 people at the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors 125th Anniversary Conference, held at the University of Otago.
The weekend's events also marked the 50th anniversary reunion of the University's School of Surveying.
Mr Fitzgerald, a former New Zealand rower turned adventurer, television star and motivational speaker, was invited to share his experiences, including those while filming First Crossings.
The television show pitted Mr Fitzgerald and co-star Kevin Biggar against the New Zealand wilderness with only authentic period equipment to help them, while retracing the steps of early explorers and surveyors.
The show was the latest adventure for the pair, who have together won the Trans-Atlantic Rowing Race and trekked across the Antarctic to the South Pole.
Mr Fitzgerald told the Otago Daily Times his message to the surveying students - like any individual or organisation - was to consider the purpose behind their activities, whether it be a job or an adventure.
''It's one thing to go off and have an adventure, but if actually you're not influencing change or making people's lives better, or helping people demonstrate success ... then is that really a valuable use of our time?''
He said his adventures were not about trying to tame Mother Nature, but rather to ''demonstrate these principles of success, but in different environments''.
''Maybe I get bored from doing one thing for too long, but also I'm quite keen on really understanding what I'm capable of.
''I think if any of us fail to try and find that out ... we're probably letting ourselves down. We've got this personal responsibility in each of ourselves to see what we're capable of.''
And, stubborn children and their vegetables aside, he rated the Antarctic as his biggest challenge to date.
''Because every minute of the day, the environment doesn't want anything to survive, or any human to survive down there.
''It's one of the most beautiful places on the planet, but there were many days we were there that its beauty was hidden behind a sheet of blizzards and snow and very unhappy terrain.''
