I recently sorted through some of my Opinion articles from over the years and drew out a few themes about expeditions and adventure. Here is a summary of my ethos with plenty of links…
My strong view is that adventure need not require time, money or expertise.
I don’t have a major beef with celebrity expeditions (even if they sometimes undermine the efforts of others) but I do believe that TV makes expeditions seem unnecessarily scary and that “adventurers” often unhelpfully exaggerate their stories.
In fact, I think that adventurers frequently patronise by implying that going on expeditions is a better way to use your life than working a 9-to-5 but, in my view, completing a great expedition doesn’t make you a great person. That’s part of the reason why I don’t want to be a professional adventurer.
That said, I feel that expeditions are a great way to create challenge in your life, manifest self-belief and even overcome prejudice. However, I don’t think that expeditions should be taken too seriously or that they should be used to prove how tough you are.
I prefer original adventure ideas but will always help anyone that gets in touch, as I have done with every person that has contacted me in the ten years since I was first approached for help.
Your thoughts?
2 Comments
Neill Wylie
I love Alistair Humphreys take on it. This article reminds me of it. I recently gave up my job as an adventure leader for the scouts because of the money situation. I’m nothing like your level at all but I was lucky enough to get the kids excited enough to step up and give things a go. Funny enough I was looking at accountancy courses online and then you popped up. I’ll be looking into your journey through life a lot more now. Well done man. You seem to have merged the two worlds of adventure and civilization successfully. Something I’m struggling forwards with.
Tim Moss
Thanks Neill. I hope you manage to reach the right balance.