It’s
been exactly 7 years since I summited one of the world’s highest peaks, Mt.
Kilimanjaro, 6 years since I ran a Half-Marathon and, probably, 5 years since I
even went camping in the desert. My life, which once read like an adventure handbook
filled with solo travels and thrilling escapades, was now a regular domestic
chronicle featuring bedtime stories and play dates in between endless chores.
No complaints there, but lately I’d begun to question whether I’d erred in
jettisoning adventure so completely from my life.
Naturally,
I was looking forward to the ‘Extreme Adventures’ session, which featured four
hardy travellers, including one woman! I
was hoping to vicariously enjoy their adventures, and perhaps, even be inspired
again.
The
panelists included Mark Evans, who’d led expeditions in the Arctic, and had
kayaked around Oman in 55 days, Julie Lewis, who’d led expeditions in 20
countries, including the Arctic and Antartica, Richard Parks, who’d done the
Seven Summits and the three Poles in seven months, and finally, Ted Simon.
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| Ted Simon - 'Jupiter's Travels' |
How
do I begin to describe Ted Simon? He set off in the 1970s on a 4-year-long
motorbike ride across the world. He did it again 40 years later when he was a septuagenarian. In between those
years, he’d kept himself busy walking across Eastern Europe, journeying across
the British Isles and pioneering organic agriculture in California! And here he
was at a Lit Fest in Dubai, well into his 70s, curiosity, wanderlust and energy
still intact. Even before he started speaking, I was impressed.
Simon
started out by pointing out that since it was a literary festival, we should
examine the words related to travel that are dreadfully misused. “What is travel?” he asked, “Can we term what business people or pilots do as travel?
For me, travel is setting out into a world you don’t know.”
He
continued, “Another word is adventure. Nowadays it has come to mean any kind of
exploit. Whereas I feel the only real adventure is when you set out into the
unknown.” He added that there had to be a mental element to adventure,
something ‘illuminating’.
Each
of the panelists was asked about what drove them to set out on their
adventures. Parks shared that the insecurity and uncertainty he felt after an
injury forced him out of a promising rugby career drove him to test his limits
of his endurance. Lewis shared that as a child she received a globe as a
present, and by spinning it and pointing to a place, she would transport
herself there. That was what set off the wanderlust in her. “Every child should be gifted a globe,”
she remarked, with a laugh.
All of the panelists were unequivocal about the importance
of adventure in life. As Lewis said, “It’s
paramount to have an adventurous spirit. In today’s world, there are so many
constraints, it’s important to set out. With experiences, come deeper
self-understanding and with that comes growth.”
Simon added, “It’s
really important to travel, otherwise we’re slaves to media information. People
who are really wonderful, but you wouldn’t think so reading the newspapers.”
Speaking of the abundance of travel literature, most
panelists agreed that books were a catalyst but couldn’t be considered a
substitute for adventure. “The more
travel literature there is, there’s less of real experience,” said Simon,
adding, “You can’t get lost in the world
nowadays,” complained Simon. “It’s
all digital. One click of a button and you know exactly where you are.”
Lewis felt that the anxiety that people experience in modern
times is because of a disconnect with nature. She urged that people disconnect
from their smart devices and go outdoors to discover themselves.
For a couple of the panelists, writing about their exploits
proved as equally revelatory as the adventure. As Simon shared, “I’m a writer, not a motorcyclist. I write to
explain things to myself.” He also pointed out that there was a difference
between exploits that are turned into books and exploits that are undertaken
with the hope of them being turned into a bestselling novel.
What’s the most crucial item to have on an extreme
adventure? Zips, apparently! Both
Evans and Parks put this down on their must-have list, while Simon also added
elastic bands.
On the importance of proper planning and preparation, there
were two opposing views. Parks, the extreme adventure athlete, believed in
extreme planning and manic attention to details. “In my sports career, I was constantly insecure. And at that time, I
regarded it as a character flaw. But now, I’ve come to appreciate that it’s the
insecurity that drives me to plan every little detail.”
Simon felt that too much preparation was unnecessary. “You have deliver yourself to the world and
let it look after you,” he said. He also added that since he didn’t have to
return to an office or answer to anyone, he was free to become a part of
wherever he was.
Evans had a more moderate view. “The degree of planning depends on whether you’re doing a solo trip or
guiding an expedition. For instance, when I led an Arctic expedition with 40
people, we had to all be prepared for the extreme conditions,” he said. The
extreme conditions he shared about included four months of darkness, nocturnal
visits by polar bears and battles with frostbite. He held up a finger with a
blackened tip saying, “Oh, that’s a frostbitten finger, by the way.”
All the panelists were unanimous about the single most
important trait to have on an adventure, “Humility,”
said Simon, while Evans and Lewis nodded. “And
zips,” added Parks. Parks also underlined the importance of living in the
moment, saying, “You break records not by
brute force, but by living in the moment.”
The hour-long session ended way too soon, and it seemed
almost unfair to have four hugely interesting people share a stage, when you
could listen to each of them for hours. Still, I left the hall feeling
invigorated and open to the possibility of adventure. I might not be found atop
a mountain anytime soon, but maybe I’ll make my way up a sand dune, with the little
cub in tow.
