I am not a tourist. A tourist always knows where he’ll be tomorrow or next week, but never knows where he has been last week. Nor, am I a traveler. A traveler may or may not know where he is going but knows definitely when he will arrive. I am a voyageur, who knows where he has been, where he is going and why he is voyaging, but refuses to be impeded by a schedule. For many years, I have been a solo voyager. The voyages have retraced the historic explorations of the 18th and 19th century. In some cases, I was the first and only person to follow a path in 200 years. There are too many stories to be recounted here but there have been dozens of television specials and one feature film documenting my craziness, which has covered 40,000km, by kayak. An explanation: After a painful crisis with the love my life, nothing made much sense. I had been following the capitalist/consumerist path, owned several businesses, homes, boats, cars, all the toys but on nights and weekends had been studying yoga philosophy and psychology , for fifteen years and more and more found it difficult to reconcile what I had been learning with how I had been living. I could not find an empty meditation cave, so, I sold everything, built a traditional kayak using only a knife and a sewing needle and headed into the wilderness, with no money, credit cards, cell phones, food supply, etc. I ,also, for the first time in memory had no agenda, no schedule, no itinerary and no goals. The voyage to the form of a journey in search of Self. I did take my pet bird, who became my guide and teacher. If what I had been studying was valid, I would thrive. If not, I would know that I had more to learn. I thrived! In seven years, I paddled west across North America and north through Canada to the Arctic and then east across the top of the world to Europe. Once in Europe, I picked up the United Nations, as a sponsor, and set out to paddle from Geneva, Switzerland to Durban, South Africa, going along the west coast of Africa and building grassroots support for the conference against racism and all forms of intolerance. In total, it was a great experience but there was some severe physical and psychological consequences. Prolonged severe dehydration caused some endocrine and bone density problems. The constant quest for survival required me to leave my rational mind and rely totally on my intuitive mind and limbic system. In other words, I became feral, a wild man, insane and unable to tolerate human society. It has taken some time and surgeries for the body to recover. I have retrained the mind to tolerate, to some degree, human society. I do, however, retain and cherish some vestiges of my feral nature.:) I have been enjoying the comforts of France, getting fat and drinking too much wine but for a long time have been feeling the desire to voyage and have been attracted to the old silk route between Europe and Asia. No, I will not be walking or riding a camel but riding a recumbent bicycle. I have no idea how long the journey will be but I do not want to go too fast from Spain, through France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kashmir, Nepal, Bhutan, or Tibet, China, Laos and Cambodia. Then homeward on the northern route from Vietnam, China, Mongolia and Russia. I have little interest in most cities and I spend vast amounts of effort on photographing birds. I do not want to travel solo and seek a collaboratrice, more than I seek a companion (the distinction is important). If all or part of this voyage interests you, contact me and we’ll see if there is a fit.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 12:06:50 +0000
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