I have done three documentaries and look forward to doing a forth. God knows when this will become reality! But, the other day somebody phoned me from abroad, to ask me about doing documentaries whilst on Expedition. So I told him to read this report below, from the Kolyma expedition, dated 25th of January 2005 in -58 degrees Celsius!

To be your own camera team is very difficult and I think it is impossible if you don´t make it a life style as we´ve done, Johan and myself. Every single moment we´re spending in the canoe or skiing, when not thinking about our beloved ones or when one is too tired to think, one has to plan for the next scene. Where to find the right atmosphere, the right light and a scene which can develop and move your documentary ahead. And trying to plan your filming when you get attacked by a 800 lbs heavy bear isn´t easy. And it is even harder to get it on film! Fortunately, we´ve understood a long time ago, how utterly dull we are ourselves in comparison with the people we meet during our Expeditions. But filming other people can even be more difficult. Especially in this extreme cold, which is putting a severe strain on the success of our upcoming documentary and our monthly TV-program´s.

It is the 25th of January today and the temperature is -55°F. Unfortunately the temperature seems to be heading downwards again. We´ve both, Johan Ivarsson and myself, caught a cold and this is due to two types of stress we´re experiencing at the moment. Firstly, the positive stress, because we´re working day and night with a new TV-program to be sent off. And secondly, the negative type of stress, since we know that we´ll soon be outdoors, day and night, for a month to come. We´re really worried this time. Unfortunately, we know what to expect out there.

One of the most frequent comments I get from people back home, generally whilst lecturing, and through many emails on this trip, is how in earth did we persuade a camera team to join us on the Expedition and film us at all times. I tell them the truth. We are the camera team. We do every aspect when it comes to producing the documentary. Except the final touch of editing the right colors, the subtitling and graphics. We don´t have the machinery to do that. People seldom believe me. Which I can well understand, since they´re used to adventurers who primarily do sporting Expeditions and lack the knowledge how to film, edit, think dramaturgically and don´t understand the full value of proper sound editing. They´re used to adventurers who have a professional camera man which shows up on and off during the Expedition, or as the general rule seems to be, they do a lot of professional filming during the preparations and afterwards and then use static cut-ins from the Expedition taken by the adventurer himself. All generally shoot from a tripod. There´s absolutely nothing wrong with this. At times it is very exciting, interesting and ground breaking. But when you´ve seen a bunch of the same types of production, it turns out utterly boring. My opinion. I am of the belief that every new documentary should add something new to the general knowledge of daily life and its own genre. The worst, though, I think, is when this type of adventurer considers a production made this way as his own. Unfortunately, this genre of ours, is full of too many self-centered individuals. An adventurer, only known in Sweden, once called me on the mobile a few years ago and asked me if I could assist him with the right contacts at SVT, Sweden´s biggest, most serious and best TV-company.

´´I know how to film!´´ he exclaimed when I told him it was no easy thing for your work or your idea to get accepted, but he continued self-assured: ´´It is dead easy!´´

As an example if this, let me tell you about last week when we spent 12 tedious and bumpy hours in a jeep to reach a very interesting village. The temperature was so low that we couldn´t persuade people to stay outdoors more than quarter of an hour, they simply froze too much, so we didn´t get one single decent scene from this visit.

It isn´t. This adventurer hasn´t, of course, done one single production by himself. And nothing he´s done so far produced by others have appeared on SVT. To be your own camera team is very difficult and I think it is impossible if you don´t make it a life style as we´ve done, Johan and myself. Every single moment we´re spending in the canoe or skiing, when not thinking about our beloved ones or when one is too tired to think, one has to plan for the next scene. Where to find the right atmosphere, the right light and a scene which can develop and move your documentary ahead. And trying to plan your filming when you get attacked by a 800 lbs heavy bear isn´t easy. And it is even harder to get it on film! Fortunately, we´ve understood a long time ago, how utterly dull we are ourselves in comparison with the people we meet during our Expeditions. But filming other people can even be more difficult. Especially in this extreme cold, which is putting a severe strain on the success of our upcoming documentary and our monthly TV-program´s.

As an example if this, let me tell you about last week when we spent 12 tedious and bumpy hours in a jeep to reach a very interesting village. The temperature was so low that we couldn´t persuade people to stay outdoors more than quarter of an hour, they simply froze too much, so we didn´t get one single decent scene from this visit. And when we do have interesting people in front of the camera, and who on top of that doesn´t get bothered by continues re-takes, the camera fails us. In general, the camera doesn´t cope with the cold more than 10 minutes per day before the tapes freezes solid. And it takes at least two hours every time for the camera to thaw out. It doesn´t seem to help at all that we´ve made a cover from and old blanket to keep it warm! And it is only during the first 30 seconds that you actually can see what you´re filming. After that, all you have in your eye piece is a lot of lines. Once back indoors we leave the camera untouched for four nervous hours until we check what has stuck or not. Unfortunately we´ve lost a great deal of good material due to the cold. But it is not only cameras which freeze. Almost all frostbites that we picked up during our last ski trip from Zyryanka was due to the fact that we were handling the camera too long.

However, even if we get everything we want together and filmed, we still have the worst to come. Namely to safely transport all the material to Sweden and hoping it will be ok once at home in the studio. This fact causes a terrific amount of worry during every Expedition. Much more than attacking bears!

The children were fantastic travellers. As we inched our way across the map of Europe, then Central Asia, their capabilities of course increased. Of school there was none but plenty of home education more than filled the gap. Some basics, especially arithmetic and English for Fionn, who had only attended one year of primary, we taught. Most of what they learned was autonomous, though, absorbed almost osmotically. Geography was all around; arithmetic was course and distance calculations and money changing; history was often just chat, if Scottish, or visiting places like Avignon, or Budapest, or Kiev... And as it happens, they did go to school, in Slovenia, by invitation, for two terms, where they were taught in Slovenian! PHOTO Courtesy of DRG

I first came across this extra ordinary fellow called David Renwick Grant back in 1996 when I was planning my Patagonian trip on horseback, he gave me a book about his amazing journey with his family and he taught me a lot. Most of all he inspired me a lot! He still does. We have been in contact on and off throughout the years, lately on Facebook, where he is one of the most dignified of my 2137 friends. Not long ago I read about a Family on Bikes on Facebook and felt a lot of joy! But when reading about them I realized they were very criticized by people who thought it was crazy to bring children travelling. I was stunned! We have only been sedentary, we humans, for no more than maybe a 1000 years of our total of 150 000 as a species. How than can travelling be bad? So I asked David Renwick Grant what he thought.

THREADS FROM THE TAPESTRY

by

David Renwick Grant

I was on board the RSS Discovery last week. She’s berthed permanently in her home port of Dundee, where she was built and it was several years since I had had a look at her. Whatever their preferred means of travel, I would defy anyone who walks aboard and looks up at the crow’s nest not to see in their minds eye a landscape of ice and snow, instead of the solid stone face of Dundee and the gently-flowing river Tay. The old ship has been much modified over the years but you can still stand at the wheel or look into the galley or view the restored cabins of Scott and others. I could feel a tingle start in my feet, as I contemplated faraway places….

Scott’s two expeditions were massive affairs, as was Shackleton’s and to a lesser extent Amundsen’s. At the other end of the world, Nansen’s voyage in the Fram was equally large. Yet, I reflected, it is not essential to be equipped as if for a military operation. Nor is it a prerequisite to have spent years in training and be hugely fit. Had it been, my family and I would probably never have started, let alone completed, the first, and so far as I know, so far the only global circumnavigation by horse-drawn caravan. Yes, I did write ‘my family and I.’ Horse travel is slow, it’s a long way around the world and I wasn’t going to leave them behind for years. Seven years, as it turned out.

The idea of travelling en famille had begun almost as a joke, during a particularly vile day of low, scudding cloud and horizontal rain, sitting by a fire that would not draw and with smoke blowing back down the chimney into the room. The carpet was partially airborne but not from magic, just the draught blasting in under the door. The three children were pretty small then, which ruled out walking and cycling, I never learnt to sail and anyway (ex-)wife Kate got seasick. So that seemed to leave converting a bus, truck, or retired fire-engine perhaps. Anyway, we did nothing about it then, nor in the following year but we talked about it more and more often. Then one day, while I was working away from home, living in ‘digs’ (lodgings) in Lancaster during the week, I was lying in bed reading a magazine. I turned a page and there was this article about horse-drawn caravan holidays in Ireland and a most beguiling picture of a skewbald cob pulling a light bow-top wagon. That was it! That was how we should travel. And, about two years later, we did.

What I think we demonstrated very convincingly is that there are ways to travel as a family, even over an extended period, that neither break the bank nor destroy the life-chances of the children involved. Indeed on the latter point, the reverse is true. I mean, how many kids get the chance to jog along on their own pony across the Mongolian plains while reading a text-book! Financially, I reckon it cost us approximately £10,000 per year, which is pretty modest for five people, a horse and, for part of the time, two dogs. PHOTO Courtesy of DRG

The process of preparation we went through is largely common to any extended journey. In addition we had to find a suitable caravan and suitable horse. It would have been good to have found some suitable sponsors too, but 560-odd letters produced only a limited amount, nearly all donations or discounts, for which we were very grateful but which was never going to be enough. The caravan ended up being purpose-built, to my own design, by Gaulds of Crieff, Perthshire.  I had been advised that the Netherlands was the best place to seek a driving horse. This would also avoid the need for the extensive palaver involved when crossing a frontier with a horse – and risking life, horse and caravan to manic motorists on Britain’s narrow roads. There was a very steep learning curve to follow, though, before we finally set off, nearly five weeks after crossing the North Sea.

You learn a lot about people when you travel during a seemingly continuously wet autumn,  through the monotonously flat beet-growing countryside of northern France. The caravan seemed to get smaller and smaller as it filled with more and more wet gear and we were confined to sitting in it, at day’s end, because there was nowhere to go and more wet walking held no appeal. In fact, the children, who were only ten, nine and six then, stayed aboard most of the time and if it was flat enough, I would ride on occasionally, though it was actually warmer walking. With little to look at, villages few and far between, even I was beginning to wonder whether we were quite daft. The children bore up amazingly. It was as well that we had a good, if limited, supply of books and games with us and many a deadly session of Yahtze, Vulgar Bulgars or Nine Men’s Morris kept everyone amused of an evening when cooped up with rain still hammering on the roof.

The children were fantastic travellers. As we inched our way across the map of Europe, then Central Asia, their capabilities of course increased. Of school there was none but plenty of home education more than filled the gap. Some basics, especially arithmetic and English for Fionn, who had only attended one year of primary, we taught. Most of what they learned was autonomous, though, absorbed almost osmotically. Geography was all around; arithmetic was course and distance calculations and money changing; history was often just chat, if Scottish, or visiting places like Avignon, or Budapest, or Kiev… And as it happens, they did go to school, in Slovenia, by invitation, for two terms, where they were taught in Slovenian!

As John Ridgway wrote to me before we left: “Do it. You'll regret it for the rest of your lives if you don't.” PHOTO Courtesy of DRG

By the time we had reached the Ukraine, crossed Russia and reached Kazakhstan, we were all seasoned horse-drivers, foragers, wood gatherers and, to an extent, quite good linguists. Our first horse had proved too light and been changed back in France for a solid one-tonne model, who had by now become a much-loved member of the family. The further east we went, the more hospitable and friendly people became. The weather, however, did not and we had a fairly hellish couple of months before finally arriving in Almaty, the then-capital of Kazakhstan, in temperatures of -28° with plenty snow on the ground. The wonderful thing we had found was that, moving along at walking pace meant one could meet and talk – or at least communicate – with people along the way.

We always stopped for winter and that gave us all sorts of opportunities. I have a tape of Eilidh interviewing her little brother for Slovenian radio in Slovenian. Torcuil and I took to the skies in a microlight in Hungary. In Russia, we went trawling for crayfish. We had seen the empty shops of rural Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan – and learnt the secret of obtaining supplies in many different ways (all honest, I must add – we never stole so much as a cabbage).

There came problems in plenty, of course. We were hit glancing blows by cars in France and Italy. We were held back, sometimes for days, by the paperwork required for taking a horse across an international border. It took a week to wear down the Russians and get through to Mongolia – but in the interim we were taken to a concert by the Direktor of the Rajon where the noted Kazakh singer Roza Rimbayeva gave a stunning performance and somehow I ended up on stage at the end! We were bothered by drunks on several occasions, the worst of these leading to a serious situation in Mongolia where the prospect of gaol for me loomed, for a while. In fact, the only times I felt threatened were caused by drunken behaviour; even wartime in Yugoslavia seemed safer. Traceur, our ‘main engine’ was largely healthy right up until our last winter, in South Dakota, where, tragically, he died of a brain tumour.

Mostly we had great experiences, a lot of fun, much hard work, saw superb swathes of still-unspoilt parts of the planet and encountered some wonderful people. The children survived our return and have all been doing well in their chosen spheres. I was the one who seemed to find it hardest to settle down. So much so, in fact, that I set off on a solo kayak journey across the Baltic from Sweden, then up and down the rivers Dvina, Ulla, Berezina and Dnepr, finishing on the Black Sea at Odessa. It was different, contained a lot fewer pressures because I had no-one else to worry about, but was not, on the whole, as enjoyable.

The Grant Family! PHOTO Courtesy of DRG

What I think we demonstrated very convincingly is that there are ways to travel as a family, even over an extended period, that neither break the bank nor destroy the life-chances of the children involved. Indeed on the latter point, the reverse is true. I mean, how many kids get the chance to jog along on their own pony across the Mongolian plains while reading a text-book! Financially, I reckon it cost us approximately £10,000 per year, which is pretty modest for five people, a horse and, for part of the time, two dogs. £70,000 is still a fair lump of money of course, even today; it came from the proceeds of the sale of our house, plus some fees for writing and even for tuition on a couple of occasions. With hindsight, we should have prepared some sort of act or entertainment we could have offered – a portable means of making money and one that does not require a rigmarole to do.

As John Ridgway wrote to me before we left: “Do it. You’ll regret it for the rest of your lives if you don’t.”

David Renwick Grant

A short biography of David:

At the end of 1997, David Grant – and his family: ex-wife Kate, children Torcuil (1980), Eilidh (1981) and Fionn (1984) – returned from travelling around the world with a horse and caravan, an unique journey which took them seven years; across fifteen countries on three continents and, incidentally, into the Guinness Book of World Records. His story of the family’s epic global journey was published by Simon & Schuster as The Seven Year Hitch, (1999) and in paperback in 2000.

Before this, he had worked as a jackaroo and sheep-shearer in Australia, in ecology and wildlife management for the Nature Conservancy (now Scottish Natural Heritage), as a crofter and prawn creel fisherman on Skye and as part of a film-crew on Orkney.

David was educated in Edinburgh, at George Watson’s College and Merchiston Castle School. After a year in the paper-making industry, he went to Aberdeen University, graduating with an MA degree in 1963. Two years in Australia followed, before a return to university, Edinburgh this time, to take a MSc degree in ecology and wildlife management.

In 2000, David undertook a solo kayak expedition from Sweden to the Black Sea, following an old Viking trade route via the rivers Daugava/Western Dvina, Ulla, Berezina and Dneiper. Along the way, he kept a look out for traces of Vikings, observed the way of life in places he passed and kept a note of the wildlife he saw, and visited local Bahá’í communities. The book about the journey, Spirit of the Vikings, was published in 2007 by The Long Riders’ Guild Press.

David’s other books are: A Submarine at War – the brief life of HMS Trooper (Periscope Publishing, 2006) about the World War II T-class boat in which his half-brother lost his life along with the rest of the crew in 1943 and The Wagon Travel Handbook (The Long Riders’ Guild Press, 2007), a distillation of his and others’ experiences of preparing for life on the, mainly horse-drawn, road in the 21^st century.

PRESS RELEASE!

WORLD FAMOUS EXPLORER JOINS KENSINGTON TOURS
AS EXPLORER-IN-RESIDENCE

Mikael Strandberg to support launch of Kensington’s new Expedition Series

“Kensington Tours' mission,” says Willner “is to provide private guided experiences to every corner of our world. For every budget, every schedule, every group size, and every interest, we can tailor a perfect tour. Our collaboration with Mikael and our Explorer-in-Residence program is another example of our commitment to truly special travel experiences – whatever your travel style.”

A professional explorer for the past quarter century, Mikael Strandberg is considered one of the 50 most important explorers on earth and The Explorers Club has called him “the best contemporary explorer in the world.” Strandberg will collaborate with Kensington founder and CEO Jeff Willner to design and develop this new product offering for intrepid travelers.  Strandberg will also be available to guide these expeditions as well as tailor-made expeditions, upon request.

“Kensington Tours’ mission,” says Willner “is to provide private guided experiences to every corner of our world. For every budget, every schedule, every group size, and every interest, we can tailor a perfect tour. Our collaboration with Mikael and our Explorer-in-Residence program is another example of our commitment to truly special travel experiences – whatever your travel style.”

Willner and Strandberg recently undertook a scouting mission to The Democratic Republic of the Congo to assess its potential and readiness as a destination for intrepid travelers.  Congo itineraries – featuring endangered Eastern Lowland Gorillas, Pygmy tribes and the Nyiragongo volcano – are the first in the Expedition Series.  Other itineraries under development include Antarctica exploration with polar explorers, motorcycle safaris in Kenya, Tanzania and Russia, deep dive submarine into the Cayman Trench and cultural discoveries in Yemen, Oman and North Korea. These itineraries will appeal to intrepid global explorers and will complement Kensington’s complete collection of affordable private guided tours to the world’s must-see destinations.

“It’s the places that people believe that they cannot go, these are the places where the hidden wonders of the world and breathtaking experiences await,” said Strandberg. “The Expedition Series will highlight many of these destinations.  I am indeed honored to be an Explorer-in-Residence for this brave company. Brave makes a difference, helps a country, builds bridges and creates trips which open people’s minds. With a visionary and a lover of humanity like Jeff Willner at its helm, Kensington Tours is really in the forefront of what good tourism should be today.”

“Some of the Expedition itineraries may require hard work, some may be expensive and some will feature unconventional destinations, but all promise a unique experience,” confirms Willner.  “Whether escorted by an Explorer-in-Residence or not, all of our tours will be carefully managed by our local offices and local expert guides to ensure a safe and supported adventure.”

####

“It’s the places that people believe that they cannot go, these are the places where the hidden wonders of the world and breathtaking experiences await,” said Strandberg. “The Expedition Series will highlight many of these destinations. I am indeed honored to be an Explorer-in-Residence for this brave company. Brave makes a difference, helps a country, builds bridges and creates trips which open people’s minds. With a visionary and a lover of humanity like Jeff Willner at its helm, Kensington Tours is really in the forefront of what good tourism should be today.”

About Kensington Tours
Kensington Tours offers custom private guided tours to over 80 countries around the world. The flexibility of Kensington’s offerings allows for personalization of every tour at a wide range of price points – resulting in a handcrafted vacation experience at an unbeatable value. The company’s private tours are regularly benchmarked at 30% less than identical tours from premium group operators. Kensington Tours was named one of the ‘Best Adventure Travel Companies on Earth’ in 2008 & 2009 by the editors of National Geographic Adventure magazine.

About Mikael Standberg:
He started his professional career as an explorer 23 years ago. Strandberg is currently working as an explorer, a lecturer and a writer. He has also produced three internationally renowned documentaries for television Patagonia – 3,000 Kilometres by Horse and The Masaai People – 1,000 Kilometres by Foot and his much awarded 58 Degrees – Exploring Siberia on Skies.  Frequently appearing in travel and adventure programmes, Swedish Television SVT and National Geographic have both made documentaries about his life. Voted Explorer Hero by the National Geographic 2002, Strandberg is an Honorary Ambassador of his native district Älvdalen and Cappadocia, Turkey. In 2005 he was awarded The Determination in the Face of Adversity Medal by the Explorers Club. The Travellers Club of Sweden awarded him the prestigious Silver Medal in 2006. The Travellers Club of Finland awarded Mikael the prestigious Mannerheim Medal at a ceremony in October, 2006.

About Jeff Willner
Kensington Tours is the inspiration of intrepid explorer and Royal Geographic Society Fellow Jeff Willner begin_of_the_skype_highlightingend_of_the_skype_highlighting. His thirst for travel stems from growing up in Africa where his parents worked for most of his childhood, and where he discovered the richness of global cultures. A veteran of global expeditions to over 70 countries, he has criss-crossed the continents to experience the extraordinary. During these years, Jeff realized the vast difference between a package tour and personal discovery — where deep knowledge and personal attention of a local guide can turn a trip into an experience. It is from these roots that Jeff began building his vision for Kensington Tours. With a commitment to rethinking the way we travel, and drawing on his years with McKinsey & Company and Wharton, he recruited a strong team of destination experts (with real in-country experience) and top IT professionals to build an award winning travel company that now spans the globe.

For more information please contact:
Jeff Willner
CEO,
Kensington Tours
jeff.willner@kensingtontours.com

“Some of the Expedition itineraries may require hard work, some may be expensive and some will feature unconventional destinations, but all promise a unique experience,” confirms Willner. “Whether escorted by an Explorer-in-Residence or not, all of our tours will be carefully managed by our local offices and local expert guides to ensure a safe and supported adventure.”

The Arabian Expedition is still far off. However, it will happen eventually. The Arab world still dominates my thoughts and life in many ways. And, a documentary will be made. Photo courtesy of Anders Åberg Film

I continue to get loads of emails asking what happened with the Arabian Expedition?

Well, the very good news is that we have one major sponsor in the waiting, but need one more to get it going. And we have a few minor one´s lining up too, but right now, it is on hold. I don´t know for how long. I am still waiting for the go ahead from the major contributor, but so far, he is still pondering. Therefore, I have returned back to Stockholm in Sweden, getting on with my old life. Lecturing, guiding, writing and waiting to see what happens. I do have some extremely interesting projects coming up on both the Exploration front and the lecturing side of life. Today I lectured at TED X in Stockholm and enjoyed their idea of spreading interesting ideas a lot. You can see the lecture LIVE here!

So, right now, it is kind of a Catch 22 situation of my life.  But, it is also an extremely good time of my life. Something I will share with you all in the future. But this is not the right time. But, it is definitely a major piece in the jigsaw of understanding the meaning of life!

I also think about Congo pretty much every day and miss the company of Jeff, Kennedy, Olly, Emmanuel and the smell of Africa.

I have met a lot of great people since I came back to Sweden, my old friend Nima for example. Who knows what will happen if we put our knowledge together?

By the way, I follow Ripley´s slog against himself in Mongolia!  And I am happy to say that Christian Bodegren have returned home after some minor problems on his Sahara trip. He has definitely grown as a human being, which shows that his Expedition was a success!

So why is it male explorers need to declare themselves the best, the fittest and the strongest adventurers on earth? And why, oh why do they only talk about themselves?

The other night I went to the monthly lecture at Travellers Club and again the talk was by a young male explorer. Sad to say I’ve heard his story before, and each time it was the same: The hero conquering the earth. The male hero conquering the earth, to be more precise.

So why is it male explorers need to declare themselves the best, the fittest and the strongest adventurers on earth? And why, oh why do they only talk about themselves?

We definitely need more female explorers, because without them we could become extinct.

Let me explain: Recently, I was sat next to a publisher of a famous US outdoor magazine. He sighed and said:

“Every day, as I receive letters and articles from people making expeditions and wanting to sell their material, I ask myself: “Hasn’t adventure come further than this? Is it still just white men with icicles in their beards dishing out the same old silly story?”

I couldn’t agree more. As no doubt do many people in the extreme sports and exploring fraternity. I am so fed up with this macho nonsense! It’s time for a change. We need more female narrators. We need a female perspective and men have to start thinking more like women. I think this is crucial to whether the public remain interested in adventure and exploration in the future, or switch off forever.

What men often fail to note is that there are still considerable differences in how a story can be told. For example, this morning I was searching the internet for stories about Himalayan expeditions. I found this report by a pair of male climbers:

“It’s been a tough and troublesome today. Our backpacks weigh about 60 pounds. Today we struggled for six hours. Tomorrow we will continue and pitch our final camp at 7,500 meters. We won’t sleep much tonight, but we are feeling all right.”

Yes there are many women explorers. Many find it difficult to get their voices heard but they are there. Wings WorldQuest is dedicated to women explorers. We now have 60 Fellows who are making important discoveries throughout the world. We have sponsored more than 40 flag expeditions. We have an education program that has reached 40,000 young people to inspire them to get engaged with learning. Exploration is not about the person as much as it is about the quest for knowledge. Check out the website www.wingsworldquest.org. Also my book Women of Discovery about 85 women from a dozen cultures who over the last 2000 years made important discoveries through exploration...Milbry Polk

Other than their closest relatives, I find it hard to believe anyone is really interested in this stuff. Personally, I find it mind-numbingly boring. Endless even.

So, let’s compare this with a separate account. This time from an expedition on the same mountain, at the same time, but written by a woman:

“Why am I never satisfied? I’m thinking I should have exercised more. I also think I should have been more mentally prepared. Actually, I’ve been preparing for five years. And trained five times a week. But I don’t think I’m a good enough climber. But that’s the way I am in everyday life as well. I could be better at cooking, decorating, fashion, my job. I could be a better wife, friend, and so on. Still, I am not giving up my dream of climbing an 8,000-meter peak. But will I make it?”

Wonderfully thrilling! The fact that, in this case, the men reached the top and not the woman is unimportant. What is interesting, however, is her story. This is how tomorrow’s adventurers, when they are documenting expeditions need to be writing. This is how people lecturing should be talking. It’s the drama, the personal commitment we want, not another hero story.

An even better way is to recount the story of someone else; men should take inspiration from the achievement of others and not just try to impress with tales of hardship: We’re bored of it!

I worry that if we don’t change this male-dominated culture, we will see fewer professional adventurers and explorers, because less people will want to read about them. Women, save us from extinction!

Female explorers remember: Anything and everything is possible! We’ve known this for the last 150,000 years, maybe even for the last 3.2 million years, ever since the bipedal Lucy began her well-documented excursion…

Ladies, let us know your thoughts, and guys get tapping too. We are all in this together.

“Mikael, I had to abandon my expedition! My idea was to cycle through Africa, but I had to give up after just three months. I lost it along the way. What did I do wrong?”

My answer to this email was simple and direct: “You lost motivation and you hadn’t prepared enough!”

Mikael: “Resting and eating are vital to your success.”

His email was similar to hundreds I have received in the last 25 years. After reviewing all of them at length, I realised these failed expeditions often had three things in common: Explorers had lost motivation, and they had failed to understand the need for good sleep, and the benefits of good food.

Why not try these simple solutions to make your Expedition a success?

When the going got too tough, they proved not tough enough to keep on going! Key to any successful expedition is understanding why you go through all these hardships – at the most difficult of moments remember what it is that drives you, and draw on this, it can be your motivation.

Good sleep and good food are the two most important pillars of a successful expedition. If you don’t know how and where to pitch your tent, you will eventually fail due to lack of sleep.

The tent is your fortress and your home, where you spend most of your exploring life. This is where you rest, feed and recuperate. Don’t set off on an expedition until you can sleep very well in your tent. I have spent over 2500 nights in tents – many of them before even setting off.

As important, is being able to cook a great meal. You need energy and rest to be able to make the right decisions. So don’t leave before you know how to cook a gourmet meal on your petrol stove!

That said, you could just get out there! Trust me, this advice is only complementary; you really need to be out on the ground learning the lessons of exploration, if you want to succeed.

I am still eating in a way, that suggests that I am going on an Expedition....reality is different!

“Mikael, is your Expedition really dead? Have you given the idea up forever?”

These are questions I have received almost daily, since the day I wrote The death of an Expedition, part two. I wrote that piece two months ago. Since than I have returned home to Sweden and Stockholm. It has been a time of chaos, many thoughts about the future, more travel, plenty of worries, much laughter, enjoyment and, believe it or not,much happiness! But that is on a personal note, but this fact easily override the disappointments of having to give up the Expedition!

But, is the Expedition dead? My motto for the last few years, have been to take one day at the time and see how things develop. As I am writing I know that there are people in the Arab World working to find the funds needed. But for me personally, I have more important things on my mind right now. And, I still feel completely burned out after working day and night to get the Expedition on board, to suddenly find out it won´t happen.

So my answer to all of you who have taken the time to write and ask:

I have no idea. At least not at this part of my life. But, I just want to add, by choosing to travel through the desert by camel in unpopulated areas, for such a long time as I planned, this is of course, kind of a personal pilgrimage. Searching for the meaning of life. I can tell you I have found the basic platform of that already. So, looking at life this way, the Expedition has already been succesful!

And, there´s a reason for everything, I am sure there is a major reason I had to return back to base. A lot of very positive things have already happened. And if things don´t happen,it was just not meant to be. Stay tuned to see how it all develops!

By the way, one such joy, is that I have started blogging at two very interesting sites, check the news!

Beginning this upcoming week, I will be writing a blog here and be part of a very interesting team of travel writers! I will publish the blog articles here on my own site a week later. First one, as below:

“Mikael, can you please tell me how to get sponsorship?”

I must have heard this question a thousand times from potential explorers and adventurers. I think a quarter of all emails I receive today ask this. They are mainly from young people, the world over, who want to organise their first adventure and just don’t have the means.

Believing you are the perfect prospect for a sponsor is not enough. Most bids fail. No matter how good your idea, sponsorship comes with time and a good track record.

Even then it is not easy: I spend a lot of my time looking for my sponsors. So, to help, I have put together three tips for all those budding explorers keen to get out there.

1. Ask yourself: Do I really need it? I know many first-timers want sponsors because they think it looks cool, professional, and impressive having a lot of logos on their gear. Travelling like I do, in the hope of uniting cultures, one doesn’t want to look like you are competing in a highly commercial Formula One race!

Where keeping a high profile is important, by all means, go for the badges and branding.  But remember, there are other ways to market your potential sponsors. I also know, after dealing with lots of sponsors, that most of them today don’t want to be over-exposed: Being too commercial is the same as not being too serious.

My point is, if you have the funds, it is a better choice to avoid sponsors: Less work, less stress and you run everything the way you want. Don’t worry: if you want to start with a historical expedition, you definitely won’t need money for all the gadgets and the best gear.

My advice is: If you haven’t done a serious adventure before, do one. Then try for sponsors for your second outing.

A potential sponsor wants to see a track record of what you have done. So, a better choice initially is to work and save money!

2. Think: What does a potential sponsor want? What can you offer them, which all the other explorers cannot? Just as an example: I have a friend who is in charge of Canon’s sponsorship department, and he gets 300 requests for sponsorship per day! Only ten per year are successful, and almost all of these are from well-known explorers.

It’s not a hopeless cause, however. Just try a new perspective if you are not already established or famous enough.

3. Plan: Target only sponsors that fit your vision, and find sponsors that will become your friend. Some people will do anything for money. And this applies to some within adventure and exploration circles.

Remember, the future will judge you by who you cooperated with. If your expedition has an ecological theme – most have today, since this sells and looks good – why sign up with a sponsor who has a poor record on these issues and is purely commercial?

I would never deal with a sponsor if I don’t have a personal relationship with them. This familiarity means you both know what you want, and unnecessary problems won’t arise. So find the ones who fit your vision and it will prove a great partnership!

I hope these three tips are of use. Please get back to me with your opinions or questions and I will try to help!

MSR XGK-II is probably one of the best stoves on earth - however, due to the cold, once it went under -50 in Siberia, we couldn´t use it.

Exclusive Interview! Mikael Strandberg – Legendary Explorer and Adventurer
by Ben
Athletes & Interviews, Outdoor Industry News

CheapTents.com contacted Mikael Strandberg just a couple of days ago, along with a select few other MSR sponsored adventurers…and he kindly agreed to give us an insight into the life of this prolific adventurer…literally one of whom who has traveled into virgin territory on remarkable expeditions.

Mikael Strandberg Interview

CheapTents.com: What inspired you to make exploring your profession?

Mikael: Many things, but first of all a curiosity to try to understand the meaning of life. More an intellectual challenge, then simply a physical one. the physical aspect, the limits of a human being, are less interesting, but I prefer traveling by my own means, since it is far easier to get in touch with these cultures and peoples I want to get to know and understand.

CheapTents.com: What has been your biggest adventure or other exploratory achievement?

Mikael: Exploring the Kolyma River located in the north-eastern part of Siberia. the coldest inhabited place on earth. See www.siberia.nu

The Purpose of the expedition along the Kolyma River:

The main aim is to use words, pictures and film to make a record of this unknown part of our world. This is a vital task, since in the course of our extensive research work we have realised that not even the Russians or the Siberians themselves have a comprehensive picture of the area along the Kolyma River. The obstacles are the cold, the distance, the size and the isolation.

The area is untouched, remote and unknown. Nonetheless the area is as rich in gold, oil and mineral deposits as the rest of Siberia. This part of the world is one of the few remaining places on earth that is virgin territory. This is a genuine journey of discovery.

We also believe that it is in this untouched area that the answers to many of the questions asked by modern men are to be found: What are we doing here? What is our task? How do we find calm, harmony and satisfaction in our lives?

Here’s a snippet of the time spent in North-East Siberia:

The day I arrived to the small Siberian settlement of Kolymskaya was the happiest moment of my exploring life. It was the end of the most demanding part of my Expedition along the Kolyma River, one of the coldest inhabited places on earth.

I had, together with my assistant Johan, spent most of the past 5 months hauling 660 pounds of necessities, mainly in utter darkness, experiencing a terrifying cold with average temperatures around -50°F, day and night. A reality which made sleep almost impossible, giving us plenty of frostbites on both fingers and cheeks and it ruined most metal parts in our equipment. Like our ski bindings, and therefore, we arrived walking, not skiing, to the village.

It seemed like every inhabitant were there to greet us with customary warmth, joy and most of them were dressed in their colourful traditional dress. We saw Chukchis, Even, Yakuts, Yugahirs and Russians. After the traditional welcoming offerings to the spirits, we were brought into the local museum, where more cheerful and hugging villagers awaited us, around a table full of local delicacies. After having survived mainly on moose meat and raw, frozen fish during most of the winter, we nearly cried when we came across big plates of fried reindeer brain and cooked bone marrow.

At that stage, I suddenly realized, after spending 20 years of exploring extreme parts of our world and trying to understand the meaning of life, from now on, I’ll stop thinking about the big worrisome issues and simply concentrate on the uncomplicated ones. Like the thought of some more cooked bone marrow.

CheapTents.com: What is you biggest weakness? Sport or otherwise…

My main drive for travelling is meeting other people. I don´t think I could do an Expedition without knowing that there´s people along route.

Mikael: My biggest weakness….but it would also be my biggest strength….I am very naive and trust everybody. Unconditionally.

Plus that I am not very technically skilled. I am an intellectual, not somebody who can repair things…. 

CheapTents.com: When did you feel like you ‘made it’ in your field of exploration? And do you feel like you’ve satisfied your goals?

Mikael: I felt like I made it after Siberia, getting a lot of worldwide attention. And after Siberia, felt like I had done everything in my wildest dreams and, life fell a part, 2½ years later, I am back with a search to find a new Expedition worthy Siberia…visit: http://preparingforthenextexpedition.blogspot.com/

CheapTents.com: What do you find most challenging about training / keeping fit? Any tips to overcome these challenges?

Mikael: The most challenging is to avoid training getting static and boring, so I find new ways to train all the time. Right now, since I don´t know what kind of an Expedition I will set out on next time, i am bodybuilding, adding on big muscles, since it makes a difference in many ways when penetrating other cultures. And it makes your body very strong overall. When i finally know where to set up my next Expedition, I will change my training and tune in on that. Before Siberia I did a lot of hunting and fishing plus dragging tires all over the place, I lived then in the north of sweden, where I am born and hunted and fished 150 days a year. Now, I´ve left the bush, to live in the city. Which I love. i don´t want life to become static, boring and without challenge.

CheapTents.com: Blood thirsty question now, what has been your worst injury (if any) from your multiple adventures and how did it happen?

Together with Salim Al-Wahibi and Nasr Al-Tabi, trying to figure where the next Expedition will go....

Mikael: No injuries at all. Physically, on the outside of the body. However, I did a test with a world famous polar scientist and athlete, Dr Arkady Maximov, and he said that my body takes a damange every time, every year on Expedition, which equals 5 normal years of living. So, I am therefore 150 years old…..but i have had pretty much all tropical diseases you can think about. Malaria, dengue fever, typhoid, etc. The reason, touch wood, for not having had any external injuries, is due to all year around training. And new techniques all the time.

CheapTents.com: What will be your most challenging adventure for next year?

Mikael: Am slowly preparing for the Empty Quarter, so see when it will be time to leave….

CheapTents.com: You’ve obviously been heavily involved with multiple explorations around the world, which has been your favourite and why?

Mikael: Siberia, see above. It changed my way how to look at life.

CheapTents.com: Where would you like to be in 5 years time? Main Ambitions?

Mikael: I have no idea at all, and it doesn’t bother me one bit. You only have ambitions until you realize the workings of life. One day at a time, who knows what tomorrow will be like?

CheapTents.com: For other budding outdoor sports enthusiasts, what tips can you provide to help other compete at a higher level?

Mikael: The only way to reach the top is to become a fanatic. Train harder then anybody else, read and prepare yourself harder than anybody else and fully concentrate all your life on the goal. The issue.

CheapTents.com: What are your favourite bits of gear, and why?

Mikael: I like a good tent and a good stove, the essentials of surviving nowadays….

CheapTents.com: Any people or sponsors that you’d like thank? Any other comments?

Mikael: Gee, so many, so many…see the sponsors list at www.siberia.nu

CheapTents.com Thank you Mikael, from all of the CheapTents.com team for the time spent answering our questions so openly and honestly, and for discovering and sharing so much!

There´s many reaons I like Humph, one is that he is a cyclist, which I think is by far the most demanding way to explore.

My next guest writer, Alastair Humphreys, is by far one of the most active young explorers on earth.  He tweets, blogs, lectures, takes photos and am part of many bigger or smaller Expeditions. He is genuinely fantastic. On top of that he isn´t as many within adventure, daft. He wrote this piece especially for me and my blog and thoughts around the subject of exploration:

We were born too late to be explorers. To be real explorers. To be one of the hard men (for they were always men back then) fired by such curiosity, such desperate yearning to cross the next horizon, that they were willing to set off for years on end with slim chance of returning, with absolutely no contact with Home. To sail out into a sea risked falling off the edge of the world. To seek new lands meant encounters with dragons, if the only maps available were to be believed.
With the honourable exceptions of deep oceans and caves, the odd jungle or desert, and the vastness of space, there is little chance of encountering dragons on today’s expeditions. Almost everywhere has been mapped. So we are not really explorers, at least not in the traditional sense of marking new territory for Queen and Country.
Some modern explorers are exploring what it is physically possible to achieve. They are effectively elite athletes, highly skilled professionals pushing the limits of what is possible. I put a lot of climbers in this category, those who seek out ever more arduous, contorted routes up ever steeper, increasingly dangerous rock faces or peaks.
You can even get chocolate ice cream at the South Pole, and yet ever greater numbers of people are pitting themselves against the poles, chasing speed records, doing journeys faster and faster. The record breakers are exceptional people in their niches; stronger, fitter, faster, and more determined than the others.

I too call myself an Explorer or an Adventurer though I am not particularly comfortable with either word. But I am not pitting myself against the world, questing to tread where no man has trod before. Nor am I breaking records. I am no athlete. I have never won a race in my life, let alone notched a ‘World First’ on my bedpost. So what do I do, and what do I have to say that may be of interest if I am so vociferously average?

When I was at university I became very conscious that life was passing me by. Days and weeks and months were building towards years. Years that I could ill afford to allow to drift by. And so I decided to start using my days, wringing them dry, squeezing every drop from them. The medium I chose for that was travel and adventure. Others may turn to music, or to poetry, or to algebra. It does not matter. All that matters is that you find your passion and feast on it greedily.

Alastair in Siberia....

I humoured my parents and remained at university until I graduated. But then I was off! In the last few years I have cycled 72,000km through 60 countries, a journey that took in extremes such as a Siberian winter and a Turkmenistan summer. I have sailed oceans, run through the Sahara, walked across India and rowed to France with a paralysed soldier. I feel truly fortunate to have had so many adventures and to be busily planning more all the time – to Iceland, the South Pole, the Empty Quarter… I have done so much. But that is not a boast. For I really believe that absolutely anybody could do the things that I have done. And if everyone can do it then it is nothing much to shout about.
So why am I shouting about it?

I have done things that seem extraordinary to ME. I have accomplishedd things that seemed beyond ME. I have pushed MY physical and mental limits and I have continually surprised myself at what I am able to achieve. I am aware now, more than I ever was before I began my challenges, that I am capable of so much and that life can be so full.
I have nothing really to offer except my average-ness. I am a very ordinary person. And that means that if you are an ordinary person then you too could do all that I have done and will do, if only you choose to do so and then begin doing it.

Most people who become professional adventurers specialise. They develop a passion for one aspect of adventure, be that sailing, climbing, caving etc. But I am deliberately steering away from that model. I am not very good at any one thing, and I don’t care. What excites me is to try new things, to learn new skills, and to work hard to become competent at them. I do not have a particular favourite country or continent. I am not drawn to deserts more than jungles. I love crazy third world cities as much as empty mountain tops. I see myself as a curious person. I try to remind myself to gaze at the world with the puzzled fascination babies give every new experience. I am interested in any expedition that is physically, mentally or culturally challenging. I veer towards non-mechanised, low budget projects, either solo or with one companion. I relish periods of time when I see no other human or sign of life, yet the greatest, most lasting travel experiences invariably arise through the people you meet on your journeys. You learn a lot about yourself and your own life when you are by yourself; you learn a lot about the world and about life in general when you spend time with people in very different environments to your own home town.

Africa.....

If I was a millionaire I would spend far more time away on expeditions. But I would not spend all my time away, for I enjoy “normal life” too, and you need doses of that to help you appreciate how fortunate you are when you get away on an adventure. But I am not a millionaire. Or at least, not yet! So I devote a lot of my time to earning money and saving up for the next project. I write books, articles, and a regular blog. But most of my income is generated through giving talks, to school children and to businesses. I share my experiences so that people can travel vicariously through me. I try to convey the lessons I have learned – that the world is an essentially good place, that the only hard thing I have ever done is having the guts to begin doing what I loved doing, and that adventure is only a state of mind.

Read his impressive CV at http://www.alastairhumphreys.com/about-2/
Alastair Humphreys
www.alastairhumphreys.com