Image supplied by David Goldberg

Forsskal’s last resting place

By

David Goldberg

One of the fascinations of place names is their different spellings. Forsskal did die in modern-day Yemen ( see here) on 11^th July 1763.

However, many renditions spell the name as “Jerim”. Why the difference is beyond this author to explain. One thing is known though: it was not a peaceful death; and the internment was not without its drama either.

Perforce, Forsskal’s own diary of the expedition* of which he was a member (commissioned by the Danish King Frederick V, it lasted from 1761- 1767 and the only survivor was CarstenNeibuhr) does not record any of the Jarim events. (*A JOURNEY TO ARABIA FELIX 1761-1763, English Translation by SILVESTER MAZZARELLA).

An authoritative source is Thorkild Hansen’s Arabia Felix.

In Taizz, having come from Mocha, and getting ready to depart for Sana (and then India), Forsskal  collapsed.  It was the 23^rd June 1763. He “…lay blue  in the face, his body racked by gallstone pains”, shivering with a fever. Without warning he had been struck down with malaria. Forsskal insisted on proceeding and he was carried to his donkey.  Four days later, after numerous halts and sheltering from downpours, thecaravan arrived in the village of Abb.  Forsskal became increasingly weak and racked by intense gallstone pains. After Baarken, they reached Mensil at the foot of Mount Summara.  Finding a well-appointed caravanserai there,  it was decided to rest there for some days to allow Forsskal (and also Niebuhr who was by now also ill) to rest. But, the camel drivers argued to move on to Jerim in order to replenish food supplies and on 5^th July they left Mensil for Jerim which necessitated traversing Mount Summara. Forsskal was so weak he had to be lashed to a camel’s back like a ‘half-empty sack…the remains of his vomit trickling down the dusty flanks of the beast’.

The Inn at Jerim did not have any private rooms, so after searching,  premises were rented ‘for an exorbitant rent…so that Forsskal might have a house to die in.’ No Muslim present ‘….could be persuaded to help carry the sick man from the inn to the house’ and he was borne there on his camp bed by his expedition colleagues(including the exhausted Neibuhr); they had to dodge a barrage of stones after some of the locals got jostled in the process.

Days passed; Niehbuhr drew a sketch of the town from the window of the room where Forsskal lay dying. Forsskal weakened and around 100pm on the 10^th July he fell into a coma; ‘The following morning at half-past nine Peter Forsskal died in the town of Jerim in Arabia Felix, aged thirty-one’.

Neibuhr had to find someone to report the death to and then buy a plot of land to bury the body. The deal fell through because it was near a ditch used to take water to irrigate the surrounding fields.  The seller called off the sale because he feared being held responsible if the water were to ever dry up or became spoilt ‘because of the Christian buried there.’  Niebuhr found another plot but it was less easy to find men to carry the body to the grave. Only on the following day did he contract with ‘six ragged coolies’. The burial was conducted in great haste in the dead of night so no one would see and the grave was dug ‘only a few spade-depths below ground.’ The next night, the body was  exhumed by grave robbers. The body’s shroud was unwrapped and it was left ‘naked on the ground.’ The dola was informed and he ‘ordered a Jew to rebury the body.’ As payment, the dola authorised the man to keep the coffin.

Thus ended the life of an extraordinary Finnish-Swede. He is globally known as one of Linnaeus’ apostles and a natural scientist and botanist of note. Less well known is that in 1756, whilst a student at the University of Gottigen, he published a dissertation attacking the prevailing rationalist philosophy of Christian Wolff (Forsskal was a pragmatic empiricist). Even less known, is his 1759 pamphlet, Thoughts on Civil Liberty which advocated freedom of expression and information; religious tolerance; and the abolition of aristocratic privileges. Considered to contain “dangerous ideas”, Uppsala University declined to approve it and it was published – in Swedish – commercially by Lars Salvius. On that day, 23^rd November 1759, the Swedish Chancellry banned it (although it had been approved by the censor,  Nils von Oelreich). None other than Linnaeus, the Rector of Uppsala University, was ordered to retrieve the 500 copies Forsskal had distributed that day (although only 79 were found).

The pamphlet is accessible in English, French, Russian, Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew, Mandarin and Finnish (with Greek, Turkish, Romanian, Italian and Hindi to follow) at <http.peterforsskal.com>. The book (in Swedish and English) can be purchased via the website. Project Forsskal is directed by me, David Goldberg.

David Goldberg is an information rights advocate, consultant and academic, based in Glasgow, Scotland. He can be reached at this email at (davgoldberg@gmail.com)

But, I have only slept three hours per night!

————Actually, I was so tired, so I fell a sleep writing this, which means, three more days, we have gone from Cusco to Puno to Lima, where I am sitting at the hotel waiting to finish the trip with a half day tour of the town which Fransisco Pizarro made the capital of Peru, Lima.——-

There´s so many details, except supplying the group with as much interesting stories as possible and details of everything, but you have to tend to everyone in the group with lots of care, attention and love, plus settle the wake up calls, see to that all the luggage get  picked up and moved to the rooms, see to that you as a tour guide looks neat and clean, always in a good mood, no matter how tired, well, it does work.! But it would be so much harder, without the help of the local guides.the ones in South America is the best in the world. One ends up with quite a few new good friends! They´re knowledgeable, funny, helpful and kind. And you learn so much from them yourself!

Well, this trip has been really great, and this is due to the clients and the local guides. Of course, Peruvians and Ecuadorians are really great in every way as a people as well. Best of all was Metropolitans great Faride Altamirano which made our trip a dream!

Aah, as regards to the negative sides of travelling the world, passing through Schiphol in Amsterdam is a really bad experience. The border police there, is becoming as unfriendly and arrogant as the Americans in the US, which by ease are the unfriendliest on earth. These two countries must have misunderstood the meaning of officers being employed by the people.

Naw, better you watch the videos and see the photos here!

“You won´t even get into the country, most of them said”.

I just love proving people wrong! Everything is possible if you put your whole heart into it and you have the right backing of people who love you. And with a family like mine, that was easy. My wife Pamela is the one who have pushed the hardest for us to go here and try to make a difference. By which she meant, to show the world the overwhelmingly positive sides of this great country. Not the one portrayed in the media, both in the West and the Arab World. A very negative and destructive one. So far from the truth.

Eva´s preparing for The expedition at home in Malmö

So when the war was at its worst, we did get a visa with the help of our friend Sabri, and decided to go all of us, the whole family. Which of course we didn´t tell to anyone, since most people just wouldn´t understand it. A student visa, since Pamela first of all came here to Sanaa to do her Master Thesis. And I needed to better my terrible Arabic. And all of us, that means me, Pam and our little 16 months old daughter Eva boarded a plane in Copenhagen and eventually ended up in a Sanaa, which pretty much looked exactly the same as it did when we met here back in the summer of 2009. At this moment, we have been here for almost two and a half months and we are ready to return home. We have loved every moment here!

We met Sabri and his wife at the airport in Dubai and he helped us with the visa problems.

The idea about travelling the Arab World By Camel began developing many years back when I realized how we in the West almost unnoticed once again have started to build up a wall against people who come from especially Muslim countries. The scary propaganda against Islam, Muslims and especially the Arab world is growing by the day. It is all based on lack of proper education and knowledge. So I decided to do an Expedition On Camel, covering the whole Arab World, see the pilot below, but excuse me for to much bragging and nonsense on my behalf, my self confidence was at an all time low at that moment! I managed during two years to get most of the funds together, but than two major things happened!

First of all, I met Pamela in Yemen, fell in love with both and than Pamela got pregnant with Eva Belquis.

Secondly, the Arab spring happened which made it all impossible for the moment.

But we never forgot Yemen and followed everything which happened politically very closely and than we decided, time to go and make a difference, no matter how small it is!

So that is what we did! And in backsight, that is, for all three of us, the best desicion we have ever taken!

So, dear readers, this is the first report in a series of at least 15 articles that I will publish about our time in Sanaa and the expedition. An article twice a week. Don´t miss the drama and love of life!

To see photos from the Expedition, please visit https://picasaweb.google.com/explorermikaelstrandberg/ExpeditionYemen?authuser=0&feat=directlink

An involuntary adventurer in Yemen

by

Tanya Holm

“Dear adventurous daughter!”

That is how my dad begins his letters to me. He and friends say that I’m an adventurer. I disagree. An adventurer seeks adventures just as babies seek comfort and I seek only the latter. Adventures, however, seek me. That is as true as it is a cliché. I look for something far less exciting than things out of the ordinary. Thus I came to Yemen.

An autumn afternoon, two years ago, I changed the North European periphery for South Arabia. Here was no uprising, no thousands of wounded and shot dead protestors bleeding out on the asphalt and failed GCC signatures were no headlines. There was al-Qaeda, civil war and there were kidnappings, most of which did not end in execution and mutilation. Yemen, like any country, had its share of problems. But we live in a time where we better say the glass is half full. So I packed my bag and said Yemen has houses of gingerbread and the world’s kindest people. I had heard that Muhammad, the prophet, had said, “kindness belongs to the Yemenis” and I found it still stands. The three words all Yemenis know in English are:

I love you!

And they practice them with every bypassing foreigner.

As foreigners in Yemen we like to compliment the people, the way I just did.

- Yemenis are kind, we say.
– Very kind.
– They are generous.
– And they like to joke.
– Indeed they are funny!

Our compliments are sometimes insulting to the Yemenis. What did we expect to find in Yemen, rudeness? Most are kind here, sure. Others are not. Many joke, but some are horribly boring. They don’t laugh even when one is extraordinarily funny, and instead they share their own dull stories.

“A man asked to be taken to the angry imam who ruled the city. He promised to make the imam laugh. When he stood in front of the imam he pinched him. The imam did not laugh, he sent the man to his death.”

Yemenis are kind and funny, kind and funny, more or less all of them we say – also as to make amends for the negative and simplified image the Occident so often spreads. But, that is not the only bad joke in Yemen. The image of Saleh riding a donkey to the giant neighbor Saudi Arabia is not very funny. Yet I have seen hundreds of protestors laugh at it all through the Arab spring. And speaking of kindness I know a Yemeni who says, “fuck you” when he sees me. I tell him to fuck himself, and there is nothing pleasant over that conversation, yet it takes place every now and then in the ancient alleys of Sana’a.

I have nothing intelligent to say when speaking of Yemen. I have been a freelance correspondent for Swedish media for a bit more than two years. I have learnt only the following. Whatever one reports on Yemen, one must be sure to announce the opposite soon enough. My own country, I can hold her in my hands and say it is Sweden, but Yemen slips away. It is a much-complicated society.

Yemen is a country, but not yet a state. It is tribal, but has people who claim to be its citizens. Yemen has a few young men with dynamite anger and people who refuse to kill a bee.

- Haraam, they say when I, despite my vegetarianism, suggest they crush annoying bees with my plastic plate.

Yemen has youth within the age range between 15 and 60.

- We are all youth, an old man explained.

He spoke of the importance to get a chance in society and life. A chance that is just as necessary to the 75 percent that are under 25 as to the rest of the people.

Yemen has poverty.

- But we are the richest people in the world, Yemenis say.

They argue that one must also look to what people have in their hearts.

Yemeni women have this year been louder and more disobedient than anywhere, yet in Yemen women are silenced and held back in the most awful ways, according to gender gap studies.

Yemen has an ongoing uprising and yet the way it has been seems to be the way it shall be, at least for some time ahead.

Yemen has an awful luck.

Yemen has patience and eager. And no matter on which side of the political spectrum people are, they promise to continue the struggle for a New, Better and More Dignified society. But, with that said one must add that there are also people that gave up long ago here.

- Can I get a visa?, they ask.

No they cannot.

Yemen has blue skies and deserts. And leopards, dolphins and women unions.

Yemen has an electricity minister and electricity bills but no electricity. So why are the government buildings still lit up?

Yemen has Yemenis and kind foreigners and rude foreigners and those that are a bit of both.

Islams, traditions, debates on secularism and Yemen has garbage. Although foreign journalists are not allowed to film it. Yemenis are ashamed of their country. And they are also very proud of it.

In a multicolored society life does not get dull, but rather adventurous and even so I am still here. Because apart from the I love yous, and fuck yous, the recent protests aside, along with the violence and death that looks just like in the movies, and all the things that can not be mentioned without appearing insensitive, without seeming like entertainment when they really are about injustices – lived by people who exist in their own damn right – Yemen has the ordinary life. It has days and nights and stray cats. And that is what I choose to write in my letters back home, the ones I sign “an involuntary adventurer”.

Dear,

Today I woke up before the first prayer call. The muezzin did a sound check.

– Allah, Allah, Allah, he called before he was ready to declare that God is great.

I’m fine, but this winter is cold to the Sana’anis. They complain and I too would catch a cold in their worn down plastic flip-flops and light clothes.

Today I will meet a prominent Yemeni Feminist. She will talk about boyhood, mother work, and the art of pushing for equal rights on the Arabian Peninsula. It is for an interview in a feminist newspaper.

These days many speak of violence. “There is a war in Taiz”, they say. It looks frightening. Do you hear any of it back home?

In Sana’a much still goes on the way it always has. People collect water in the mornings. The old women opposite my house sit in the sun. They wave to me to join. They ask me a thousand and one questions. It makes me uncomfortable that they walk around knowing what I had for breakfast. The children play and sing songs to me. Men chew qat.

– Yemeni Viagra, one guy said, to try to convince me to start chewing.

By the way, if there are any good movies running back home, tell me which. There are still no cinemas in the country, but we download movies illegally. There is no need to worry as the drones aren’t aimed at pirates.

Now I must be quick to send this, we have had electricity for about an hour, it will cut and return earliest after another twelve hours.

Jalla!

Tanya Holm is a Swedish freelance journalist based in Sanaa.

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

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.

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 think it was the Danish philosopher Sören Kirkegaard who said:

“To live, is to dare.”

I don´t disagree with that quote. I am really trying hard to do just that. Right now I am taking a risk bigger than any other I have mastered to do earlier in my life. I have left a relatively secure, safe and pampered life in Stockholm and Sweden to try my luck in a totally different part of the world, were most things are totally opposite to what I have been brought up to believe is the truth, and nothing but the truth. The Arab world and initially Oman. And Oman is actually not the easiest place just now in the Gulf to turn up with a big vision in your head and on paper and hope anybody will buy it. Since doing business in this part of the world is a question of personal relationships, which I like a lot, and it takes time to bond, another thing I like a lot, the world around you could change quickly. It has for Expedition Arabia. When I first came here in January the global economic recession had started to take hold of this part of the world, but people were still positive and vibrant and it felt like I had arrived in a Klondike of possibilities. I felt a sense of pioneering spirit.

Kamil Al-Raisi, one of many good friends in Muscat. Photo taken at The Wahiba Sands. He is worrying as well for his future.

9 months later the recession has hit harder than expected, it seems, since funds for corporate businesses are less, the swine flu is terrifying the authorities, that much that the famous Muscat festival will be suspended this year, the great neighbor in the west, Saudi-Arabia, has hit back at al-houthi rebels who has crossed the common border with Yemen, and some people of authority seems to believe it could spread and that borders will close. There´s a dark cloud over the Omanis that I didn´t see during my former 5 visits. A lot of people just don´t seem to dare at all. Frustrating, yes. But time to train what I am really rotten at, patience.

In all this negative light I arrive with Pamela, who is doing the same journey, she has left a life, to try a new. We have a very small amount of money to live on, after a divorce which has totally cleared me. And life in Muscat is more expensive than London and Sweden! It is almost impossible to stay here for less than 2500 dollars a month as a temporary visitor, because you need a car to get around, I don´t think I have seen a public bus yet, one needs a flat were you can set up and run the Expedition professionally, a living which is proper enough to invite people for business meetings and socialize in expensive venues, Internet connection is a must and on top of that, you have to eat. We have been eating a lot of chicken, potatoes and rice lately…haha, we ain´t suffering, on the contrary. And we work from very early in the morning till late night, most days 12 hours.But we are still very positive and very hopeful to find a solution how to get the Expedition on its feet, but it is still far off…

Where we live.....

However, let me state this, we wouldn´t survive without our very good friends here. Like Robby George, this amazing wizard and joker from Kerala, with his sharp brain, business know-how and common sense and will to always help, no matter what. Kamil Al-Raisi Al-Baluchi, the soccer fan who is also a tour guide and so full of Arab spirit and willpower.  Wael Lawati, who probably one of the smartest guys I have met and extremely helpful in every way and always ready to find a solution or offer a razor sharp analysis of the situation. But the spider in the wheel of help, understanding and love is my great friend Talib Omar. Even though he is extremely busy, since he is a very successful business man, father and husband, he always finds time to encourage me, find solutions, book meetings, find the right people and explain for me the often very difficult etiquettes of Arab business and social behavior. I have met an angel.

By giving you this story of today, I just want to say that to become successful in life, you need good friends. And, almost as important, you need to be at the right place, during the right circumstances at the right time in history to become successful as such. Whatever successful means. So even if you have everything needed as a person to become successful and great visions, if it is during the wrong historical circumstances, nobody will ever hear about it. I hope we are here at the right time in history. People here just need to dare a bit more. And worry less.

One of many meetings. Robby to the right.

What do we do during the days? Well, we write an enormous amount of emails all over the world to gather information, ask for help finding needed contacts, we phone people and converse and sell, we meet people, we train 1-2 hours a day, basically a brisk walk on the beach on the top photo here and we read a lot of local newspapers of the Gulf to get an idea of the region. It is really interesting work in many ways, one impressive story was this editorial about the great leader of Oman, Sultan Qaboos and his yearly royal tour!

And we will continue to do this until we have enough funds and support to go through with this expedition. Somehow, everything taken into account, taking away Kirkegaards thoughts of reason, it seems fated to be. In this part of the world, some locals think it is written in the stars…

The Sultans mosque by night...not far away from our flat.

I am talking the well-to-do-world here, not the developing world, where bare funds and pure survival is an issue every day. But I am still strongly convinced, no matter how complicated your circumstances are, if you want something very much, you go for it and you will eventually get it. But, the reason I highlight this topic, is due to the fact that amongst the thousands of emails I have received since that initial moment of leaving, many simply ask, what does it take to fulfill their dream to do this or that? And, when I think profoundly about the subject, one of most common things said to me after a lecture, when people come up to me for a small chat or posing a question, they say (all men, by the way, older, over 50):

“I would have done exactly the same, if this and that wouldn´t have happened.”

Well, I have spent a lot of time thinking about this. Either you have the urge or not, but if you are right on the border, when it comes to go for it or not, whether it is a big Expedition or a weeks hike through the local mountains or forest, maybe these three tips can help you go for the adventurous choice. Because, there´s no doubt, every little adventure will raise your level of understanding and enjoyment of  life.

Planning is half of the fun, daydreaming a way to relax and once you leave, you will realize that reality is more fantastic than the dream.....

1. Half the fun of any Expedition or adventure, is planning it. Go to the library and get all those books, maps, travel guides, reference bibles and encyclopaedia’s. Start researching and read. And once you have made a picture of what you want to accomplish in front of you, once you have started to realize the dream, I am sure things will get in the way, obstacles such as well meaning family members or the pressures of culture, well, this is the time to leave the books and contact real people. Phone, email or in any good way, get into contact with people who´s been there, who can assist you with realizing your dream and I think there´s very few explorers or adventurers or specialists who wouldn´t help you. If they don´t, I feel genuinely sorry for them. Without these people I wouldn´t have chosen this life for myself. I remember such a decisive moment very clearly up until this day.

Just before leaving on my first big Expedition, the one on a push bike from Chile to Alaska 1986-1088, I went to the local library in Dala-Järna to return the last of the books I had read regarding my trip and met a very good friend there, Gösta Tysk (unfortunately he passed away last year), in those days a globally well known nature photographer, with Alaska as a specialty and we had spent hours together talking about this amazing place. This time, he was together with his wife. She said immediately after I had said that I am ready to roll:

“Do you think you can do it? I think it is impossible.”

Hearing those words where a shock to me! In a few seconds a lost all confidence and stuttering I tried to find my words, red faced of embarrassment….a fell silent. My good friend moved in and saved me with this words:

“Of course he can do it!”

That was all I needed. A bit of confidence. 2 years later I reached my goal. Thank God I didn´t listen to Göstas wife!

2. Don´t listen to the voices of negativity! I am amazed how many people who actually spend so much time of their possibility to live and enjoy life, to try to ruin the life of others who wants to go beyond the limits of their beaks. It is beyond my concept of understanding! And they´re everywhere. Family, friends, acquaintances, pals at work and school, media…well, everywhere, even amongst other travelers, adventurers and explorers…it is especially hard in the beginning until everybody realizes that you are a lost cause and let you get on with life. After that moment of discovery,  it is only opponents, media and people you have made unhappy along the way who will try to ruin your dreams…;-) As quick as you hear something negative, just turn of f your hearing and smile and say, yes, I will give that a good thought.

3. Buy the ticket! Once you have explained for those you love, why you have to do it, just buy that ticket and get on with it! And remember to enjoy every minute of it, whether it is a few days or many years, because next time around, it all starts from the beginning!

However, after reading Parker´s article and looking into more what he has done, his thoughts, well, ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a genius coming up here who really knows what he is doing. He is ambitious, knowledgeable and just the explorer who should get involved with these issues of climate change. He has burned for since before the time of becoming a teenager. In my mind, this is extra ordinary. I love his article and all you young people out there with thoughts about the meaning of life or how to find a life you went, you have the blue print here!

Thoughts from a young explorer

By

Parker Liautaud

How I got into this field probably differs from the backgrounds of most adventurers or explorers. While I did start off small – the occasional trip in the Rockies or in the Atlas Mountains – and gradually stepped it up, my expeditions in the Polar Regions were inspired by an interest in how the planet was changing, and what it meant for the people living on it. I’m talking, of course, about climate change, a topic so ubiquitous in the media nowadays that the majority of us no longer absorb it. At around 12 years old, I started to become increasingly frustrated that my interest in climate change was underlain by a lack of understanding of the fundamental science behind the issue. I began to spend a lot of time outside the classroom trying to get to grips with a very complex matter that was, and still is, far outside of my league. It was from this perspective that became interested in exploring the world around me, but it wasn’t until I joined an Antarctic expedition at 14 years old, aboard the Russian scientific vessel the Akademik Ioffe, that I concretely decided to devote my time (for the foreseeable future) to projects in the Arctic and Antarctic.

The next two and a half years of my life, up to this point, would be turbulent, exciting, and at times, bitterly disappointing. Being young in this field, and starting from scratch, has its advantages – notably the media and sponsorship “hook” – but it certainly has many drawbacks. When I decided back in 2009 that I wanted to try to become the youngest to walk to the North Pole (in an expedition admittedly not as ambitious as one starting from Canada or Russia), I quickly realised that funding was the big problem. Most of you reading this will already know what I’m talking about. But I needed to find the money both for the expedition and the organisation. As a 15 year-old, I found it almost impossible to find the right “tactic”. With no experience, contacts, money or credibility, I hardly expected otherwise. The problem, therefore, was that I resorted to “cold calling” (by email and post). And, as I’m sure most of you who have done similar things will know, being rejected several thousand times really takes it a lot out of you.

Throughout the process, I was lucky enough to be able to connect with some very experienced explorers– Pen Hadow, Ben Saunders, Eric Larsen, and countless others. All gave me invaluable advice. And, with my self-esteem at an all-time low, I somehow found a fantastic corporate sponsor, General Electric. However, as a young person at the moment, I feel like we (young people) are constantly being called upon to justify irrelevent characteristics and what other people are doing. GE did a lot for me, and helped me to launch the organisation of my dreams (for which I cannot thank them enough), The Last Degree (named after my first expedition, but oddly enough is remarkably well suited to a climate change project). The tabloids tore me to pieces for being an Etonian, which gave a lot of people the wrong impression. The owner of a blog named “Venture Beat”, quite a well-known business blog, decided to announce publicly, without the slightest bit of research, that my father had paid for the whole trip and/or had used his contacts to get me sponsors (a completely false assertion, in every way), a piece of “news” that spread like a tidal wave through the web (especially when we partnered with Foursquare). The Daily Beast wrote an article that had the title “10 young people with parents that deserve to be shot”. I was number 2 on the list. My point is that from my perspective, it appears many people are inherently sceptical of young people taking initiative. This is fine, to an extent, because it is justifiable to be worried about the safety, experience, or motivation of a young person. However, there comes a point where the line has been crossed, and that point, in my opinion, is when you’re willing to openly declare a lie (I’m still confused as to why it was written) to bring a person down.

I am not one to complain – how this whole project has panned out has been incredible. My first North Pole expedition, thwarted by abnormally high temperatures, southward drift, and other factors, opened a lot of doors for me (I was in for a surprise though – I thought the first round of financing was difficult, but I had no idea what was to come for my second attempt). Apart from the fundraising, much of the logistics, training and other factors fall primarily under my control, and I greatly enjoyed the feeling of being in control in such an unpredictable project. However, the climate change mission (The Last Degree was launched on my first North Pole expedition) proved to be tricky to handle. As is the case for young people starting initiatives all over the globe, credibility is a significant issue. The bottom line is that it is hard for someone that is very young to become credible enough to be trusted with such a controversial issue, especially with the science behind it. Creating a social movement is one thing, but taking the next step to doing real scientific work proved to be problematic for me. It is worth noting that at the point where I decided to take this step, I had essentially failed in my North Pole expedition, so my credibility was at an extreme low anyway. Understandably, few institutions wanted to trust me with doing research on the ice. This seems to be a recurring problem for young people everywhere, and from what I’ve seen, there are only two extremes when it comes to this issue. There are those that really encourage young people to go out and make an impact, to not give up on their ideas and dreams – and then there are those that believe that exploration, and climate change science, should both remain the concern of older men and women who have seen it all before, know the risks, or have a concrete and reputable academic background in oceanography, [paleo]climatology, or something of that sort. I found myself caught in the middle of both of these arguments, as have many other young people. I felt very honoured when I was asked by the University of Alberta and the European Space Agency (for the CryoSat-2 satellite) to do research on the ice, a request that completely fulfilled the purpose of my second North Pole expedition (which reached the pole on April 10^th of this year).

The issue, however, is broader than my project. A big part of the work that I try to do is aimed at getting young people to take responsibility for the current state of the world we live in, and become leaders for positive change (http://www.facebook.com/thelastdegree). Attitudes towards young people have stuck for a long time, and only in the past couple of years have the older generations come to realise that how well educated, connected, or influential a person is are factors no longer defined by the ranking of one’s school. Instead, it has much more to do with how proactive a person is, especially online. My generation has grown up with this at the front of their minds, and it is in this way that young people are becoming world leaders (take the chain of Middle Eastern revolutions that have arisen in the past year as an example).

In the end, being very young (and comparatively very inexperienced) means that I have to approach what I do in a very different way than an experienced explorer would. I don’t see this necessarily as a negative thing, because the process has taught me an enormous amount. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of those explorers, some of whom may hopefully be reading this, that gave me some very useful advice from the very beginning. I know I would not be in this position if it were not for them.

I spent more than two months in Malta when I was 17 and I still today remember how impressed I was back than with this very special island. I am still impressed! Even though we only had a day, with a great guide Ana, and only saw and experienced fragments of Malta, I once again, fell in love with it. It is a very tidy, somewhat medieval and modern country in one, with its own language, tempo of life and a history which of course is very specific due to its isolated existence in the middle of the Mediterranean. It has a very strong catholic presence still today and our first stop once we easily got out of the cruise ship, was the picturesque and medieval town of Medina, where we spent a few hours listening to Ana and exploring its tourist resources and narrow winding alleys. It is a dry, somewhat barren landscape, but farming is seen everywhere and life seems very laid back. For lunch we wanted a break from the cruise ship food, so we headed down to a coastal village dominated by beautiful fishing boats and once again, a medieval, Mediterranean feel and the lunch was the best of the trip. The octopus sauce and bread, world class! So was also the view overlooking the harbour and the company was great. We´d only been together a mere day and we were already expanding on the virtues of future exploration on all levels.

After lunch we travelled on narrow back roads back to the capital Valetta, visited a great cathedral and came across the life story of the Italian painter Caravaggio. I think his story and his big paintings was the highlight of the trip!

After having a whole day off the cruise ship, I felt more at ease getting back on it. Quite a few of the passengers had stayed on board enjoying the swimming pools and recreational stuff which is possible on such a massive ship. It is a bit like a floating Canary Island experience at time. Loads of Europeans frying their fat in the sun, looking like they had a bad hangover reading cheap novels. One thing I do appreciate with the cruise ship travel is the ease by which one arrives at a new destination over the night, and we always gets a spectacular first view of the day, especially from our high positioned suites. And the ease which one disembarks and later get on to the ship again. So much easier and less stressful than the airports. Especially if you are American, used to the ridiculous and unfriendly security behaviour of American airports!

My personal opinion is, I would never travel on a cruise ship by myself. It looks terribly lonely. I would say that travelling with your family and kids is the major attraction of travelling by a cruise ship. I don´t really understand why people use a cruise ship to get a sun tan and rest. One is so isolated and still in a known surrouinding. Maybe that is the reason. But, travelling with friends or family, sure, it is a good way to get around with ease, even though the time that one is docked at a port, isn´t sufficient to enjoy to surroundings or atmosphere of a place. It is also a good place if you like to party. Which my friends love and we were very lucky to meet a group of Irish ladies partying hard and they were so so full of humour, laughter and joy, so it made us boys laugh a lot and enjoy life even more.

That was the main reason we didn´t get up too early next morning which would have meant that we would have had a possible opportunity to visit Etna, because the following morning we woke up at the Sicilian port of Messina and got picked up by Kensington Tours local guide, Vicienzo, who instead drove us on mountainous and beautiful roads up to the touristic, but beautiful town of Taormina. It is easy to love Italy with its character. I just love the disorderly order of things, the noises, the mess, the food, the elegance and style, and, of course, they´re masters of making a tourist town feel genuine!

Our last night on the boat, gave us little sleep but lots of laughter and I am now sitting at Rome´s airport waiting for a plane home via Munich. Another Gentlemen´s expedition have come to an end and it has become something very important in my life. All thanks to the most generous human being I have ever met, Jeff Willner.

So, would I pay to go on a cruise ship myself?

Yes, I would if the family would need a break and a holiday, were we could get away, see something new and be together in a tight fashion where we also didn´t have to cook or do our beds….Otherwise, no. However, as you know, I am after all into other types of travel. But I think for a majority of people, they see a lot of great things with a cruise. Mainly a relaxing journey with set meals, set agendas, where they don´t have to do anything by themselves.  Requirements for most people´s wish of a holiday.

The environmental impact? Well, if you don´t walk, cycle or make your own way forward, you are bound to travel in a way which has an environmental impact. I don´t think the cruise ships are worse than other gigantic modes of travel.

I just got onboard the massive cruise ship MSC Fantasia after having had a few hours of paradise, visiting Taormina on Sicily. My mobile rang immediately and it was a young guy from one of the many Swedish pension funds asking me if I knew how bad the situation was for me personally in the future as regards to what will happen to my pension? And most other Swedes my age as well, he added, when I was silent. He probably thought I was in a state of shock, so I filled him in on my situation and his response was a loud:

“Woow, I wish I could change places with you!”

“We don´t want to use anymore of our pension fund money do we?” I said and finished the call with him adding:

“I will call you when you will be back home!”

I will get off tomorrow at the port of Civitavecchia and fly back from Rome. So I will be back tomorrow. But I thought of his response and realized everyone I have told, which are not that many, they´ve all kind of been in awe at the thought of doing a cruise in the Mediterranean. So my question to myself after 5 days and 4 nights on a luxury cruise ship holding 3500 tourists and a third more people employed by the cruise company, is:

“Is it that great?”

Just the thought of me getting on a boat with 5000 other people, I am sure is akin to many people, I think. One of my friends who is also on this trip as an Explorer-In-Residence with Kensington Tours, Olly Steeds, sent us all others -that is, we are four, Jeff, the owner and the most generous man on earth and his bother William- an article about the abnormal amounts of fuel and rubbish left by these giants of the sea and asked if we really should do this. I gave him the same answer as I give people who question me about going to countries like North-Korea or Syria;

“You cannot judge until you have seen with your own eyes and life is short, so let us go.”

So we all flew to Barcelona and boarded the cruiser there with an itinerary taking us to Tunis, Malta, Sicily and the final, getting off in Rome. We had no time to visit Barcelona, we entered the ship immediately and it started moving within an hour of us boarding. Jeff had set us all up with luxury suites, one each, and we came into a room with a table full of delicacies like champagne and a bowl of fruits. And we had our own butler, Dani, a Christian Balinese from Kuta, who worked 9 months away and had three months off per year, so I couldn´t complain that missed my family almost instantly I boarded the ship. For me, meeting my great friends, was the most important part of this journey. And the first evening and night just flew by, since all was inclusive, whiskey and cigars dominated our joy whilst discussing most things important to us humans. Family, future, work, sorrows and joys. Subjects most of just don´t have the time to talk about otherwise.

First port of call was Tunis. I felt great being back in North-Africa. But time was short. The main reason for the stop seemed to be the wish to fill up on tax free goods, which seemed a really silly reason. But then I am not a shopper. We all four wanted to see the old ruins of Carthage, but even though we had a private guided tour, which is the Kensington idea, we kind of couldn´t avoid the masses of people who poured of the ship at the same time, so the visit was a bit of a disappointment. Especially Carthage, which was nothing, if you compare to other similar sites we have all seen. Just a seemingly organised heap of rocks and pillars. The short time was a problem, but we made it instead to a part of the town, painted basically in blue and white and offered a touristic souk with good smells, we heard the call of the muezzin and we heard spoken Arabic, which I enjoyed. But that is pretty much it.

As the day before we dressed up in the evening, had a four course meal in the Italian Restaurant and conversed about what we had seen. All of us was quite disappointed as regards to the Tunis visit. Luckily, it got much better the next port of call!