Explorer Mikael Strandberg

I met Carin and her husband Ridlon at a lecture I had at The Explorers Club in New York back in 2006. I remember them very clearly as a couple with an extra ordinary positive attitude! And as myself, they lead in many ways a very privileged life being able to live their dream. As they do, I often get questions, what in earth is needed to be able to live your dream as a job! Answers below!

"Most adventure jobs include travel. You will be gone for months at a time. It’s not always easy to communicate with family and friends. You will miss weddings and birthdays, graduations and sunday family picnics. Your friends will continue to build their lives and their friendships while you are away. You will come home to find you have less in common with your friends. BUT, you will meet amazing people working in the adventure community. You will have friends worldwide, you will see whole new perspectives on the world. If you are open to this, it’s time to venture forth!"

Adventure Jobs- Some Questions to Ask Yourself HONESTLY

by Carin Kiphart

We had an overwhelming response to our blog post Why You Need An Adventure Job.  People are realizing they want and NEED more in their life.  While climbing the corporate ladder and living in cubicle nation is a great lifestyle for some, others are realizing there can be a different path.  Judging from the personal emails we have received there is a need for information on the what, where, and especially the how to on Adventure Jobs. Today I want to focus inward.  Before you go dropping resumes all over the adventure world,  it is important to understand your self first in order to know which direction to follow in the maze of the world of adventure.  Knowing yourself will help you steer yourself to the job best suited to you and give you the greatest opportunity for success. What KIND of an adventure job do you want?  Well, one with adventure of course!  But it comes in many flavors.  Let me pose a few questions. What kind of a communicator are you? This is one of the MOST important questions to answer.  The are really four basic communication quadrants and while most of us have a combination of these, one will most likely jump out at you and you’ll say, “yep, that’s me!”

1. The Controller-  The controller needs to be in charge and often needs to be right.  When the situation goes bad, the controller takes over.  Put a controller in a situation of “follower” and they will most likely want to break the rules and do it their way (have you met my husband?).  They are leaders and are the first to step up with a plan. They tend to dress for meetings.
2. The Supporter- The supporter is one who doesn’t like to say no, they want to help out with everything.  They can be good people to work as a support team to a controller.  They are often cause oriented.  A supporter likes the “feel good” and are can make great advocates.
3. The Analyst- The analyst wants all the details.  They need all the pieces to make a decision and will do lots of research.  They are more cautious decision makers, tend to be more formal and reserved.
4. The Promoter- Where’s the party?  This is the person who is the socialite, wants to meet everyone and tends to dress more flamboyant.  The promoter tends to be more organized in the head rather than on paper.  Don’t bother me with the statistics, let’s be sure everyone is having a good time.

Once you can place yourself into one of these categories you can have a better idea of what kind of an adventure job fits you.  For example, if you want to work at Club Med as an analyst, then perhaps you would be suited to the transportation department at an overseas club, doing the logistics of the arriving and departing guests.  They’ll probably let you make a spread sheet!  You can make spread sheets all over the world and enjoy the benefits of working for Club Med.  On the other hand, I am a promoter, don’t even show me the inside of the office (funny, I never WAS in the office at Club Med).  Get me out meeting the people, doing crazy pool games and teaching scuba.  That is where my strengths and my joy lie.

Do you want to “see the world”? Then perhaps working on a cruise ship is a good option, where you are in a different port of call every day. Or a tour director (you would probably want to have some promoter in you for that position!). If you want to truly get under the skin of another culture, a cruise ship job is not the way to do it, it’s more like a smorgasbord. You may want to consider teaching English overseas where you spend at least one to two years in one place. Consider what you want to learn about the world on your adventure, how much you want to see and how fast.

How Do You Want To Live?

This is a very important question to ask yourself.  If you are 20 years old, then you can take a job where you bunk up with a couple of other blackjack dealers on a cruise ship.  If you are a married couple, age 40, it’s going to be a different answer.  I worked for a high end tour company where, when my husband and I worked together, we shared a private cabin on the ship or when we worked apart, we had our own hotel rooms at the same accommodation level as the guests.  At this point in my life, I probably would not want to spend the summer in a tent with a couple of other girls.

How Do you Want to Travel?

Do you want to “see the world”?  Then perhaps working on a cruise ship is a good option, where you are in a different port of call every day.  Or a tour director (you would probably want to have some promoter in you for that position!).  If you want to truly get under the skin of another culture, a cruise ship job is not the way to do it, it’s more like a smorgasbord.  You may want to consider teaching English overseas where you spend at least one to two years in one place.  Consider what you want to learn about the world on your adventure, how much you want to see and how fast.

How do you live best?

This may be an odd question but here is why I ask it.  Can you live out of a suitcase?  Can you keep your life organized that way? Do you need to “nest” somewhere?  Do you need continual movement? These are VERY important things to know about yourself.  Personally, I love changing hotels every night but after about six months, I need a short break from it.  But I also LOVE movement so a cruise ship is a perfect environment where my view out the window changes but I keep everything arranged in my cabin (which is small….can you live this way?).  Of course, if you’ve never had an adventure job, how would you know?  Well, here is where I say, “If you DID know the answer what would it be?”  Think about how you travel on a vacation.  Do you tend to book one hotel and settle in or do you flit about the country.

How Much Time Do You want to Adventure for?

If you have never “done anything like this before” test the waters.  Don’t sell your house and all your possessions.  Give it a test run.  Take a short 3 month position somewhere and rent your house or have a friend live there.  Then see how it goes.  You might find that “adventure jobs” are not what you expected or you might find that it’s what’s been missing in your life all these years.  Don’t burn your bridges at first. However, if you have no ties and see adventure as a lifestyle then you will be more apt to take a position that you sign a contract for. Six months to one year contracts are fairly common.

Job Security

Job security is really a myth, no job is secure.  You can be sitting in your office one day and the next the company makes cuts and you are out.  Once you come to that reality, it is not so scary taking an adventure job for a short period of time. However, if you can’t grasp that concept and a steady paycheck from a fortune 500 company is your security blanket, think twice about taking the leap.  If you are flexible and willing to adventure your way forth, opening yourself up to the universe, you’ll find a way.

Decide What is Important in Your Life Things

Stuff is just stuff, just ask George Carlin who’s skit on “stuff” brings me to hysterical fits of laughter.  If you NEED stuff, if your life is about accumulating liabilities like cars and boats, think twice about going on the road.  I’m not saying this from a financial end, I’m saying there is no room for “stuff” on the road.  Stuff becomes a burden.  We traveled for ten years with everything we own in storage and when we came back, we had NO idea what was in most of the boxes. We hadn’t used it in ten years, guess we didn’t need it!

It is a wonderful world that Carin and Ridlon live!

People

Most adventure jobs include travel.  You will be gone for months at a time.  It’s not always easy to communicate with family and friends.  You will miss weddings and birthdays, graduations and sunday family picnics.  Your friends will continue to build their lives and their friendships while you are away.  You will come home to find you have less in common with your friends.  BUT, you will meet amazing people working in the adventure community.  You will have friends worldwide, you will see whole new perspectives on the world.  If you are open to this, it’s time to venture forth!

Finally, Let’s mention MONEY

You need to be realistic about what you need to live on.  You need to ask yourself what you want financially.  Adventure jobs are typically not the most high paying though some can be.  We’ve worked adventure jobs where we each made six figures a year and we’ve worked adventure jobs where we made three figures a month. You also need to look at what “comes with the job”.  While working on board a cruise ship for five years, we saved 95% of our income compared with 5% for the average American.  We invested all of our money for those five years because we didn’t need to live on it.  We didn’t drive a car, pay rent or utilities or pay for food.  We didn’t go “out” because our entertainment was on board.  We worked under special tax laws.  We worked six months at a time, seven days a week and then had two months off.  During our time off we took fantastic vacations for weeks on end.  We didn’t own a home and turned off the insurance on our car which we stored at a friends house.  AND we saw the world (I can now boast 106 countries visited) and enjoyed our life to the absolute fullest. If you are tied to money and live in a world of scarcity, think twice.  If you are open to the wonders of life, travel, and adventure more than financial gains, you will do fine.

Adventure Forth

Each one of these topics is worthy meal in itself, here I give you an appetizer to chew on.  Take a serious look at yourself before taking the leap but don’t dwell too terribly much.  Reaching your foot out can be a scary step but once you’ve taken the first step, you’ll find the road to the world awaits you and you’ll never look back.

To your Adventures!

Stuff is just stuff, just ask George Carlin who’s skit on “stuff” brings me to hysterical fits of laughter. If you NEED stuff, if your life is about accumulating liabilities like cars and boats, think twice about going on the road. I’m not saying this from a financial end, I’m saying there is no room for “stuff” on the road. Stuff becomes a burden. We traveled for ten years with everything we own in storage and when we came back, we had NO idea what was in most of the boxes. We hadn’t used it in ten years, guess we didn’t need it!

Read more at www.live-adventurously.com

CV: Carin and Ridlon Kiphart (aka “Mantagirl” and “Sharkman”), share a life of passion through adventure and underwater exploration, which has taken them to over 105 countries and all seven continents. Along the way, they have logged over 12,000 dives as professional Scuba instructors, shark feeders and photographers, climbed Himalayan mountains, and explored the planet from Antarctica to Oceania and back again. The Kipharts served as on board Directors for Ocean Quest International, Dive Directors for WindStar Cruises, Tour Directors for Tauck World Discovery, and are co-founders of Global Diving Adventures and Live Adventurously. They have guided natural and historical tours for over a decade in the US western national parks, Central America, Europe, and have led expeditions to remote areas including the Dahlak Archipelago of Eritrea and Niatoputapu in remote Tonga. Honors include membership in the prestigious Explorers Club, Citizen for Cultural Exchange Award, and the 2006 American Airlines Ultimate Road Warrior. They are avid supporters of ocean conservation and founders of the Ocean of Hope Foundation. Mantagirl is the author of, “The Ultimate Guide to Making

There´s no doubt that the name Expedition is misused today, especially in media, who calls pretty much everything moving an Expedition. I personally have an acquaintance in Exploration who calls pretty much everything an expedition, almost when he goes to the toilet. Which is fine for me. For him it is an Expedition. For me, however, I think anything below 6 months of hard travel, isn´t an expedition. But, there are no set rules what constitutes an Expedition, officially, but Explorers Club for example, only gives their honorable Flag to expeditions they deem scientific, no matter length of time or difficulty.

What is a proper Expedition? Are there any guidelines? It is a question which comes up for air more often than ever. There´s no doubt that the name Expedition is misused today, especially in media, who calls pretty much everything moving an Expedition. I personally have an acquaintance in Exploration who calls pretty much everything an expedition, almost when he goes to the toilet. Which is fine for me. For him it is an Expedition. For me, however, I think anything below 6 months of hard travel, isn´t an expedition. But, there are no set rules what constitutes an Expedition, officially, but Explorers Club for example, only gives their honorable Flag to expeditions they deem scientific, no matter length of time or difficulty. It is a sensitive issue, for sure, but I think it  should only be discussed by people who actually live on doing expeditions, not the opinionated arm chair travelers or jealous wanna bees. I get some kind of opinion every week on the issue, sometimes I am really sad, see this for example. But, do also read the 23 comments, for the issue really, is, what is exploration? Who can call him or herself an explorer? What is the difference between advanced travel, an adventure and exploration? It is the second most read blog report I have written, which shows the sensitive side of things. I just want to add that the two British subjects attacking me, one is a woman I met in Yemen, who herself wants to do Expeditions….the other her male friend. Such is life. Everyone has the right to have an opinion!

But the reason I bring the issue up is that the other day I helped a couple of very good friends to look for participants for a very interesting Skeleton Coast expedition they´re setting up. I posted it on various Expedition sites I knew of and immediately got an angry answer:

“Appearently this is a for-profit pay your own way “adventure vacation” venture, not an expedition. Don’t you hate it when the adventure travel industry abuses the term expedition to sell empty positions. if you can get enough people to pay the 25 pound processing fee, you can make a tidy profit even before you pick the people who are willing to pay for a position. Mikael, you are damaging your reputation by having your name associated with this type of ethically challanged practice.”

My friend, Andy, one of the organizers, gave a very good answer, worth reading to understand the difficulties at putting any type of Expedition together:

Is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, Africas highest peak, an Expedition? Or adventure? Or just a walk?

Hi Mikael,

We had ill informed people commenting like this about the first expedition, and people saying it was not a first and that lots of people had walked the route we were doing. I am afraid it all came down to ignorance, and I got quite annoyed with it all in the end, I didn’t have the time or energy to answer everyone. All the expeditions we investigated were supported in one way or another, or went inland far enough to reach water, we were the only unsupported coastal expedition ever!!!

As to this “for-profit pay your own way comment”, this is ignorance again i’m afraid, these people have never tried to organise a large world first expedition that is being filmed for television. If this expedition is for profit please could they tell us where the profit is, and who is getting it because I think it is very unfair that someone is getting this profit and not us  !!!

The truth of the matter is that the first expedition cost so much to organise that the £5,000.00 we charged each member was not anywhere near enough money to cover the expedition, and Jason and myself almost went bankrupt because of the expedition, that is why we have charged more this time! I spent 4 years in total organising, researching, planning and getting the necessary permissions to allow us to do the 2009 expedition, and I didn’t get any money at all for any of this time. The only money that anyone got out of the 2009 expedition, or will be getting out of the 2010 expedition, is a very modest fee for all the administration time, and money to cover the organisers mortgage and expenses whilst away.

If this person who commented on the £25 registration fee, thinks the sum of £300 is a tidy profit between two people for 3 months work, then quite frankly he needs his head examined!!!

I am sorry if I sound a bit aggressive, it is not my nature, but I feel very angry about these comments. These expeditions have proved to be an unbelievable amount of work for a tiny amount of money (you only need to ask my wife!)

The reason for all this work is that there is no precedent to copy or base anything on, no-one has ever done anything like this before, it is difficult for people to understand this because most people don’t really understand what we are trying to achieve or how incredibly challenging it is! Everyone has heard of climbing Mount Everest, or walking to the South and North Pole, but no-one thinks walking along a coastline sounds very difficult or challenging at all.

Perhaps it is only when you have done this type of expedition that you can really appreciate what an unbelievable challenge it was, even for a very experienced Arctic and Antarctic explorer like Jason De Carteret.

Anyone hope this is enough information for you to answer this sort of comment.

Andrew.

Excellent answer in my opinion. However, it is a good question! How to define an Expedition?

I would very much like to have an opinion from you readers, no matter what you do for a living, on the subject, what constitutes a proper expedition?

Who can call him or herself an explorer? What is the difference between advanced travel, an adventure and exploration?

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.”

Barry with twin brother, before they new much about their sexuality.

Guest writer number 14, Barry Moss, is one of my very best friends. He is pretty much good at everything he puts his heart to.  A real human being. I have begged him for ages to write about his ideas about life. Finally, he put his Sunday paper down, jumped the morning bacon and eggs and put pen to paper. Enjoy!

Planes, Volcanoes and Everything.

My name is Barry Moss and I am the Chairman of the British Chapter of the Explorers Club.

My great friend Mikael Strandberg has asked me to write something for his blog.

Having become a slave to my own computer in recent years, I realise that I have unwittingly turned into an addled junkie, trying to read, absorb and digest far too much information. How much of this information will I use? I guess very little of it, but like any drug I am drawn back into its clutches.  So, if you are like me, I hope that this short essay will only take up a few minutes of your valuable time and will be interesting enough for you to continue to read to the end of this page at least.  I promise that I will not fill you head with too much useless information.

I consider myself fortunate enough to live some days in London and other days in a small mediaeval village complete with castle on the beautiful and wild East Coast of England.

The county of Suffolk is known for its big skies. But what is a big sky?  Isn’t the sky huge everywhere?  Well, apparently not and I would agree that this part of Suffolk does have big skies, only today the sky was different.

I try to motivate myself when I am here to take a long early morning walk to observe the birds, the hares, the changes in scenery and everything.  I was not disappointed this morning but one thing was eerily missing.  The all too familiar demented white slashes across a perfect blue canvas had gone.  The picture was pristine, the big powder blue sky had been repaired; no aircraft contrails chalked across it.  Situated under one of the main east-west air corridors in Northern Europe, I realised that I was looking at a vista that has rarely been seen here since the beginning of the jet age.

I have been on the periphery of aviation industry for most of my life and it remains a technology that still manages to thrill and captivate me.  Some days I am fortunate enough to look out of my office window across the river Ore to the secretive Orford Ness with its Mayan like ruins where Britain’s atomic weapons trigger mechanisms were tested in dark, frightening, sinister laboratories.  I am at first drawn by the noise, the unmistakable sound of a Merlin aircraft engine.  I search above me and to the distance beyond and there it is, a Supermarine Spitfire diving, rolling, dancing across the big blue sky.

My interest in aviation goes back to when I was a small boy.  I vividly recall dreary, depressing and austere Saturdays in East London sitting on a red Routemaster double decker bus.  I rarely noticed that the bus ride was often mundane as I would be completely immersed in the picture on the box I had in my hands.  One Saturday it could be a Hawker Tempest firing rockets at a line of Panzer tanks the next Saturday on the bus with my father and twin brother it could be a Dassault Mirage III taking on a MiG jet of some type or another in a dog fight.

I was often too eager to bother to follow the Airfix kit assembly instructions, only to find that I had glued the two halves of the fuselage together before inserting the pilot sitting in his ejector seat or the undercarriage nose-gear.  The two halves would then be prised apart with a knife or some other blunt instrument which often resulted in the sort of destruction done by metal fatigue test rigs on real aircraft.  Corrosive glue would be unwittingly smeared across clear plastic canopies, resulting in disappointment at the irreparable blur that I had caused.  Silver paint on wings would have finger marks on it or brush hairs or dust. Transfers applied before the paint had dried.   It didn’t really matter too much because the image that these models represented was far greater than my childhood imperfections at assembling and painting them.

My father however was a talented modeller who had the patience, skill and aptitude to build model aircraft out of bits of timber completed with electric motors that turned propellers powered by tardis lookalike batteries.  His real passion however was lead soldiers and I am now at the age where I share his frustration that my eyesight is no longer any good for intricate or detailed work, even with spectacles.

Suddenly!.....Barry, during this circling activity, he foundhis call of life!

Between then and now I have been fortunate enough to have worked with real aircraft manufacturers and have visited super-jumbo passenger aircraft assembly halls that are so large that it is difficult to gain a sense of perspective and scale.  I have flown in biplanes and was once fortunate enough to fly a Mig 25 interceptor at three times the speed of sound to the edge of space.

As a child I remember living on the penultimate floor of a block of council flats with my grandparents. Looking over the balcony, the immediate foreground still contained sporadic barren areas of buddleia, smashed cellar caverns and rubble thanks to Adolf Hitler, his Luftwaffe and the Nazi’s secret, terrifying V1 flying bombs and V2 guided missiles. Churchill had employed my grandfather for five years to try to shoot such things down from the rolling deck of a high octane fuel carrying tanker. He reckoned he had hit one or two before the day when a Dornier or something similar dropped a bomb on him before he could take aim. Fortunately for him, although he was wounded, it failed to explode and ignite the tonnes of aviation fuel onboard.

Looking up at the sky from the balcony, my grandfather and I watched the first generation passenger jets on their landing approaches into London Airport.  Their deafening four jet engines pierced and crackled and bellowed trails of smoke, in fact similar shades of black, grey and white as the volcanic ash presently spewing into the atmosphere.  In those days only the rich and famous flew in jet planes, a fact that didn’t seem to bother us too much then.

Now we all fly.  The rich and business people in cocooned sarcophaguses called ‘flatbed’ seats where you may not get a glimpse of the person sitting next to you for 12 hours.  That’s unless of course you need to visit the toilet in the dark and you sit there pondering for probably an hour or so how you are going to hoist yourself over your neighbour’s legs without waking him or her up and then doing the same thing in reverse. Having practiced this exercise for many years, I have concluded that even with the skill, training and dexterity of a Chinese child tightrope acrobat it is a manoeuvre that is almost impossible to perfectly execute, particularly in slight turbulence.

Meanwhile Joe public down the back have paid to have an even bigger problem with knees wedged up against seat backs like a created veal calf.  Only the super rich, famous and investment bankers have cracked the problem by flying in private jets.  However even this indulgence may not be all it seems as many smaller private jets do not have toilets.  I have a friend who shall remain nameless who has to live with a major embarrassment for the rest of her life. She had to ask her male colleagues on a tiny private jet to look away whilst she had to do what she had to do in a wine bottle.  Imagine walking into the office the next day knowing that everyone knows that’s what you did.  Surely you would prefer to have crashed in flames and never be seen again?

As I write this a 1960’s vintage Jet Provost two seat trainer has disturbed the peace and tranquillity of Orford.  One part of me rises with excitement to try to see it but it has dipped down below the rooftops.  It is like trying to find a mosquito at night in your bedroom with the lights off.  Another part of me asks is it right that someone having a good time can create so much noise or am I just getting old and cynical?   Was I concerned about the people over the Russian countryside when I was on a jolly flying one of the noisiest and most powerful jet fighter aircraft ever built?  I do recall having some sense of guilt at the time but was too captivated by the thrill of the experience.

Barry often thinks about his childhood, which put him in the right direction of life.

The eruption of the Icelandic volcano with the unpronounceable name (OK Eyjafjallajoekull if you insist) means that some of us may have to go without our Kenyan sugar snap peas for a few days and we all know of someone who is either marooned or unable to be with their families and friends. It may be that a little fissure in the Earth’s surface will change everything and make us realise that nothing it totally predictable, nor should it be.

I’m now looking out across to the present Orford Ness lighthouse that has arced its narrow white beam of light across the North Sea at night for nearly 200 years.  Because of global warming and rising sea levels, sometime in the next three years, the lighthouse is likely to be washed away into the abyss.   “Don’t worry” they say,” it was old technology that was about to be replaced by GPS anyway”.

Safe marine and air navigation has always depended on lights. Aircraft still reassuringly head towards the light of the Orfordness lighthouse whilst crossing the treacherous North Sea at night. Before the first lighthouse was erected on Orfordness, in one stormy night alone in 1637, 32 vessels were smashed aground onto Orford Ness.

Have we really become so clever and dependent on fossil fuels and addicted to computers and technology to ignore the rages of nature?  Recent events have shown how unprepared we really are.  What happens if we become too compliant on technology, flying and oil and everything?  Can we be assured that business will continue as usual or will all the lights go out everywhere?

A bit more up to date photos, see here and check his CV!

Why do we explore? Is there still white spots to be discovered on the global maps?

Lately I have had a lot of emails regarding, why do we explore? Is there anything left to explore? And who is an explorer? It has been a hotly debated issue. It is the second most read report I have written. I am also in favor of a new view on Exploration. Therefore I will republish this article below here as well, after receiving plenty of attention from Great Britain after this piece:

The other night I went to the monthly lecture at Travellers Club in Stockholm. I try to go there frequently. I like the surroundings at Sällskapet, the atmosphere, the lectures, but most of all the people, the members of the Travellers Club. A great lot of people with the most extra ordinary experiences from all over the world. I also go there to get inspired and maybe find an idea to what my next Expedition will be. This time it was a young fella who lectured, a great guy, very friendly and an interesting lecture. Technically. BUT, I am so fed up the attitude of todays adventurers and so called explorers. They are always the best on earth and they only talk about themselves. Incessently. And it is always the same message:

Everything is possible!

We´ve known this for the last 150 000 years, maybe even 3.2 million years back whenLucy went out for a excursion. I don´t know why it is so popular today to listen to this kind of extremely no-good-for-mankind-talk. And that lecture reminded me of the one in February 2008. Same deal. Then I remembered I did write an article about the same issue two years ago after having had the honour to lecture at Explorers Club in New York. This is what I wrote for Utemagasinet:

”…and then the mountain spoke to me, saying: ´Have faith in me,  and you will reach your final 8,000-meter peak.´ And look, there I am on the mountain top!”

This is, more or less, how the famous American mountaineer closed his lecture at the Explorers Club´s 102nd Annual Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. Before him, a young guy, elected Man of the Year by Backpacker Magazine, had recounted the story of how he crossed the U.S. by foot from west to east in record time.

”Nothing is impossible! Anyone can do it!” he summarized, displaying a photo of himself posing in the sunset; his gaze fixed beyond the horizon, his muscles flexed and back held straight. An extremely traditional, male image of Adventure and Expeditions. I think I saw Buzz Aldrin, astronaut and second man on the moon, smirk. Woman kosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova simply left when the so-called adventurers entered the stage. Passionately, she had told her own story, filled with fear and amazement at the incomprehensions of life while she, as the first woman ever, rampaged round the moon 48 times.

The Annual Dinner carried the theme ”What´s Left to Explore”. And how this should be brought to an audience. I think very few of the 1,100 spectators enjoyed the adventurers´ talks. One of our neighbours at the table, the editor of a wellknown American outdoor magazine, said:

Papua New Guinea felt like one of the last places on earth I have visited, where there might at least be some white spots of discovery to be made. On the knowledge front.....

”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 males with icicles in their beards dishing out the same old silly story?”

The reason why I´m bringing up this very important subject, is that every week I get a number of e-mails from men and women, young and old, who want to take off on an expedition or adventure. The majority want to know three things: ”What kind of equipment should I use?”, ”How do I get sponsors?” and ”How do I get the media interested in me, so I can make a living selling articles and lecturing?”

There is only one answer: Our view of Adventure and Expeditions must be renewed. Firstly, there has to be an interesting story. The times are gone when a spectator finds it interesting to listen to the hackneyed theme of ”anything is possible”; a story centered around dirty underwear, heroic struggle and white men with icicles in their beards who have managed to reach the North Pole, using a shopping cart and an oar as their only means of transport. Secondly, we need more women narrators. We need a female perspective. Men have to start thinking like women. I think this is crucial to whether the public will continue being interested in expeditions at all.

There are still considerable differences in how a story can be told. For example, I was searching the internet for stories about Swedish expeditions in the Himalayas. A couple of men report as follows:

“It´s been tough and troublesome. Our backpacks weigh about 15 kilos, but all has turned out well. Today we struggled for six hours. Tomorrow we will continue, and then we will use our final camp at 7,500 meters. We will rise at about 12 o´clock local time, put our tents up and melt snow for water. We won´t sleep much, but we are feeling all right.”

Incredibly boring for everyone except the storyteller´s closest relatives or someone else in the know. To be compared with another account from an expedition on the same mountain, at the same time, written by a woman in the same situation:

“Why am I never satisfied? I´m thinking I should have exercised more. Actually, I´ve been exercising at least five days a week. I think I should have been more mentally prepared. Actually, I´ve been preparing for five years. 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. Maybe I need the inherent power of dissatisfaction to be able to hold on and not give up my dream of climbing an 8,000-meter peak. Because it has been necessary – but now I´m going to give it a try.”

Wonderfully thrilling and dramaturgical! The fact that the men reached the top and not the woman, is utterly unimportant. What is interesting is her story. This is how tomorrow´s adventurers on expedition must think to survive. Even better is to tell a story of someone else but yourself. Which is what I did in New York. When I took the stage after the climber, the first thing I talked about was how ridiculous all the clever white males with icicles in their beards are. I continued by informing the audience about the Siberians and their everyday life, which makes a contemporary expedition look like a school outing by comparison. The response was fairly good – a ten-minute standing ovation.

Please continue to discuss the subject here!

Please continue the debate on the meaning of exploration and how we should look at it in the future!

CuChullaine O´Reilly a.k.a Asadullah Khan

My first guest writer is a very opinionated, passionate, charismatic and knowledgeable friend, the chief of the Long Riders Guild, CuChullaine O´Reilly.  He is an equestrian explorer, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Explorers’ Club, one of the Founders of The Long Riders’ Guild, Director of the LRG-AF, publisher of the LRG Press and author of Khyber Knights. He explored Afghanistan and Pakistan on horseback, took part in the jihad against the Soviet Union, and converted to Islam more than thirty years ago. He has since renounced all acts of warfare, especially those inspired by religiously misguided zealots.

New Year – New Hope

by

CuChullaine O’Reilly a.k.a. Asadullah Khan

As if we needed any reminders of what a murderous year 2009 has been, a few days ago another deluded fool attempted to destroy an airplane in flight. This time the destroyer was from Nigeria, not England, and he hid the explosives in his underpants, not his shoes. Nevertheless, both would-be assassins not only attempted to massacre their fellow man, they added to their sins by daring to cloak their crimes in the name of Islam.

Ironically, in a world full of instant news, one which rings out every few minutes with the words “Taliban” and “al-Qaeda,” it would serve mankind well to remember that there is a vast portion of the Muslim world which has gone largely unnoticed. Unlike the chilling Puritanism of some movements, which helped inspire and finance the forces of political poison currently disguised as religion which are at work today, the Indo-Islamic civilization created the most tolerant and pluralistic example of Islam ever known.

The most important example of this alternative vision of the oft-misunderstood religion was the great Mughal emperor, Akbar (1542-1605). The hallmark of his reign was the emphasis he placed upon Hindu-Muslim unity and the concept of individual religious tolerance. Because he was convinced that spiritual truth was not the monopoly of any particular religion, Akbar organized the first global congress of faiths, fostered the spirit of enquiry and allowed every man and community to develop in its own spiritual manner.

Faith has no caste, nor national origin, taught this powerful ruler who placed the love of God above the rituals of religion. When a theocracy of Sunni extremists condemned Akbar’s spirit of Sufi generosity, he transported the belligerent mullahs to Kandahar, and exchanged them for colts.

“You should not allow religious prejudice to influence your mind. The propagation of Islam will be better carried on with the faith of love and obligation than with the sword of oppression,” Akbar warned his fellow Muslims.

This flowering of Mughal religious tolerance reached its crescendo on April, 4^th, 1934, when the city of Lahore witnessed the creation of the greatest literary treasure ever seen in the Indo-Islamic civilisation. That was the day upon which the scholar Abdullah Yusuf Ali released the first instalment of his English language translation of the Qur’an. For the princely sum of only one rupee, the first fifty pages of the revered work could be purchased. The resultant six-hundred plus pages were published as they were completed, in twenty-nine more sections over the next three years, thanks to a remarkable gathering of enthusiastic university students, calligraphers, printers and publishers, all of whom urged, and assisted, the Allama (most learned) Yusuf Ali to commit to paper the English language translation he had spent the majority of his life creating.

Born in India in 1872, Yusuf Ali was an extraordinary scholar, confident horseman and traveller par excellence. Thanks to his intellectual gifts, he was the first Indian to serve on Great Britain’s Indian Civil Service. A noted jurist, a devotee of Shakespeare, an expert on Alexander the Great, and a prolific author, Yusuf Ali was also an Islamic scholar of tremendous wisdom. Thanks to Yusuf Ali’s travels between England and India, he believed there was a vital need to translate the enduring message of the Qur’an into the English language, so as to offset the same forces of religious extremism which Akbar faced and which still threaten us today.

Yusuf Ali - "Though the English language translation of the Qur'an created by the famous Indian scholar, Allama Yusuf Ali, was rightly considered to be the most beautifully written version ever seen, it was altered by unknown parties in the late 1980s so as to fall in line with the more politically rigid version of Islam as practised by the Wahhabis."

“Although I am earnestly and sincerely devoted to my own religion, I have always advocated the desirability of a better understanding between Christians and Muslims in all spheres of life. Such an understanding is likely to become a great guarantee of world peace and international understanding,” the humble scholar wrote.

Like the great Mughal, Akbar, whose religious tolerance had inspired him, Yusuf Ali believed in what he termed a “progressive Islam.” By the mid-twentieth century Muslim institutions and patterns of thinking had become moribund and obsolete. Not only should Muslims cope with the challenges of the day, he warned, they should use their faith to rise above the prejudices of race. Islam, he said, should be a way to transcend narrow political interests.

Yusuf Ali admonished the Muslims of his day, reminding them that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had abolished any hereditary and privileged priesthood, while instituting the right of private judgment, personal responsibility, equality in brotherhood, removal of racial or caste barriers and the selection of rulers by democratic choice. It was these principles, Yusuf Ali said, which were the true basis of Islam.

After years of work, when Yusuf Ali’s English language Qur’an was released, it was acclaimed a masterpiece worldwide. This revered book, he said, was not the legacy of one nation, it was the heritage of mankind. “Each verse represents something immediately applicable,” he wrote, “and something eternal and independent of time and space.”

No sectarian views were propagated throughout the extensive commentary. On the contrary, Yusuf Ali’s emphasis was on the spiritual dimension of Islam and its message of a common humanity. This search for God within liberated the seeker from the restrictions of a narrowly orthodox version of Islam, encouraging the devotee instead to look beyond the letter of the law to its mystical essence.

Sadly, power is a jealous mistress who tolerates no rival. This is especially true of those who wield the sanctity of religious authority.

Though many other authors have attempted to emulate his efforts, Yusuf Ali’s English language translation of the Qur’an became the most widely respected, and trusted, version ever known. “In translating the Text I have aired no views of my own,” he wrote, then went on to hope that thanks to this version, “a new renaissance of Islam will sweep away cobwebs and let in the light of reason.”

Alas, the message of tolerance, as practised by Emperor Akbar and Allama Yusuf Ali, has been one of the unmarked victims of today’s climate of political hatred. In 1987 unnamed “editors” bowdlerized Yusuf Ali’s magnum opus, removing various appendices, revising the commentary, diluting its message of compassion and ignoring its apolitical tolerance.

“Nothing can be more damaging than the admission of rough and tumble politics into the serene atmosphere of religious peace and freedom,” Yusuf Ali wrote before his death in 1952. The result, he warned, would be the rise of leaders who promote dangerously simplistic creeds designed to promote a spirit of political vengeance and narrow self interest.

Sadly, as the bleak religious war between East and West goes on, Yusuf Ali’s prophecy has come true, with political hirelings in clergymen’s gowns from both sides mistaking the shell for the substance.

“A foundation of hatred or hostility can never support any edifice of national life and will be subject to sudden earthquakes when the forces of disorder are let loose,” Yusuf Ali predicted. Recent events demonstrate that he was right, as the venom of one side continues to provide the lifeblood of the other.

As the year 2009 and this decade come to a close, what a cruel mockery it is then to dispute, on the religious plane, national ambitions, tribal allegiances and the need for personal glory. The fruits of this tree are intolerance, rancour and uncompromising hostility, nestled among the leaves of barren and bigoted sectarianism.

A Sufi once remarked, “Everyone lives on the same Earth. One reads the Vedas, the second the Qur’an. One is called a pandit, the other a mullah. They style themselves separately, though they are pots of the same earth. Neither have found God and both live in futile disputes.”

Yusuf Ali, who spent his life attempting to reconcile East and West, counselled that counting beads or wearing a hermit’s gown is no sure sign of faith. Service to our brethren is the only worship that counts. Likewise it is folly to believe that war can end war.

Before his death, this remarkable man of two worlds wrote, “Many new streams of wisdom were poured through the crucibles of noble minds and thinking men of action.”

I like to think that Yusuf Ali, the scholar and traveller, would have supported Mikael Strandberg’s idealistic goal of travelling on camelback, from one distant ocean to another, so as to draw attention to what we all share in common.

I know I do.

CuChullaine O’Reilly, a.k.a. Asadullah Khan, along with his wife, the Swiss equestrian explorer, Sayeeda Ayesha Khan, will be re-publishing Yusuf Ali’s 1934 Qur’an, complete with its original translation and unedited commentary, in early 2010. The royalties will be donated to victims of suicide bombings in Pakistan.

The ex-pat camp in the Wahiba Sands. We went here with Mark Evans and his friends over the weekend, a lovely break from Muscat-life....

Pain!

Woke up early this morning after sleeping 10 hours. Exhausted after a visit to the Wahiba Sands, the great soothing desert, but no sleep at all. Tooth-ache. I am waiting to call the dentist when he opens at 9 a.m. Another of Talib´s contacts. Thank God I have been hit by this pain now, not on an expedition. It totally cripples you. The worst part of having a tooth-ache is that you can´t really communicate as you would like!

I have always been most content with life when I am dwelling into another culture. It is a learning experience, it is fascinating, never boring, you never know what to expect, it stimulates all your senses, makes you question everything you have learned from the day you left the Western crib, but most of all, you come across a lot of fantastic people. Meeting people is for me, the elixir of life! Therefore the main theme of the upcoming Expedition is connecting cultures, meeting people and building a bridge of understanding between the West and East. But, it is the most difficult project I have embarked upon, because it is a subject that involves people with the extremest of thoughts in both ends, which really touches the soul of human kind.  The best and the worst. It is a gigantic task and at times it just feels impossible! For this reason, I really admire people who have embarked upon a road to try to connect cultures and educate. And made a success out of it!

Mark together with one of his employees trying to figure out an interesting route for the Connecting Culture group....

One of them is Mark Evans, one of our best friends here in Muscat.  Having him here, makes such a difference for us.  He is an explorer himself , a Fellow of the Explorers Club and The Royal Geographical Society, which means we can discuss all aspects of everything which deals with Expeditions with him. Everything from planning, route assessment and sponsoring. Mark works full time today with Outward Bounds and after a life of teaching in places like Kenya and Saudi-Arabia and after spending a year on Svalbard, he has made Oman his home. What Mark doesn´t know abouth the Omani outback doesn´t exist. He has just released a book about his 28 days exploring the Rub Al-Khali. He is very modest and careful when it regards himself, but he is pretty much good at anything he puts his head into, but most of all, it is another great human being I have come across, and he has set up an organisation called Connecting Cultures. An initiative where he invites, supports and encourages young people from all over the world to meet in Oman, travel by camel and at the same time connect them culturally and enhance their understanding of each other. It is genuinely a great vision he has accomplished! A new Connecting Cultures Expedition for young people is coming up the 3-10th of December and I have been honored indeed to be able to supply Mark with a very positiveminded and excellent young lady from Sweden, Julia Samuelsson who will attend it.

Julia Samuelsson, the Swedish representative at the Connecting Culture event the 3-10th of December

Mark has of course met a lot of inspiring people in his 48 year old life. The most impressive one, who started his thoughts of a Connecting Culture theme, was a speech at Hyde Park in London by a South-African named Ian Player. Mark contacted this awesome personality and during the hardest times of getting his project on board, he was encouraged by Ian himself. A thoroughly inspiring person and after reading about him on Wikipedia I think I have a new favourite role model to strive for! The same inspirational help applies for Mark who is continuously motivating me not to give up this project, which at times seems impossible. I am beginning to understand why nobody ever has traveled by camel from Arabia’s easternmost tip till its westernmost point…..it wasn´t the physical limitations, it was the red tape…..still is!

Just back from the dentist. It will cost me 60 rial to sort out the mess I have created by not taking care off my gums and teeth….why does it all heap on to you, when not needed?

My friends at Explorers Web published this article today, sad, but true, but don´t judge to hard, people do mistakes, the need to gain some kind of success in life makes people do desperate things, we need to forgive and they will learn from their experience. Read this http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?id=18835

This piece is written in great rush and under lots of stress in between airports! But, the thing is, I love it! The stress I mean….

However, to avoid, which occurs a lot, not too loose my train of thought….A visit to London to check the possibility of any Expedition and its success, is a must! So is connections which you have built up throughout the years. Two of the most important I have is friends doing pretty much the same thing – continuously putting pressure on life!

I am talking about two of the nicest people I have ever come across, my old friend and chairman of the British Chapter of Explorers Club, Barry Moss and the new Face of Discovery Channel – Olly Steeds. They have both helped me for many years with their belief, compassion, friendship and extraordinary kind words.

Ollie had set me up for a lot of meetings with some amazing people in his range of friends. Stephen and Jamie taught me pretty much about everything about the Gulf area and the digital side of exploration. As always I went to Stanfords to pick up some maps over Rub Al-Khali and went to the Royal Geographic Society to browse thru old Expedition papers and reports in the area where I am setting up my two upcoming Expeditions….didn´t find anything I dind´t know about though, Internet has changed a lot, for the better….and went to a lecture at the Scientific Exploration Society on Wednesday evening and had a chat with Sir John Blashford-Snell and then the pub again. The London Pub scene….I like it.

I spent all Thursday meeting a lot of people, who gave me a lot of positive and negative output on my upcoming Expedition. Most think it is impossible, which I like. I need to hear these things to concentrate and focus. And Thursday evening I spent at the Polish Club with some of my London friends….I have always been an Anglophile by the way….and I believe I have a new very good friend after that meeting, old Sam from the Hebrides. Same age, exiting life, gone through many obstacles, fantastic guy!

Came back three in the morning, went to the airport at 5….well, I am extremely tired…but, once again, the adventure is on!

The Siberian Expedition made headwaves around the world. Still is. This is the latest honor. Book can be bought at http://www.amazon.com/They-Lived-Tell-Tale-Adventure/dp/1592289916

Want a glimpse of the world as few have seen it before? In They Lived to Tell the Tale, members of the world-famous Explorers Club share their spectacular journeys from the depths of the world’s oceans to the canopies of the Amazon rainforest to the dark vastness of outer space and all points in between. As we turn the book’s pages, we climb the highest mountains, slog through jungle swamps, crawl into spider-infested caves, trek across vast deserts, and gasp in astonishment at the sheer audacity of our guides. All from the comfort of our own living rooms.

I´ve been honoured to be one of these individuals mentioned below: (Book can be ordered at http://www.amazon.com/Adventurous-Dreams-Lives-Jason-Schoonover/dp/1894765915) In Adventurous Dreams, Adventurous Lives, 120 outstanding individuals representing a who s who of international exploration recall the indelible moment in their youth when the dream that launched their remarkable lives was born. As they recount the turning points to fulfilling those dreams often overcoming enormous physical, emotional or other obstacles we learn how incredibly inspirational their lives are. Included are Meave and Louise Leakey, Buzz Aldrin, Robert Ballard, balloonists Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Lucy discoverer Don Johanson, Jack Horner, Sue Hendrickson, Jean-Michel Cousteau, the Ra s Capt. Norman Baker, George Bass, Eugenie Clark, Richard Fisher, Trieste s Don Walsh and Nobel laureate Charles H. Townes. That 24 of these dynamic individuals are Canadian such as paleontologists Philip Currie and Eva Koppelhus; Survivorman Les Stroud; Sea Hunter Jim Delgado; National Geographic explorer-in-residence Wade Davis; veteran climber Pat Morrow; circumnavigators-by-human-power-alone Colin Angus and Julie Wafaei; photographers Pat and Rosemarie Keough; and naturalist Robert Bateman is testament to Canada s significant contribution to world exploration.