Ed Stafford is currently WALKING THE AMAZON. He is an expedition leader and friend, who we’re supporting as much as we can on his epic journey. We’re chuffed to bits that Ed has found the time to write a guest blog for us – good luck with everything Ed, we’re behind you 110%!
The “last great feat of exploration”.
If I see the above line again describing an expedition I might just keel over from sheer exasperation.
From circumnavigations to pole attempts, the amount of people claiming to be doing the “very last” expedition before everything is tamed, manicured and utterly explored is comical.
Unlike many I do still think that men and women who brave the elements to drag themselves and their sleds to the poles are explorers. They are pushing back the boundaries of human achievement with every new record attempted and they deserve to be up there with the famous names of yesteryear for their achievements. They are wondrous and inspiring people, who make me want to leap up from the sofa, throw my TV remote vehemently into the waste bin, and attack all my previously unresolved problems with renewed vigour.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not talking about those who enter organised races across oceans or over icecaps. These men and women, commendable though they are, do fit better in the more generic category of “adventurer”. I’m talking about people who are slowly chipping away at the boundaries of possibility.
I read recently that due to the fact that ocean rowers don’t meet new people or cultures that they shouldn’t be called “explorers”. What?! Such an anthropogenic stance completely ignores pitting oneself against nature and fighting for one’s very survival. If its never been done before – how can it not be exploratory?
Recently I received a nice support message from Sarah Outen. She was at sea for 124 days and in 2009 became the youngest woman to row solo across any ocean. She conceived, organised and conducted the expedition herself and she succeeded. Is she an explorer? Too bloody right she is.
As long as the human brain is free to imagine and dream there will always be new expeditions, new adventures and new world-firsts to be attempted. Lets stop trying to draw a line under each one to pretend it’s the last. As a race we are not nearly as close to completing all that is possible to achieve on this planet as we think.
Long live exploration and all it embodies.
Ed
Tel:+44 (0)131 2208246
