The Sprit of Adventure

Graham Charles hails from New Zealand and was our Expedition Leader.  He is an advocate for the Spirit of Adventure.  He and 2 of his friends were the first team to kayak around South Georgia!  Read all about his achievements and his Adventure Philosophy in:

http://www.adventurephilosophy.com/top-level-adventure-philosophy/welcome-home/

He is truly inspirational and was instrumental in us having the trip of a lifetime.  Even when we thought the weather would stop us, he came up with ways to defy it. 

As we travelled through Antarctica, Angela and I reflect on whether the Spirit of Adventure is dead.  It is rare to encounter the courage of explorers such as Shackelton, Scott and Amundsen amongst the travellers of today.  We set off on our own personal journeys, having already researched and Googled these destinations to death.  We have read the guidebooks and trip notes of people who have travelled these paths before us.  We have trawled through the online photographs and watched Discovery documentaries and come here armed with a lot of prior knowledge. 

The early explorers set off in search of places that had never been visited.  They were intrepid travellers with immense courage, willing to live outside the box, so they could discover places that were not even mapped! 

When Captain Cook left the southern seas for the last time he wrote:

“Thick fogs, Snow storms, Intense Cold and every other thing that can render Navigation dangerous, one has to encounter and these difficulties are greatly heightened by the enexpressable horrid aspect of the Country, a country doomed by Nature never once to feel the warmth of the Suns rays, but to lie for ever buried under everlasting snow and ice”. 

And then we reflected on the younger generations of today, who would rather live in a virtual world than go out and discover the bush in their back yard.   We live in a risk averse world today that is smothering the spirit of adventure.  At work, we lie buried under mountains of paperwork that slowly kill our creative abilities.  We protect ourselves with paperwork because no one is willing to take some personal responsibility for their actions.  Adventure parks that allowed people to test their limits, challenge themselves close down, scared off by insurance bills they are unable to pay and the threat of litigation by a population unwilling to be accountable for their actions. 

If we are unable to test our limits, challenge ourselves, and take a few risks, we will become a population with less life skills than the generations that preceded us.  If the greatest adventures our children experience are via a computer screen, our evolution and growth as a species will be limited. 

So, dear readers, make sure you take some time out from your tightly structured lives to include a few adventures.  There is nothing like the freedom of the open road and the adrenalin rush of a new adventure to add a bit of zest to your life!      “We believe in the spirit of adventure – being self- propelled, self-responsible, the need for an unstoppable attitude, the need for challenge. We believe that the world is a better place for those who are prepared to confront the improbable and defy the odds.”

Antarctic Peninsular Sea Kayak Expedition Mission Statement