Grand Adventures by Alastair Humphreys

Author:Alastair Humphreys
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2016-01-29T05:00:00+00:00

© Alastair Humphreys

You know, I never really assume I’m going to complete any project. Sure, you gain skills and knowledge from previous attempts, and a degree of confidence in yourself, but every moment of everyone’s lives are unique moments so it’s best not to assume too much about how things might unfold.

When I’m really pushing hard I start to draw on an inner reserve that’s only accessible through adversity. I like the absorption in the moment that place allows me. It draws out a part of myself that is more powerful than the usual concept I hold of myself during an average domestic sort of day. Those most difficult days stand out very clearly in my memory. There’s nothing ho-hum about intensely challenging times. You feel really, really alive.

I’m always wondering ‘what next?’ If I wasn’t I might as well be dead. I love the lure of another adventure in the wilderness. My list of adventures in my head is way too long for just one lifetime.

PAULA CONSTANT

WALKED FROM THE UK TO AFRICA

The first big trip was the three-year walk which started from Trafalgar Square and then went out and down through Europe. The first year was 3,000 miles on foot with backpacks and then it moved into two years across the Sahara with camels.

It’s been an interesting journey in the last few years to look back at what was driving me then and what drives me now, and how that differs. I’m ambitious; I think that is never going to alter. But the way it manifests is interesting. At the time I was quite clear about what I wanted. I wanted to make a living doing something I loved, and to see the world through other people’s eyes. I wanted to write books and I wanted a big adventure. That was pretty much it. I didn’t want to be stuck in a 9-to-5 working for people I didn’t really respect. I had a strong desire to make my mark in some way. To live an extraordinary life, if you like. And for me that was what success meant: to succeed meant to lead an extraordinary life. So, that was my sole ambition, really.

I am so grateful for that walk. I can never describe it. It’s taken me a long time to be grateful for it. I loved it. I just loved it. Loved every step of it. But, I have learned that it’s OK to stop, to say ‘what do I want now?’ and go in a totally different direction, which I’ve now done. But I wouldn’t say it scratched the itch. I’d say if anything it fired my brain synapses to really understand that anything I dream of is doable. The important part for me now is to be discerning about what I dream of.

I had a really specific desire that was related to the Sahara. I was fascinated by the way that cultures and religions have moved across that part of the world and up into southern Europe.

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