constanttrek

media coverage

July 29th, 2007

Just to update you – today (Sunday 29th July) I have an article in the Australian Sunday Herald Sun magazine, in Melbourne, and the Sydney Telegraph, titled "Desert Queen".  Yep – don't laugh – I feel rather more peasant like than royalty when I am out there, but it makes for a fun title!

I was on the radio on BBC Radio Shropshire yesterday, which was fun.  I was having a glass of red in front of the fire at the time – there have to be worse ways of doing an interview!

I was up in Sydney last week, and met with many of the Birkenstock retailers there.  It was great to meet the people who are selling the shoes I wear – there were a lot of amused chuckles at the state of my old Birkenstocks.

I also met with the Dove team, and hope to be seeing more of them over the next few weeks.  It is a great experience for me to meet with the people who enabled my walk to continue, and show them the images and stories from the walk.  It also helps me to keep focussed on going back.

I have been mainly staying with my Mum, in central Melbourne, but have also been spending a lot of time up in the Dandenongs with friends.  I enjoy so much walking through the hills and forest up here – although the temperature is a bit of a shock, the scenery is just stunning, and it is great to see kangaroos bouncing away as I walk in the early evening.  Curling up in front of the fire with good red and a good book is another joy that I just can't get enough of at the moment; it seems such a long time since I could claim time for myself, and relax in solitude.  I make the most of it, knowing it won't be forever.

I miss the desert.  It is suprising how quickly I find myself at home back here, and whilst at first passionately grateful to be well, resting, and in a safe and friendly environment, it wasn't long before I began to feel impatient to return and finish this thing.  I guess on some level it is quite difficult to really relax knowing that my camels are still out there, and half the desert still waits for me to walk across it.  I set a goal to get to the other side and often I think I just cannot rest until that is done. 

I look at my old shoes and think about wearing a second pair down; I think of how hard it was this time and what I can do next time to make it easier or more manageable.  I reflect on how much I have learned through this last trek and of how much I have still to achieve and master; a big part of me is just itching to get back there and complete it, do it better than I did last time.  I guess each trek teaches me knew things, and leaves me hungry to do more and more.

Friend and mentor Graeme Joy, the first Australian to ski to the North Pole, and the person who has been on the end of the phone during this last trek, has spoken to me a lot about maintaining focus and keeping an eye on the end goal.  I guess at times it is difficult to remain determined to finish something; there is a tendency to think "oh no, here I am again", when confronted with issues of refinancing and re-equipping to go back.  But I know he is right; although at times I toy with the idea of forgetting the rest of the Sahara and just walking across Australia, or something more manageable, I know deep down that it would always feel unfinished if I left it now.  It is slightly daunting to think of both the financial practicalities – pitching for sponsorship all over again – and also of the physical realities – such as heading back into the horrid prickle country.  The cultural isolation, physical exhaustion, and mental challenges of being out there for months on end are something I have come to realise never really get easier.  But they are also an integral part of what I do, and offer incredible opportunities for growth and developement; I wouldn't swap the experience.

I find myself wanting to talk about the expedition a lot, this time; I have bored mates and family senseless, I think. But I have also come to realise that in some ways there are parts of the experience that just can't be shared; so often lately I seem to have been asked what was the hardest part, or when I felt scared.  I guess people want to hear tales of guns and robbery, or thirst and near death.  But the reality is that the most desperate times are by far the most mundane; when you just can't face another day plodding through prickles and dunes, or cooking more rice for a fussy guide, or facing another round of monotonous questions from nomads who find you as weird and wonderful as a peacock in Antarctica.  There is nothing particularly dramatic about moments like those, but they are the nuts and bolts of what wears you down and drives you nuts.  When it is really tough on a physical or dramatic level, you are too busy in it, handling it, to be worried or depressed by it.  It is the mindnumbing grind of routine that can become tough and depressing, particularly on those really long 25 – 30 day hauls, when it simply feels as though you will never get there, and the km's pass horrifically slowly on the map.

Anyway – despite all of those things, I know that going back is what I want to do.  In some ways I will never feel truly successful until I have crossed this thing  – and that is what life is really about for us all, isn't it?  To find that one thing that defines success for us – and then achieve it? Everyone has a different definition of what constitutes success, I think.  And even though mine may seem a little unorthodox – in the end, it is what works for me.

 Cheers.

Entry Filed under: trekking