There are many varieties of adventure, so what do I mean when I use the word?
I like this definition: A wild and exciting undertaking (not necessarily lawful).
Adventure, by any definition, is not limited to epic bike tours through foreign lands, climbing mountains and sleeping in cold huts.
Rather, adventure is a way of being in the world. It is a shortcut to two feelings that I treasure most in life: connection to people and place, and awe.
I believe in slow travel
The art of the journey as adventure. I stopped using aeroplanes in 2010 for the simple reason that air travel stunts my imagination.
Since then, I have walked all over the country, from the cathedrals of the south-east to the summits of the Highlands. I have hitch-hiked with strangers from London to Ben Nevis. I have toured tens of thousands of miles on my bicycle.
Since quitting aeroplanes I have never travelled more.
I believe in the community of adventure
My adventures have always brought me into close contact with fellow human beings, from the camaraderie of the Calais Critical Mass and Thighs of Steel, to the friends I have made in refugee camps all over Europe.
I believe in No Borders
I believe that every being on earth has the right to roam, to pursue their own adventures, without barrier or boundary.
I believe that borders are an anomaly and injustice of history that will be corrected quite naturally by our indomitable humanity.
I believe in the return
Ultimately, I believe that our adventures teach us something important about who we are, and who we could be. We must but listen.
I believe in the words of TS Eliot:
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Little Gidding (1942)
Books
