Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

[Ego]

This family is in the campground in Hluhluwe with us today:

http://www.dacaluf.com

Proof that those with kids can do it too. They worked for several years in IT to save. Last night we talked about the general philosophy of living to work and their philosophy of working to live.

[Ego]

Around the world on a bike spending less than $10US a day.

http://www.cyclingthe6.com/p/finances_25.html

Also, a good story, The Death of Awe in the Age of Awesome

https://medium.com/human-parts/the-deat ... 6fc4569751

[Ego]

The Important Places

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffNPOnbTkmo

[Ego]

Big Crazy Family Adventure

Last year I traveled halfway around the world with my wife and our two young sons to live in a cliff-side Buddhist monastery in the lost Himalayan Kingdom of Zanskar. Our adventure took us 13,000 miles from home, without ever leaving the Earth’s surface.

https://maptia.com/brucekirkby/stories/ ... -adventure

[henrik]

Thanks for sharing that, Ego.
I always seem to have trouble explaining to people that travelling with kids is actually way easier than staying home with kids, even day to day, not to mention the benefit of having the memories.

[jennypenny]

I always seem to have trouble explaining to people that travelling with kids is actually way easier than staying home with kids, even day to day, not to mention the benefit of having the memories.

+111111111111111111111111111

I'd rather travel with kids than adults.

[cmonkey]

Also, a good story, The Death of Awe in the Age of Awesome

https://medium.com/human-parts/the-deat ... 6fc4569751

The video in this reminded me of this youtube channel. Don't ask me how I found this. Amazing that they have so many subscribers. Folks that are just bored to tears and really needing something to bring back the awe.

I also completely agree with the ending of that article....I am constantly finding awe just outside in our gardens. Its one of the reason I spend so much time out there. Every day I see something I have never seen before.

[Ego]

Burma by bike. Free ebook from the incredible Amaya & Eric...

http://www.worldbiking.info/wordpress/2 ... a-by-bike/

Here is their route so far (last updated in 2014)



Edit to add that I was poking around their site and found her Speaking page very interesting...

http://www.worldbiking.info/wordpress/speaking/

Facing Challenges

Change is the only constant as she pedals around the planet. Perfecting the art of calculated risk-taking is essential to survival. Thriving on the road means adapting instantly to changed circumstances, seeing difficulties as temporary and finding creative solutions.

Lessons from the Road

Life on the road has taught her to approach life with a curious and open mind, allowing instinct to be her guide. This round the world expedition is a case study in success being determined by the spirit of perseverance rather than pure talent.

Why this Matters

This talk will inject you with a dose of enthusiasm, and appeal to anyone with a love of adventure and desire for challenge. The message is clear: dare to fail; you won’t achieve anything without taking the first step.

[Ego]

Peaking at Ninety

Photos
https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/bigpic ... story.html

and the article
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/0 ... story.html

MOUNT WASHINGTON — Dick Dreselly got out of his car at the trailhead, looked up at the cloud-covered summit, and then called his wife, Marge, in Topsham, Maine, to assure her that everything would be all right because he had brought a reporter and photographer “to carry the body down.”

He changed into an old pair of shorts, tightened the Velcro on the sneakers he’d bought for $5 at Goodwill, strapped on his trusty red pack, and set out on a three-day journey up the Crawford Path to the top of Mount Washington, an 8.5-mile slog over boulders and more boulders. It’s 4,750 feet of vertical gain, much of it above tree line, exposed to the legendary horrific winds that have led many to call it the most dangerous small mountain in the world.

It is a journey he has made many times before, including just last year with his grandson, but this one was special because in January, Dreselly celebrated a big milestone: He turned 90.

[Ego]

We saw the new Everest movie. It reminded me of an old quote by Jon Krakauer that I had read years ago. Back then I remember thinking that maybe he was talking about something more than mountain climbing. Nineteen years later, reading it with slightly more wisdom, I think I'm starting to get it.

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/ ... nt-everest

Journalist Jon Krakauer, who was part of the New Zealand team and the second to summit that day, filed a raw, emotional account of the tragedy on Outside magazine’s Internet publication. Krakauer, author of the best-selling Into the Wild, has no doubt that Scott Fischer died because he was exhausted from guiding amateur climbers. Rob Hall clearly died in the act of rescuing his amateur client. But Pittman maintains that there were no heroes that night, that the guides were just doing their jobs, what they were paid to do.

According to Krakauer, the debate “raises the question ‘What are you doing on this mountain if you can’t get yourself down?’ There’s only so much you can ask of a guide or a sherpa.” In his view, guided climbers may have a lot of experience, but that does not necessarily translate into great ability or judgment. He emphasizes that these climbers are never without guides—“high-altitude baby-sitters”—which is very different from doing it on your own. “You don’t have the mind-set to take care of yourself. You learn to operate within a client framework, which is that other people are going to haul your loads, other people are going to look after you.”

As the controversy grew heated, veteran climbers tried to make the point that the essence of mountaineering has always been self-reliance, consideration for others, character, and integrity.

------------------

Operate in a client framework. Hum

[Chad]

I really agree with Krakauer. I also tend to think that people who do the "completely taken care of guided tour" up Everest or some other similar extremely hard and dangerous physical activity aren't really doing that activity.

Let's take something I'm very familiar with...football. If a group of people could pay a group of professional football players to play with them to get the experience of playing professional football, it wouldn't actually be the experience of playing professional football. Let's say there were 6 non-professionals and they were broken up so 3 were on defense and 3 on offense. The pro players would basically cancel each other out, so you would really just be playing against the other noobs out there. This is not professional football.

Now, if the pro players were on an opposing team and you had 11 noobs on the other side you could maybe say you experienced professional football. Of course, you would probably be in the hospital.

In the case of climbing Everest, you basically have the same situation. It's the pros vs pros (Everest vs. guides) and then the joes vs a steep cardio exercise at altitude. I'm not suggesting it isn't a hard exercise, but it's not really mountain climbing.

[Ego]

In the case of climbing Everest, you basically have the same situation. It's the pros vs pros (Everest vs. guides) and then the joes vs a steep cardio exercise at altitude. I'm not suggesting it isn't a hard exercise, but it's not really mountain climbing.

I thought the movie did a good job of showing the often hidden perils of hiring specialists (specialization) to solve hard problems. There are times when buying a solutions can make sense. But it seems that some of the clients on Everest were professional solution-buyers who didn't realize the downside.

[Chad]

I haven't seen the movie, but I may see it if it comes to Prime at some point.

I have heard the documentary Meru about climbing the Shark's Fin is really good.

http://www.merufilm.com/

But it seems that some of the clients on Everest were professional solution-buyers who didn't realize the downside.

Forgetting the real situation is easy to do as a "solution buyer." Managers do it all the time in business. Most Fortune 500 CEO's are very guilty of having these blinders on.

[jacob]

In the case of climbing Everest, you basically have the same situation. It's the pros vs pros (Everest vs. guides) and then the joes vs a steep cardio exercise at altitude. I'm not suggesting it isn't a hard exercise, but it's not really mountain climbing.

This is why I don't relate to tourism. Seeing (remotely supported) does not equal living (locally self-supported).

On a similar note, during the era of the Meiji restoration when the old samurai were banned and swordsmanship was replaced by kendo, the question of who was the best swordsman, usually settled by a duel, became hard to define and settle. When challenged some of the old school samurai refused to fight with anything but steel (which makes the fight very different). Of course the moderns declined.

Also see spectatorship, critics, ...

[vroom]

I haven't seen the movie, but I may see it if it comes to Prime at some point.

I have heard the documentary Meru about climbing the Shark's Fin is really good.

http://www.merufilm.com/

Great film. Warning: it'll make you feel like a complete underachiever.

[jennypenny]

Warning: it'll make you feel like a complete underachiever.

This!! My life is hopelessly mediocre, and watching all of these inspirational films makes me feel like even more of a shlub.

[7Wannabe5]

Eh, I don't find mountain climbing at all inspirational. Why spend so much effort and energy on a challenge that is dangerous and serves absolutely no purpose? How about climbing up on some of these abandoned houses in my neck of the woods and doing some hammering of shingles instead?

[Ego]

The Art of Manliness wrote that incredible piece on Viewers vs. Doers.

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2011/08/2 ... tatoritis/


When we stay in one place for a while I find my viewing ratio increases and doing ratio decreases. I tend to read fiction vs non-fiction and watch entertaining videos vs. learning something. And after doing the same thing a few times (teaching the same class, hiking the same trail) the activity feels less like doing to something and more like viewing it.

We're returning to the US in a few weeks and this is something I intend watch for as we reassimilate.

[GandK]

The Art of Manliness wrote that incredible piece on Viewers vs. Doers.

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2011/08/2 ... tatoritis/

That was a great read. Although I wonder if part of the problem he calls "spectatoritis" is that professional sports - ubiquitous examples of true physical excellence - has enhanced most people's sense of physical inadequacy, especially adults. Kids still have the possibility that they'll grow up to look/be like the athletes they admire. Adults have accepted that's not going to happen. And if an athlete is "supposed to" look or perform a certain way, and you don't, does that mean you have no business playing in the first place? Or that you'll end up a funny YouTube clip if you try? When ridicule (loss of status) is the greatest sports injury you can think of, aren't you safest in a jersey that has someone else's name on it? Sad, but I believe that's a big part of what we're seeing. I've met unhealthy women who won't go to the gym because of the way they look in workout clothes. They feel like they'll be making a spectacle of themselves, so they stay home. And IME the fear of ridicule is even stronger in guys.

[Ego]

Eh, I don't find mountain climbing at all inspirational. Why spend so much effort and energy on a challenge that is dangerous and serves absolutely no purpose? How about climbing up on some of these abandoned houses in my neck of the woods and doing some hammering of shingles instead?

While I agree somewhat with what you are saying, my skept-o-meter starts pinging when I hear someone preach service-before-self. More often than not the preacher is being served.