Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

[Freedom_2018]

On a less daring and adventurous note but a rich and highly enjoyable activity, I would highly recommend walking the Camino Primitivo before it gets too popular (which it might after Martin Sheen & Co release their follow up to the original movie : The Way).

It starts in Oviedo Spain and takes you through the hills and mountains of Asturias before merging with the Camino Frances in Melide and on to Santiago de Compostela. Length is about 200 odd miles. We did it this Spring and it was by far the nicest Camino route we've walked so far (Portuguese was next best, Frances the least preferred....at least at current levels of popularity). Wonderful scenery, culture, food and not crowded.

So here's to having your own adventures, they might not be news worthy but they will be yours!

(Planning to go back in Fall and walk the Camino de Madrid and the San Salvador).

[theanimal]

We met a 75 year old guy on the trail last week that I added to my mental list of people who refuse to let age dictate how they are supposed to live. He grew up surfing in Santa Cruz, CA and in the late 60s went surfing around the world. On that trip, one of his friends introduced him to whitewater rafting. Not long after, he got a job working as a river guide on the Grand Canyon and did that for 6 months a year for 20 years. He had 4 kids along the way so needed a bit more income and he decided to become a carpenter. Eventually he somehow came to own a hotel and language school in Costa Rica. In 2011, he hiked the entire PCT. He came back to hike through Washington again because it was snowing and raining the first time he did so. Last year he hiked nearly all of the Continental Divide Trail (at 74!!). Before this trip, he hiked the Arizona Trail and afterwards he will be going to finish what he didn't get to on the CDT. We came away from meeting him very inspired.

[ertyu]

Even if he were to suffer a fatal accident on the trail at 75 it sure beats decaying in place. Admirable!

[Ego]

Brandon Leonard, the guy responsible for that wonderful video @jennypenny posted ten years ago, about the guy turning 35, has a new one where he attempts the 7 summits (of his neighborhood).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SLadjqxhhc&t=5s

Takeaway, "There are two types of people, those who have fun and those who create their own fun."

He also pokes fun at the Helen Keller and the quote that is the title of this tread.

[AxelHeyst]

Matt, who was a guest on my podcast a few episodes back, wrote a four-parter on his FIRE/life journey up till nowish with an emphasis on the practical philosophical question of what to do with your life. Worth the read. https://m4t7.com/

Freedom or a stable path? Turns out that I didn't have to choose. Instead, I took the hybrid approach with FIRE. Just work that plan in a disciplined way, and freedom is just a matter of time. Discipline equals freedom. But once you get there, then what? That's a tough one. For me, questions of whether my life has been or will be worthwhile took over. Is this it? What, you just gonna sail and climb and build stuff for yourself and ignore the possibility of making the world cooler for everyone? It could be so much better than it is! And it stands to get so much worse if people that have the capacity don't do anything about the decay!

I don't know how to live. I don't even know how much longer I will live. But I might live.

So keep trying new answers. No, you won't get it right, but maybe it'll be interesting. Anyway, the other option is pretty boring.

[zbigi]

Worth the read. https://m4t7.com/

That was excellent.

[NewBlood]

I was reading the ERE-style website thread and saw this:

(also just posting 'cool minimalist website' for inspiration: https://100r.co/site/home.html I got on to these people from @crusader. They live on a boat and make art and games and are anarchists I think. What's not to love?)

I haven't read a lot of their content but found this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW32yUEymvU

I really like their humor and they seem to be great examples of ERE. Thanks, AH and Crusader, for pointing to them!

[Western Red Cedar]

Scottish couple sell all their possessions, buy a boat in the Caribbean and sail the world:

https://www.red-seas.com/about-us/

[AxelHeyst]

Apologies if a repost but worth it: arctic daughter. Arctic circle cabin life and solid introspection.

https://youtu.be/R9qxi16BL4A?si=nCC3d5S8gAEGXzdS

[mountainFrugal]

In 1980, James Gurney - (Dinotopia series among other great art projects) and his college roommate Thomas Kinkade (famous landscape painter, "The Painter of Light"), rode freight trains across the US and produced a book "The Artists Guide to Sketching". There is more information in the blogpost as well as edited tape recordings James made while on the journey.

http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2017/ ... homas.html

[Ego]

Richard Morgan is a onetime baker and battery maker with creaky knees who didn’t take up regular exercise until he was in his 70s and who still trains mostly in his backyard shed. At 93, the Irishman is a four-time world champion in indoor rowing, with the aerobic engine of a healthy 30- or 40-year-old and the body-fat percentage of a whippet. He’s also the subject of a new case study, published last month in the Journal of Applied Physiology, that looked at his training, diet and physiology.

“I started from nowhere,” he said, “and I suddenly realized there was a lot of pleasure in doing this.”

https://archive.is/aEDRG

[NewBlood]

Thanks for sharing Ego, that's very inspiring!

[Western Red Cedar]

I just watched the documentary Race to Alaska. The concept and spirit of the race gels well with ERE (no motors, DIY, self-reliance). It starts in Port Townsend, Washington and ends in Ketchikan, Alaska. I had a colleague tell me about it in 2015 and was pleasantly surprised to see him in the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8801vvYHnM

It looks like there are other shorts and documentaries on YouTube from some of the teams.

Here is a website with more about the race if anyone is crazy enough to try it: https://r2ak.com

[ErnestScribbl3r]

I just watched this video about a Solo Atlantic Crossing on a tiny 18ft(5m) sailboat. It was done by 28 year old Nicolas from Germany, who gave his boat the fitting name "1/4 life crisis". I found it pretty bold and interesting, maybe because i wish i could be that adventurous.
He also did it on a small budget, as he only paid 3.000 € for the boat. In the video his estimate for doing something similar is around 12.000 € everything included.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRyP5ANtqJ0

[Lemur]

Richard Morgan is a onetime baker and battery maker with creaky knees who didn’t take up regular exercise until he was in his 70s and who still trains mostly in his backyard shed. At 93, the Irishman is a four-time world champion in indoor rowing, with the aerobic engine of a healthy 30- or 40-year-old and the body-fat percentage of a whippet. He’s also the subject of a new case study, published last month in the Journal of Applied Physiology, that looked at his training, diet and physiology.

“I started from nowhere,” he said, “and I suddenly realized there was a lot of pleasure in doing this.”

https://archive.is/aEDRG

One of my favorite motivational pulls is seeing old people kick ass.

When I lived in New Mexico around 2010-2012, I once volunteered at a veteran home and I've an imprinted memory of a Marine Veteran who was 95 years old who had a routine of walking on the treadmill every morning for an hour. He was tall, thin, and still very mentally sharp and could walk around with good posture. I remember thinking why he was in that home to begin with - he seemed totally fine. Maybe for social reasons, or his family felt he should be there anyway, idk. But it left a lasting impression on me about what is possible if we take care of our bodies.

[AxelHeyst]

theAnimal’s book about hiking the PCT with his family belongs in this thread for multiple reasons. Get it from his website:
https://animaltreks.com/product/you-car ... -the-baby/

And Amazon link, to leave a review. Look, reviews make a big difference in how well books do, particularly right around launch. Go leave a review! Now!
https://www.amazon.com/You-Carry-Tent-I ... B0CW1BLTKW

[UrbanHomesteader]

Quadzilla Hikes is currently doing a thru hike of the AT with the goal of spending only $1,000 for the roughly 100 day hike, plus a few hundred for a cheap set if gear. His vlog along the way has been inspirational. I'll try to figure out how to link youtube videos someday...

It's cool to see someone do this on an ERE level budget.

[theanimal]

Quadzilla Hikes is currently doing a thru hike of the AT with the goal of spending only $1,000 for the roughly 100 day hike, plus a few hundred for a cheap set if gear. His vlog along the way has been inspirational. I'll try to figure out how to link youtube videos someday...

It's cool to see someone do this on an ERE level budget.

There is a guy who claimed to spend ~$700 to hike the PCT. I think most of his expenses were shoes. Otherwise he just made due with the extras in hiker boxes at each resupply point. I think it's certainly possible to do it at that level or even less. Often there are discarded shoes or gear in decent condition and depending on when you go, plenty of food. The challenge would be in dealing with the monotony of food (endless ramen and Knorr packets) and the uncertainty of it all.

FYI- you can just paste a link here and the system will format it for you. Like so: https://youtube.com/@QuadzillaHikes

[2Birds1Stone]

There must be some increase to ERE stats when your first name is Jack! (Quadzilla Hikes is a Jack)

I have enjoyed following his journey since <1000 subs on Youtube, he did a video fairly recently on how he funded his 7 years of adventure lifestyle and it's very ERE aligned.

[UrbanHomesteader]

https://youtube.com/shorts/ET-ok_O26aw? ... ZQXu8rt6jA