Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

Favorite quotations, etc.
AxelHeyst
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Re: Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

Post by AxelHeyst »

- Nassim Taleb, Skin in the Game wrote:"...life is sacrifice and risk taking, and nothing that doesn't entail the former, under the constraint of satisfying the latter, is close to what we can call life. If you do not undertake a risk of real harm, reparable or even potentially irreparable from an adventure, it is not an adventure."
George bernard Shaw wrote:"This is the true joy in life:
being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one;
being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live.
I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no "brief candle" for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."
Francis Drake wrote:“Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.”

SavingWithBabies
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Re: Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

Post by SavingWithBabies »

That Black Family Abroad:

https://thatblackfamilyabroad.wordpress.com/

The experience of a black family moving from Chicago to Mexico. Doesn't go into the financial details (except affordability of food and medical care). Makes me wonder if they are ERE/FI or more on the spectrum of take a couple years off. Fairly quick read as doesn't have too many posts yet.

Western Red Cedar
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Re: Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

Post by Western Red Cedar »

An epic road trip with some of the original dirtbags:

Mountain of Storms - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxM2cOvq6s8

A look at the life and legacy of Doug Tompkins. His life was heavily influenced by the trip described in Mountain of Storms, and is a good personal reminder to dream bigger. An inspiring practitioner of deep ecology.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QDnhjkULdM

Jeff Johnson, inspired by the Mountain of Storms trip, replicated the journey in 180 Degrees South:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK3TOHLFL50

Hoping your new year is filled with many daring adventures!!!

Western Red Cedar
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Re: Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

Post by Western Red Cedar »

I watched the documentary Given a few years ago. It's really interesting as it is told from the perspective of a small child, and their journey is portrayed as a multigenerational myth playing out in real time. Recommended for those with young kids, those who love travel, or surfing, or fishing, and who aren't put off by a hippy vibe.

Unfortunately it isn't currently available for free on a streaming service, but it will probably be there at some point. Here is the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X54O_u6iYSo

Their website documents the trip with some amazing photos and posts:

https://www.giventhemovie.com/our-travels

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Ego
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Re: Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

Post by Ego »

Two architects re-purposed a 100 person marine survival lifeboat; Stødig, into a self sufficient expedition home and travelled 5000km from the UK to the Norwegian Arctic.

Architects Guylee Simmonds and David Schnabel bought a marine survival lifeboat in February 2018 and after a year long conversion left on four month voyage to the Arctic. Along with Shackleton, Guylee's dog, they travelled from the UK to Tromsø, far north in the Norwegian Fjords. Situated at 70o north, Tromsø is the largest city in the Arctic and having arrived, the lifeboat and crew are spending the winter there, and exploring their surroundings. The aim of the expedition is to explore this wild and isolated landscape, demonstrate the ability of design innovation to facilitate self sufficiency in such extreme environments and to document and share the adventure through photography and film.

The voyage began in May 2019, departing the southern British port of Newhaven. The route skirted the Begian and Dutch coast, passing the Kiel canal in Germany into the Baltic. Passing up the Danish then Swedish coast past Copenhagen and Gothenburg, before crossing the Skagerrak south of the lower tip of Norway up to Bergen. The lifeboat then followed the route of the famous Hurtigruten ferry, passing up the fjords to Tromsø.

https://www.arctic-lifeboat.com/
https://youtu.be/Z4v0ask1Zus

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AxelHeyst
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Re: Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

Post by AxelHeyst »

Howlie / Renaissance Ideal / Non-Consumer Lifestyle Inspiration
(see my post about the need for stories to aid in getting to WL7+ here: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=11126&p=236900#p236900

Book: Seven Years in Tibet
Name: Heinrich Harrer
The Story:
Heinrich escapes a WWII internment camp in India, flees to Tibet, and has an epic journey to finally reach Lhasa, the capital. Throughout all this he has to creatively figure out how to *not* get kicked out and handed back to the Indians. Once in Lhasa, he has to make himself useful. He winds up being a sort of tutor to the Dalai Lama.
Skills employed during his seven years:
  • Escape and evasion (night travel, orienteering, sleeping in the rough, avoiding predatory megafauna)
  • Language acquisition and translation (he gets a gig listening to political radio broadcasts in English and making translations for the Tibetan government).
  • How to deal with pack animals (yaks, maybe a camel or two, horses), including how to purchase and sell them
  • Moneylending (at one point he loans his money to a moneylender in order to build up his capital a bit while he is waiting for the time to be right)
  • Map reading and map making
  • How not to freeze to death at 20,000ft even though you have holes in your shoes
  • Social/emotional intelligence, the ability to read people and not piss people off. He worked with several fellow escapees to get to Tibet, and then worked with them in order to make their way through the country once there.
  • Cultural observation and adaptation (has to figure out how not to break Tibetan taboos so bad they kick him out).
  • Gardening (he makes himself useful by building really ornate fountains and gardens for noble families).
  • Civil engineering (he checks out a few dams to make sure they won't flood)
  • Medicine
  • Photography / videomaking (wrong word, but the Dalai Lama has him shoot motion pictures of various aspect of Tibetan life)
  • Tutoring/teaching a variety of topics

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jennypenny
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Re: Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

Post by jennypenny »

Paul Kingsnorth and Caroline Ross are doing an online Wild Twins course this spring.
video about the course ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oyd-ECSOp6U
from the website ... https://wyrdschool.ie/2021/02/03/wild-t ... xpedition/

I'm tempted despite the price, not just because I'm going bonkers but because I really love the idea of having a wild twin somewhere.

Western Red Cedar
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Re: Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

Post by Western Red Cedar »

I watched Accomplice last night on Netflix. Even if you aren't into mountain biking, it is worth a watch for the scenery, filmmaking, and cinematography. I loved this quote from the film:

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up."

- Picasso

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bys1Y6l53Ik

Western Red Cedar
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Re: Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

Post by Western Red Cedar »

Someone else plugged the Yeti series a few pages back. I go through phases of watching their videos periodically, but really love the storytelling and cinematography. I think it initially took me about 10 of the videos before realizing they were an advert for high end coolers.

I watched this one about the Malloy brothers again over the weekend. It hits on different types of adventures - those of a stable vs. a nomadic nature - which I've been thinking a lot about. Also touches on the balance of family and adventure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaNc4NLgp-E

Afterwards I listened to a podcast with Dan Malloy, the youngest brother, interviewed by JT Van Zandt who is the son of Townes Van Zandt. Around the 30 minute mark he shifts from talking about surfing and mentions encountering a Wendell Berry article that challenged his thinking about community, family, independence, and freedom. Interesting to see creative, successful people gravitate towards a renaissance lifestyle (surfer, farmer, songwriter, filmmaker, father):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7Eoto2U7Qw

The story of JT Van Zandt is also quite interesting as he comes to grip with his father and his relationship to work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KadKx5k6XoY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpoN_b8rl2o

I listened to his podcast today with Jimmy Chin. This was recorded before Free Solo was released so it is quite different than a lot of the interviews and material with Jimmy Chin. Worth a listen for anyone interested in climbing, photography, or outdoor adventures:

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

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Ego
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Re: Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

Post by Ego »

She Rowed Across the Atlantic, Joining a New Wave of Extreme Endurance Athletes
After 70 days 3 hours 48 minutes, Jasmine Harrison, 21, became the youngest woman to row an ocean.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/22/spor ... rison.html

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Lemur
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Re: Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

Post by Lemur »

^^^ Wow what a feat...
This reminds me I really need to start working out again lol (endurance work that is; I've kept up with my bodyweight routine). I used to do distance running and the euphoria you get after 7-8 miles (just my numbers ; YMMV), is something else....almost like a trance state (mentally) you get when everything physically is real robotic and there is not a care in the world ...distance runners know what I am talking about. Or any long endurance for that matter.

MegaRigger
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Re: Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

Post by MegaRigger »

Might have been posted here already. Just a short , 6 minutes, video about a man living a simple life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jA4FJtrLNE

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C40
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Re: Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

Post by C40 »

I like that last one.

AxelHeyst
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Re: Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

Post by AxelHeyst »

Maybe already posted, but new to me:
https://beaumiles.com/

Oddball adventurer / filmmaker

Stasher
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Re: Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

Post by Stasher »

AxelHeyst wrote:
Fri Mar 26, 2021 6:21 pm
Maybe already posted, but new to me:
https://beaumiles.com/
Oddball adventurer / filmmaker
I have been watching Beau Miles for some time and he is amazing !! I first started following him because I do ultra-running and he is a talented runner. Beau screams ERE to me and shares so much with his viewers on how we need VERY little to enjoy life.

He finally released his newest video on walking to do his presentation at the University (he is a professor) and did recaps on when he first walked to work. Of course this is 90km away :)
https://youtu.be/R-Zyud8xh2c

Building his wife's studio/cabin is 100% ERE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzSeGJF6RhM
and redoing his work office would make Jacobs heart flutter :)
https://youtu.be/8QpFFB1QHto

and this one was hilarious !! he is so funny but shows that yes you can live on beans (if you really had to)
https://youtu.be/RYsTlfhDSDY

Ok I gotta stop ! I have been enjoying Beau and all he creates, I could honestly just start sharing all his videos so I will stop now :D

AxelHeyst
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Re: Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

Post by AxelHeyst »

^Ha yep my weekend plans are set.

ertyu
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Re: Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

Post by ertyu »

I enjoyed the bean video. Would recommend boiling one's own from dry, because commercial baked beans often have sugar etc. in them and are really not that nice. The tortillas in the Steinbeck novel are important here: legume plus grain = complete protein, which beans are not. He shouldn't have skipped the tortillas. Makes sense for his cholesterol to go down, too, canned beans aren't too rich in fats.

Should've eaten off the floor more often; eating dirt/dirty produce is how humans have gotten most of their b12 historically.

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Ego
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Re: Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

Post by Ego »

I really enjoy living. I do not have a death wish. But if I have to go some time, I'd want it to be something similar to how Aleksander Doba went. It is before 4AM here and I'm getting ready to start my workout. Nonetheless, I propose a toast to Doba.

Ego wrote:
Sun Apr 17, 2016 8:41 am
Aleksander “Olek” Doba
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAYFPoofotw

He will begin his third Atlantic kayak crossing at age 69. This time he will start in New York and paddle east.
http://www.canoekayak.com/adventure-2/1 ... pj7jPM1.97

https://explorersweb.com/2021/02/23/leg ... ro-summit/

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Legendary Kayaker Aleksander Doba Dies on Kilimanjaro Summit

The wild-bearded Polish super-kayaker Aleksander Doba died as he lived, in pursuit of adventure, passing away on the very summit of Mount Kilimanjaro at the age of 74.

Doba’s wizened but muscular frame and ancient, friendly face became familiar not just to the adventure world but to mainstream audiences when he kayaked across the Atlantic in 2017 at the age of 70 and became the first person to cross that ocean three times.

He was climbing Kili as part of a group but he split off to go at his own pace with his guides. He was not showing any symptoms of altitude sickness and he was in good spirits, his guides reported. When they met others near the first peak of Kilimanjaro, he told them he felt in great shape, shouted, “Wild Africa!”, and said that he was happy.

theanimal
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Re: Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

Post by theanimal »

Thanks for sharing, Ego. I really enjoy seeing these types of people who are doing big things and are remaining active when they are older. Barring injury, it is a good reminder that our physical limitations are often a result of our own trapped mental state. I remind myself of these types of people whenever I hear one of my friends in their late 20s or early 30s complain about being/getting old :roll:

AxelHeyst
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Re: Life is a Daring Adventure | The Inspiration Thread

Post by AxelHeyst »

that article^^ wrote:Event producers asked him to say, in English, “Thank you very much” when he walked onto the stage. Doba, who wore jeans to the prestigious ceremony, said, “Polacy nie gesi i swoj jezyk maja,” which translates to “Polish people are not geese and have their own language.”
This guy is going on my short list of heroes.

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