‘When shall we live, if not today?’
As a young man it became clear to me that I could dabble in outdoors subjects in New Zealand and Australia, but to understand the big picture would mean going further afield.
It was daunting. These are huge and often sketchy destinations, I was travelling solo and completely uninsurable. But once the first trip was done it was like a drug. I went a little crazy, clocking up nearly a million air miles in the first 15 years.
There were good things, some bad ones, a lot of unpredictable ones. Did it cost? Financially, yes. Relationships, yes. Injury, yes.
Would I do it again? Yes.