Things have finally settled down.
9th June 2006
After sorting out all that he could in Alaska Karl has flown down to Colombia to spend the summer with Catty. While there he has a good deal of organising to do, planning various routes for the winter, renewing visas and obtaining the special permits required for the Chukotka region. There’s also equipment that needs replacing. Dimitri returned home to Seattle but will return to Alaska in late June to take part in a kayak race. K & D did manage to finally meet up with world runner Rosie Swales (photo on the ‘latest photos’). If you get a chance, take a look at her website :– http://www.rosiearoundtheworld.co.uk
17 Comments so far
Leave a reply
Thank you Keith and Karl for the latest updates. Good wishes for a happy summer and we look forward to the next phase of the expedition. Karl, your letter was very moving - you can be very sure that our dreams will accompany you on every step of the way and we shall be eagerly waiting to welcome you home to the white cliffs of Dover.
I second that. This expedition is completely inspiring for so many reasons. Aside from the sheer magnitude of the quest, I really respect that you set out to do this for yourself. You are achieving something that most could never fathom, and we all are afforded the opportunity to join you on the way. Can’t wait to continue learning about your future travels Karl.
Hi Karl
Just finished reading your first book and I have to say its one of the most inspirational things Ive ever read.
Cynics should read it (and your letter) before commenting on the journey.
The quote at the end really sums up the ethos for me. Doing it for yourself is the only reason you need, anything else is a bonus (and by the way, the anything else is going to be bigger and more widespread than anyone could imagine)
Andrew
Karl - since first hearing about your the expedition on the radio I have felt compelled to find out more and I’m fast becoming a regular visitor to Expedition site. I truly respect what you are doing and I’ll cheer on anyone with the guts to fulfill their destiny and break the chains of instituionalism and materialism.
Good on you for writing such a candid letter and for giving us more of an insight.
Very much looking forward to more updates.
Karl, we admire you so much for your dedication, your sincerity, your determination.
But if you need to walk 2,000 miles in Siberia before you reach a road…
That is 3 or 4 times as much as you had to do in Alaska in dead of winter. Without the support system you had in Alaska. In Siberia, as you know, you can’t just easily phone someone to come rescue you.
There will be an amazing movie about you, and the highlight will be the Bering Strait crossing.
I would like to see you be alive to see that movie. You don’t need to prove anything more. Chile to Siberia is already the world’s most amazing walk. Honestly, sincerely, I suggest you end the walk now. You have already done it.
We want you alive to see that wonderful movie.
your letter was very moving Karl,
my brother is now a parra he is currently in Afganistan i always send him updates on how your doing.
Keep going mate and stay safe.
Lee
When you came through White Mountain I found you to be a very humble gentleman. It was hard to get you to talk about the magnitude of your journey. Through listening to your talks with our students I got a grasp of what you had done and what lay ahead. You are inspiring and the only person you need to do it for is yourself. I read your letter Karl. You are totally correct and I applaud you for chasing your dream.
Keep on going!
Andy
Congrats to Karl on getting this far, and overcoming some truly incredible obstacles. I am just at the end of his book, but feel pretty disappointed by how things have turned out.
I think one of the strangest aspects are the continual trips back to see Catty – do the sponsors pay for this? This is certainly not in the spirit of the ‘expedition’, and as someone else said, this looks just like a ‘normal’ traveller jetting around the world, but choosing to walk across the countries instead of take a bus/train.
Also the book has little narrative tension – it is an over-long record of “walk, get lost, find somewhere to sleep, get a free meal, walk… boy its hot, boy its cold”. Now I accept that this is what the ‘expedition’ primarily consists of, but there was a great opportunity here to populate the book with people and places, and that has been sorely missed.
Surely the chapters on South and Central America could have given us some background on how the people live, etc? What about the poverty of the people, and how they cope with that? Reading the book, you barely know half the time just which country he is in – all the countries sound the same. This might be understandable if Karl was an anonymous walker, but he has had the chance to meet some pretty switched-on and clued-up people – why is he not making more of their local knowledge, and placing this in some context of the world as a whole?
Also when you visit such places, you must learn something about them? Even in remote places such as Alaska, we learn that one guy has been living in a remote monitoring site for 30 years – but all he gets is a one line mention! What a great chance for a few paragraphs on his life story, and how he survived so long: It’s a shame to miss such details really…
If Karl is to call this an ‘expedition’, then he has to actually explore something. GPS tracking, Google Earth mapping, and on-line blogs are all well and good, but what does the rest of the world learn from his 12 years out of everyday life?
That you can actually do such a trip is all well and good, but it brings up some really interesting questions that I had hoped to hear some thoughts on in the book. What are the common human traits and activities that link all these countries together? Plus the fact that you can actually walk between the two countries whose antagonism defined the 20th Century is also a spectacular opportunity for comment and reflection.
I know Karl has stated that he is not greatly educated, but some records of this conversations (hint: Dictaphone!), or giving a few pages over to respected people from certain locations to comment might make the 2nd book more readable, and give us a true sense of the human borders he is traversing as well as the physical ones.
Sorry, but if the next instalment is more of the same then I will keep my 12.99 for another day!
But in parting I must say I admire the traveller, if not the writer… mine is certainly one of the “million dreams” walking behind Karl on the road, as in 1994 I was with my pushbike in Hong Kong intending to cycle back to the UK. A pick-pocketed money belt put paid to that plan (note-to-self: get sponsors OR insurance next time!), but I understand the lure of the road and the freedom (and chains!) it brings with it.
Good luck for the rest of the trip Karl, and stay safe.
For MartD
I won’t go on at great length but must say that the book is really comprised of selected incidents from Karl’s diaries. The actual diaries themselves, up to the Bering Straits, comprise of over 600,000 words. They give, in most cases, a lot more detail about the places and people Karl has seen. However, as you will appreciate something of that size has to be edited down to sell as a standard book. If the editor had decided to leave in a few paragraphs about this person, that person and the populations that Karl met, then it would have meant leaving out Karl’s experiences. As it was these were shaved right down by four-fifths to fit the allotted word limit. To spend a chapter simply talking about the country he was passing through was a luxury we couldn’t afford.
From the foreword of ‘Across the Savage Sea’, by Maud Fontenoy:
“But why do it?” the skeptics asked. “Why put yourself in such a predicament? What’s the point of it?”
“There is no point,” I once replied to this question, but made sure to add: “It’s like Mozart – it serves no purpose.”
If we eliminated everything that was “useless,” what would be left? With all artistic expression gone, we would wear only gray because it doesn’t show the dirt, and drink nothing but water since it’s all we need to slake our thirst. Our relationships would be limited to what is essential and practical. Just try to imagine it. The engineer Eiffel designed many extremely useful bridges and tunnels. He is remembered only for the Eiffel Tower, that monument of uselessness. But how it expresses our dreams!
Of all the creatures on earth, Man is the only one whose actions are not guided solely by instinct – but also survival and reproduction. I think this faculty was given to us because we possess exactly that dimension lacking in animals: our dreams and the power to imagine other places…
- Gerard d’Aboville
When will he go on?
For FD,
Karl will probably be returning to Russia in December. There are a number of good reasons for this, and while I don’t want to appear idle, you will find these within Karl’s letter on the Homepage.
There were some reasons mentioned in the letter, why Karl must continue his adventure in winter; and as a Russian resident, I fully agree with this decision. But nothing was said about a particular month. For example, winter usually starts in Moscow in mid-November, and on Chukotka the snow covers the ground in September, and I guess all rivers will be frozen by October…
I think that if he starts in December, he has not many chances to cover the whole distance to Magadan before the spring, and that will lead to another idle summer.
Another issue is his “strategic” route. Going through Mongolia is an absolutely odd decision - TransSiberian railroad and track is famous for being the only track to cross Eurasia from Atlantic to Pacific: in Mongolia all primary roads head from the North to the South, not westbound. And there’s no border between Mongolia and Kazakhstan: there’s a 50-km segment of Russian-Chineese border. And this region has no roads and settlements: there’re mountains that are even less populated than Chukotka. I believe that going along the TransSiberian would be the most straightforward way to Europe
What a good read your book is Karl. I have read all the complementary comments. However, regarding the few negative ones about trips back to cambodia to see Catty. I do actually understand why you do it. Although you meet lots of people, you are really brushing past them. in many ways your life on the road must be quite a lonely one.
I am a Senior Nurse in Primary Health Care working with the army as a civilian. I am not going to talk of envy regarding your way of life, as I would never take on such a monster of a task. I am happy with my lot, but it is great to read of people like yourself that are willing to risk all for your dream. Reading your book has certainly added a spark to my life.
Although, I would never take on what you do full time, I wouldn’t mind joining you for a couple of weeks. Let me know if you want some company. Regarding your health problems that I read about on the trip are particularly interesting to me. Most of them sounded reasonably easy to deal with or could have been avoided. As you have a sat phone with you, just call me next time you have a problem. I have sent you a list of phone numbers to call in an e-mail. Really it would be my pleasure if I can help you day or night! I may even issue you with a ‘Bif’ chit!
You sound like a great guy. Keep up the good work. Paul.
That’s amazing. I am touched, moved, and envious at the same time. What I wouldn’t give to do something like this in my life… I am so impressed and awed.
I am thankful you’ll be allowed to continue across Siberia and you have my best wishes for a great summer. удачи!
Keith
How go the preperations for the next winter leg of the journey? Is everything falling into place with equipment, fitness and state of mind?
An answer for D Rawnsley and while I’m at it one for FD to. Karl has only returned to Fairbanks within the past few days and hence the latest update on the homepage is well overdue. Anyway, as can be seen from that, there is still an awful lot to do, which has all got to be carried out by e-mail. But Karl is plugging on, though it remains to be seen as to whether all the nuts and bolts will be in place when he begins walking again. State of mind ie the determination to carry on has never been an issue, never an option, just a way of life.
FD Thanks for your input and your concern. One of the main reasons for starting so late in the winter is the fact that our agent in Russia, a man used to dealing with expeditions, has been very busy up to just a few weeks ago and has only now started to arrange the acquisition of the passes and permits. This may well take month’s as you know. Accordingly, Karl did not want to set a date that was too early. If he can set off earlier then he well may, but that will be a bonus. The movement and storing of rations and fuel at way points will also take some time to organise. You were absolutely right about the route he will take heading westward. Karl will now actually stay in Russia for the whole trip across, hopefully. This should negate some border problems, although he will still have to leave Russia every now and then to renew his visa.