Why I Love Emotional Adventures

I have always loved the idea of an emotional adventure, taking a risk.

I hope that my expeditions, my adventures, in every photograph my crew & I take, will encourage others to pack their suitcase and head somewhere off the beaten track because the more you travel, the more you realise people are all the same. We may talk different languages and have different beliefs but there are more similarities than differences.

That romantic sentiment set, there have been moments I have questioned my sanity (in the moment any way). For every scrape with death or accident or just plain tedium, I have had a myriad of unforgettable and life-affirming experiences. Once you are addicted to adrenaline there is no way back. You are hooked.

Amazon – Mud & bike

Frolicking in the mud as a child? Fun.

Frolicking in the mud with a 250kg bike falling on every 5m.

Fun the first 2 falls & you feel strong then you just want it to stop & you start wishing for good ol tarmac.

I wasn’t scared about it in particular but I was tired. It was just the beginning of the trip and it was tiresome on the nerves. Yet this turned out to be one of the most important moments in my life; it changed my direction, put me on an ultimately more rewarding path and forced me to re-evaluate who I was and just what the heck I wanted to do. Sometimes, the greatest challenges offer the greatest opportunities.

Aconagua - psychologically-induced altitude sickness.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of psychological factors in the acclimatisation process. For most people symptoms such as nausea, headaches and appetite loss are perfectly normal – they’re part of the acclimatisation process and nothing to worry about, but confidence about them only comes with experience.

Everyone says that there are no technical difficulties and climbing Aconcagua is easy. There are constant winds, 45 kph being the most friendly speeds and daily poundings. The day would usually start clear, but still windy and blowing snow, then start snowing in the afternoon. Ripped tent flies anyone?

For days, we suffered through the tempest. On one of the days, when it all finally cleared, we watched in astounding surprise as climbers attempted the summit. At Nido, the wind was howling, in the 50-60 kph range, and it was bitter cold. I could only imagine what it was like up high. Then, as has been the case the past days, the afternoon brought more clouds and more snow. Summit teams became separated in the whiteout, people got lost and people got sick with the extreme altitude and overexertion. 

Gran Acarreo (literally The Great Haul), the vast scree slope on Aconcagua’s western side, which caused our feet to slide backwards with every step, and we didn’t yet appreciate the vast scale of the mountain. Features we thought were nearby turned out to be huge distances away. We were getting frostbite and our attempts at going further by Aconcagua’s favourite weapon – the wind.

Sandstorm & Sacred Mountains

Sandstorm + mountain + crew with camera & gear = modern day problems.

Ever tried to feel like a tornado chaser? Being in the eye of the storm? Once you are in a sandstorm it’s too late to try and escape, all of you will feel a sense of disorientation as your sense of direction is completely compromised by almost nil visibility, and the sand lashing at any inch of bare skin. To make matters worse, if you cannot cover your mouth, the sand will pour down your throat and into your lungs, suffocating you.

Now think about that while on a steep gravelly gradient?

What I have learnt is that safety matters most – if you see the sand storm brewing on the horizon, don’t think that it’s your chance to grab some award winning photography. Head in the opposite direction and try to maneuver around the storm. While they can be fast moving, a lot of sandstorms are quite slow and it is possible to outrun them.

Goggles check. Long clothing to protect against sun and skin being ripped out, check. Ears covered, check. Brilliantly I did not rub the insides of my nose with petroleum jelly (neither did the entire crew) and it felt like we all got a mighty good shining from mother nature with her coarse sandpaper rubbing the insides of our noses.

Hairy? Maybe

We travel to see things for what they are, for an alternate reality. We travel for fun and freedom, to step out of our routine mindset. We travel because we are curious and adventurous, to push your heart and soul.

Heading to places off the beaten track is even more daring to the mind and soul.

It allows us to go even further out of our comfort zone and to re-discover ourselves in a different light.