It’s always ‘challenging’ returning home after a decent adventure but this time seems to have been, or rather ‘is’, particularly difficult. All I can think about it is the mountains – nothing new there – accompanied by a crippling apathy with respect to what passes for normal life. I’m tired too… really deeply tired so haven’t even been able to get it all out of my system with more riding… or paddling for that matter. Experience says it will pass eventually. In the meantime.. because I’m really having a hard time getting to grips with the work I have to do… here are a few random photos that I quite like that didn’t make it into the blogs from the road for whatever reason. Of course now I’ve had a chance to work with the raw files the pics uploaded from the road via my little android tablet look to be of woefully poor quality – but on a poor connection from the relative middle of nowhere they served a purpose. It seems I left at about the right time, a newspaper clipping sent to me by friend back in Kullu indicates that the heavy winter snows have arrived…
There Mike, you have done it again!!!! I am sitting here shouting “HELLO….IS ANYONE THERE?”. . . .. . there is no reply! I think that the mountains are too far apart to echo. As usual, amazing pictures!
If you don’t mind being with 9 other people you might like kayaking the BC coast from a delightful “Mothership”…or have you discovered this one? Check http://www.mothershipadventures.com
It truly is a delightful vessel; I made a 3′ scale model for the previous owner, fully detailed inside and out. He gave me a chunk of wood that he salvaged from a refit he was doing so the model’s keel, gripe, stem, sternpost, deadwood and some of the planks were fashioned out of it. It was a fun project!
A change may be as good as a rest!
Best wishes, Ed.
hey Ed.. yeah, wilderness with as few people as possible is my preferred environment… sorry to say that the idea of an organised “adventure” with other people is really not my cup of tea at all, never has been, never will be. There is no satisfaction to be had (for me) in doing something that is not self-supported. Anyway, plans for next year are crystallizing with a long sea kayak journey and a return to Central Asia on 2 wheels.. :-)
The model sounds great, any photos online anywhere?
All beautiful but particularly love the photo of Nico. There’s something about it…
hey, thanks… that one of Nico is a favourite too.
Ironic how you come back from solo travelling in such vast empty places and feel kind of …empty. I’ve been there too, it’s perhaps the least enjoyable part of a trip, but possibly, just possibly the most important as the images memories and lessons all jostle for space with the busy noise of your ‘real’ life. What wins is what you carry forward with you, and that’s what enriches and nourishes you in the longer term, as distinct fro the wonderful but short lived constant stimulation of the actual trip. not sure if that makes any sense whatsoever… perhaps in time applying energy to a show or publication would actually bring the trip to new life, ‘extend’ it, as it were.
hey, thanks for taking the time and you’re quite right. I generally try and jump straight into thinking about the next one.. doing that however does hasten the ‘decline’ of the memories of the one just past.