Why does society need people who go on crazy, stupid, arduous adventures?

Happy New Year!

Quick fire missive to get under your resolutions radar.

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I've started to publish the articles from my new book Elevate #10. You can read the first, Deanna Rodger: Read My Lips already. I'll be publishing every day at 8.00 am from now until the end of January. (Needless to say, you can still buy the full book in £10 paperback or Pay What You Want ebook.)

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Thinking about going travelling this January? How about joining us on a £1 ferry trip to Calais to support the migrants freezing their eyebrows off over there? Plus this trip is fully sponsored by... The Daily Mail. Hilarious, but not a joke! Read all about it!

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Why does society need people who go on crazy, stupid, arduous adventures? Good question. I've got a good answer as well. Read an excerpt below...

Why does society need people who go on crazy, stupid, arduous adventures?

My friend Simon Moore is doing something crazy, stupid and arduous. With Maria Gallastegui, he is sailing in a sixteen-foot dinghy over three thousand miles, from London to Lebanon. It's hard to capture quite how crazy, stupid and arduous this is unless you've done something similar, which I haven't. And that's kind of the point of this article.

Within about five minutes of us waving Simon and Maria off back last July, they discovered that their boat had holes in. Then they discovered that, actually, waves could get pretty big in the North Sea and, if they capsized now, they'd be dead. It took them four days, beaten back each time by gales and high seas, to get around just one point in Kent. Then they faced the Channel crossing.

Limping into Calais port, more coastal storms “encouraged” them to change their plans, from sailing around the Atlantic coast, to navigating through France along the canals. That change of plan meant, rather than filling their sails, they faced instead months of back-breaking rowing. Some days, Simon told me, he didn't want to eat or drink anything because he didn't have the strength to build a fire. When he left, Simon thought the whole journey might be over in six months. Six months later, like Odysseus returning from Troy, Maria and Simon face an Odyssey that might take years.

Simon has now returned to the UK for the winter, to recover and take stock, waiting for the better Mediterranean sailing conditions of spring. He is also thinking of giving up...

Read the full article for why he shouldn't give up, why I started cycling for adventure and why society needs people like Simon and Maria - and how we must not run from the audacity of our imagination.

Once again, thanks for your concentration. I'll be diving into the deep end of your brain again in February. Until then, I wish you beauty and companionship in this crepuscular January.

Love,
dc