BY FAR, FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS MOST COMMON CONVERSATION IS HOW TO GET A TRIP OFF THE GROUND?. PLENTY OF PEOPLE HAVE THE IDEA, BUT WE’D SAY ABOUT 1 IN 10 EVER GET THERE. GOING FROM ‘I REALLY WANT TO DO XYZ’ TO ACTUALLY DOING IT IS A PROCESS OF SEVERAL STEPS THAT’S NOT HARD ONCE UNDERSTOOD – JUST AT FIRST MOST PEOPLE DON’T UNDERSTAND IT AND DON’T GET BEYOND THE EARLY STAGES.
THE SINGLE BIGGEST ELEMENT NEEDED IS CLARITY; KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO DO. WITHOUT THIS THE REST OF THE PROCESS CAN’T HAPPEN. NO ONE ENDS UP ON AN EXPEDITION BY ACCIDENT, AND IT’S ALWAYS THE DETAILS THAT MAKE THE SUCCESS, WITH CLARITY THE BASELINE FACULTY TO START WITH. WITHOUT CLARITY MOST CLIMBERS/KAYAKERS/TREKKERS TALK THEMSELVES OUT OF EXPEDITIONS EARLY ON. THE IDEAS DRY UP, THE INSPIRATION FADES AND THE LOGIC IS LOST. THERE BECOMES TOO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS SO NO PICTURE OF AN OUTCOME EXISTS AND IT BECOMES HARD TO FIND A REASON.
THE MIRROR OF THIS IS WHAT MAKES A TRIP WORK; THE PEOPLE THAT PULL A TRIP OFF DO IT BY ARRANGING A SERIES OF FACTORS AND FOLLOWING THROUGH. THEY KNOW THERE’S ONLY ABOUT 5 THINGS TO BROADLY GET NAILED DOWN AND THE REST IS REFINING. DIFFERENT CHARACTERS REFINE IN DIFFERENT WAYS, BUT EVERYONE NEEDS TO HAVE THE SAME NUTS AND BOLTS TO WORK WITH.
THIS IS THE SINGLE MOST FUNDAMENTAL PART OF AN EXPEDITION – WHAT THE TRIPS ABOUT. ‘OBJECTIVE‘ DOESN’T NECESSARILY MEAN THE EXACT ROUTE, PEAK OR EVENT; IT MEANS THE WHAT, HOW AND WHERE. WITH THIS YOU CAN ORCHESTRATE EXPEDITIONS 102, 103, 104 ETC. WITHOUT IT YOU HAVE NOTHING MORE THAN AN EMPTY FANTASY. NEVER FORGET – THE OBJECTIVES PRIMARY FUNCTION IS TO GIVE MOMENTUM TO AN EXPEDITION. OBJECTIVES NEED TO CONTAIN THE MOTIVATING FACTOR(S) THAT SET THINGS IN MOTION AND BRIDGE THE BITS THAT ARE NOT ALWAYS EXCITING. OBJECTIVES ARE THE CRITICAL ELEMENT THAT KICK A TRIP OVER FROM FANTASY INTO WHEELS IN MOTION AND THAT MAKES YOU A PROTAGONIST NOT JUST ANOTHER DREAMER.
IT’S FINE TO JUST HAVE ‘SOMETHING TECHNICAL AND REMOTE IN JAPAN’ AS AN OBJECTIVE BECAUSE WITH THAT WE CAN BALLPARK ROUTES, COSTS, FLIGHTS, TIMELINES, GEAR ETC. THAT’S HALF THE JOB DONE.
OF ALL THE THINGS WE SEE THAT SETS THIS PHASE APART, THE MOST COMMON HOLY GRAIL THAT KICKSTARTS A TRIP OVER FROM WISH LIST TO REALITY IS SIMPLY LOOKING AT A MAP. WHILST READING TRIP REPORTS, DISPATCHES & ARTICLES HELPS IT’S VOYEURISM, BY LOOKING AT A MAP YOU’RE ENGAGING A BASIC EXPEDITION SKILL YOU WILL REPEAT A THOUSAND TIMES, NOT READING ABOUT IT. THE INVERSE ALSO HOLDS – IF YOU CAN’T BE BOTHERED TO LOOK AT A MAP YOU DON’T DESERVE THE RESULTS.
A JOURNEY OF 1000 MILES STARTS WITH A SINGLE STEP LOOKING AT A MAP
STARING AT A MAP GIVES YOU RAW DATA. IT’S NOT FILTERED THROUGH THE PENS AND EDITORS OF THE MEDIA, IT’S THE RAW INFORMATION OF WHAT’S OUT THERE. YOU DON’T NEED TO COMMIT DOLLARS, YOU DON’T NEED TO READ THE LANGUAGE, YOU DON’T NEED ANYONE’S APPROVAL, YET YOU COME AWAY WITH ENOUGH INFORMATION TO START THE CONVERSATION. WHEN IT COMES TO THE OBJECTIVE, YOU HAVE A BIG CHUNK OF IT DONE, EFFECTIVELY THE WHERE, WHAT & HOW IN A NUTSHELL.
A GOOD WAY TO THINK OF THIS IS FROM FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITION’S PERSPECTIVE, AS PROVIDORS OF EXPEDITIONS: SENDING US AN EMAIL WITHOUT THE BASICS OF WHERE, WHAT & HOW DOESN’T GIVE US ANYTHING TO WORK WITH. IT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “I WANT TO GO TO THE CHINA-KAZAKH BORDER FOR THE FIRST ASCENT OF A 4000m PEAK” AND “I WANT TO DO STUFF SOMEWHERE…”
SIMULTANEOUSLY, LOOKING AT A MAP TELLS YOU WHAT CAN BE DONE IN A PLACE; IF THERE’S PEAKS, RIVERS. DESERTS, JUNGLE, CITIES, BORDERS ETC. INDEED MANY EXPEDITIONS ARE FUELED 90% SIMPLY BY WHERE THEY HAPPEN, THE PADDLING/CLIMBING/TREKKING IS JUST THE REASON AND WAY OF BEING THERE. PERHAPS THE FINEST EXAMPLE IS THE NORTH SIDE OF THE KARAKORUM – YES YOU CAN ATTEMPT K2 FROM THE SOUTH, IT WILL STILL BE 8611m HIGH AND STEEP, BUT THE MOMENT YOU THINK ABOUT THE NORTH SIDE IT ALL SHIFTS FROM BEING ‘JUST’ ONE OF THE 8000mers TO BEING THE 8000mer. LOOKING AT A MAP OF THE NORTH SIDE TELLS YOU IT’S A VERY DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHY, WITH VERY DIFFERENT POLITICS, ACCESS, RESOURCES & CONDITIONS. AN HOUR LOOKING AND THINKING WILL SHOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SOUTH WHICH DRAINS THROUGH MONSOONAL WEATHER PATTERNS, PAST SEVERAL CROWDED BASECAMPS, THE PAKISTANI MILITARY MACHINE, THE VOLATILE TRIBAL AREAS, THE CHAOTIC CITIES AND PATCHY ECONOMICS – AND THE NORTH THAT CROSSES BLANK DESERT AND THE WESTERN PAMIR VALLEYS, PAST ONLY NOMADS AND BORDER POSTS, ALONG GOOD ROADS TO MODERNIZED SILKROAD CITIES LIKE KASHGAR. EFFECTIVELY YOU HAVE 2 DIFFERENT MOUNTAINS.
BUT THIS ISN’T THE COLDWAR. EVEN 20 YEARS AGO ‘LOOKING AT A MAP’ MEANT GETTING HOLD OF A PAPER COPY FROM SOME WEIRD SHOP ACROSS TOWN. LOOK LUCK IF YOU WANTED A MAP OF CHINA, THE CENTRAL ASIAN STATES OR IRAN BACK THEN. NOW MAPS, AS SATELLITE IMAGES OVERLAID WITH WHATEVER DATA YOU WANT MODELED BY BIG COMPANIES, COVER EVERY CM OF THE PLANET. AND RATHER THAN DISSOLVING THE URGE TO EXPLORE IT’S 1000% FOLD INCREASED IT AS PEOPLE NOW CAN NOW PRECISELY WHAT THEY WANT. CLARITY.
OUR GO-TO MAP ALSO IS OUR GO-TO CLIMATE SITE, COVERING IN A SINGLE ELEMENT WHAT 10 YEARS AGO TOOK A MAJOR INVESTMENT OF TIME, MONEY & UNCERTAINTY TO NAIL DOWN. WITH THIS THERE’S NO EXCUSE FOR NOT HAVING AN OBJECTIVE ON THE TABLE.
