I’m going to touch on a few topics in this update.  A look at the latest attempts to overcome the Russian visa limitations, a look at political relations today, between the UK, US and Russia, as ultimately this could well influence decision makers at all levels. But I’m also going to start by responding to two, somewhat negative messages left in the guess book yesterday.  

 Pete Skellen left a massage on the October 30^th that needs to be looked at as it prompts some interesting questions and misconceptions.  The message starts:

 “Reading through the blog the exped [expedition] sadly seems to be on its last legs! (no pun intended!)What do you actually hope to do for finance, making $10 a day is hardly enough to fund a trip to Tenerife yet alone another 10 years of walking?”. 

 Firstly, the estimated time to the UK (once back on the ground) is 4-5 years. But then there is the question ‘how long will it take to get back to Bilibino’? What do I actually intend to do to (1) keep fed (2) get moving again, these are two separate questions. Keeping fed is a play by the day basis right now and I’m doing fine, odd jobs, certain arrangements are keeping me going in the interim. However, I always feel like I’m balancing on the edge of a cliff. During this time I focus on finding that match on the floor of this blacken room I’m in, I just don’t know how large the room is and how long this is going to take. Yes I have days of utter despair and they are becoming more frequent of late. Which brings me to the next part of your message:    

  “Why not cut and run back to the UK what with 10 years down and 10 to go, is your son and family not more important than the exped?”

How does one even begin to respond to a statement like this?  “Why not cut and run?”  It would appear to me you have failed to grasp the entire concept of this endeavour.  I feel I can only point you in the direction of the page entitled “Why” on this website, yet I feel it will fall on deaf ears in this case.  Regarding family, loved ones, friends there are no right answers here, it will always be a hard choice, there will be better days and bad days. This is an interesting point in the conversation. Perhaps you could not do this?  Having been doing this for 11 years now, I know damn well, most could not. The pressure becomes insane!  Family, my son and Catalina are topics that have dragged me into the inferno more times than I can count. The true madness being that I am the one poring the gasoline over myself, then live everyday knowing the people I love, and anyone in close proximity to me will get burned. Maybe in the past I could make myself believe it was going to be different. The truth is this can be a brutal game and not everyone can play.  I can.     

“You go from Russia to Mexico, back to Russia, back to where ever, back to Russia so it doesn’t actually seem one continuous journey, has the original ethos of the trip now been lost by no progress for months, nearly years?”

The day I wake and don’t face all of this, is because it’s over. Everyday I deal with the effects and results of what I’m doing, and that my friend is a continuous process.  It has not stopped for 11 years. Tomorrow will be about manoeuvring in my local sphere to keep my head above the water, while not loosing focus on the main objective. I just feel your interpretation of ‘continuous’ is limited.  I could be the Dalai Lama, but I still have to abide by visa rules, I don’t chose to partake in these crazy visa dances because its fun. I have explored the limits of what the world is willing to let me get away with to push this where it needs to go. I have taken the necessary calculated risks. I have kept the focus square on the journey. I have not sidestepped this journey for a year to work on a pig farm, or gone home for tea and biscuits, every day is about getting the next mile. This is a continuous effort and that’s proving hard to maintain and increasingly more stressful. With candied comments like “Why don’t you get a job” people don’t seem to realise just how much of a task this is and how much time it demands.     

 “It was a good attempt but seems to have been badly run and mismanaged from it’s conception to being put into practice.”

Something a corporate manager might say! Did you miss the part where a young man just walked away from his world with only what he could carry and nothing but the will to face all the unknowns he could (or could not) imagine. To have got this far, quite frankly…I rock!  The only way I could mismanage such an attempt, is to quit on week 3.  Did you really want a business plan?…Really?  Considering how this began it would be ludicrous to think this could have grown from a business plan. If it had, it would have never begun. 

“I can sadly understand why backers and sponsors have pulled out, halfway down with another 10 years to go and no end in sight, unfortunately the ‘investors’ want the glory/money shots of the finish line and not the halfway pics. When will this endeavour end? Who knows, it has the heart, but will it have the legs? Time will tell…. the odyssey continues!”

 No sir!  Time will not tell, I will tell you…Yes, it will, and it will end on my terms.  And finally, you are correct “the Odyssey continues!”.  There are plenty of reasons why sponsors pull out, yes the largest being timeframe.  Sponsors like events, they have a clear beginning, active period, and a conclusion. All within a workable time frame.  Giving marketers pre and post marketing plans neatly laid out in a single folder in a very understandable format. They like their work to be easy. You don’t get the easy ride with me. My time frames are well know and understood, once I have someone willing to back me up.   

The latest from, or rather about, Russia,

A while ago the office of my local member of parliament from Kingston Upon Hull sent of a letter of support asking the foreign office to have a chat with the Russians to see what support they could drum up for my endeavour.  We recently received this response:

“Thank you for your letter 8 September to ************* on behalf of your constituent Mr Keith Bushby, whose son Karl is attempting to walk from South America to England as part of “The Goliath Expedition”.

I am full of admiration for Mr Bushby.  His achievements already, walking up through the Americas and across the Bering Straits into Siberia, is extremely impressive.  I agree that it would be a great shame to see such an inspiring journey derailed by visa regulations.

You will be aware that the Russian government is responsible for the visa requirements of visitors to the Russian Federation.  I am keen to do all I can to help, and so we will ask our Russian counterparts to bear in mind the extraordinary circumstances of Mr Bushby’s journey.  However, I should emphasize that the Russian Federation is entitled to insist that the rules they set are respected, and I cannot of course guarantee that our request will be successful.

I will update you if we receive a reply from the Russian government.  In the meantime, I wish Mr Bushby all the very best.”

 Other than that we wait for responses from other contacts and continue to look for friends within Russia who might be able to point us in the right direction. 

Which brings me to other unwelcome but connected events in the Geo political sphere that might cast a shadow over our attempts. 

There is an unfortunate downward slide of relations between the west and Russia that seems set to continue. As before, these global concerns at first sight would appear to have little or nothing to do with my little issues. But like the economic crisis last year, it had a surprisingly direct effect.  So I keep a wary eye on worldly events. 

Russia’s core security issues, (and Russia takes its security issues very seriously), is the question of its sphere of influence and its right to maintain its sphere of influence, in the light of expanding US influence into those former soviet satellite states. Vice presidents Joe Biden’s speeches recently while visiting Eastern European countries seemed to confirm my fears that relations between Russia and the West are headed for stormy weather. Then there is Iran, which is undoubtedly part of the equation. 

Meanwhile back in the UK, since the death of Alexander Litvinenko three years ago, British Russian relations have been at an all time low. Yesterdays news hardly lightens the mood:

“The Russian ambassador to London hit out as David Miliband was due to arrive in the country tomorrow (Sun) for what is expected to be a tense trip.

In uncompromising comments that set a grim mood ahead of the visit, Yuri Fedotov criticised Britain for adopting “anti-Russian measures”.

He said there was no chance of Russia extraditing the man wanted for the murder of Alexander Litvinenko while railing against the UK’s “unwillingness” to extradite Kremlin critics wanted in Russia on criminal charges.

“We still cannot resolve some of the issues that arose over the past years,” he said. “The UK’s refusal to co-operate on counter-terrorism and visa restrictions are causing complex problems.”

Britain introduced sweeping visa restrictions and suspended co-operation with Russia’s FSB intelligence service in 2007 in retaliation for what it saw as the Kremlin’s failure to co-operate on the Litvinenko dossier. Mr Miliband has already made it clear that he is not minded to cancel the measures.

Calling them “Artificially created obstacles and anti-Russian”, Mr Fedotov said they were holding back relations.

His comments underline how scarred relations between Moscow and London remain three years after the 2006 murder of the Kremlin critic in London.”

How much these kind of events effect me, if at all, is hard to determine but worth watching closely..