Looking at updating the website here very shortly.  I will be opening a new forum and brining new content but first I need to tie off some lose ends to make sure we are ready, but I hope this will happen very soon.  

 Life here in Mexico has been a little busy.  Have moved sleeping quarters again, dealing with immigration issues, house sitting dog sitting office sitting and helping friends with other local problems so its kept me busy of late.  update very soon.

World class adventure looking for marketing partner. One of the most incredible journeys the world has seen, is looking to partner with professionals who understand how to market an ambitious long term project with a rich history. Odyssey XXI is looking for help with PR management, brand consultancy and marketing.  Former British Paratrooper, Karl Bushby’s attempt to forge an unbroken footpath from the tip of South America back to the UK, unassisted by any form of transport, is now in its eleventh year. After covering more nearly 17,000 miles and making history by reaching Russia on foot across the Bering Strait, the endeavour now requires funding to get beyond the Siberian Arctic tundra. To achieve this it needs the help of volunteers who can team with the Odyssey bringing marketing ideas and experience, with a view to investing in the many possibilities such a story and adventure has to offer. For more information: www.odysseyxxi.com <http://www.odysseyxxi.com/> or if interested in teaming up with us email odysseyxxi@gmail.com <mailto:odysseyxxi@gmail.com>

This article has been removed on advice and wishes of close friends and associates.  While I don’t necessarily agree or share their concerns I must respect and appreciate their input.   

Karl

In response to mediasamuel.info’s message on the guest book 14/11/09

It’s not that I don’t want to walk for a cause, it’s just that it was never my prime intention. However the possibility was always there. I’m uncomfortable with the notion that I or anyone partaking in most endeavours must have a cause or if not could be discriminated against for not conforming to some ones politically correct marketing needs.   

However, as I have stated before, something bubbles within. See enough and live long enough, something is always going to end up bubbling to the surface at some point. If you have been over the website you might have noticed that I have started to ramble on about certain topics that I’m passionate about. You are about to see more on the subject here very soon.    

You talk about me having touched on how I found it striking that no matter whom I meet or where, below the thin cultural veil we are all remarkably alike. Same needs, same hopes, same expression of kindness and good will. And yes, people do need repeatedly reminding of this fact. Yet when we confer in groups, something happens.  We follow different rules. We allow a collective decision to decide our point of view, beliefs and ethics. Our opinions quickly fall into line.

In evolutionary terms it’s not hard to see how this would benefit any given group or tribe. However, once those tribes and groups have grown to the point where they are standing shoulder to shoulder, what used to be of benefit now starts to work against us. I’m not sure group think is wrong, I just think we are following the wrong themes, the wrong ideologies. Ideologies that might once have worked for us, today are not equipped to cope with the challenges we now collectively face.   

Group think lines the group up for manipulation. A charismatic character that understands the mechanics of this phenomena is capable of controlling it. This might be a malicious act or not. ‘Memetics’ describes a natural process of spreading ideas from one human mind to another following Darwinian rules. It’s not wrong or right.  Some of these ideas will be better suited for survival in the meme pool than others.  But memes are about memes, they are not about humans. They do not evolve with our survival in mind, but are parasitic in nature. We are capable of creating successful memes that are detrimental to our survival in the long run.      

Yes, as individuals we are splendid chaps. But our world operates largely at the group level. So if your question becomes, “Why do we act in such a barbaric fashion, why are we not able to live in peace, when on an individual level it would appear everyone wants the same thing?” Group dynamics, group think and the way our brains are wired are parts of the answer. The solutions are a little tougher to identify. A good starting point, I would argue, is to start focusing on, and pushing support for, the notion of reinforcing peoples ability to think critically and independently. It’s one of education and awareness. This means relying more on rational input and less tolerance for clearly irrational/pathogenic ideologies. Those ideologies that somehow feel they are immune from or above our critical faculties. We need a revolution of the mind.        

Tolerance may need to be better defined, less of a paintbrush and more of a scalpel.  Your ideas on tolerance and your very strong statement regarding the Royal family are cases in point. Tolerance is a nice idea, but I’m not sure we know what we are doing with it yet. I would argue we cannot afford to be tolerant of all ideas.

In response to many questions regarding Polar Bears.

Big, yes, but somehow still cute, cuddly and endangered, the majestic Polar Bear. Everyone loves them, well almost everyone. Personally, I would rather not even talk about them, as the mere thought makes me fidget uneasily in my chair. They are far from a priority at present but they owe me countless sleepless nights, and copious amounts of stress.   

Around the Bering Straits area the polar bears were a huge and potentially dangerous concern according to most, and were top of the list in conversations regarding the Straits.  Yet the bears were not my greatest worry. I kept a wary eye on the matter and was armed to the teeth but I did not appear to be as concerned as most everyone else we had spoken to. 

Polar bears are a unique species, a virtual marine mammal and the only large predator that is known to actively hunt humans. Other bears may take advantage of an opportune moment if hungry or attack if provoked, but they do not generally include humans in their daily menu. 

Horror stories abound, everyone in Alaska had a polar bear story. The polar bears we did meet on the ice were fleeting encounters and the animals left the scene in a hurry once they saw us. This is what I was expecting, having learned from literature and a few trusted friends, not the accounts of many a story teller. I was concerned, however, about a ‘tent invasion’. Night time was a different story, that’s where I saw the danger. There were numerous accounts from explorers and adventurers about tent invasions. Dmitry Shparo and his sons, when attempting the Bering Strait, had many encounters with tent invaders at night and some very alarming accounts. They credit a handgun on one occasion for saving their lives.  

Dimitri and I carried a .44 revolver with bear slugs for tent security at night. During the day we had a pump-action shotgun with solid slugs and flares. The idea being we have two flare rounds as bear scarers, the next rounds are to kill. I even went to the extent of fitting the gun with a reflex scope for use at night. We had practiced moving and shooting at night incase we had to, but certainly didn’t intend to. This included night vision equipment, again a precaution against bears. The night vision equipment gave us about a hundred yards advance warning. Given the broken and erratic surface of the Strait, we would not be afforded a lot of clear, flat ice (pending ambient light or moon state) to spot a moving bear at night. The Strait is close quarter combat. You’re surrounded by walls of broken blocks of ice, countless shapes, silhouettes and shadows. You would never see a bear in waiting. Without night vision, the first thing we would know of an encounter is when a 1000lb (plus) monster was around our throats. If you’re close enough to see it at night, there’s a good chance it’s too late.   

Bears are as at home in the water as on the ice. Again, we had drills for crossing open water at night, as the swimmer would have no chance at all if caught in open water. One would provide overwatch with night vision and shotgun. The other would take the handgun to the other side and cover the second on the crossing. 

 B.T.A

‘Bare Threat Anxiety’ was a term I adopted. This was a night time phenomena covering the Bering Strait crossing and moving through Chukotka. Many a sleepless night was had, with constant suspicion of something stalking around outside the tent. The arctic ice can be a noisy place at night. High winds rattling the tent and moving sea ice that makes the most amazing noises. Shifting, grinding ice can imitate screaming humans, car engines, howling foxes or coyotes, even the growl of a bear to the tired mind. However, the worst nights are when the night is still and a creepy silence descends. Now the smallest creek is the soft footstep of an approaching bear. With little sleep, this is B.T.A, it’s a constant pressure. This was only made worse in Russia because as foreigners we were not allowed to carry guns (even flare guns), and therefore can not defend ourselves. Nor were we allowed to bring hand held flairs into Chukotka. The best I could manage was to find some old fire crackers from one of the towns…. not a lot of use against bears. Should a bear decide to dine on adventurer one cold blustery evening, I’m as good as dead, and a very unpleasant death it would be.

Thanks Robert for highlighting this for me today via the guess book.  http://www.cnbc.com/id/33878416

“Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday called for a relaxation of visa rules for foreigners visiting Russia. “We must simplify … the rules to attract the necessary specialists from abroad. Visas should be given quickly and for long periods,” Medvedev said. (Writing by Conor Humphries, editing by Robin Paxton) (from Reuters 12 Nov. 09)”.

 Now why can I not get up each day and find messages and news like this.

Had a recent discussion on ‘Which of the gaps proved most challenging?’ Bering straits or Darien Gap. I have had a number of these discussions over time and it’s always interesting. However, the comparison is derived from a personal perspective and it’s not to say it would be the same for the next guy. These are both little known regions of the planet and greatly misunderstood.  You can read more about these experiences on the website.

The Bering Strait was meant to be the greatest challenge of my life, and it failed in that regard. It was, however, critical to the journey and the crux of the whole endeavour. It cannot be overly exaggerated just how daunting it was to face. It meant I had to make history. That’s not a challenge you face every day. It had been preceded by many years of “It cannot be done!” and the more experts I spoke to, the more negative the predicted outcome. After a while you could start to believe these people, you could start to doubt yourself. To most the Bering Strait is an unknown. I have read travel forums where people talk about planning weekend trips with family and dog to walk to Russia across the Strait. Even though Dimitri and I managed to reach Russia, I still sometimes wonder if we really understood just how lucky we were. It was a hard fought battle, with all the drama and tension, but yet somehow I almost felt cheated, as if the Strait had not even had enough respect for us to bother rising to the challenge. This could not have been all it was, this was not what I had prepared for. There should have been more. But I would stop well short of saying it was a disappointment, it was a relief. The day Dimitri and I stepped onto the Straits foremost on my mind was; (A), How do we get off this thing when it all goes wrong, and (B), How the hell am I going to maintain the momentum of this expedition and pay for a second attempt, or a third, or a forth…After years of saying it was nigh impossible to even imagine the possible….. and then suddenly we were in Russia.  

Probably even less well known are the dense tropical jungles of the Darien Gap. This was not seen as a challenge on the same level as the Bering Strait largely because people did not appreciate the details from my perspective. The Darien was indeed the greater challenge when I look back over the two experiences. Prior to attempting the Darien I could not possibly have contemplated it being as difficult a challenge as the Bering Straits. However, between leaving Medellin and sitting in the British Embassy in Panama City lay a profoundly shocking two months. 

From the love of Catalina, to the fear of armed Colombian guerrillas. The overwhelming thick jungle, with sickness and exhaustion, a rapidly shifting, bewildering spectrum of sight, sound and experiences, that was often to much for one to absorb. As I sat in a chair, alone in a room at the Embassy, overlooking Panama city, I found myself numbed to the point of confusion. What had just happened? Later, I was driven to the old town where I was given a room in a hotel. It was not until I had dropped my equipment to the floor and finally lay on a bed, that I began to live the Darien Gap. As my eyes closed everything came back, sight, smell and sound. I saw it, truly saw it, for the first time. During the experience I had been too focused on ‘doing!’ Avoiding! Navigating! Finding food.  Now, replaying it like a movie, I saw it in a whole new light, I understood the Darien Gap.  Now finally allowed to rest, I could smell it, hear it…. feel it.

At times the Darien had felt impossible and I had been overwhelmed. Indeed in one instance I had been reduced to a blubbering child. I had been heart broken, scared witless, or too exhausted to care about anything or anyone. Starved, gravely ill, arrested and jailed and rarely feeling in control of anything. Everyday brought something new, and potentially lethal.

The Bering Strait had not shown its teeth fully. Yet it was far from a ‘cake walk’. We had been very lucky with the weather, but then again we had timed it well.  Being as patient as we needed to be. As with the Darien, where I had waited 2 months in Medellin until the dry season, I’m sure this made all the difference in the world. In both cases the plans were very fluid. Extensive preparation and research proved their worth in both cases. 

The second gap, or the Bering Strait, played out to an oddly familiar tune. It had that struggle, lack of being in control, elements of fear, even being detained by the authorities again. To cap it all, a heart breaking episode with Catalina that left me caring little about the 58 days of political drama and trials Dimitri and I faced on reaching Russia. I was crushed.  People stood around and talked, the judges mouth would move and lawyers respond and contest. Dimitri would rant on, but no sound came out of their mouths. I just did not care, and did not believe anything we said at the time was going to change a thing.  We did not need to be present at the first trial or neither the appeal trial, all the decisions had been made prior. It felt like a game. Catalina was not a game. Six years after meeting her, so little had changed. Today when I look back at that episode, those last 58 days in Russia stand out above most as perhaps my most difficult. As often throughout stage 5 of the journey, or even stage 4, Catalina dominated my thoughts. Everything else, I knew I could handle. 

At the end of the day there were a number of moments in the Darien Gap where I truly feared for my life. I can honestly say there were no such moments on the Straits. And that 14 day adventure, exhausting though it was at times, hardly compared to the two months in the Darien. But, the game is far from over, other surprises lie in wait I’m sure. This resent series of setbacks had definitely not been foreseen.

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..

No new news on the Russian front. The last I heard was the office of my local  M P were putting a letter together for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in an attempt to obtain a possible humanitarian visa. I have no idea how long it might be before I hear anything.  Internet connections with the UK have been scant over the last few days. 

 In the mean time, I am shifting locations here in Melaque Mexico in an attempt to find a roof over my head.  The major focus of late has been putting together documentation into the best possible presentation we can use to find partners and sponsors.  It had taken longer than I had hoped. There have been more setbacks recently and a review requiring a  rewrite. I had been delaying an update on the website for this purpose, with more work needed, I am just going to push on and update the website anyway, and finish off later. Also adding new content to the website and have been waiting to finish that before updating. The content of these documents needs to be right as we have the majority of our hopes pinned on them. 

 The conservative estimate for a return trip to Russia is as follows:

 Supplies covering 3 month period (Arctic winter):

Total = $3098 (£1,939)

 Cost of transport from where I sit today, back to Alaska and into and including within Russia to start point + equipment and supplies:

Total = $ 2758 (£1,726)

 Living costs in Russia (Anadyr) if  delayed by weather and transport (very possible according to Karl’s experiences in the past):

Total = $851 (£532)

 Russian Visas and Permits for Chukotka region:

Total = $1200 (£751)

 Total cost to return to Russia for  3 month period:  $7,907 (£3,723).

The following comment left in my guestbook is worthy of closer examination:

 Mary Sep 18^th 2009

 “Okay, so you’ve told us the problem, but you haven’t told us the solution that you are working toward to solve it. What do you plan to do about this issue of funding and Russian bureaucracy? Sitting around in Mexico waiting for an angel to come and sponsor you isn’t proactive. To be honest, you seem a little defeated. In this day of instant and global communication, you have so many options and opportunities!”

 I don’t like to boar people with endless sermons on the politics and business of what goes on behind the scenes as it bores the crap even out of me.  However, as this plays out and drags on I can understand why I am accused, almost daily, of just sitting around on beaches in Mexico.   

 I hope now everyone dose understand the challenges and reasons behind the challenges, yes I have spoke of it at length.  Largely because its difficult for a lot of people to see why these issues are challenges at all.  

 So, lets look at events from the point of return from Russia May 2008.   The day I returned to Alaska everything went pear shaped after some, seemingly minor misunderstanding between me, supporters and my friend in Alaska who had been supporting and aiding me and the expedition for years and was working on a press release with current supporting companies.  The problem was timing and content of the press release, the result was my ‘friend’ finally finding a away out of been involved with the expedition by sending an email that painted me as one of humanities worst, and include a supporter of the expedition.   The 8 year struggle with Catalina came crashing to an end the following day.  Not a good start to the summer. 

 The summer began by looking at our usual contacts and following up on some lose ends that where left open on the return to Russia.  For example,  a prim time US news network ABC had suddenly become interested and was talking about producing something for either a news show called 20/20 or (as was most likely) a program called ‘Night Line’.  These offered us the greatest exposure we would have had up until that point and was fantastic news.  However, as is normally the case, I  was just about to return to Russia and as such the project was put on hold.  On returning I was told ABC had ‘lost interest’ the project was dropped.  In a similar fashion, correspondence and plans with a documentary film maker where dropped do to ‘lack of interest’, see if you spot a theme developing here?  In the mean time we had started requesting help from the Russian authorities to obtain a visa waver to over come the new visa restrictions the Russians had just implemented, a major stumbling block.   Contacts had put me in contact with a US company that seemed very interested in getting on board.  Again things looked promising.  It turned out they had been excited by our web traffic, this turned out to be a mistake on their part and with realizing the error with the numbers the interest dwindled.

 Around the same time we begin discussions with a middle east  based PR firm that believed we (the expedition) could be of interest to a large property developer out of Dubai U.A.E.  This became the expedition focus.  By now I had to start thinking about leaving the US as my visa was counting down.  Short on cash, none of our options where good until a good friend asked if I was interested in been his co-pilot for a drive down to Tucson Arizona.  This was the exit plan out of the US.  I even had a good friend in Arizona and Las Vegas I could visit.  Mexico now became my focus.  In the mean time an editor from National Geographic was interested in running a story.  National Geographic had never shown any interest before. 

 On the drive down we stopped off in Las Vegas to visit friends there within a few days had a meeting with a business entrepreneur and bank manager.  These friends of a friend saw potential to invest in the expedition and organized them selves  into the Expedition Management team, providing the expertise backing and support the expedition had been lacking for the last 9 years, how cool was that?.  In the mean time the deal in the U.A.E was looking very promising.  The company had doubled the amount of financial support we had requested in a proposal we had put to them.  It was the stuff dreams where made of!   I could almost start packing for Russia!

 Then the financial crisis hit!  And everything vanished over night, like waking from a wonderful dream to reality.  Oh, and National Geographic…wait for it…had lost interest.  The BBC were not interested in running anything until the expedition had made it far enough into Russia that I was accessible.   

 Mexico

With the end of the world upon us, everything went silent.  We still had not heard anything from Russia months later.  We, or rather father, (when hes not working) had started making a list of potential contacts in Russia that might be able to help us, via embassy’s.  One by one, dead end after dead end, and so it continued. 

 Now into winter.  Hits on my website were dropping.  Money running out and the reality of my situation hitting home, the winter was lost and I would not be returning to Russia, I suddenly faced a very bad situation.  I got a job working with a new business that opened here in Melaque Mexico. Two young yachting coaches  from Canada opened a boating school and I earned $10 a day helping out.  In the mean time I was faced with some very real questions as to the future of the expedition.  No one seemed interested?  Not even those who’s business included travel and adventure, non of the adventure travel media networks not even boot companies that make boots for people to walk in over long distances…HELLO! THERE IS A PROBLEM HERE!!!!  But I could not figure it out.  By now im becoming some what paranoid, is it me personally?  Maybe!  A lot of soul searching followed. 

 Ultimately I believed the answer consisted of a number of issues, but one in particular.   I don’t walk for a cause.  This had dogged me for years.  It would appear the ‘Challenge’ is dead.  No longer can an individual simply set forth on ‘The great challenge’ without ‘saving the world’ at the same time!   I fail to dance to the crack of the Politically Correct whip, and as such, I am told I cannot expect to find support.   I am virtually black listed.  I talk about this on the website and I am not going to cover it here again.  

 Finally I hear back from Russia with a simple polite automated response ‘no you get 3 months’.  The boat school folds so I no longer get my $10 a day.  I try speaking and give a presentation to tourists, this works and I make about $400 in one presentation to keep me going, I start to look at the possibility of doing more talks in Puerto Vallarta, as the tourist season ends here.  In the mean time the expedition is going throw an identity crisis.  I am pushing for a major overhaul of the expedition as I believe we cannot sell the expedition in its current state.  The question becomes just how much of a change?  I want to rebuild from scratch as I don’t believe we have anything to lose.  However, other don’t necessarily agree with me and the discussion drags on.  There is just no interest in the expedition out there.  The expedition is not marketable.  At this point it becomes impossible to even try sell the expedition whilst we are not sure who we are or what we are saying.  At this point, during the summer, there is an uncomfortable period where very little seems to happen.  Where we don’t seem to know what to do next.  It was early 2009 when and I realise I am not even in a potion to look for sponsors without clear path forward, message and image. What I knew for sure was that whatever we had been doing was not working.  

 At this point I am facing the bottom of the barrel and looking at going broke very soon.  Moving from place to place with the help of friends to keep a roof over my head, cutting down on food intake, faced with either spending my remaining time on looking at making a dollar or on the expedition problem.  website hits reach an all time low.  How much time is been devoted to learning Russian?  Not a god dam minute.  Not while I am relearning Spanish for sure.  Friends and contacts find more film documentary film makers who might be interested in Canada.   

 Plans move forward for possible talks in Vallarta, I find a venue, but it will cost!, I begin looking at making posters, numbers and marketing possibilities aimed at tourists in Vallarta.  Then some one gets sick in Mexico city and it’s the ‘End of days’ all over again.  As tourist leave Mexico like rats leaping from a sinking ship and Swine flue panic spreads like a fire storm, I toss my speaking plans into the street as restaurants bars and gathering places are closed by order of the government of Mexico.  Catalina finds her self a new boy friend. 

 I see the website as a critical asset and the exclusive point of focus in reshaping the expedition and injecting some life back into it.  Mail2web who have housed and run the expedition website for 7 years have their own problems and cannot afford me any time to work on a new website.  I spend time looking for help as I do not have a clue how I would even begin to build a inter web thingy, it leads to nothing.  Around this time father finds me some money from supporters in the UK giving me a few months breathing space.  I decide to finally cut lose from our long standing web support and realise its time to go it along, I have little choice.  Just not sure how.  The last number of months have been devoted 24/7 to learning and building a website.  I am down to one meal a day,  this is badly effecting my running timings, I have finished the last of my vitamin supplements I can afford.  And once again face bankruptcy.   I have asked North Face for a tent as I am soon to lose my accommodation.  We have burned through our Russian contacts both official and back door and have made no progress after than more than a year. 

 With the website now up I turn back to sponsors, despite the fact that the cause issue is still not resolved to satisfaction.  I still have a 12 point todo list of work for the website. To day I add create PDF broacher to use with the marketing plan I am trying to get of the ground, to my to do list.   Local MPs from my home town of Hull are drafting a letter to the commonwealth office to see if its possible to convince the Russians to issue a humanitarian visa waver.   Here I must confess in having little or no faith in successfully avoiding a 3 month limit on the visa.  This means I must find a financial partner if I am to get back on the ground.  My son and only child, who has stopped communicating with my mother, this year is found and informs us he has no interest in talking to me.

 Some of you out there will have been schooled in marketing and business.  All this may seem simple basic and perhaps even pathetic.  I have not.  Not only, but 50% of the time I will spell marketing and business wrong because im dyslectic and only vaguely educated at all.  As such the simplest operation, like this email, which has taken the last 5 hours to put together, takes a lot of time.  I am 40 years old, nothing I write is sent to anyone without it first been filtered through father to be proof read and corrected.  I am not as capable as most of you.  I don’t have your abilities.  But im on it, and im trying.  All of the above is just half the story, and to clarify, the solutions appear to be:

 1, Develop, expand website and rebuild traffic to shape Odyssey image to enable marketing plan (time).

2, Push Odyssey to relevant company marketing departments using new website, image, message (email PDF)

3, Keep probing for and working new Russian contacts  (father)  

4, Develop cause  

5, Do it all without spending a penny

6, Keep smiling

 Other than that, I just site around in Mexico waiting for an angle.  Well I would if I believed in them, but I don’t.  like I don’t believe that things happen without you making them happen.  As for appearing ‘defeated’, I am not sure what the word means!  You may have to elaborate.   

 Here are the challenges we live for, expected and embrace!