Being an Adventurer

Alastair Humphreys is an adventurer. He is asking school teachers around the world to use his book "The Boy who Biked the World" in school curriculum. 

The book is a children's book (but probably grade 8-9 level of English if English is your second language) and tells the story of his travels of bicycling the world. He would like to instill a curiosity for adventure in young people. This week he wrote this post:

"I am really pleased with The Boy Who Biked The World, my first book for children. My aim was to wrap education, the inspiration to think big and a curiosity about travel and the world into a fun, adventurous story. (You can read a sample couple of chapters here to judge whether I succeeded).

I’m now looking for primary school teachers anywhere in the world who might be interested in using the Boy Who Biked The World series as a class reading book. In addition to being an enjoyable book it is an ideal entry into many other classroom topics. I can provide bulk copies of the book at a discount price. And as well as personally signing each book I will also be happy to chat to classes worldwide via Skype, or answer questions through email.

If you are a teacher, or know any teachers please would you take a quick look at these sample chapters and then get in touch to discuss ideas. Thank you!"

Though this book obviously would be of interest to both boys and girls, I think it would be os special interest to boys. If you are a parent or teacher of teenage boys and want to concentrate positively on letting boys be boys... What better way could there be than getting their classmates to read the book and talk personally to Alistar over skype?

The other brilliant idea Alistar had this year was to spend his year in England going on mirco-adventures. This is a notion that everyone, but particularly young people should consider participating in. It can give an electrifying jumpstart to our inner lethargy or complacency and sets us off on a journey of discovery right outside our back doors. 

He and Ben Saunders are going to attempt an new adventure this year: 

SOUTH is the first return journey to the South Pole on foot, and the longest unsupported (human-powered) polar journey in history. The 1800 mile journey will take 4 months to complete, hauling 200kg sleds.

They will be sending photos and blog post daily. Following their progress would be a good geography/history project, don't you think?

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Motivational Speaker: Explorer and Adventurer from Alastair Humphreys on Vimeo

I have followed Alistar's adventures and blogs for years now and know him to be a very enthusiastic, articulate, educated leader. Any contact with him would undoubtedly impress, if not inspire your children or students.

Immeasurable help from friends

The Opening of my art exhibit "Art for Positive Social Change" is next Tuesday on the 100th Anniversary of the International Women's Day. 

So yesterday, two friends agreed to help put up the collages. M. is a terrific handyman. L. is an artist with a lot of experience in setting up exhibits. If I am really honest, I initially asked them to come along for the company.
I thought that I would arrive at the venue with the old exhibit gone, some strips of nylon and hooks hanging down the walls. In my mind, all that we needed to do was to take the collages hang them up on the hooks, and presto, an hour later... all would be done. This could not have been further from the reality.

Old art exhibit still up. Hanging wires soldered to the paintings. No extra wires or hooks in sight. No help from the people working there. No tools beyond my nifty measuring tape. I was seriously ill-prepared. Except, EXCEPT, by some fluke I'd asked M. and L. to come along for the ride.

Between the two of them, all was up in three hours. Not only that, it looks good.

To those of you who in a moment of craziness decide to undertake some public enterprise, be forewarned, you need to bring in an expert! L. helped decide which of the pictures should hang where, how to hang them, and also went running off home to pick up the hooks and wiring system we needed. I stood around trying to be as helpful and experiencing one hot flash after another.

Oh, what would we do if it wasn't for friends!

Amazing Feat Of Courage

I've been following with much interest Matvey Shparo and Boris Smolin's chronicles:

"For the first time in history the explorers will travel to the North Pole in the darkness of the polar night. Matvey Shparo and Boris Smolin, the polar explorers, will overcome a 980 km route from the Arktichesky Cape, the Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago, to the North Pole."

Of course, this collage is totally wrong. First, it is lightness, and the two men are walking through darkness. Secondly, in the collage there are mountains of ice and Shparo and Smolin are coping with thinning ice surfaces and high winds.