Take 5 Welcome

Take 5 August 2014 Edition 
click on the picture to be taken to Take 5 magazine, 
the article begins on pg. 22

Welcome all Take 5 visitors to our web blog.

If you are here it’s likely because you were reading the article prepared by Take 5 magazine August Edition titled “Adrenalin Rush”. It will be a series that Marina Sacht, an adventurer herself, is hosting. We are just the first of many.

Since space is constricted in Take 5 we have copied the questions and answers below here for your reading. One key piece of information is that we live in Ladysmith, BC, and very proud of the community we live in. The  Transfer Beach amphitheater that the front page photo was taken at is one of the true gems and plays host to many summer activities, just like the 121BC amphitheater  photo featured in the Take 5 article.

If you are here to check out our blog as a result of the article please feel free to surf. The blog is organized based on dates, so the 2011 epic trip will be under the 2011 heading on the right hand column on the page, and so forth. It started in late April through September of that year. In short it was amazing and was once in a lifetime.

Our adventure travel without motorcycles can be navigated to at the top of the right hand column on the home page of the blog.

A 4:20 min. Youtube video featuring some 80 of our favorite pics from our 2011 trip can be accessed here.There are many more favorites now, but I have not created a video encompassing them yet. They are embedded in the blog pages for the different trips.

So please enjoy! If you have any questions please feel free to post them as comments at the bottom of the blog and we will respond as soon as possible to them.

Take 5 Q&A

What do you define as an “adventure?”

I think the textbook definition of adventure is well known as “an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity”. We’d like to be clear though that anything out of the ordinary would fall into that generalized definition. Adventure for us is much more demanding and includes a commitment to learn as much as we can and there is an element of risk that cannot be predicted and completely managed.

For us, adventure travel will take us outside our comfort zone, requires our skills and ability to self direct, and use self reliance to navigate the unknown whether it is our sailboat, motorcycle, bicycle or RV; whether it is in a foreign country, interacting in a foreign culture, understanding the language, or finding accommodation, and discovering the local foods and music. Adventure travel cannot be such if delivered on a tour, since the element of the unknown and uncontrolled factors are being managed by a tour director. That’s just travel!

What is the greatest adventure you have participated in?

Without a doubt our 5 month motorcycle trip to North Africa, Europe, eastern Europe, east of eastern Europe, and Turkey in 2011 is our largest single adventure that took us to 3 continents, 22,500 kms, 150 days, 18 countries, and over 180 World Heritage Sites on our own motorcycle which we shipped to Europe for the sole purpose. Achieving the satisfaction of seeing so many amazing places and being completely self-reliant, providing oil changes and service to our motorcycle on a schedule, coordinating ferry schedules, accommodation, seeking out authentic ethnic food experiences, swimming on the same beaches as the locals, are all part of it. You don’t accomplish that kind of travel or develop those skills and abilities overnight. It’s a building block process that allows you to learn from earlier travel lessons and develop the confidence to stretch yourself more.

Why is adventure important to you?

It allows us to learn and grow. Life is backwards sometimes, the skills and knowledge we have learned from adventure travel now, would have allowed us to advance our knowledge within a formal learning environment when we were in school.  Between Sandra and I we have learned so much in each foreign setting we have travelled in, that we just want to encourage others to travel the world and learn.

What is your favorite adventurous activity to do in the Central Vancouver Island area?

Sailing is something that actually brought us to Ladysmith. We used to haul our sailboat out to the Gulf Islands when our kids were small and gunk hole the islands for 3-4 weeks each year. Not many people from the prairies ever did that.

In 2009 we stretched ourselves by taking our trailerable sailboat up to the Broughton Archipelago and spent a month sailing down through the Discovery islands. We were fortunate enough to anchor off Alert Bay, BC. and be invited into the Longhouse of the 'Namgis peoples, for their Salmon Prince and Princess celebration in June. Experiencing First Nations traditional celebrations is no doubt a cultural adventure that everyone should pursue if you live here on Vancouver Island.  Explore the backcountry here.

Have your adventurous lifestyle been an asset or detriment to your personal/business relationships and how?

Our adventure travel has been extremely beneficial to us. When I was a Corporate security advisor of an Energy company the knowledge that I had from foreign travel allowed me to understand and make sound risk assessments for our business executives who would travel to other countries, and since retiring we have met many people, most much younger than us, that we have become real friends with. The photo of us in the Sahara desert was taken by an Italian husband and wife who were riding their motorcycles along with another couple. A minor motorcycle crash by one of them in the sand at that time allowed us to meet.  Now several years later they have a 1 yr. old son who we have travelled to Venice to see and continue to be part of their lives. It keeps us young by staying active in this fashion.

If someone was looking to add some zest to their lives what would you suggest?

That is such an individual choice. But if you want to learn to research adventure travel whether Two wheels or overland vehicle ( 4WD) then websites like Horizons Unlimited are great places to start. Rick Steves is an excellent resource for what he terms “Backdoor travel”. This is finding unique places that aren’t well known and enjoying them before they are overrun by tourism. Our latest trip in southern Italy allowed us to explore areas that only Europeans were travelling in when we were there. Many people were in disbelief when they saw the Canadian flag on our adventure motorcycle.

  

What do you future plans include?

Your right we aren’t done yet by any means. A friend, who we met when we “paid it forward” back in 2004, he was travelling to North America from Germany and we made him welcome in our home, has many times over repaid the favor. He would like us to travel to his hometown in northern Germany, and we plan to continue on to Scandinavia, and the Baltic coast and countries.

In addition, we really enjoyed our time in Southeast Asia particularly Cambodia and Hong Kong this past winter, so we have set new goals to see the Great Wall of China, Beijing and the Terracotta warriors. Our children and grandchildren are following in our footsteps of adventure travel/living and we will continue to visit them wherever they move and live around the world. Of course, we will find the adventure component to this travel, like we did in Cambodia by taking a bicycle trip of the Angkor Watt temples, and renting and driving all of Malaysia by ourselves, an experience not for the faint of heart.