Hello World, I’m Morwin, and I’ve got an aspiration to become a walking, talking National Geographic by first hand experiences. It’s a bold aspiration maybe, but it’s worth the process of trying.
This is my introduction to the internet world, and the beginning of an insight into a world of stories and adventures from our ….well ….world of course. Our beautiful World, as brilliant as it is testing; as tranquil and simple as it is strange, wild and dangerous, both in nature, and in our own inhabitancy.
I find introductions tricky (so as I try to achieve this, I’ll share a few photos to keep you entertained, all taken from my last trip, crossing Europe North-South by bicycle, from June 2016 to April 2017).
I always hate that question,”…so what do you do?” Well, I love to share what I do, but this is rarely what people are asking, they would rather talk about work. But life has changed for me (part of the reason I’m introducing myself to you). I’m happy to say that, now, all of my time and effort that used to be focussed on working to live, is now entirely devoted to living. So finally I can answer with what I do:
“…..then I got ambushed and kidnapped; my bike was dumped in a bush, my bank cards and money stolen, and I was driven deep into the woods at midnight, tied-up, to be murdered, to disappear”
…(woops, wrong quote, more on that later)…
“I’m a full time adventurer and explorer, enjoy mostly living outside, and a professional story teller”
Sounds reasonable to me, why not? I’m pretty sure that’s me ….or maybe I should be answering, “…nothing actually, I’m currently unemployed …and living outside”?
You see, this is why I find introductions tricky, it’s hard to get-across the real merit of who you are in a quick introduction. But clearly, I’m in the right place here, you don’t want to read about my past engineering life, so hopefully we’re on the same page so far.
So…
What do I do, that you might want to read about?
Well, my aspiration that I mentioned before isn’t quite true – it’s more, hopefully, a natural consequence. I love adventures and exploring for the pure fun and experience of it, I do it for me. I believe that what I learn by this way of life out-values the life I’ve left behind, so I’m hoping, with a few schemes ahead that I’m developing (which should also help some people), that I can keep doing this indefinitely.
...“this” being this:
…and this…
…and this…
…and this…
…and this…
…and this…
…even this…
…and seeing things like this….
…and this…
…and this…
Who knows? I hope so...
…either way, my immediate aspiration is simple, to explore our incredible world, travelling by my own means as much as possible, living outside, helping people as much as possible, and waking up every day thinking “I’ve got the best life in the world”.
Also, one more aspiration, sharing my experiences...
...to help some of the great places that I’ve discovered become better known…
...to give people help and inspiration for their own adventures, whether it’s the places I’ve been, my homemade outdoor gear and luggage, or the essential kit I pack…
…to share my joy of the outside world and nature…
…and to try and tempt more people to go outside and enjoy it too.
There are also some not-so-nice things to share (this is the world we live in, such is life), and also some very interesting human stories that are less photogenic – some brilliant and inspiring, some equally dark. Such stories can be an eye-opener to our human world, and help us all to grow, as they did me. I learn from first-hand interaction with the normal people of our world (if there’s such a thing), some of whom might have never interacted with the wider world before – and as a first go they got me. This tends to happen to me whether I want it to or not, and opens up a unique insight into life elsewhere.
So, not very concise so far, have I managed to explain what I do I do? Maybe the photos have said more than I have, but otherwise it’s all been quite vague and random.
Well, I’m still not keen on this question – why what? What I do, others do – some do more, some do less, some go bigger, some go smaller. For many years I’ve not shared so widely as the internet because… …well, I thought anyone can do what I do really, I’m nothing too special. But, I’ve come to realise that what I can offer the world, uniquely, is my perspective.
Not so much, "what do I do" - even if I can explain what I've done, my current and future adventure plans are vast.
To me, I'm defined easier by "how, or why" - these are common in all things I do, and can be summarised simply:
...because I'm Morwin, if you were me, you'd do the same.
I've come to love this, I certainly can't avoid it, so I'm here to share my perspective so that you'll hopefully enjoy it too. It’s my gift to the world, and a gift from the world to me, we’ve worked together to make something unique. Wherever I go story-worthy things just happen to me, and I’ve come to realise that this is also my own fault – the world has given me my unique perspective, maybe because I let it, or encourage it, maybe even provoke it.
I get brilliant, inspiring, strange, happy, sad, joyful and even very dark insights into the world, perhaps just by being, somehoew, a very approachable person, and always having the time to talk to people (I just can’t walk away) – it’s my gift and my curse.
Animals also find me very approachable…
…I talk to them too, it would be rude not to.
In the great outdoors, the weather, the seasons, the mountains (whatever’s controlling) just seems to know when I’m around, and tries to show off, because it knows I’ll be in awe of it. I enjoy the power of bad weather, the feel of the elements, I’m just fairly enduring, so it takes a lot before I’m genuinely not enjoying mad-weather-misery.
And for persisting, I often feel like Mother Nature sends me the most incredible rewards. I get moments where I’m running around like an excited fool, gasping at the beauty that’s unfolded, just for me, maybe just for my sheer persistence I think, for being the only one who did so.
And for me, incredible experiences needn’t be something epic - if a cute little rat joins me for tea in the woods….
….or I find the perfect bed to watch the night go by, and the morning arise from…
…or maybe just the light and clouds do something that has me staring in amazement…
…I just love being outside, and this is a great part of what I want to share.
So there we go, there are stories behind each of these photos, I hope you’ll look forward to them, amongst many, many others.
But for now, one more thing, why have I gone full-time adventurer? Good question.
Well, recently, for 10 months I cycled from the North coast of Norway, way up above the Arctic Circle, down into the Balkans in Southern Europe. My bike was a caravan of adventure, and the journey massively diverse and entertaining – as, I hope, you now have some idea from the photos (not many cycling photos, although I loved that part too, but everything you see was reached by bicycle).
I genuinely woke up every day thinking, “I’ve got the best life in the world”. I’d be making coffee, in an epic setting, watching the world wake up from my modest tarp-bivy.
This is what I still thought on the last morning of my trip, as I was larking about like a child, in the Southern Balkans, late March 2017….
…..then that evening I got ambushed and kidnapped; my bike was dumped in a bush, my bank cards and money stolen, and I was driven deep into the woods at midnight, tied-up, to be murdered, to disappear.
This is the story that nearly ended all my stories. But, lucky for me, and you, I made the absolute maddest escape. I was a dead man, then for 7hrs following, whilst being hunted through a dark mountain forest by a gang with guns, dogs and a Jeep, I was still a dead man. All I hoped was to spread word so that I didn’t disappear (actually surviving was so hopeless, I was bound to be caught and killed, and not in a nice way; twice I was just metres or minutes from being caught).
But, instead, I’m alive to tell the full story – absolute madness! It will certainly follow, it’s never been told before beyond close friends. I was worried that it would get the wrong emphasis whomever might tell it (as the politically-orientated local newspaper certainly achieved) unless it’s told properly, from my own perspective. I’m still working on this, so it won’t be the first story on here, but I’ve got so many nice stories to share too. But this is our world, and dark stories can prepare us better for our own misfortune – I know that some terrible and dark stories that I’d heard from others prepared me better to deal with my own doom, so it’s my duty to share.
So, I hope I’ve offered some sort of insight into me, enough that you’ll follow my tales to learn more. And if you can’t because you’d rather be outside enjoying the world, then no worries, good call!
