EXTREMES BEYOND THE SCREEN (synopsis)
There is a thin line between happiness and contentment.
Happiness is a sunny day. Contentment is a rainbow.
In a world overflowing with influencers, algorithms, self-help gurus and self-appointed experts, everyone seems to be telling us where fulfilment can be found. I think though, that the people worth listening are the ones looking for answers as they are honestly searching for what their own souls crave, wondering about what roads they took, and what lessons they learnt.
This is the story of my search.
A lifetime of travel has taught me that distance brings perspective. The further you go, the wider your angle of perception becomes. When you stop looking only at what lies directly ahead you to see the bigger picture: the connections, the familiar patterns maybe even the future.
The countless miles, endless borders and chance encounters have given me that gift, well, perhaps not second sight, although sometimes maybe.
What I was searching for though is only available to a few people, not because it is hidden, but because it’s not easily definable.
It’s not on an app or an map, it’s not signposted.
You won’t find it in a list of “10 Hidden Gems” or “Best Kept Secrets.” an oxymoron – not hidden and never secret.
What I was looking for had to be found using some long dormant instinct and curiosity, by moving slowly enough to notice and being receptive when it appeared.
It wouldn’t work to fly directly to that point. You can’t book a package tour to take you there.
I believe you have to find it by yourself, that’s what makes it yours.
Travelling solo across remote landscapes, I was search for something increasingly rare: solitude, peace, authenticity and the reassuring knowledge that somewhere on this planet, the untouched still exists. Not as an attraction or a destination, but as something wild, pure and real.
I was contrary, I was obtuse, ignoring the advice offered by others, determined to rely instead on instinct, observation and experience.
I mused inside my helmet that if I pay attention, everything becomes a guide.
Body language, cultural differences, chance encounters, misdirection, conflict and conflicting advice, even the people who told me to turn back.
Being warned away from a road, a region or a direction was becoming a common theme. I begun to think if everyone else is turning back, perhaps what I’m was looking for is ahead.
It was. I found it, there was no signpost, no dramatic announcement, just a feeling.
I knew.
The reward was not a photograph, a social media post, or another destination ticked off a list.
The reward was awe.
A moment so profound it silenced the need to keep searching. A feeling that filled a void the material world never could. A sense of completeness that no possession, or achievement had ever provided.
I was full, fulfilled, and I knew the search was over, the goal had been scored.
I didn’t need another horizon, another border or another journey.
I felt contentment.
I don’t think it’s something that can be measured, expanded, upgraded or improved upon. Contentment, like space, just is.
And just like anything you are looking for, once found, the search is over, no need to go further. What’s more, I couldn’t lose it because it was within and sustained me better than a protein bar, better than anything the modern world promises.
What, I realised, I’d discovered was not somewhere, it was nowhere. A place that doesn’t appear on maps, isn’t advertised, it exists, for me, where everything and everyone isn’t.
I can’t even say where it is, anyway the location is irrelevant, it was my destination, it will not necessarily be yours.
So, this book isn’t a guidebook, it doesn’t promise answers. It’s just an account of my search for authenticity and contentment in an increasingly fake and distracted world.
And just maybe, it will inspire, it will launch a journey, because fulfilment is not found by following others.
Most travel books describe movement; this is about arrival.
If you want to basically hear me say all you have read above, watch this video
