Courage to Face Isolation

Going on an adventure or expedition can sometimes test your courage to face isolation. Yourphysical and mental resources need to be up to the task.

Being in remote locations with limited or no communications with the rest of the world can be scary. It can also be liberating. Having to rely on your own resources, limited by what you brought with you brings things into sharp reality.

So do you have the courage to face isolation?

Isolated Adventures

In our trekking adventures, we’ve experienced isolation both in remote destinations as well as those closer to home.

Take for example, the 7-day hiking/camping trip that we did in the Jagungal Wilderness at Kosciuszko National Park, Australia. While we weren’t ridiculously far from civilisation, we were still out there on our own – just us and the small group we were with. We were reliant on all the gear and food we carried on our backs – too bad if we’d forgotten anything. The hiking was enjoyable without bumping into too many others on the trail. So were the campsites and the starry night sky.

Other more isolated adventures that come to mind are the more remote treks we’ve done in the Himalayas of Nepal. For example Kanchenjunga and Makalu base camps. The freedom of having the trails to ourselves was a luxury. In contrast, the isolation was brought home to us when being surrounded by the massive walls of a glacier while crossing it. Or listening to rockfalls and avalanches coming off the nearby mountains overnight while trying to sleep in the freezing cold.

Yet a different experience was in the Canadian wilderness, where we were dropped off by a floatplane in a remote area for a few days to do some hiking. Pure bliss … until the gale force winds howled down the valley and we hoped our little hut would stay put!

What do you think?

• What’s the most remote place you’ve been to and what was the experience like?
• Do you have the courage to take on your next adventure?

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