Ripcord Adventure Journal 2.4

Volume 2 | Number 4 | Second Edition 

RAJ 2.4

A Letter from the Editor 

Welcome to Ripcord Adventure Journal. 

Our final issue of volume 2 is quite a mixture of adventure and 

exploration of the world's polar regions, deserts, oceans, mountains 

and jungles. 

In our Guest Editorial, Leon McCarron ventures in to the hills of 

Jordan as part of his 1000-mile journey on foot, across the Middle 

East, when he encounters an unexpected musical interlude on a 

lonely hillside. 

Planning is essential for major expeditions, even more important to 

have several back-up plans in case the first one or two, or three do 

not pan out as expected. Mark Wood brings us behind the scenes of 

planning for a polar expedition. 

Technology in the classroom has been touted for more than 2 

decades as the next big thing. Here, Joe Grabowski, whose nascent 

organization "Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants" has 

demonstrated that indeed technology can be the medium by which 

exposure to new and exciting educational contexts can be brought in 

to the classroom from the real-life connections with explorers, 

conservationists and scientists in the field. 

Former Marine Commando, John Sullivan gives us an introduction 

to what it takes to survive in the desert using the skills and 

experience he has built up from his time in the forces, leading 

expeditions and working with film crews on location. 

What does it take to circumnavigate the globe on one's own, what 

drives an adventurer to take on and complete such demanding 

challenges? Erden Eruc takes us with him on his life's journey 

across oceans and continents. 

Finally for this isue, we catch up with emergency medical doctor 

Claire Grogan and Mark Hannaford of World Extreme Medicine to 

discuss the fast-paced world of extreme medicine. 

We aim to be the home of authentic, adventurous travel, which 

serves as a starting point for personal reflection, study and new 

journeys. We hope you enjoy reading this free digital Journal and 

encourage you to share it it widely.

On behalf of the editorial, writing and design team, I wish to 

acknowledge our sponsors, the World Explorers Bureau and 

Redpoint Resolutions (Mark Cohon, Thomas Bochnowski, Ted 

Muhlner, Martha Marin, John Moretti and all the team). 

Tim Lavery 

Editor in Chief, Ripcord Adventure Journal 

www.ripcordadventurejournal.com 

www.ripcordtravelprotection.com 

Ripcord Adventure Journal Copyright June 2017 by Redpoint Resolutions & 

World Explorers Bureau. 

Assistant Editor: Méabh Lavery 

All articles and images © 2017 of the respective Authors. 

Cover image © Mark Woods. Inside Cover image © Leon McCarron. 

Second Edition © 2017 

Ripcord Adventure Journal has been typeset in 11 point Garamond and uses US 

English spelling. 

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, 

or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, 

or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission 

of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical 

reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. 

Although the publisher has made every effort to ensure that the information in 

this book was correct at press time, the authors and publisher do not assume and 

hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption 

caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from 

negligence, accident, or any other cause. 

For permission requests, general enquiries or sponsorship opportunities, contact 

the publisher: info@ripcordadventurejournal.com

"The very basic core of a man's living 

spirit is his passion for adventure. The 

joy of life comes from our encounters 

with new experiences, and hence there 

is no greater joy than to have an 

endlessly changing horizon, for each 

day to have a new and different sun." 

Jon Krakauer 

"Into the Wild"

RIPCORD 

ADVENTURE 

JOURNAL 

2.4 

Editor 

Tim Lavery 

Assistant Editor 

Meabh Lavery 

Featuring 

Leon McCarron 

Mark Wood 

Joe Grabowski 

John Sullivan 

Erden Eruc 

Claire Grogan 

Mark Hannaford 

Advisory Board 

Shane Dallas 

Paul Devaney 

Dr Terry Sharrer 

Charlotte Baker- 

Weinert 

Bill Steele 

James Borrell 

Publishers 

World Explorers 

Bureau & Redpoint 

Resolutions 

WWW.RIPCORDADVENTUREJOURNAL.COM

Contents 

Lone Piper of the Jordan Hills 

Leon McCarron 

Plan D 

Mark Woods 

Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants 

Joe Grabowski 

How to Survive in the Desert 

John Sullivan 

Haven't You Started Yet? 

Erden Eruc 

Expedition Medicine 

Claire Grogan & Mark Hannaford 

Contributors and credits 

3 

7 

19 

25 

31 

57 

62 

Image opposite © Leon McCarron 

In the Jordan Hills 

1

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 

Lone Piper 

of the 

Jordan Hills 

2 

Leon McCarron 

Text & Images © Leon McCarron

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 


Leon McCarron 

I’m lost in my own head. It’s been nearly two days since I 

saw another human. I’ve taken to watching beetles when I 

stop walking. London feels a long way away. 

Hours pass and I don’t notice. Things that impact upon me: 

hunger, heat, noise. Those three things are the only way into 

my world. 

Suddenly the valley walls around me begin to sing. I wonder 

if I have finally gone crazy. Birds scatter from the crevices in 

the sandstone; one rock looks like a human skull, and the 

flying beasts emerging out of it are disconcerting. The sound 

though is beautiful - a human voice projecting out from the 

natural theatre of stone. Then an instrumental break; a flute 

solo. A chirpy tune starts up, high notes trilling their way 

back down the valley. I’ve lost interest in beetles now. 

On the hilltop, I see a figure; at first a silhouette, then 

features. It is a young man, sitting side-saddle on a donkey. 

To the left side of his face he holds a metal tube and his eyes 

are closed as he concentrates. This is the source of my 

wilderness concert. 

The pace of the shepherd is slow. He plays his own 

soundtrack as he rides towards me, a Biblical flock of goats 

leading the vanguard. With the timing of a true professional, 

he finishes his tune and jumps off to shake my hand. I tell 

him in bad Arabic that his playing was beautiful. He 

sidesteps the compliment. It all comes from the shababa, he 

says - his instrument. We drink tea and he plays some more. I 

try; I used to play the tin whistle pretty well. I try an Irish jig 

on the shababa and embarrass myself. More tea is poured to 

cover over the moment. 

The pot empties and the piper leaves. I forgot to ask his 

3


Leon McCarron 

name. He jumps back aside his donkey and begins to sing 

once more. A few minutes pass and he’s gone, over the far 

hillside. The echoes of his song slowly leave the valley in his 

wake. 

I’m back where I was. Back to the beetles, and onwards 

down the valley. 

This short story is taken from Leon McCarron's 1000 mile walk 

through the Middle East, from Jerusalem to Mount Sinai. A book – 

The Land Beyond: 1000 miles on foot through the heart of the 

Middle East – will be published in late September. 

4

"A traveler is really not someone who 

crosses ground so much as someone who 

is always hungry for the next challenge 

and adventure." 

Pico Iyer 

Interviewed in the Smithsonian.com 

5

Plan D 

6 

Mark 

Wood 

Text & Images © Mark Woods

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 


Plan D 

Mark Woods 

My initial thought for this assignment was that I could write 

about my next expedition which is happening in 2018 but to 

state the obvious, it hasn’t happened yet. It’s very easy to talk 

about a journey but a lot harder to make it happen. 

If I had lived during the days of the great pioneers of ice 

exploration, then, if I was lucky, I would have been one of 

the men scrubbing the decks of the Endurance or Discovery. 

In this modern era of exploration if you have the desire to 

explore, the opportunities are far greater. 

In most countries, anyone can be an “adventurer” – there are 

enough professional guiding companies to help support your 

dreams. There are also a few individuals like myself, who like 

to take these journeys a step further, by exploring on our 

own terms - if you have the experience, the time and funding 

then these kinds of adventures are possible. 

In the Golden Age of polar exploration, if anything went 

wrong on the expedition, the emphasis was very much on 

themselves and self-sufficiency – rescue could be months, 

even years away, if at all. However, nowadays it’s very 

different. We must acknowledge, that there exists a real 

responsibility to the rescue teams who could potentially risk 

their own lives to extract failed expedition teams from the ice 

and bring them home safely. 

Global warming is having a profound effect on how and 

where we explore – my journeys are about heading into these 

fragile, cold areas of our planet, to film the reality of what we 

are moving through. I connect with schools around the 

world to communicate the issues we face with changing 

climate and as a non-scientist myself, I link-up with climate 

experts to verify and explain what we have seen. It’s a new 

way to explore but we are governed by the ice and by the 

7

Plan D 

Mark Woods 

rescue teams who have the final say on whether we can 

operate or not. 

In 2016, I came back from the North Geographic Pole – 

physically exhausted and mentally battered. Our team sat 

together and made a documentary called A Race Against 

Time, based on what had just happened. For the first time 

ever, the expedition was almost two thirds of the way in even 

before we had set foot on ice. The instability of the arctic ice 

prevented our team from even setting out on the journey. 



One of our team members Paul “Vic” Vicary looked at the 

chaos we had just got back from and commented, that based 

on our initial mission statement we went from Plan A to Plan 

D. 

Expedition name: A Race Against Time 

Team members: Mark Wood, Paul “Vic” Vicary, Mark 

Langridge 

Mission Statement: “To film the harsh honest reality of how 

global warming has affected the Arctic Ocean through the 

eyes of modern day polar explorers.” 

Outline: Over the past two years we have liaised with 

logistics’ teams from the Canadian and Russian Arctic to find 

a suitable starting point along the edge of the Arctic Ocean. 

This has proven to be extremely difficult. 

The following report is based on the original mission 

statement of the expedition and is a detailed breakdown of 

events leading up to the expedition. The reason for this 

detailed analysis is to show how modern-day exploration is 

determined not only by sponsorship and the skill of the team 

8



Plan D 

Mark Woods 

but also by the commitment of support teams that pledge 

their lives to this environmentally sensitive and dangerous 

region of our planet. It is a direct reflection on how global 

warming is now affecting polar travel. 

Post expedition analysis by Mark Wood 

Plan A 

Canada - first approach 

After years of inserting and extracting teams on the ocean, in 

2015, the Canadian logistic operators Ken Borak Air (KBA) 

stopped all flights for the 2015/16 seasons. This was mainly 

down to two reasons which parallel each other. The first was 

the unpredictability of the ice, making it difficult for their 

Twin Otter planes to judge a strong landing point; the second 

reason, was that some of their new pilots did not have 

enough experience landing on sea ice, especially above 87 

degrees north. This is roughly 180 Nautical miles from the 

North Pole and over 300 NM from the Canadian coastline. 

Once a team passes 87 degrees, heading North to the pole, 

KBA would require 2 planes to support each other just in 

case one fails. 

Each member of team has had military and rescue experience 

so we understood KBA's concerns and respected their 

decision. 

Plan B 

Russia - second approach 

We then took the expedition to the Russian logistic team 

VICAAR - historically the main problem with starting from 

their coastline was that satellite images would show up to 40 

NM of open water. This would mean a drop off on ice and if 

9

Plan D 

Mark Woods 

possible we wanted to avoid this. It is generally recognized 

that within the polar world a coastal starting point to the 

North or South Poles or even areas such as Greenland would 

be recognized within the historical stats. 

We are not glory hunters or flag wavers but if we were to 

commit to a tough, long-range journey across the Arctic 

Ocean, this would be our preferred option. The good news 

was that eight months prior to the expedition we had 

sanctioned a drop-off of aviation fuel along the coastline to 

support our own insertion when it would happen. 



During the flight the pilots reported the ice was solid and 

safe to land on - which meant a coastal start was possible, but 

we would need to set off at the end of winter to ensure solid 

ice, operating in temperatures below -40 C. The ice status 

was verified by VICAAR just weeks before our due 

departure date. 

During our pre-expedition planning with VICAAR we had 

many hours of emails and phone calls arranging contracts 

and trying to deal with a lot of red tape. One problem was 

obtaining the required Russian visas, so we recruited a 

private company in London to support our team members in 

processing them quickly. This was achieved and up to 4 

weeks before departure the expedition had a green light. 

I then received an email from VICAAR informing me that 

the group visa had been refused and as it was a government 

decision we didn't receive a reason and we were not able to 

contest it - even though we tried, twice! 

We can only speculate about British and Russian political 

issues at the time but in reality, we were left in the dark. As 

this report will outline there was a mass military exercise 

10



Plan D 

Mark Woods 

with over 100 armed Russian paratroopers at the North Pole 

when we eventually headed out. The timing of this was too 

coincidental to not rule it out as one of the reasons they 

didn't want a British team skiing through the middle of a 

military operation. However, this is just speculation. 

Plan C 

North Pole reversed 

Our motto for the expedition was “Always a Little Further” 

and our mission statement as stated above outlined our belief 

in the journey. We spoke to the VICAAR to see if they 

would support a drop off via helicopter at the Geographic 

North Pole to attempt a reversed expedition to the coast line 

of Canada. They agreed to do this and also stated that their 

rescue support would only extend to 87 degrees north from 

the North Pole. 

Our next obstacle was to go back to the Canadian logistics 

team at Ken Borek Air, to request support for a possible 

rescue from 87 degrees North to the coast line. To do this, I 

felt we needed someone in the exploration world to vouch 

for our experience and professionalism. 

At the time that we were evaluating how best to persuade the 

Canadians that we needed their support, we received some 

devastating news. Our expedition Patron, Lieutenant 

Colonel Henry Worsley had died on the 24th January 2016 

while attempting to complete the first solo and unaided 

crossing of the Antarctic. 

Henry was a British Army officer and a friend of the team. In 

fact, Vic, Mark and I had been on Henry’s previous 

expedition to the South Pole in 2010, a century after the race 

to the South Pole that gripped the world, we had attempted 

11

12

Plan D 

Mark Woods 



to retrace the steps of Scott and Amundsen. 

The day his death was announced I was invited to appear on 

BBC Newsnight to talk about Henry and the dangers of 

exploration. The following day I was contacted by Steve 

Jones who was the Antarctic Logistics Base camp manager 

and had been supporting Henry. 

I shared our challenge with Steve and he also knew of our 

expeditions over the years in both the Arctic and Antarctic 

circles. Steve knew the team at KBA and immediately agreed 

to help and put forward our request. 

KBA agreed, which was remarkable in a year in which they 

had closed their doors on a lot of expeditions. As their 

commitment was below 87 degrees this would mean they 

would only have to use one plane to organize a pick-up. So, 

the expedition was back on. 

Svalbard - Longyearbyen. 

We left London Heathrow with 6 sledges and 29 pieces of 

luggage on the 23rd March 2016. The team trained from a 

small town called Longyearbyen on the island of Svalbard – 

an archipelago in northern Norway. Constituting the 

westernmost bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic 

Ocean, the Norwegian Sea, and the Greenland Sea. 

We had arrived early in the season to be inserted into the 

North Pole which would give us the valuable time we needed 

to cross the Arctic Ocean. After a week of preparation which 

consisted of testing equipment and going over routines on 

the nearby glacier - we awaited confirmation of our 

departure to a temporary Russian ice station called Camp 

Barneo. Our agreement was that we would be dropped off 

13

Plan D 

Mark Woods 

on the first technical flight - the first flight sets up the 800 

meter runway on the ocean and the second flight (potentially 

our flight) brings in the rest of the ground crew. 

The drop off date we were given by the Russians was the 1st 

April and the Canadians made it abundantly clear that their 

last pick up on sea ice would be the 5th of May with some 

leeway if we were progressing well to the coast. So, we had 

35 to 40 days to cover the distance, tough but achievable with 

the training, experience and mindset of the team. 



A Waiting Game 

Unfortunately, our wait for the flight was delayed 3 or 4 

times due to the report that the runway at Camp Barneo was 

cracking under the unusual movement of the ice. Extensive 

cracks appeared in the area which is situated 30 miles from 

the North Pole. In previous years there had been signs of 

cracks and open water but not to this extent. This was 

unprecedented and we had no choice but to sit and wait. 

It came to the 8th April and we then needed to speak with 

the Canadian team at KBA to discuss our time-limited 

expedition which now had been reduced to 20-25 days. KBA 

had been monitoring our progress and were becoming 

increasingly worried by our delay, especially as they had seen 

that for 180 NM off their coast line there was extensive ice 

rubble fields - this is extremely difficult to cross. Even 

experienced polar teams would have to move slowly through 

this area probably covering 6 NM per day. At this point of 

the expedition we would hope to be covering over 10 to 15 

NM per day. 

The more serious issue was that if we encountered any 

difficulty in this extensive area it would be almost impossible 

14



Plan D 

Mark Woods 

for a plane to land - so their concerns were real. As a team, 

we made the tough decision to abort the attempt from the 

North Pole to Canada - the reality of climate change was 

truly affecting the expedition long before we even had the 

chance to set foot on ice. 

As mentioned before, this is the point when we learnt that 

the Russian government had launched a military exercise 

with their Parachute regiment and over 100 soldiers were 

based at Camp Barneo. Aside from the Visa issues we had 

encountered we speculated that it was this activity that had 

delayed our insertion date of the 1st April and the cracked 

runway was only part of the story. 

Plan D 

The Mission statement revisited 

Throughout this whole procedure, we were determined not 

to be distracted from the original Mission statement, “To film 

the harsh honest reality of how global warming has affected 

the Arctic Ocean through the eyes of modern day polar 

explorers” 

We approached VICAAR with a request to be inserted on to 

the ocean via helicopter at 88 degrees north to cover the last 

two degrees to the North Pole. We received a negative 

response from VICAAR who wanted to drop us closer to the 

pole as the ice was extremely unstable at 88 degrees. Their 

helicopter crew had reported seeing mass open water and 

fast-moving ice. We held tough on our request because we 

had all of the flotation equipment and training necessary to 

deal with this and our main objective was to capture this 

unusual activity anyway. 

A Green Light was given and at last we finally received the 

15

16 

Plan D 

Mark Woods 

go ahead from VICAAR that our expedition could 

commence. The condition however, was that if we couldn't 

reach the North Pole due to problems crossing the ice then 

they would pick us up on the 26th April from whatever point 

we had reached by then. Even to the last hour we were being 

drained of our expedition. We agreed but we didn't go into 

the expedition with the same attitude - we were determined 

to reach the Pole and document the experience, after all, this 

was our entire reason for being there. 



Within 24 hours we touched down on the hard-cold ocean 

ice having viewed the devastation of the ice from the 

helicopter window for over an hour. They dropped our team 

onto the arctic ocean and as the helicopter disappeared from 

view, we became the most remote team in the world during 

the warmest season ever recorded, heading towards the 

North Geographic Pole. The expedition on ice had begun 

and we all breathed a sigh of relief. 

The one memory I have at that point, was the silence, which 

was incredibly deafening. I then became aware of the 

creaking of the ocean below, followed by the shifting surreal 

movement of the ice around us. 

There are many individuals or teams around the world who 

lay out their plans to run an expedition. Whether it’s 

mountains, sea, ice, jungles or deserts, planning and 

preparation is the key to the success of the journey. 

The amount of blood sweat and tears you need, to even get 

the expedition off the ground is almost heart-breaking, for 

every positive in the build-up there are 100 negatives. The 

desire and belief that you are doing the right thing combined 

with the passion to see it through is generally the fuel that 

will allow you to finally attempt your journey. But don’t

Plan D 

Mark Woods 

expect glory or recognition, if you are in this for fame then 

you will be disappointed. If you are in it for experiencing 

how incredible this planet is and how truly remarkable your 

own life can be then its worth every bit of sweat and tears. 

Remember if you take up the title of explorer, adventurer or 

even professional camper then act accordingly. 

With over 30 major expeditions to date, Mark Wood has reached the 

Magnetic North Pole, the Geomagnetic North Pole twice, has 

completed solo expeditions to both the Geographic North and South 

Poles. He has been involved in major BBC and Channel 5 

documentaries and over the years has trained and led people to the 

extremes of the planet. 

Mark aims to communicate globally with schools around the planet, 

to have open discussions with students about climate change, cultural 

differences, and thinking differently about life. 

His own award-winning documentaries have shown the life of dog 

teams in Alaska, a solo survival film in the extremes and more 

recently a complex cutting edge expedition film showing the harsh 

reality of global warming and its effect on the Arctic Ocean as his 

team crossed to the North Pole. 

Mark is ranked in the top 5 communicators in the world on the 

Skype in the Classroom platform and has traveled over 3 million 

Skype miles by connecting with children in 34 different countries. 

17

Exploring by 

the Seat of 

Your Pants 

Joe Grabowski 

Text & Images courtesy of Joe Grabowski 

18




Joe Grabowski 

A decade ago I spent a year bar-tending and traveling in 

Australia while my future wife went to teachers’ college in 

Wollongong. It was during my adventures Down Under that 

I realized I wanted to share my passion for science, nature 

and exploration with future generations, and upon returning 

to Canada completed teachers’ college. After a couple years, I 

realized that I wasn't accomplishing my goal, at least not on 

the scale I wanted to. 

I began using technology to start opening my classroom to 

the world, connecting my students to some scientists during 

a biodiversity unit. They had a blast and we quickly set a goal 

to connect with 50 scientists, explorers and conservationists. 

Joining an expedition on an active volcano in Italy, hanging 

out in a penguin colony in Antarctica and chatting with 

Fabien Cousteau from the bottom of the ocean barely 

scratches the surface of our 52 connections that year. After a 

more reasonable 25 connections the following year, it started 

to really bother me that only 25 or so students were 

benefiting from these experiences. 

In the summer of 2015 I launched the non-profit Exploring 

by the Seat of Your Pants, with a goal of bringing science, 

exploration, adventure, and conservation into classrooms 

through virtual guest speakers and field trips. Since 

launching, we have run well over 300 Google Hangouts with 

tens of thousands of students taking part. Each month we 

run 10-20 Google Hangouts, but we also run full day events 

celebrating themes like women in STEM, oceans, 

biodiversity and space exploration. 

This is all 100% free for classrooms, but we do seek out 

grants and sponsorships so we can give back to innovative 

research, expedition and conservation projects around the 

19


Joe Grabowski 



world. 

A classroom favorite is following expeditions around the 

world. We'll often connect with adventurers and explorers 

before, during and after their return from an expedition. One 

of our first was the Amazon River Run, Tarran Kent-Hume 

and Olie Hunter Smart were getting ready to kayak the 

length of the Amazon. We connected with them in Peru 

before departing, in Brazil part way through and back in the 

UK upon their successful return. At the moment, we're 

following several expeditions including Paul Salopek's 

walking of our ancestral migration from Ethiopia to Tierra 

20




Joe Grabowski 

del Fuego, Kate Leeming's preparations to attempt fat biking 

across Antarctica and Adam Shoalt's 4,000-mile journey 

across the Canadian Arctic. 

With the help of a grant, I've been able to fulfill a goal of 

bringing classrooms to the most remote regions of the planet. 

With several textbook sized BGAN units and satellite time, 

we now have the ability to video broadcast from pretty much 

anywhere on the planet. The units are sent out with various 

explorers and scientists, returned and sent out again. The first 

hangouts were from Abaco in the Bahamas with the National 

Geographic Blue Holes Expedition, exploring Abaco's blue 

21


Joe Grabowski 

holes and mapping them in 3D. 

We recently broadcast from Clipperton Atoll, the most 

remote coral atoll on the planet and currently one of the 

units is in Belize, doing weekly broadcasts for classrooms 

with archaeologists at an ancient Mayan city. Next school 

year we'll start more live streaming, including in 360 Degrees 

and on Google Hangouts with classrooms to catch exciting 

happenings in the field. 

It’s been a wild ride and has led to a journey to the Galapagos 

as a Grosvenor Teacher Fellow and being named an 

Emerging Explorer by National Geographic this year. 

Personal accomplishments aside, the goal of Exploring by the 

Seat of Your Pants is to help create global citizens by 

introducing students to important issues, new places, strong 

role models and exciting career paths. 

The scientists and explorers who take part in the hangouts 

with students often share that they remember a time they saw 

a documentary, read an article or met someone that inspired 

them and totally changed their path. My hope is that through 

these connections, little 'A-ha' moments are happening in 

our classrooms. 

Joe Grabowski is a Science and Math Teacher and Founder of 

Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants. 

In 2017 he was acknowledged by National Geographic as an 

Emerging Explorer and is a member of the prestigious college of 

fellows of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. 

@GrabowskiScuba | @ebtsoyp 

22

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try 

Again. Fail again. Fail better.” 

Samuel Beckett 

"Westward Ho" 

23

How to 

Survive in the 

Desert 

24 

John Sullivan 

Text & Images © John Sullivan




John Sullivan 

Former Royal Marine Commando, John Sullivan is a 

hardened survivor, operating in some of the world’s most 

hostile and wildest locals. Owner of Elite Survival Training, 

a UK based survival training company, acting as a 

motivational speaker, adviser to TV production crews and 

survival expert. 

If you could have three items when stranded in the desert 

what would they be (besides a lot of water)? 

Personally, I’d need a personal locator beacon to be maximize 

my chances of being found by an emergency search team. 

They’ll need to know where I am and they’ll know my exact 

location. I’d also like a GPS so I can know where I am and 

track my own location in an otherwise featureless 

environment. Finally, a satellite phone to call in search teams 

and arrange a pick up. Failing that, I’d need a positive 

mindset, you can’t predict what’s going to be thrown at you 

when exploring so having belief in your own abilities and 

knowing how to react to changing circumstances is essential. 

How can you orient without a compass when lost in the 

desert? 

Your best bet is a watch, that’s why I’m always seen wearing 

mine. If it’s not noon and you want to find directions during 

the day, an analogue watch with minute and hour hands can 

be used as a makeshift compass. If possible, make sure the 

watch displays the correct time and point the hour hand at 

the sun. Whilst holding the watch still imagine an angle 

formed by the hour hand and a line from the 12-noon 

position to the center of the watch. From there, draw a line 

through the middle of the angle. That line will indicate South 

in the Northern hemisphere. During daylight savings time, 

25


John Sullivan 

use the one o’clock position over the 12 noon position. 

If you’re caught in the Southern hemisphere, point 12 noon 

at the sun, instead of the hour hand. Then use your 

imagination to create an angle between the hour hand and a 

line from the 12 to the center of the watch. The line bisecting 

that angle is North. 

At night, provided it’s clear, you can use the stars to navigate, 

looking for the North Star will allow you to keep your 

direction. 



How do you deal with the heat when exposed to the sun? 

Your priority should always be to minimize sweat. Keep 

your skin covered, even though you probably think wearing 

less will keep you cooler. If you must travel anywhere, do it 

early in the morning or late in the evening, once the sun has 

cooled. From 11am-2pm you should try to rest in the shade, 

to avoid the harshest of the sun’s rays. 

If I don’t know where I am, should I try to go north, 

south, east or west? Should I always stay in the same 

direction? 

The first thing you’ll want to do is mark in the ground where 

you found yourself lost and use that as your starting 

position. It’s far better to head back the way you came rather 

than pushing forward into the unknown. Believe it or not, 

people tend to hope they will find their way back by doing 

this. If possible, find some high ground so you can see as 

much as possible. Also try looking for signs of life, whether 

that be vehicle or animal tracks. Animal tracks will all 

inevitably lead you to water, then all you need to do is sit and 

wait for a search team as this will assume that’s where you’ll 

26



head and stand the greatest chance of surviving. 


John Sullivan 

What kind of food should I take on a trip to the desert? 

First, you’ll want to factor in how much water you’ll need to 

cook your meal. For example, rice and pasta are most likely 

no goes, as they’ll need a lot of water to rehydrate and they’ll 

make you thirstier. Tinned food such as corned beef and 

spam, along with tuna and vegetables is always a safe bet. In 

an emergency, you should carry several energy bars – army 

ration meals that can be eaten cold and don’t need to be 

prepared would be the ideal – such as beef jerky and boiled 

sweets. 

Is there any way to find some food, and how do I know if 

it is edible? 

Food will be almost as limited as water. The desert is such a 

harsh environment so wildlife and plants will be minimal, 

and those you find are more than often hostile. If you are 

lucky you might be able to kill a snake, however for obvious 

reasons, you may not want to tackle one head on. Looking 

for footprints in the morning may lead you back to animals 

that are active at night and if you’re lucky – may have the 

opportunity to set a trap for the following night. 

Where can I find water (and purify it if found)? 

Finding water is going to be your greatest challenge in 

surviving. Looking for green vegetation is a sure bet that 

there’s water nearby, however, it may be deep underground. 

Dig down and collect as much as possible. To purify it you 

can filter out the dirt using a cloth, such as your shirt or any 

cloth you have available. If you can, boil it up and if the 

water is really bad, collect the steam in a cloth and wring it 

27


John Sullivan 

out into a separate container. Another way to obtain water is 

by building a solar still with plastic sheeting (an opened-up 

carrier bag will do) and some form of container. 

If I only have five litres of water left, how much water 

should I drink per day? 

Naturally being in a survival situation can be incredibly 

stressful, which will only heighten your thirst. Rationing is 

crucial. However, don’t deprive yourself unless completely 

necessary, as becoming dehydrated may lead to you 

becoming delirious and reduce the positive effects on him. 

Personally, I’d try to ration 1.5 liters a day, however I’d also 

make sure I was resting in the daytime whilst it’s too hot. 

Anything strenuous should be done in the cooler parts of the 

day to reduce sweat. Find shade and rest up. 

28 

John Sullivan at a desert camp in Jordan

29

Haven't You 

Started Yet? 

Erden Eruc 

Text & Images © Erden Eruc 

30


Erden Eruç 

In February 2009 during my human powered 

circumnavigation, I landed on the shores of Papua New 

Guinea. Upon my return there later, Philip would tell me: 

“now even the villagers on the hills know about you, the man 

who came from the sea in a yellow boat.” On that February 

day, Philip along with other villagers came out from shore in 

four dugout canoes, traditional vessels with an outrigger on 

one side. A lone truck driver had spotted me at sea earlier 

from a dirt road on a hill and had driven ahead to alert them 

in the Kamlawa village located a few miles north of Finsch 

Harbor. 

While bailing water from his own canoe with a tin can, Philip 

with a happy attitude said, “we came to rescue you.” I was in 

a purpose-built ocean rowing boat in which I had just spent 

21 days on the Bismarck Sea and was not in any danger. With 

gratitude, I thanked them then they confirmed that a wharf 

was available in Finsch Harbor where I could tie my boat. I 

rowed my boat to that wharf in the company of their four 

canoes. I could hear children from the Kamlawa village 

screaming in joy as they ran along the waterfront weaving 

among shrubs and coconut trees. A crowd gathered at the 

dockside then watched me patiently for three days; taking 

their turns to intently observe my every move on the boat. 

During the first two days, it was the men who formed a wall 

of flesh on the edge of the wharf with their long bush knives, 

their universal farming tool, held firmly in their hands. If I 

didn't know any better, I could have felt threatened. Later, 

the women began to approach and with them came children 

of various ages. The earlier stares with intent without saying 

a word, were replaced with playtime and the wharf became 

their playground; I was amused to watch their daring diving 

stunts. 

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Erden Eruç 

It is a curious experience to have become part of a local 

legend in a faraway land. I wonder how the story will differ 

after a few generations and what the children will hear from 

their elders about my journey which touched their 

community. I also visited a primary school while in 

Kamlawa; I don't know if any of my own stories were ever 

incorporated into the local version. 

When asked to explain what I was doing, I told them that I 

was on a walkabout and that I was a storyteller, that I visited 

different places on my journey and gathered stories. My job 

was to become the best storyteller. I explained that I was 

going to tell about the kindness that I received in Kamlawa 

for example, and the world was going to know. 



In March 2003 while the Alaska Highway was still snow 

packed, I rode my bicycle through Fort Nelson in British 

Columbia in Canada toward Alaska. Earlier while at Fort St. 

John also in British Columbia further south, a First Nations 

man had brought his two children to meet me for breakfast, 

asking me to “tell them about my vision.” They perceived my 

journey as a vision quest, a journey toward wisdom. They 

then had alerted the Fort Nelson First Nation of my arrival 

unbeknownst to me. I was greeted on the highway at Fort 

Nelson before being invited to visit the Chalo Elementary 

School in their village. 

Though a common occurrence during the tourist season, I 

was the only bicyclist on the icy roads at that time. I was on a 

bicycle with studded tires, carrying front and rear panniers 

and towing a trailer loaded with my climbing gear for a climb 

of Mt. McKinley in Alaska. Wearing heavy clothing to stay 

warm, keeping a water bladder next to my back to keep it 

from freezing, I was a spectacle on the move. I have learned 

that everyone sees what I do through their own mind's eye, 

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Erden Eruç 



and that their respective life experiences determine what they 

see in what I do. Children were no different. 

“Aren't you afraid?” They asked me, and when I enquired 

what I should fear, they would tell me about their own fears. 

“Aren't you afraid of the bears?” 

“It is winter, they are asleep.” 

“Aren't you afraid of the trucks?” 

“They change lanes.” 

“Aren't you afraid of loneliness?” 

“I’ve got you” and so on. 

I urged them to think that fear should not stop us from what 

we envision to do. We usually fear what we don't know, but 

by seeking knowledge we can learn how to handle fear. 

Without realizing, the children were telling me about their 

own fears and all the reasons for why they would not 

attempt what I was doing. I demonstrated and told them that 

with proper preparation and hard work, it is possible to 

accomplish our dreams. I would later realize that if I slightly 

detached myself from the encounter, I could have taken on 

the role of a virtual mirror. Questions asked about my 

journey would provide hints about the individuals asking 

them. 

I always found the fourth through eighth grade students to 

be the best age group to address. I could hold their attention 

through a structured presentation. For them anything was 

possible, children of this age group were open minded and 

33

34

Rowing across the Pacific Ocean 

in December 2007, day 168. 

35


Erden Eruç 

they appreciated that the world was a big place, exciting 

adventure stories captivated them. With younger children, I 

learned that the best contribution I could make was to spend 

quality time together, talking about bugs and bears and 

sharing pictures of the creatures of this world. I would play 

along, allow them to set the pace and dwell on any image that 

entertained and intrigued them. The important thing was that 

each student had an example or an idea about how a lifetime 

of involvement with sports could help someone. 



In all my primary school level gatherings, I have been serving 

to create a series of learning moments to grab their full 

attention, which could be used to deliver important messages 

to remember. My messages are woven into my stories like the 

fables of La Fontaine; I touch on my own mistakes which 

they should avoid, I regularly engage them in topics 

including wellness and caring for the environment. 

I am fifty years old now, and I like having children guess my 

age. I ask children about what one needs to do to maintain a 

level of fitness for what I do. They usually offer ideas from 

good food to sufficient sleep to regular exercise. My goal is to 

leave them with a non-smoking message. If they don't smoke 

they can play catch with their grandchildren, I tell them, 

knowing full well that most grandparents are no longer 

physically active. These children crave such attention and my 

message resonates with them so they will not forget. 

Power of Dreams 

Dreams are the fertile ground where the future is shaped. 

Beware what you think for you may decide to act on it, I had 

read somewhere. From a young age, I have been involved in 

various sports and physical activities. At the age of 5, my 

father took me up Mt. Erciyes, an almost 4000-meter extinct 

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Erden Eruç 

volcano in south central Turkey. When I was in middle 

school, our teachers brought a black and white television to 

the classroom then told us to pay attention. We watched 

astronauts walk on the moon that day. I had read Jules Verne 

books, been watching Jacques Cousteau documentaries, and I 

was ready for the obvious leap of imagination. I can be an 

astronaut, I thought to myself. Given time though, I 

reasoned in my child's mind that all astronauts were 

American but I was not, therefore I could not be, unaware of 

cosmonauts at the time, and never pursued the thought from 

then on. No teacher was aware of my internal processing; 

they had not done any follow up exercises after the events. 

My parents could not have known; I was a boarding student. 

When I was at the age of 15, I was in Belgium where I came 

across an issue of the National Geographic magazine 

dedicated to the 1963 first American ascent of Everest. I had 

to look up the word bivouac in the dictionary to understand 

the articles; I can climb Everest, I told myself. Perhaps 

because I was older by then, that idea has never left me since. 

In 1997 at age 36, I found myself standing often in front of a 

world map hanging on the wall of our software development 

lab in Washington, DC in United States. I was pursuing a 

successful consultancy career, yet when I shifted my gaze out 

the window, I pictured myself on the final steps of a difficult 

snowbound summit, or on a steep big wall climb. My dreams 

never had any corner offices or worldly possessions. 

Visualization had been happening, wiring my brain in 

different ways than required for a life in the office. 

That world map had the Americas on the right, the Pacific 

Ocean in the middle and the Old World on the left. I traced 

my finger over that map one day right to left from 

Washington, DC to Turkey, and even gave it a name: 

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Erden Eruç 

Top: March 16, 2013 - With officers and the other awardees James Cameron and Chris Nicola 

during the Explorers Club Annual Dinner where I was awarded a Citation of Merit. 

Above: July 2011, making progress in Zambia. 

38


Erden Eruç 

Top: May 2012 - On my approach to Louisiana on the Gulf of Mexico, birds migrating north 

from the Yucatan Peninsula to continental USA found respite on my boat. This is an Eastern 

Wood Pewee that I practically had to hug to capture this image. 

Above: May 2010 - A road sign unique to Australia on the Nullarbor Plain: watch out for feral 

camels, wombats and kangaroos. 

39


Erden Eruç 

“Journey Home.” What if, I asked, what if I could do it by 

human power? That became a quiet obsession followed by 

numerous how-questions. How would I find the time, how 

would I obtain the funding? Each how-question was a 

problem to be solved. It was easy tracing paths on a map; 

maybe I would not stop in Turkey and I would keep going 

until I returned to DC. I would have to contend with 

crossing the Atlantic Ocean on my way, which is when I 

discovered the Ocean Rowing Society in London. As an 

engineer, I was already wired as a problem solver, now I was 

on familiar turf. 

Peer pressure 

There is only one thing that is certain in life which holds true 

for all ages: if we believe that we cannot be, then our 

subsequent actions ensure that outcome. However, if we 

begin with the belief that we can, our whole intention 

changes, we recompose to apply our time and resources 

toward that positive goal, focusing our energies to make it 

happen. Our place in the world is the result of consecutive 

decisions that we have made at critical junctions in our lives; 

those decisions were necessarily aligned with our goals and 

the probability of success that we assigned the same. 

Children don't know that yet, and I want them to catch each 

other whenever they utter the words “I can't” - an expression 

which comes so naturally to them. 

Call me devious, I trick the students after I share my 

astronaut story, by asking them who wants to be an 

astronaut. Many times, it is something none of them had even 

considered. One or two hands go up often with hesitation 

but invariably few others laugh at these future cadets. That 

scenario never fails, always providing me with the 

opportunity to talk about negative peer pressure. 

40

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 


Erden Eruç 

In adults, this takes on a different form where cynicism is 

billed as critical thinking. When I shared my thoughts with 

others about Journey Home early on, I quickly found that 

not everyone needed to know. Have you done anything like 

that before, was a typical response. Books never turned me 

down; one of the books that I read was titled “Ultimate 

High” about the Swede Göran Kropp, who had bicycled 

from Sweden to Nepal towing his climbing gear on a trailer, 

and had climbed Everest solo in 1996. 

When I finally met Göran in person in Seattle during the 

summer of 2001, his first two questions to me were: when are 

you starting, and, do you have sponsors. I then hesitated 

about whether to begin my journey because the 9/11 events 

which provided yet another excuse to wait. When I later met 

Göran in Ouray Ice Park in Colorado in the winter of 2002, 

he would ask me “haven't you started yet?” – I remember 

feeling uncomfortable giving my excuses. That is an example 

to positive peer pressure. 

When I declared in 2003 that I was going to bicycle from 

Seattle to Alaska in winter conditions to climb Mt. McKinley, 

I knew to ignore the cynicism. If I bicycled 50 miles a day, I 

knew I could reach Alaska by mid-April before my team 

arrived for our scheduled climb in May. Those who had 

asked whether I had bicycled that far before, did not bother 

showing up at the starting line on February 1st. I would 

reach Anchorage on April 11th. 

Children need to hear such stories often to learn to identify 

around them the few nurturing individuals who will affirm 

their aspirations and to avoid those who will damage their 

self-esteem. Our legal counsel Christopher Beer had told me 

when we were filing to establish Around-n-Over as a nonprofit: 

“surround yourself with good people and the dream 

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Erden Eruç 

will take care of itself” -- likewise we often tell children to 

choose their friends well, for good reason. 

Willingness to commit 

Dreams do not become reality without deliberate action. I 

remember myself uttering “a dream without action is only a 

pipe dream,” during a presentation to students at the Hutch 

School in Seattle for children of families with cancer. 



Everything has a price, there is no free lunch. It is easy to 

remain in our comfort zone to avoid the tough choices in fear 

of failure. I used to think that when I found sponsors I could 

begin my journey. I had a career to advance and a job which 

paid the bills. Mortgage on a condo with a lake view near 

downtown Seattle required a steady income. I was a creature 

of habits, wanting certainty before action. 

In September 2002, I received an email from Göran telling 

me that he was back at his home in Issaquah east of Seattle 

after another successful ascent of Everest. We quickly 

decided to go rock climbing for the first time together in 

eastern Washington State. Tragically, Göran fell that day on a 

relatively short pitch and died while on my belay. That event 

shook me deep within, forced a reconsideration of my 

priorities. I was not one to hide in a corner feeling sorry for 

myself. What came out of that accident was a firm belief that 

I was the chosen one, that there was a reason for why I was 

there, and that life was short. 

During the flight on the way back from Göran's funeral in 

November that year, I drew the world map on a piece of 

paper and marked the highest summit on each continent 

except Mt. Vinson in Antarctica. I would carry out my 

circumnavigation, and I would also reach each of these six 

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Erden Eruç 

summits by human power in honor of Göran's memory. 

First to reach was the highest summit in North America, 

namely Mt. McKinley in Alaska. 

When I contacted Göran's sponsors, I received a loud silence. 

Before the accident, that would have been a valid excuse to 

postpone the journey. The time for excuses was over; no 

longer were they going to dictate my destiny. With the 

blessing of Nancy, my then fiancée, I cashed out my 

retirement funds and began pedaling north. Before my 

departure, the legal paperwork for Around-n-Over was filed, 

my living will and powers of attorney left in Nancy's care. 

Our team summited McKinley on 29 May, and Nancy 

married me in Alaska following my descent. 

This was only the beginning. After my return, we sold our 

second car and the condo in favor of lesser expenses. We 

rented first, then bought a townhouse at half the mortgage 

obligation. We acted to roll equity from another property 

that I had owned in Washington, DC into a profitable rental 

unit. We took advantage of lower mortgage rates to reduce 

our monthly expenses. 

By the time I launched on the Pacific Ocean in 2007 to begin 

my westbound circumnavigation, I had bought a rowboat 

and had used it once already for a solo practice row on the 

Atlantic Ocean from the Canary Islands near north-western 

Africa to the Caribbean Sea. Nancy and I had rearranged our 

lives to survive on one salary, totally committing ourselves to 

the journey. I had even gained Aktaş Holding from Turkey as 

a major sponsor. The departure became possible after the 

tough choices we had made together with Nancy. 

That day at the Hutch School, I was in front of children a 

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Erden Eruç 

family member of whom was under treatment for cancer. I 

told them that death will happen around us in our lifetime. 

Rather than death itself, we could focus on what to do with 

that experience. After Göran's death, I had changed my own 

path drastically, yet they were still so young. Could they start 

by telling how they loved the ailing one, or promise the same 

one that they will be strong, caring, honorable, honest, and 

hardworking individuals with integrity? 

The question perhaps all of us should ask ourselves is 

whether we should wait for a disruptive event like death, or 

layoff, or divorce, or childbirth to shake our foundation 

before we take the proverbial first step on a journey of a 

thousand miles. 

44 

November 2009 - a magnificent beetle that I found during the north to south traverse of Papua 

New Guinea using the Kokoda Track.


Erden Eruç 



Creating value for the society 

When preparing for my journey in the aftermath of Göran's 

accident, I felt the need to incorporate the venture. I was 

introduced to our legal counsel Christopher Beer with whom 

to consider our options. A non-profit corporation with a 

mission to educate and inspire children was the outcome. I 

did not want my journey to turn into a chest beating exercise 

and I was passionate about creating opportunities toward 

children's education. 

Once we had a stable board of directors, our charitable work 

became better defined. We seized opportunities to partner 

with another non-profit called İLKYAR to help boarding 

school students at primary school age in rural Turkey, and 

with African Environments in Arusha on the foothills of Mt. 

Kilimanjaro to build additional classrooms at a local 

secondary school. 

As athletes, we often receive generous support from the 

society; recognition is just one of the rewards that come with 

success. We have a choice to handle that success responsibly 

and to pay back the society for the privilege. When that any 

worthy endeavor can be leveraged to benefit the society 

becomes our intention, we will find the ways. I was never 

invited to schools when I was working as an engineer. Now 

that I am, influencing the next generation through my stories 

is just one of the ways. 

Motivation through goal setting 

What if I cannot finish my circumnavigation, was one of my 

questions early on. It was such a huge undertaking, daunting 

in scope and overwhelming in duration. In front of me was a 

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Erden Eruç 

typical fishbone diagram which fed input from four distinct 

boxes into one which represented results and success. The 

four boxes to populate had men, money, materials and 

methods as their respective titles. But to what end? The final 

box contained the key... If I engaged as many children as 

possible to broaden their horizons, ran an accountable nonprofit 

true to its mission, created as much value as possible 

for my sponsors, and made as many friends as possible 

around the world during my journey, then I would be in 

keeping with my intentions. 



When I focused on our performance along the way rather 

than on the outcome at the end, the fog lifted, I gained clarity 

of purpose. I could take this seemingly impossible goal, 

which was literally as big as the world then divide it into 

tangible relevant bite-size intermediate goals. Perhaps our 

team members could take on some of these tasks, and with 

their individual skills could deliver better results. I certainly 

did not have the time to juggle all the responsibilities. My job 

was to improve the significance of our non-profit programs, 

to better myself through the wisdom gained during my 

journey, and to enhance the quality of my observations for 

better storytelling. If world events got in the way, or an ailing 

family member became a priority in my life, I could look 

back and say: “we've done well!” 

The US Marines have coined the expression, “difficult we can 

do now; impossible will take longer.” What they left out of 

“difficult” was whether it was realistic. Every step along the 

way toward that long-term goal has to consist of achievable 

short-term goals. If dreams give us ideas, it is the goals which 

provide us with the roadmap. If these goals are very specific 

and performance can be measured upon their completion, we 

can then press ourselves for meeting timelines. If we are 

falling short on resources such as time, money or talent, we 

46




Erden Eruç 

can consider prioritizing the tasks. Unless there are 

dependencies among the tasks where one cannot begin the 

next step until completion of the previous, then prioritizing 

will relieve the pressure for performance. At any given 

moment, the top three focus areas can be retired once 

addressed and a new selection can replace them. It is the 

pursuit of excellence, not perfection which makes the 

difference. And none of this is possible unless we can take a 

moment to think ahead and make a plan. 

I was able to overcome the inertia created by an unwieldy 

dream by breaking it down into stages. Then by seeing 

progress because of my efforts, I was able to remain 

motivated and to maintain my momentum. 

Dream big 

If we know how to handle big dreams by defining a longterm 

goal and breaking it down to its intermediate 

milestones, then we should not fear big dreams. In other 

terms, an insignificant dream will mean under achievement of 

our potential. 

Taking part in the Olympics is every athlete's dream, and 

why not? As long as the athlete and the coaches and the 

administrators surrounding the athlete are all aware of the 

seriousness of the undertaking, it can be a valid dream. 

Measuring our performance against others who are best in 

their field will magically force us to set higher standards for 

ourselves. Other than nature versus nurture debates which 

could be had at this point, limited time also must be 

considered. 

If we accept that we have a limited time to achieve our 

dreams, then big dreams will mean many small steps or fewer 

47


Erden Eruç 

Top: Oct 2010 - Rowing on the Indian Ocean northwest of Madagascar. 

Above: Sept 2009 - Beach walking along the Solomon Sea shores in Papua New Guinea. 

48


Erden Eruç 

Top: Students feeling my biceps to see how strong I am. 

Above: Oct 2009 - sea kayaking along the Solomon Sea shores of Papua New Guinea. 

49


Erden Eruç 

more significant steps to achieve. My human powered 

circumnavigation can be a good example. 

This circumnavigation will be finished when I return to 

California hopefully in the summer of 2012, after a five-year 

struggle. Yet just in the process of bringing my journey this 

far, I have become the first person to have rowed three 

oceans and the first person to have rowed the Indian Ocean 

mainland to mainland between Australia and Africa. I hold 

the Guinness World Record for the longest time at sea by a 

solo rower by 312 days, and I remain the most experienced 

ocean rower alive in total career days at sea by 655 days as of 

October 10, 2011. 



I am writing this article on a small PDA while rowing across 

the South Atlantic from Lüderitz in Namibia to Central 

America. By the time I am done, my total career days will 

probably exceed 800. I did not set out to gather all these 

specific records, yet I was reaching for such a big goal in my 

circumnavigation that they had to happen along the way. 

Manage the dream 

The beauty of intermediate goals is that they provide 

milestones toward success. Each milestone achieved is a taste 

of success. Repeated often, success becomes a habit, it 

becomes an acquired skill, it is not accidental. We build on 

past successes as well as failures to learn from our mistakes. 

Wearing a typical project manager's hat, I divide my journey 

into stages, and those into phases. Each stage requires 

planning, then preparation, then execution then an evaluation 

phase. US Rangers have their 6P's: “prior planning prevents 

piss poor performance.” Based on my plans, I then have to 

prepare myself. Preparations may include physical fitness, 

50




Erden Eruç 

gaining the additional skills as necessary, gathering the 

equipment and supplies, prepositioning them for logistical 

ease, getting visas or permits and finding funding. When I 

execute the plan, I use the fruits of these preparations to 

move my journey forward. Evaluation is a time when I 

reflect on the phase I just completed, learn from my mistakes, 

and identify weaknesses or areas to improve, then 

acknowledge and reinforce the good parts. The cycle is 

complete when I am ready to incorporate these in the 

planning phase of the next stage. 

To move my journey across PNG (Papua New Guinea) for 

example, I had to plan and prepare for beach walking, sea 

kayaking, hiking through tropical mountain paths then 

rowing. Before departure for PNG, I had to arrange for the 

delivery of my rowboat to Port Moresby which is PNG's 

capital city on the Coral Sea, and my cycling rig to Australia, 

each ahead of my arrival. I had to locate a pair of sea kayaks 

to borrow in PNG, no easy task in itself. I had to practice my 

Eskimo rolls for kayaking, gather all the specific items 

required for these mutually exclusive disciplines, and really 

think ahead. Challenging times indeed... 

I often chuckle that I have created a monster and I must feed 

it now. By thinking like the ultimate project manager, I can 

take apart that ominous unwieldy challenge and address each 

of its parts in the order that they deserve respectively. I am 

able to learn from a previous stage and to carry those 

learnings into the next stage. This becomes an uplifting 

process which strengthens my hand over time. 

Conclusion 

A lifetime of involvement with sports has given me the 

confidence to consider geographical feats as a challenge. 

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Erden Eruç 

Climbing has been a constant pursuit in my life, though 

lately I have been focusing on advancing a human powered 

circumnavigation of the world, and managing a non-profit 

organization to provide educational benefits for the youth 

based on the same journey. 

I was blessed with well-meaning parents who encouraged me 

to try sports at an early age. In middle school, I had elder 

students from high school who taught me how to throw the 

discus. With his cross country, wrestling and track & field 

programs, my high school coach Al Rosner oversaw my 

transformation from an adolescent into a young man, 

chiseling me into a confident individual with a positive selfimage. 

Skills that I gained from my high school years kept me 

actively engaged in sports throughout my university years. 

Time management was one of these skills, which to this day 

remains an important asset in my life. 



Generations of youth will benefit from a well-rounded sports 

program in learning life skills to reach their full potential. 

Each one among our youth deserves to gain a positive selfimage 

and the necessary self-confidence to express a realistic 

dream and to pursue it. 

Coaches in sports programs not only need to provide skills in 

specific sports disciplines, but also life skills which will have 

transformational effects on the athletes. 

Our place in the world is the result of consecutive decisions 

that we have made at critical junctions in our lives. Joining a 

good sports program is one of these decisions which may 

provide the tools for a young person to flourish beyond our 

expectations. 

Throughout my endeavors, I have looked for ways to create 

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Erden Eruç 

value for the society and to find ways to serve the common 

good. These were the values I had learned from my parents 

and my coach. As athletes, we receive recognition and 

visibility which can be leveraged to benefit society. One way 

to achieve this could be by sharing how we manage our 

respective journeys to success in our own individual 

disciplines, which could prove instructive to children and 

adults alike. 

A version of this article was originally published in: The 

International Journal of Developmental Sports Management, 

Volume 1 Issue 1, Spring 2012. 

Erden Eruç is the founder and President of the 501(c)(3) non-profit 

organization Around-n-Over based in Seattle, also a member of the 

prestigious Explorer Club and the American Alpine Club. He holds 

a Master’s degree in business administration, mechanical engineering 

and engineering mechanics, respectively. He has climbed big walls 

and mountains, run marathons, wrestled and played judo. 

Since the publication of this article, 

Erden Eruç has completed his 

circumnavigation by human power 

using a bicycle, a rowboat, a sea 

kayak or walking. By the time that 

he returned to his starting point on 

21 July 2012, he had amassed 15 

Guinness World Records. His overall 

career total in ocean rowing time 

now stands at 934 days, 844 of which 

is solo. His most recent ocean row 

broke the course record in twoperson 

"classic pairs" class of boats 

from 75 days to 54 during the 2016 

Great Pacific Race from Monterey 

Bay to Waikiki. 

53


Erden Eruc 

54 

May 2003 - During the descent from Denali (Mt McKinley) 

in Alaska, the first summit achieved in memory of Göran 

Kropp. Since then, Kosciuszko and Kilimanjaro have also 

been summited. Aconcagua, Elbrus and Everest remain of 

the Six Summits Project, to reach the highest summit on 

each continent by human power, except Antarctica.

55

Extreme 

Medicine: 

Save lives..and go places 

Claire Grogan 

& Mark Hannaford 

56



Extreme Medicine 


It’s 5am, just before sunrise in the Himalayas. We wake to 

heavy snowfall, which has slowed our progress to the summit 

of Kala Patar. It soon becomes clear we will have to wait for 

the weather to improve. I am the medic with a group of 

students and staff from special educational needs schools 

from across the UK. We hunker down for the day and 

occupy ourselves playing games while we await a weather 

window. 

The role of a medic on expedition has many faces, from 

doctor to chef, photographer, teacher, pot-washer, latrinedigger 

and counselor. You must earn your salt as a fullyfledged 

team member, which means being able to fulfill these 

roles and comfortably complete the expedition itself. 

For me, expedition medicine offers an exciting combination 

of the two things I love: medical practice and the outdoors. I 

have worked all over the world in some incredible places, 

from Iceland to Belize, the Philippines to Tanzania, Nepal 

and the Arctic. But it can be challenging combining this with 

working in the NHS. So how do you go about working 

abroad as an expedition medic? 

What opportunities are available in expedition medicine? 

How do you find out about them? 

There are a multitude of options for medics to accompany 

expeditions or projects overseas. Companies running charity 

trips often seek medics, and there are also expeditions 

organised by universities, aid or relief work, commercial 

expeditions and TV work, although this is harder to come by. 

Opportunities are advertised in a variety of ways. I was 

working in a small emergency department in the north of 

Scotland when I was contacted about a job in Nepal at short 

57



notice, but it is also worth following World Extreme 

Medicine’s Facebook page for the latest opportunities. 

What qualifications do you need? Are there any personal 

qualities that help? 

Doctors usually need to be at least two years qualified; other 

medical professionals should follow guidance from their 

governing body. You need to attend an expedition medicine 

course, to learn how to apply your medical skills in remote 

environments. World Extreme Medicine run courses several 

times a year all around the UK and abroad. 



Experience in emergency medicine and general practice stand 

you in good stead to deal with the wide range of medical 

problems on expedition, and the former is usually a 

prerequisite. You should have a good working knowledge of 

managing fractures, wound management and dressings, so 

spending time learning from nursing staff in your department 

cannot be underestimated. 

Crucially, you need to make sure you possess all the technical 

skills required of the expedition itself, from winter mountain 

skills to simple camp-craft, to ensure you are comfortable 

operating in extreme environments. It helps to be naturally 

sociable and able to fit easily into a team, and it goes without 

saying that you need to be physically fit. 

When is a good time to take time out of a career? How do 

you ensure you will get a job on your return? 

There are natural career breaks in the traditional training 

paths in medicine and it is now common for doctors to 

undertake an “FY3” year to pursue a particular interest. 

Some people warned me that taking time out could pose 

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problems for job applications on my return, but my 

experience was that these were unfounded. At interviews, I 

was often asked more about what I had learned from my 

experiences as an expedition medic than other details on my 

CV. 

Now I work full-time in the NHS, and it is possible to get 

away on trips within annual leave restrictions with some 

creative rota management and a few swaps here and there. 

What kind of situations might you face? 

Most problems on expedition are minor but occasionally full 

casualty evacuations need to be carried out, so it is 

worthwhile ensuring you have a robust system in place for 

this eventuality. My biggest tip would be to try to anticipate 

the unexpected. 

In spring 2015, I was volunteering at a high-altitude rescue 

post in the Gokyo Valley in the Himalayas, running 

awareness talks on altitude sickness and providing medical 

assistance to trekkers and porters. A colleague and I had just 

finished the Saturday morning clinic when a 7.8 magnitude 

earthquake struck. We knew immediately what was 

happening and ran outside to safety. Bad visibility masked 

our view but we heard avalanches roaring in the valley 

around us. 

Over the coming days we established communication with 

home and our colleagues further up the valley, and helped 

our local community get back on to its feet. Our rescue post 

became a place for people to gather and support each other. 

Earthquakes had been one of the risks we discussed before 

leaving the UK, and we had agreed to always have a grab bag 

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with water, passports and food ready to go in an emergency. 

It seemed like overkill at the time, but that small amount of 

forethought really helped. Now I have a grab bag on every 

expedition, and always keep a head torch by my bed in case 

of emergency. 

How can I gain additional qualifications or experience for 

this kind of work? 


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 

Mark Hannaford, founder of World Extreme Medicine 

highlights how one can get involved in Extreme Medicine: 

“In 2002, we introduced World Extreme Medicine as a 

training provider of expedition, wilderness and remote 

medicine courses for medical professionals. It was around a 

Campfire in Namibia we coined the phrase ‘World Extreme 

Medicine’ as an umbrella term for all practices of medicine 

outside of a clinical environment.” 

“We run courses in the UK and in a few carefully-selected 

locations around the world, including the Everest base camp. 

World Extreme Medicine provides quality training for medics 

who want to work in remote environments. Our courses are 

suitable for expedition doctors, paramedics, nurses and 

individuals providing medical cover in inhospitable locations. 

The courses enable participants to become valuable medical 

practitioners in a range of environments.” 

“Through this we have created the World Extreme Medicine 

Conference and Expo. Since 2012 we have brought together 

healthcare professionals across four disciplines: disaster and 

humanitarian medicine, extreme, expedition and space 

medicine, human endurance and sports medicine plus 

prehospital medicine. At the Conference and Expo these 

professionals showcase and share the latest developments in 

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extreme environment healthcare and educate others in what 

they can do differently.” 

“In conjunction with University of Exeter Medical School, 

WEM also run a Masters in Extreme Medicine which may be 

of interest to those looking to pursue a formal qualification or 

research in this area.” 

“The World Extreme Medicine Conference, in Edinburgh 

from 25-27 November 2017, is set to be a brilliant gathering. 

I love going because it is a chance to meet, share experiences 

and learn from world-renowned experts in the medical fields 

of pre-hospital care, expedition, endurance, disaster and 

humanitarian medicine, and sport, space and extreme 

medicine.” 

World Extreme Medicine runs courses in expedition and 

wilderness medicine in the UK, as well as environmentspecific 

courses all over the world, such as polar medicine in 

Arctic Norway, jungle medicine in Costa Rica, and mountain 

medicine in Nepal. 

Courses - http://www.expeditionmedicine.co.uk 

Conference - www.extreme-medicine.com 

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ExtremeMedicine 

Twitter - @extremeexpo & @expedmedicine 

MSc in Extreme Medicine at the University of Exeter 

Medical School - http://www.exeter.ac.uk/postgraduate/ 

taught/medicine/extrememedicinemsc/ 

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Contributors 

Credits: 

All articles and images are the copyright of the their 

respective authors. Ripcord Adventure Journal is grateful to 

all our writers and photographers for permission to publish 

their work. 

Image on page 2 and 4 courtesy of Leon McCarron; pages 6 

and 12 courtesy of Mark Woods; pages 18, 20 and 21 

courtesy of Joe Grabowski; pages 24 and 28 courtesy of John 

Sullivan; page 29 courtesy of freeimages.com/Brad Mering; 

pages 30, 34, 35, 38, 39, 44, 48, 49, 53, 54 and 55 courtesy of 

Erden Eruc; pages 62-79 courtesy of Matt Maynard. 

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Editor in Chief: Tim Lavery 

Publisher, educator and scientist, Tim has worked throughout Europe 

in various fields for corporates, NGOs and Educational Institutions 

over the past 25 years. In January 2012, he launched the awardwinning 

World Explorers Bureau, a speakers agency representing over 

160 of the world's most accomplished explorers and adventurers. 

Since 1985, Tim has earned numerous National Awards for his 

contribution to environmental awareness in Ireland including 

receiving three Resource Ireland Awards, several Environment 

Awareness Awards, Local Hero Award and an Inspired IT Award. He 

has authored more than 20 scientific papers ranging from ecology to 

new species descriptions and has edited numerous other publications 

on a variety of scientific and education technology subjects. 

Passionate about exploration and the dissemination of the results of 

authentic adventures and expeditions, in 2014, Tim was elected as a 

Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society (of London) followed in 

2015 by becoming the first Irish person to be elected to the College of 

Fellows of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and in 

November 2016, he became a Fellow of the Royal Geographical 

Society. He manages the Worldwide Expedition Professionals and 

Irish Adventure Association groups on LinkedIn and is a Director of 

the Irish Explorers Trust and Director of Global Strategies of the 

World Adventure Society. 

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Featured Explorer 

Leon McCarron 

Leon McCarron is a Northern Irish adventurer and 

filmmaker. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society 

and specializes in long distance, human-powered 

expeditions. 

In May 2012 he concluded a 6-month, 3000 mile expedition 

walking the length of China, from the Gobi desert in 

Mongolia to South China Sea in Hong Kong. In the same 

year, Leon crossed 1000 miles of the Empty Quarter desert 

on foot. Other journeys include a human-powered descent 

of the longest river in Iran, the Karun, and a crossing of 

Argentine Patagonia on horseback. You can read more about 

his journeys at his website: www.leonmccarron.com 

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Featured Explorer 

John Sullivan 

John Sullivan is a former Royal Marines Commando of nine 

years-experience. He has operated in some of the world’s most 

challenging jungle, desert and arctic environments. 

He has been an adviser to numerous expeditions and was 

hired by the BBC to make all in-country arrangements for 

their programs filming "Last Man Standing" and "Extreme 

Dreams." In 2010 John set up from scratch the documentary 

"Eating with Cannibals" filmed in Papua New Guinea for the 

National Geographic Channel. 

John operates Elite Survival Training which aims to inspire 

people of all ages and from all backgrounds to learn the art of 

survival in unfamiliar surroundings. 

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Claire Grogan is an emergency medical doctor, honorary 

clinical lecturer in Extreme Medicine at the University of 

Exeter Medical School and fellow of the Royal Geographical 

Society. 

@grogan_claire 

Featured Medic 

Claire Grogan 

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Publishers & Sponsors 

The World Explorers Bureau (WEB) is a speaking and events agency 

that represents 30 explorers and extreme adventurers. 

WEB Speakers inspire audiences around the world with captivating 

tales of their adventures encapsulating themes which include 

pushing boundaries, leadership, teamwork and motivation. 

Ripcord is the adventure travel arm of Redpoint Resolutions, a 

travel risk and crisis response company specializing in 

comprehensive global travel solutions. They serve government 

agencies, corporations and organizations that require employees to 

travel or live abroad. The company is owned and operated by 

special operations veterans and physicians who practice wilderness 

medicine and understand the challenges of medical and security 

emergencies in remote environments. 

Ripcord’s global intelligence, evacuation services, essential benefits 

and 24/7 operations center has your back no matter where your 

adventures takes you. 

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Supporting 

One world, one life, 

one great adventure... 

JOIN US! 

WWW.WORLDADVENTURESOCIETY.ORG 

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Published by World Explorers Bureau & Redpoint Resolutions 

www.ripcordadventurejournal.com

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