Goinground PELEPONNESE 2016

Going solo?
Going alone
One of the big surprises of the trip. Going solo meant really BEING alone. Different from the
Ireland trip almost nobody was interested in what I was doing. I really do not need any
tapping on the shoulder or admiring conversations. In fact I was only once on the second
day of my trip offered help. Maybe it is because I did not know Greek maybe a seakayak is
even more unusual in Greece. I do not know. In fact after having been for eight to ten hours
out at sea I arrived at beaches mostly with some people. And I even got the feeling like
being invisible. Perhaps a bit like the ships of the Spanish conquistadores: there are reports
that they could not be seen by the native americans at first as anything slightly similar did not
exist in their mindset. So talking for two to three day often was limited to order a frappee.
Deciding alone
In fact there were three of us: me, myself and I. What I mean are these inner discussions
between my ambition (trying to get around the next cape, finding an even better campsite,
paddling another 30 minutes in clapotis) and my doubts (can I really do this?, will my
physical problems get worse?, what obstacle will be on the next corner? ). So even when I
had taken a decision “myself” did either not find it ambitious enough or “me” was constantly
doubting if the decision was a wise one and “I” was in a way in between all trying to please
everybody. Hope that does not sound to strange as my name is neither Jekyll nor Hyde.
However the “inner team” did not work well together at first. At first … I really do not know
exactly when. It must have been within the first days of the trip. The inner team started
working together and I just felt what was right and what would evoke certain risks I was not
willing to face and accept as part of my doing the trip. Perhaps it was one of my rare social
©Christian Dingenotto 2018 4