Volume Seven
The Seventh Edition of our Printed Journal
Dreams are what sustain us. Through the dark times we all experience, when the ground trembles and shifts beneath our feet and life throws us a curve ball, dreams are what carry us through. They are motivated by hope and desire. Hope for us, for our future, for the happiness and health of those around us – even, as Pen Hadow describes in his foreword, for the world we live in. Desire to be better, to be renewed, to see and experience and be inspired. We are inspired by the dreams of others, by their achievements against the starkest of adversity, by their relentless and indomitable spirit, by their choice to help others, or do things we ourselves desire to. Adventure is the stuff of dreams, the fabric of the swirling sands woven as we sleep.
Jody MacDonald took the Longest Train across a landscape scarred by poverty and slavery, with dreams of adventure in her heart, yearning for an experience that had been kindled as a child, hoping it would be everything she expected. Mayan Smith-Gobat took on the Central Tower in Torres del Paine, she and Ines Papert both Riders on the Storm, seeking not only the summit but to free this legendary wall. Jon Rose searched for a trail that led away from his own dark times, into the bright light and beauty of Myanmar. Ryan Salm paddled the Ganges, immersing himself not only in its ancient and potentially harmful waters, but in the magical culture that gathers on its shores. Brody Leven endured a week of debilitating seasickness to ski and climb in an unexplored volcano. Sometimes extreme lengths are required to touch our dreams.
A different, darker kind of hope for Levison Wood as a passenger in a battered car, tumbling down a Himalayan ravine – hoping he and those he loved would survive what was soon to come. Those darker dreams can tell us about the future too, and Martin Hartley wanted to capture the last moments before an ancient people were changed by the relentless march of progress, trekking the only route into Padham, along the frozen Zanskar River. Or they might be about the past, haunting reflections on lost friends, as Leo Houlding discovers.
Dreams are what sustain us, footsteps in the sand beside us that we barely notice at the time, but which carry us when we need them to. Yet sometimes it takes considerable resolve to pass through the pain and sacrifice that teaches us what life often requires in order for our hopes and desires to be fulfilled. This issue is all about the dreams of others, the bravery of those who chose to make them reality, and allowing ourselves to open our hearts to our own dreams.