Unfocused wanderlust | Pinnacle Newsletter #11
#11 Unfocused wanderlust
Let me tell you something: unfocused wanderlust sucks.
My job's a pretty hard thing to nail down. I play a variety of roles for different clients, but they all have one thing in common: for 9-12 hours a day, 5-6 days a week, I am working on stories of adventure written by other people.*
When I'm particularly busy with desk work – often in autumn and early spring – my chances to get out into the mountains are limited, and yet I'm still exposed to this relentless barrage of inspiration. Some of it doesn't affect me. Editing an article about deep-water soloing in Greece (for example) won't inspire wanderlust because that isn't something I personally like to do. But when it comes to working on features about long-distance backpacking and ambitious routes in big wilderness areas, the wanderlust can build to epic proportions.
Unfocused wanderlust is a problem, my friends. Unfocused wanderlust is a drain on your time and energy. It seems to be worse when multiple ideas have caught my attention at once, because my brain flits between these shiny baubles of promise, unable to latch onto an idea and make it real until I recognise that I need to do something about it.
This is a chronic disease of the outdoor editor, but it can affect us all – nowadays every outdoor enthusiast lets this tidal wave wash over them every time they open Instagram. Sometimes it can seem that everyone else has just enjoyed that perfect wild camp or is about to start hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (hashtag hikertrash). There's more than a hint of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) about unfocused wanderlust.
But while unfocused wanderlust sucks, when you change that diffuse, anxious energy into a plan, awesome things can happen.
Articulate which specific bee is in your bonnet right now. For me, as I type this, I am yearning to go back to the Pyrenees and thru-hike the Haute Route from Atlantic to Mediterranean. I find that once I've identified which vague idea could become a concrete plan, all the other cool-sounding places and trails fade into the background for a while. Direct all that mental energy into doing something real.
The answer to unfocused wanderlust is to scratch the itch – to turn dreaming into planning.
* With very few exceptions, I no longer edit fiction. I made the decision to specialise on outdoor writing a while ago, and it's working out well.
Recently published
Again, I'm afraid there's nothing new on the blog – I've been very busy with a number of projects this week.
Ordnance Survey Aventura GPS handset – a first look / unboxing
Should the lynx be reintroduced to Scotland? (I interviewed Dr David Hetherington, author of a new book aiming to inform the rewilding debate)
Links of interest
Hiking 1,300km through New Zealand on the the Te Araroa (a pleasure to publish this great piece by Kat Young on backpacking in New Zealand)
Ticks rising – how Lyme disease became the first epidemic of climate change (my brother got Lyme disease last year, and I know a lot of people affected by it)
Walking the Pyrenees High Route (the first in a great series of video diaries from Richard Hartfield on the HRP in 2016)
Layering sleep systems (very interesting details on an alternative approach to winter camp insulation)
From my Commonplace Book
The art of Himalayan travel – and indeed of all adventure – is the art of being bold enough to enjoy life now.
- W.H. Murray
Until next time,
Alex
www.alexroddie.com