The power of disconnecting

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I call it "expedition style".
Petra was starting to understand what I meant by that; it was not the fact that we were now on our third week of 5 paddling and camping in the Swedish archipelago, it is more the state of mind that comes from being away from everyday life.

My highlights of any given year are usually my trips.
I love being away from the confinement of 4 walls and a roof, plugged and connected to the increasingly demanding "social media".
For 5 weeks I wanted to not think about others far away from the place I was in.
At the risk of offending and being called selfish I cherish the being away from others.
The islands we were travelling through had slightly more traffic then last year and on occasion my first choice of campsite was already occupied: we could not have the whole island for ourselves.
It was however prime holiday season for Sweden and realistically we were not that far off shore to think we could be really alone.



I prefer to travel with as few tools as possible that keep me connected to my usual world. I had to have a mobile phone with me so my friend Johan could text me the weather forecast. Honestly I would have preferred not to have it. I chose not to bring a GPS even tho Sweden would be one place where I could really use it as "geographical confusion" had its moments.
In a spur of the moment decision we started our trip too far South along the coast where we had no map for it. Interestingly enough the initial concern quickly drifted away since I knew I just had to keep to the right of the big islands but not too far out to be in totally open sea.
The fellow paddlers that we met and chatted to shook their head when we told them that we didn't have a map for the first days' journey and ultimately planned to reach Finland.
I now laugh at myself thinking that we might have come across a bit bizarre: we had the right gear and our kayaks were of the latest style but not having a GPS or even a map? now that is odd...


On my last local paddle in Australia before my Scandinavian trip I was in company of other paddlers that elected to use way-points to reach an island in my bay that clearly needs little navigation aid to be reached, in my opinion. I prefer the "navigation by sight" style where things become clearer as I get closer to my destination. And if I paddle a few minutes longer, I regard that as bonus time on the water.
There are times and places where electronic navigation does come in handy, but in reality often common sense still helps me out where I paddle.
Somehow there is a primeval sense of connection to the land or sea when I don't rely on too many external aids to travel in a remote place, a sense of achievement and discovery that I deem electronic devices can take away from me. I could have mapped my journey way more efficiently and searched online for "the best spots" to then have my GPS guide me along, but that is not how I like to travel.
I could have many websites tell me what the weather was going to do (rarely accurate tho) but I would have not engaged in conversation with the occasional sailor asking him for the wind predictions. I often ended up spending some times with them and had additional local knowledge shared with me, something that many websites can't offer.
Petra even scored the odd cookie or piece of cake from strangers once they discovered that we were travelling far.

And in the evening I was glad that I had no social chore of updating my site (I never did buy into the Facebook thing) and keep my fans fed. I spent my time running around the granite shores, sometimes taking pictures or just laying on my back on the warm rock, concentrated on the clouds passing by above me. I had time to talk to Petra; talk like there was no rush to say things as there was plenty of time. We did not bore each other with mundane trivial facts of who is doing what in the world.
We cared about our world: right there and right then.


Did I miss out on something?
Yes, I did.
I did not hear the news for over a month; I did not hear of air disasters or wars, Royal babies or rock stars deaths, no scores of games and no updates on championships. And it felt so good.
The simplicity of being able to focus on what really matters can only be achieved when I disconnect, anything else just muddles my head.

Tara Jacoby:
You know that naked feeling you get when you realise you’ve forgotten your phone somewhere and have to go an hour or (gasp) a day without it? Rather than rushing to cover up that nakedness with a nearby tablet or the iPhone of a passerby, embrace the freedom a little. Enjoy the fleeting moment of not being tethered to a device that can tell you anything about anything at any given time. ...
Just be present and live in blissful ignorance, if only for a moment.
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The anti-social media

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Below is one of the most insightful videos that I have seen in a long time.
Ironically it attacks the very essence of the medium where you are now reading this.



There is something about social media (blogging included) that bothers me and at the same time draws me to it.
I don't know where the line is, where is OK to "share" something that I find outstanding and where instead it is just mental distraction, noise.
I have developed an aversion to FaceBook but condone blogging.
I often question myself why I do that.

Maybe I have developed an unspoken ethical boundary where I accept knowledge that I can learn from electronically, but despise formats where I am peeking into people's private lives, even if willingly shared publicly (0:08)
What good can I draw from that? is the question I ask myself...
I don't understand the obsession of individuals bent on knowing what their "friends" are doing, all the time.
But then I am guilty of self promotion letting other know what I do and secretly I crave adulation (1:06).
The real tipping point for me however is the constant presence of the mobile phone, where it is clearly out of place used only to "update" the status or news, or letting others knows "I am having a great time".
Why do I need to tell the world where and what I am doing right now, disconnecting myself from the very people that I am having a great time with?
Let it be, be present and save the updating for when I no longer am in good company as good company is created by actually being present and connected with the people around me as nothing says I don't really want to be here as staring at a small screen and furiously typing away.

(2:19) We are a generation of idiots, smart phones and dumb people...
(4:06) So look up from your phone, shut down those displays, we have a finite existence, a set number of days. Don't waste your life caught in the net as when the end comes nothing is worse than regret...

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The chauvinistic paddling society

It appears that some members of the local paddling community still live in the dark ages.
I am not alluding to the half hearted bickering that’s going on between the virtues of rudders over skegs, or wing paddles versus old school traditional paddles.
I am talking about the attitude that some old fashioned men have towards women.

While I have rarely noticed a direct hostile attitude towards women (luckily only one individual has been so far a total pig) some guys just have not been able to embrace women as valid companions (and occasionally competitors) on the water.
I might console myself with the notion that majority of sea kayakers are (statistically) old and that most still bear old fashioned attitudes ingrained at an early age.
I have a hard time understanding that. And I didn’t necessarily grow up in a hippie environment or a women only household, far from it.
My environment (I was schooled in Italy) was probably just as chauvinistic as the local one, however I have tried to treat women with the respect that modern society has evolved to.
Way too often I have heard denigrating comments around fellow paddlers and I no longer seek the company of those individuals.


My experience with women in sport has been an outstanding one. I have been involved on teams that have sponsored and helped women athletes to win national titles (NORBA). I have been part of mixed teams racing mountain bikes at amateur level and I have always participated in outings where women were part of the group. There has not been a single occasion that I wished I was out with the guys only, quite the opposite.
Women bring balance to a group of overdriven testosterone fuelled males and surprisingly enough often school them. The guys can learn so much from women involved in sports and outdoors. Above all women can teach the “army type” guy to be considered towards other; something that can occur in a group of males-only; where resentment towards the self appointed leader, that drives the group too hard, erupts.
Surprisingly enough however some women have grown to accept such behaviour from the old school thinking males.
It also appears that reportedly some women are condemning efforts to change this attitude; as it has been observed that often partners in abusive relationships are prone to actually defend the abuser even if knowing that they are dangerous.
Could a similar behaviour be happening here where women are actually OK with the sexist behaviour?
Could it be the cause of an education system that involuntarily supports chauvinism and alienates these individuals from really seeing the problem (they kind of got used to it and see nothing wrong with it)?
More on this later…

While it seems to be foreign to some individuals the attitude that they display towards to the “gentler sex”, it also seems that they feel threatened by the skills, knowledge and achievements that women are capable of.
I hear you saying: “but women suck at sports”!
That might be true for brute-force style sports but it is not the case with sea kayaking. With sea kayaking guys can be the disadvantaged ones. Sea kayaking is more often about finesse, flexibility and technique than power. I am taking about sea kayaking, not “who-gets-there-first-wins” paddling. Women have an advantage when rolling if nothing less.
It’s the attitude from these chauvinistic guys that often keeps the girls from not wanting to participate in some outings.
There have been a couple of on-water events held exclusively for women, not because women are chauvinist, quite the opposite, but because they feel often threatened by the behaviour that some guys display towards them.



Hands up who has not heard the denigrating comment towards high achieving sports women: “I think she must be a dyke”.
So, when called upon, the transgressor often acts hostile instead of apologetic; of course, their behaviour has been questioned…
Can it be that Australian males perpetuate this mentality because of the education system? I am led to believe so.

Same sex segregated schooling has been documented to foster bad attitude towards the opposite sex. There is a marked difference in behaviour between students that have been educated in schools that are mixed and others that have gone to same-sex schools. I come from a mixed-school education and I had the opportunity to witness first-hand a marked difference when same-sex schooled individuals interact with the opposite sex: often awkward and too many times wrong.
It might be called un-Australian to not behave that way but having lived in several different countries around the world I can say that I have never seen such poor attitude towards women as here.
There are very few western world nations that have such high percentage of same-sex schooling as Australia.
However it is refreshing to see that this chauvinistic attitude seems to be prevalent only with the older generation and it is not really displayed amongst the people I work with (younger crowd).
And just like when I blew the whistle on the Sexual Harassment case with Queensland Sea Kayak Club, members of the local paddling community were rather hostile when I brought to their attention a public sexist comment.
You can’t teach an old dog new trick (or change his behaviour).

Last but not least: the condescending behaviour that some retailers of sea kayaking equipment have towards women.
The automotive industry has managed to change its behaviour towards the increasing female buyer of cars (once an exclusive domain of "the Man"). I personally can attest that some women have resented from purchasing goods from retailers that were treating them chauvinistically.



References:
Queensland Sea Kayak Club, SEQSK forum, Qajaq Newsletter, Funtessea

Vicarious adventure

Never before has being an armchair adventurer been more exiting than right now.
Somebody “tweeted” from the summit of Mount Everest today.


photo Didrik Johnck_with permission



It had to happen. In this increasingly populated and complex world people are continually seeking new outlets to fuel their need for excitement. To be there 'at that very moment'.
The primeval need for adventure and exploration in the past was first domain of books. Throughout history explorers had great following and were often held in high esteem - heroes if you will.
The concept of the vicarious adventuring is an old one. People are fascinated with the danger and hardships endured during conquests in far away lands. Libraries and bookstores are full of text of adventures, some as factual accounts (for the type A personality) other as a mixture of fiction and of more engaging prose. Explorers originally illustrated their journals with hand drawn pictures and maps. These journals fascinated readers that often would not even dream to leave the comfort of home.

With the advent of technology the medium changed. Books started to contain photographs. There is something compelling about photographic evidence supporting an adventurers story. Sir Edmund Hilary famously photographed his summit of Mount Everest for historical reasons and also to dispel any doubts of his success.
Motion pictures changed that again. Explorers, climbers, seafaring voyagers and dare devils suddenly could record their exploits and bring them to the masses.
Even if recording the adventure on film often involves a great amount of planning, additional cost and hardship (schlepping an Imax camera to Everest was a great feat), filming the action became essential in some circles.

The recording and sharing of events however is not just motivated by altruistic “for the benefit of the public” philanthropic streak; at least I don’t think so.
These days it is a rare expedition that is not attracting sponsorship. Very few individuals have the means to self support complex and expensive adventures.
And that’s where the commercial side of the adventure comes in.
In the old days sponsorship often required a direct “return on investment” to the party willing to fork out the money or equipment, today things are a bit more complex and somehow easier.
Christopher Columbus approached the Queen of Spain to give him ships to sail to the then unknown Americas. The Queen was hoping to get gold field discoveries in return. England sponsored many explorers to then colonize new lands.


photo: Brenda Clarke_with permission



Since the golden age of exploration dried up the real big gigs (there aren’t too many lands left to be discovered anymore, in the classical sense) the focus has shifted to smaller feats.
It appears that these days the expedition that involves smaller teams (or solo) with smaller budgets have a great following. Joe Public loves those feats. It is hard to believe the following that some really simple “expeditions” attract.
In my sport of sea kayaking I have noticed some paddlers drumming up sponsorship for trips that are little more than extended vacations. They appear to give little in return to the individual/business outlaying the money.
It is understandable when the journey is linked to an outstanding feat, or a charitable cause where individuals are willing to donate their money for a humanitarian reason, but some people are willing to part with their money to support somebody elses holiday. Why is that ?
For most it is to be “part of” an adventure that they are not otherwise able to be part of. The vicarious adventure. The armchair explorer.

Back to the Mount Everest tweet.
Samsung sponsored the dude that promptly and proudly announced to the world (via his Samsung product): I MADE IT
Half of the globe (OK maybe a bit less, but you get my drift) were with him at that very moment, or so they felt.
History was made and they were PART of it.
Samsung is laughing all the way to the bank…


Editorial in collaboration with ATTP

On blogging

A recent post from Silbs made me reflect on the reasons I blog.
Since I don't have commercial reasons to advertise my products or ideas I wondered on my motives. It must be because I find that sharing knowledge enhances my life.
There is a tremendous amount of very good work out there, in cyberspace.
Just like I often come across great ideas, reports and good information in general when browsing for a particular item, I wish to share my findings with others. I have learned a lot from my fellow bloggers.

There are the usual high speed commercial sites where the info can be occasionally biased, there are a few good amateur independent offerings and then there are the useless ones that just like to post mindless material because they can.
And that last one seems to be the subject of Silbs post.
Does one really feel the need to post countless images of questionable quality of the same subject? surely they can see that a bit of culling would make the blog a bit more attractive.
The same goes with reports of trips and events.
Does anybody really care that I got up early in the morning to cook porridge and then pack up my camp and then load the kayak and then launch in a bit of North-Easterly and that the humidity was high and I was paddling at 5.3Kmp with a 45 degree feather in my paddle? You know what I mean.
I understand that not all blogs are directed towards a universal audience but even the selected few that might know the person/location could possibly get bored.

I am a lousy writer therefore I try to relay what I experienced with images. But just because an image says a thousand words it does not mean I should create "verbal diarrhea" by posting too many images of the same thing. The advent of digital photography means we can take hundreds of images but I select my images; only the ones I think are the very best make the cut and only very few are published. If any average photographer would pay just a bit more attention to on how they take the an image and try to be more selective when they publish or share them then I might better see the experience they are trying to relay to me.
The same goes with prose: cut the unnecessary stuff and tell me more about the essence and the experience, not the mundane facts.
Combine good images with decent copy and maybe there is something I can be bothered reading. Seakayakphoto is an outstanding example on how to create an appealing story: images and copy.
While I believe that no blogger is immune to ego, I notice some just like to post hoping to get attention.


Unfortunately some have very little to say and their efforts have the opposite effect, leaving them open to ridicule.
Some bloggers go for the "reheated news". Seen somewhere else an article that seems to be popular? Let's repost it in my blog hoping to generate some traffic.
I find it OK if a blogger actually comes across a terrific piece of work that is rather obscure and believes that it deserves a bit more publicity, but question the motive of those who cut/paste sensationalistic news so people flock to their blog.

I don't know what to say but I am compelled to have a new post? There is always the option of having unrelated professionals write for me. Maybe the topic has to be a bit generic but at least my blog has a new post.
I was recently approached by a commercial company of writers that does just that. They offered to write an article for Gnarlydog News for free to then have their company linked on my blog.
I asked them to write something about Aleut and Greenland paddles. Their reply:
"...However I feel that our writers may not be able to deal with a topic of that nature.
Have you anything else you would be interested in featuring on your website. Maybe something on travel kayaking? "
Yeah, a generic post about travelling: how riveting :-)
OK, not everybody can be good at blogging. I certainly am just average.
My writing is a bit ghetto but I like to use the excuse that English it's my 4th language. I try a bit harder with images though.
Some posts require a fair amount of planning, preparing and executing the footage/images.
Once I have acquired the material I spend some time editing it since I regard my raw footage as only good for a draft, rarely worthy of presentation.
I like to present my work with straight horizons and I crop out the disturbing elements, if I can. A bit of polishing makes a huge difference.
Despite all that I don't spend too much time capturing the footage, I'm rarely getting paid for it :-)
It's just an amateur effort in capturing fun moments of my activities, something that I will like to review in years to come.
Certainly bloggers are free to write what they want and publish as many pictures as they please, but if you want others to be as interested as you are in your offerings, it pays to remember: "quality over quantity".

Gnarlydog News advertising philosophy

Gnarlydog News following has grown in recent times.
It captures the attention of readers around the world and some seem to really like my postings.
The blog's popularity (still very meager compared to some teen based topic related blogs) has attracted the attention of some commercial operators.
I have been asked a few times if I would be interested in promoting, reviewing or advertising certain products or services.
While I love to test new products that personally interest me, I have declined offers that don't follow my philosophy.
I prefer to review items that I would personally use.
I have rejected requests to advertise products that don't meet my criteria of solid design and construction.
I have also declined to advertise for services that I don't believe in.
You might also have noticed that some of my reviews are not all honky dory and occasionally I don't exactly praise or hold back on a product that has failed on me.
I try to give you, the reader, an honest opinion of what I think.
While the web might be full of reviews for certain items that you would like to know the durability/performance of, just about all reviews seem commissioned.
There are several magazines that do the same: stellar reviews on ALL the products they test...
Hmmm, does not that smell a bit fishy to you? ...it does to me ;-)


Occasionally Forum/Blog administrators will pull non favorable comments from end users that may damage the advertising of a certain manufacturer.
It is rather difficult to get an honest opinion these days.
Some advertising masquerades behind "reviews" from consumers however for me it's often easy to spot the story that reeks of commission.
You will hear from me when I like a product but at the same time I will also let you know if something just ain't right...
I might not win myself any favors with some manufacturers (or individuals) but I won't say something that is not true.

"The currently fashionable idea that marketers can manipulate social media to serve their needs is largely a delusion. Yes, there will be isolated successes. But most web users are far too savvy to confuse honest social commentary with contrived social media "marketing." Social media is currently an effective way for companies to maintain good customers relations, and for smallish retailers to deliver sales promotion messages. "
(from The Ad Contrarian 25MAY10)

Photography: digital cameras and viewfinders

Why have manufacturers abandoned the viewfinder on just about all compact cameras and soon on basic DSLRs?
What is wrong with the trusty little viewfinder?
Actually, a lot.

My photographic education started when there was no other option than a viewfinder (or back plate on a field camera for studio work).
Not knowing better I assumed that's how it is and you live with it.
Some manufacturers (Nikon) tried to make the viewfinder more user friendly (bigger) but it still required bringing your eye to it and placing it close to your face.
There were times that a viewfinder was useless when shooting close to the ground or raising my camera high up above eye level to get a better vantage point.

self portrait
Those were the days of film photography as well.
Unless somebody else was paying for the materials you ought to be rather careful snapping away trying to get a decent image and wasting all that costly film.
And finally one day I lost my beautiful Nikon titanium body range find camera.
Devastated at first only now I realize it was the best thing it could have happened to me.
See, I was acting like an old coot (I still do :-) and did not want to embrace the new digital photography (mind you, at the time 1.3 megapixels was regarded as "high resolution" !).
Eventually I borrowed some compact digital cameras and joined "the enemy".
Never looked back.
But let's go back to the viewfinder.

So what's wrong with the viewfinder?
If you take pictures of landscapes with all the time in the world, probably nothing.
But for my style of images where speed is essential and the subject is often a human element the viewfinder is dead.
Years ago when I started using my Hasselblad I noticed a marked difference in portrait photography.
Nothing to do with the insanely sharp lenses but much more to do with the waist level viewfinder.
When photographing people it is vital that your subject can see your face.
Only a highly trained actor can overcome the psychological disturbing factor of being viewed by a person that does not show his/her face.
For a moment, imagine having somebody staring and talking to you with his/her face covered by a hood.
Most people would feel very uncomfortable.
When reviewing my old images taken with a SLR with viewfinder I notice a certain stiffness and "posed" behaviour that makes the image staged.
However, going to a studio photoshoot where human models were involved I noticed that once the camera was set up on the tripod the photographer then stepped away from the viewfinder and faced the model talking to them "face to face".
From the Hasselblad days to now digital LCD screens (used only as reference for composition) my subject can see my face.
I talk to them and they can see my eyes.
My pictures now show a much more relaxed and natural portrait.
I never hide behind the camera anymore. I don't need to.
I can view the composition of the image I am about to take somewhere away from my face and can interact with my subject in a natural way.
Results speak for themselves.