Letter from Karl, 9th June 2006

Well, maybe it's time I said a few words. I've never actually posted anything on the site before, never felt the need. However recent comments and conversation regarding the Expedition leave me with the feeling that maybe it's now time. There seems to be some confusion as to what the Expedition is all about. Plus it's about time I showed some appreciation to you people for taking the time to write.

So let's take a look at some of the comments. Not those posted on the Expedition blog or guest book simply as negative attacks, but those real questions that deserve a response. Many years ago, when based with the Army in Dover, I would stand on the white cliffs looking out across the English Channel at the distant shores of France in wonder. I swear, some days I could almost see a ragged figure looking back at me, a spectre from my future. I could not help but wonder what he had seen along the way and who he was now. It was difficult to imagine what he'd given to get to that point. What would he be thinking, looking back across the Channel at that young paratrooper on the other side? Well now my life is all about closing that loop. It's about standing in France looking across the Channel at the White Cliffs of Dover. Maybe I'll be able to spot that young man so eager to prove himself, prove that he could hold his own and go the distance. Prove it to himself more than anyone else.

And that's all it is. It's no big deal. It's not saving whales, curing cancer or for world peace. There is no cause attached to my walk. Does there have to be one? Can no one set out to achieve a long-term goal without fund-raising. In the early days I had no idea how to go about organising an expedition of this ilk. As I dug a little deeper it seemed that the standard rule was everyone needed a cause. Not because they care, though they probably do of course, but ostensibly because they need the funding. No cause, no sponsorship. No sponsorship, no fun trip. A cynical view I realise, but the deeper I looked the more that impression appeared. I felt very uncomfortable playing that game. It was certainly apparent that without any organisation or administration behind me I would have been unable to organise the collection of funding anyway. No, if I was going to attract sponsors it would have to be on the merit of the Expedition, not piggy-backing on someone's name or cause. We knew it would take time and in the meantime I would have to provide the blood, sweat and tears earning some credibility, but one day somebody would take note.

Would I like to walk for a cause now? Today I believe I would, and there are causes out there I feel quite strongly about. But it's not me who would be organising and running that side of things. That would be the guys at home, the ones with full-time jobs whose evenings have stretched out into the early hours of the morning to get me where I am now. If someone out there has an idea as to how we may go about this then please contact us.

What about these periods of seeming inactivity? How is it an unbroken path with these time delays?..... I'm not going to set off across Siberia in the midsummer and get into all sorts of trouble just to make it more adventurous for someone's entertainment. Adventure tends to be defined by plans going wrong, i e when I screw up! I don't want to screw up. I want to get from A to B without pain, fear or the stress of an 'adventure'. I've had my fair share and if I don't see another I'll be more than happy. However, I doubt I'm going to be that lucky, not on an expedition of this magnitude. Long gone are the days of live fast, die young, I'd like to think I'm older and smarter now, (I hope). I really could do without another winter in a sub-Arctic environment, it punishes you. The simple fact is though, I'll move faster when it's frozen and there's less chance of messing up the logistics and food supply, thereby avoiding one of those damned adventures. I've got over 2000 miles to cover across Siberia before I find a road. Try doing that up to your neck in swamps and wetlands, while attempting to cross nearly as many fast-flowing and dangerous rivers as you have miles to travel. Then, of course, there's all the paperwork now required for a journey in that region. Special permits for Chukotka, for the satphone, for the GPS and so it goes on. Even if I wanted to move this summer I could not. It will take months to organise. There is not one yard between the town of Punto Arenas in Chile and Uelen in Russia that I have not walked or swam. There is no gap in the trail and that is my aim. Some have said, "It's only walking!" and to that I say, you're right, come along and give it a go, but like a lot of things in life, you may well be surprised.

Not providing any useful purpose or serving the community! Is it really worth it!..... The cynical answer is that the companies sponsoring me and supplying equipment believe that I am providing a service. I myself believe that humans gain from an almost limitless range of experiences. I vividly remember reading about Ranulph Fiennes and Mike Stroud's expedition across Antarctica. I was inspired, positively moved and at the same time gained something. Their experiences coloured my thinking forever. I recall the photograph of those two emaciated figures as they reached there objective and it meant something to me, as it did to countless others. Life is more than the sum of its parts. We need more than just bread and water. If I can inspire anyone the way Fiennes and Stroud influenced me then I will have achieved more in my life than I ever thought possible. It was never my intention, but if, as a consequence of my actions, I can take the baton from those men and carry it a little further into the hands of another generation then I feel the expedition will have fulfilled a purpose. It will have been more than worth it.

The aim of the expedition is to provide the substance for a book......

Are you having a laugh? If you had asked me this seven years ago and told me that I would one day get a two book deal with Time Warner I would have fallen about in hysterics. I'm poorly educated and partially dyslexic. By the time you read this it will have been processed by my father to correct the spelling and grammar....and I'm 37 years old. I keep diaries, like anyone would, mainly because my father told me that one day they would prove to be very important. Yes, we got the book deal but due to the work of my father, Andy Cooper, Johnny Beardsall and Sally Holloway. If we had not then the Expedition could never have afforded the crossing of Alaska and the Bering Straits. I therefore raise my glass to those capable people for making this thing work in the real world, keeping me upright and moving forward. Were it not for them I fear I would still be in Mexico, wondering where my next meal would be coming from.

A quick word about ‘heroes’.....

Soldiers are not heroes, they are doing their damn job! The soldier that breaks cover under fire to save a wounded comrade is a hero. A person that puts his life on the line to save a stranger is a hero. Someone with a serious disability yet never bemoans the fact and supports those around them is a hero. For them, and only them, the word hero is reserved. Football players, pops stars and athletes are not heroes. Adventurers are not heroes! I do get annoyed by the repeated misuse of the word, as those of you who have mentioned it in my presence may well know.

I am motivated and inspired by the vast majority of the comments left on the guest book and blog. I would like to thank one and all and say that I hear you. Some time ago, outside Tucson, Arizona, a local news reporter asked if I was alone. I told him that there, in the desert, I had seen something that amazed me and today when I look back I don't see an empty road, I see a host of figures walking with me. These are the dreams of a million people, and every day a new dream joins the team. This is an army that is hard to stop. So no, I'm not alone. In Russia, when faced with deportation, those million dreams spoke loud and clear and the media conveyed that message to the decision-makers. Because of you we walk on. One foot in front of the other, when we can and however we can but we walk. One day I will stand on the coast of France, closing the loop and you will be there with me.

Karl