I’ve spent the last few weeks fighting general malaise, mostly with general anesthetic, who is much more interesting if less useful than general semantics. Love that joke. Anyway, I don’t mean to get overly personal but I’ve had trouble finding much inspiration recently which is not a happy place to be. Last night I was digging around on Netflix and found 180 Degrees South. It’s a documentary chronicling a six month journey to Patagonia taken by a young man named Jeff Johnson. Jeff and some friends are following a path that was laid out on a journey undertaken 40 years earlier by Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins, the founders of Patagonia and The North Face respectively. The stated goal of both trips was to climb the treacherous peaks of Patagonia and find some tasty waves to surf but both journeys ended up being something more for the travelers.
The film really got my juices flowing, it reminded me that an untamed and untouched world still exists out there. That adventure and experience can still be had if one seeks it out. It was precisely the kind of thing I needed to see and has helped to re energize my spirit of adventure.
A major focus of the film is on the abuse and depletion of the earth’s, and in particular, Patagonia’s natural resources which is never an uplifting thing to see. Despite those saddening conditions the main thrust is that of a wild eyed freedom and engagement with the natural world. It was very cool to be able to see old footage and hear present day interviews with Chouinard and Tompkins. Always fascinating to get into the heads of old seekers. Check out the website, you can dig thorugh some old footage and interviews and then go watch the movie. Did me a world of good.