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Alone in the Wild interview

Channel 4 are running a series, Alone in the Wild, where one man is dropped into the unforgiving Yukon wilderness with just basic provisions and cameras to film himself as he attempts to survive completely alone in the wild.
It makes interesting viewing, particularly when you see that Ed is certainly no Ray Mears. While he was away Ed used Twitter to keep us updated on his progress.

I did an interview with Channel 4 for this series about solitude, and the fine line that separates it from loneliness. Here’s a few snippets of the interview, or you can read it all here.

Canoeing from Whitehorse (Yukon capital) to Dawson, I really got a sense of the size and emptiness of the place. We canoed 500 miles through a first world country and only saw, one little village along the way and one bridge over the river and that was it. The only other signs of life we saw were a few abandoned old logging huts from 100-200 years ago. I think if you don’t know what you’re doing, surviving there is tough. I guess Alexander Supertramp (the alter ego of Chris McCandless who disappeared in Alaska) is the classic cautionary tale. There is abundance everywhere, if only if you can see it and you know what to do.

‘One of the most interesting parts of any solo thing, I found, is it’s a very good filter on your life and personality to figure out who you are, what you want. It’s great that there are no excuses. In normal life it’s very easy to hide behind things and blame other people. You don’t often hear people say ‘I failed because I was crap’. It’s very easy to say “My boss is a bastard”, but if doing things solo if you succeed it’s down to you and that is something you can be proud of and get self-confidence from. If you fail, equally it’s down to you and you have to accept that and do what you want with that.

Humphreys admits there is an element of reckless testosterone-fueled bravado in these extreme adventures. ‘I call it pragmatic recklessness. You minimise risks as much as you can and make sure your own skills are up to a level where it’s not ludicrous. But then eventually you have to roll the dice, go for it, the risks lead to rewards. I believe in that. But I also maintain I have no intention of dying, I love life, I am definitely that side of recklessness. I am quite prepared to put myself in a situation where I have the most miserable, cold, horrible, scary time. But I have no intention of putting myself in a situation where I am going to die. Often a lot of explorers are missing father figures. I am not, my parents are happily married, but there is a sense of trying to prove yourself. I was 24 when I started and when I came to realise I was no longer doing it for anyone else that was quite a liberating thing. And then you are only doing it to prove yourself to yourself. It’s like banging your head against a brick wall because it feels so good when you stop. And when you are camping out somewhere with no one for hundreds of miles around, under the stars, or on top of a mountain or floating down a beautiful river, it does cleanse out your soul, for want of a better word. It gives you a good perspective on things.

Alone in the Wild is screened on Channel 4 on Thursday evenings at 9pm.

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Comments

  1. I THOUGHT YOU SPOKE WELL ABOUT BEING ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS, I.E. THE YUKON, AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOLITUDE AND LONELINESS. GLAD YOU ARE OPTING FOR THRILLING LIFE ADVENTURES AND STAYING AWAY FROM ANYTHING THAT MIGHT TAKE YOUR LIFE!

    Reply
  2. i watched this a few ago i found his experience amazing im planing on a trip to scotland this year for 2 month in the wild and watching the seasons change from end summer

    Reply

 
 

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