The rare moment that a life-changing experience occurs is when I
least anticipate it. I certainly had few expectations when I bought
a copy of "The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean" by
Joel Stratte-McClure in Launceston late last November. But reading
the remarkable book, and then meeting the author, changed my
life.
Walking is one of my most empowering and favourite activities.
Reading about the author's trek around the shores of the
Mediterranean Sea, and immersing myself in "The Idiot's" many
personal and Homeric ruminations, led me to question the inner
emotional, spiritual, physical and psychological strengths required
to walk up to 50 kilometers a day on uncharted terrain.
What would possess anyone to walk around the world's largest inland
sea? What is it like out there? Could I do it?
I was compelled to contact Joel to offer my perspective on how
his richly blended philosophical, mental, spiritual, historical,
personal, literary) travel narrative impacted my life. Much to my
delight he then invited me to join his epic quest last May when he
was in the midst of MedTrekking 774 kilometres in southern Italy to
gather material for the sequel to "The Idiot and the Odyssey."
A word about Joel before we start our walk. It goes without
question that he is a single-minded, highly motivated and focused
individual. The incredibly fit and agile 60-year old boasts calf,
quad and butt muscles befitting any 30-year old athlete. Once I
joined him, his tenacity and composure immediately reminded me of
his hero Odysseus in Homer's great epic "The Odyssey." It even
occurred to me that he might be a modern day parallel. Could it be
that Joel's quest is the 21st century version of "The Odyssey"?
Perhaps, despite a fall in Morocco and an encounter with thieving
Gypsies in Italy, he even boasts superhuman powers. Is he a god in
disguise (in Greek mythology the powerful gods were known to appear
in human form)? Eager to unravel these and other MedTrekking
mysteries, I was thrilled to have an opportunity to get up close
and personal with this modern day wanderer.
And here, from my MedTrek Diary, is the experience of a day on the
path that has taken him over 5,500 kilometers around the
16,000-kilometre sea.
May 15th Gioia Tauro to Scilla, 41 kilometres, 11 hours.
| We meet in Scilla, the site of
the six-headed sea monster in Greek mythology that devours
Odysseus's sailors |
|
When I awoke to what Homer calls a 'fresh and rosy fingered
Dawn,' I was ready for whatever challenges might lie ahead. The day
began with a breakfast of cappuccinos and croissants in Scilla, a
rocky outcrop near the toe of the boot of Italy where the
six-headed monster in "The Odyssey" devoured Odysseus's sailors. It
was no accident that Joel had set up his latest base camp at the
scene of yet another dramatic event in "The Odyssey" (a few weeks
before he slept near the Sirens islands and prior to that he'd been
hanging out at Circe's haunt). Setting up a base camp enables him
to travel lightly without carrying a larger pack that, besides
being heavy, puts limits on crossing deep rivers and climbing
steep escarpments.
|
|
| Could the breathtaking views be one
reason to walk around the Med? |
We caught a 7:30am train north to Gioia Tauro
and by 8.30am were at the exact point on the path that Joel had
reached the day before. After only a few steps I noticed that
Joel's calm, pensive and contemplative demeanour was reflected in
his walking style.
I had visions of this experienced MedTrekker leaving me in the
dust or sand (despite assurances in "The Idiot and the Odyssey"
that he never walks faster than his slowest companion) but the
opposite was the case. I was the one scampering around, changing
tempo, finding myself up ahead and then slowing up to keep in sync
with the expert. "What's wrong with this guy?" I wondered. "Why
doesn't he blast through the distances or set a brisk pace?"
Incidentally, in order to prepare myself physically and mentally
for the perceived challenges I had walked, rather briskly, a
16-kilometre soft sand beach in Australia labouring under the
weight of a 15-kilogram pack to camp overnight and return the
following day. I wanted to be sure that I could show Joel that I'm
no MedTrek liability and can handle whatever is thrown at me. The
words "overcompensated, miscalculated and misguided" all come to
mind.
| A MedTrekker can maintain a pace
of about five kilometres an hour in ideal conditions like this firm
sand |
|
I had not only ignored the fact that Joel had already been
walking for nearly a month, much of it in the rain, but I was also
getting my first significant lesson in Med(itation) Trekking. Joel
quietly seemed to focus on every breath, every step, clearing and
decluttering his mind. So, I eased up and made a mental reminder
that I would heed the wise words from Desiderata hanging on my
bedroom wall in Australia: "Go placidly amidst the noise and haste
and remember what peace there may be in silence."
The fact that Joel creates his own path brings me to my second
significant lesson in MedTrekking. The path around the
Mediterranean is unstructured, unchartered and unique on each and
every day. In fact there is no path! The ideal would be firm sand
all around the sea but the reality is variable topography and
walking conditions that Include rivers, marshes, beaches, cliffs,
fields, railway lines, urban areas and ports. Combined with
encountering an array of people, animals and all kinds of weather
conditions, the only constant is unpredictability.
I also began to understand an omnipresent theme in "The Idiot":
the goal is the path the path the goal. Initially it appeared to me
that contemplating a 16,000 kilometre walk in a human lifetime
would be so daunting that it would be impossible to get through
each trekking day without being overwhelmed by the enormity of the
undertaking. But Joel didn't seem to look much further than the
next step and seemed unperturbed that he didn't know what was
around the next corner.
The path threw up many challenges on the day we hiked together.
Only thirty minutes into the walk was a wide river to ford. Joel
took off his clothes, tested the depth and found a sandbar where we
could cross without getting completely soaked. That prevented a
long walk upstream to a bridge that would have added several
kilometres to the day's walk.
Next we met jagged and rocky cliffs. Do we scale, hop, climb and
traverse the cliffs? And how far do they go? Will we get into
difficulties and have to turn back if conditions become too
problematic? Joel unflinchingly led the way across a precarious
cliff traverse that miraculously leads to a stairway and onto a
flat beach.
| It's worth celebrating when we
find a staircase leading to a beach |
|
Not wishing to spoil the experience, a word is DEFINITELY
required about the beach garbage! The Mediterranean seaside, in
southern Italy anyway, is polluted! A beautiful land, beautiful
language, Beautiful food, beautiful buildings and their beaches
south of Naples are
literally a garbage dump! In fact this was to be a monotonous sight
and so disgusting that I almost, just for a moment, lapsed into a
state of complacency to dispose of my garbage in the same fashion.
But Joel, who often
picks up litter when he walks, simply said that it takes ugliness
like this to remind us of beauty.
After 14 kilometres we encountered our first large town and began
walking on an urban pathway that presented its own set of issues.
We had to access one beach through private property and navigate
our way around a German shepherd in territorial defense mode.
Visions of legs, arms and torso being ripped apart to be offered to
the gods instantly flashed through my mind. We moved at lightning
speed to work our way through a tiny gap in the well fortified
gate. Then we continued our omward (prayerful) trek!
Perhaps the most exhilarating part of this day's trek resulted
from Joel's decision to climb above the continuously cliffed
coastline. The path, this time a switch back overgrown track, led
us up and up and up to Monte San Elia at 579 metres above the city
of Palmi. Nothing had prepared me for this breathtaking coastline
or the fields of undulating green pastures, wildflowers and tilled
soil above the huge precipitous cliffs and the sea below.
Our day concluded with another variation on the pathway theme.
We trekked the last few kilometres into Scilla alongside the
railway line that took us out of town eleven hours earlier. This
wasn't the most exciting part of the trek but it certainly beat the
option of hopping on the large rocks between the tracks and sea. On
arrival in Scilla, we stopped to marvel at a ceramic depiction of
the infamous scene from "The Odyssey" that shows Skylla devouring
six of Odysseus' sailors. Then we had our own leisurely and
delicious dinner of seafood risotto on Scilla's sandy beach before
one of the best night's sleep in my life.
My single day on the path of/with "The Idiot" was a journey
taken into the mind, body and soul that left me with much more than
I ever anticipated. Among other things, it reawakened my dormant
spirit of adventuring. And since returning to Australia I am
considering my own midlife project: a walk around Tasmania with
"The Idiot and the Odyssey" in my backpack.
The Idiot
and the Odyssey is available nationally through Dennis Jones and
Associates. Orders can be placed at orders@dennisjones.com.au
or by phoning (03) 9762 9100
For further information please visit www.idiotandodyssey.com
"A midlife crisis prompts the US-born, France-based author to
walk around the Mediterranean coast in the footsteps of his hero
Odysseus. Overflowing with facts about the countries he visits and
anecdotes from his three decades as a journalist, he is an
entertaining, charming and erudite travelling companion.****"
WHO magazine
"The Idiot and the Odyssey , described as Eat Pray Love for men,
is Stratte-McClure's account of a journey carried out with
determination, a sack full of Homeric quotes and Buddhist wisdom.
It is entertaining, informative and inspirational. In fact, this
book is much more than Eat Pray Love for men. It is an any-body
(any age, any gender, any stage of life) book and as such , I am
very happy to make it my book of the month."
Toni Whitmont, Booktopia Buzz Editor
