by Tyler Fish

Bungee jumping is crazy.  I've never done it and I'm not interested.  It seems risky, with consequences that are not so ideal.  People find that interesting, because I'm willing to ski to the geographic North Pole.   Nor can I be an explorer in the historical sense of the word; the North Pole has been reached.  Not by an American skiing unsupported, but it's been done.  This expedition, and even more difficult trips have been accomplished.  It's not a “first” to be explored.

I was giving a presentation on the North Pole '09 expedition and a guy said to me, “It's clear you're just an adrenaline junky.”  Funny.  His statement couldn't be farther from the truth.  I've never liked roller coasters, although I've always had a soft spot for the Flume, an icy waterfall and gorge in Vermont.  I guess that's why I'm going to the Arctic Ocean?  Cold and wet is okay.  Friends of mine have skydived, and I'm not sure that's for me, either.  No, it's definitely not about adrenaline.

Am I an explorer?  The historical explorers were amazing people.  They didn't just do hard things with old, by-gone equipment.  They strived and accomplished and even failed and sometimes died NEVER knowing where they were or what was next.  If there had been detailed maps or guidebooks, they wouldn't have been truly exploring!  It's a little more complicated than that, the definition of explorer, but no, I don't consider myself one of those in the historic sense.

My reality is more subtle.  I've thought about it a lot.  People have often wonder why I've worked for Outward Bound for 13 years.  I am impassioned by working with and thinking about kids.  As part of my job, I am constantly thinking about my high school and college experience.  My students silently demand that I undertake that kind of introspection.  So I've come to this conclusion, its not about adrenaline or being an explorer, it's about engaging life by following my heart and imagination.  Like so many of my expeditions, my life is a mental experience.  This thread started unknowingly when I was a child and continues today.....

Years ago my parents would drop me off at my grandparents farm in eastern Minnesota, and I would peek in the kitchen to say hello and grab a handful of grandma's homemade cookies.  As nourishing for my soul as they were, the real sustenance came from the long wanderings around the farm. Through fields, in barns, over machinery and under old trees, I would follow the old beagle that traced mysterious scents with her nose.

At the other grandparents' house on the lake, I would check the garage for any kind of tool or plaything, put it in a bag and off I went. My destination was nowhere; my path was in my imagination, my mental perspective defined my experience. There was always somewhere to go, someplace to see, perhaps something to find and of course always something to imagine.

And on it went...I walked around Europe with my parents when I was seven.  I walked miles home from school for reasons I don't remember now, but I think I just felt like seeing my world.  I just wanted to be engaged in my world.  That's the core of this.  The best life is one that is fully engaged.  I don't need adrenaline to do that, but it does make it fun and vibrant sometimes. Nor do I need to be the first person to go someplace in order to be amazed.  However, I do allow myself to imagine that no one has been here, or that it's been a long time, and that this is MY place for the brief moment.   I like to be active in my world, not just an observer of it.

So when the months fly by and I find myself on the Arctic Ocean, I will fully engage my senses and myself in my world. There will be enough adrenaline now and then to keep it interesting, and there's no doubt I'll feel as though I'm somewhere entirely unique. But unlike my wanderings around my grandparent's farm, on the Arctic Ocean and as with past expeditions, I won't have to imagine that I'm someplace strange and powerful.  I'll know.

by John Huston

In conversation, once a person finds out that Tyler and I are headed to the North Pole the next question often is, “So, what do you do now, during the summer?”  This entry gives a window into my daily life and in part answers that question.  Tyler will give his version in the coming weeks. 

Basically, when not on the ice, Tyler and I are entrepreneurs running a small business focused on growing the expedition project, physical training, networking, marketing, PR and fundraising.  Like a lot of people we sit behind the computer, email, use the phone and pretty much have a normal work schedule.  On the expedition we are very careful to adhere to strict routines, in order to break the day down into easily consumable pieces.  The same is true for our away-from-expedition routines, although at home we consume a bit less (food that is).

5:30AM The alarm wakes me up.  Unlike my habit on expedition, where I wake up like a rocket, I then lay there for a few minutes enjoying the comfort.  Then into the kitchen where I down at least a pint of water, on expedition it is almost twice that amount.  Water helps get the circulation going in the cold.

6:00AM Out the door for two hours of training in the beautiful Chicago morning.  All mornings are beautiful when I'm working out!  Biking, lifting weights at the gym, pulling tires or once in a while running.   Without my morning workout I feel I a bit restless and fidgety all day.

8:00 - 9:00AM  Breakfast time.  BIG TIME. My standard: 2 potatoes sliced and fried in butter with onions (I dearly miss my morning potatoes on the ice), 2 eggs scrambled with cheese, 4 pieces of bacon, 2 english muffin halves with a generous application of butter, coffee once in a while and I top the big plate with whatever hot sauce or avocado fixing is around.  More on our diet (and butter) in the future, but I will say that I'm happily up 15 pounds from this time last summer.  I peruse the online sports sections while eating.  

9:00AM - 12:00PM  I work from home, a flat near downtown Chicago, owned by my roommate.  Today the day begins with an hour long phone conversation with Tyler about our individual fundraising drive, which will launch next week.  He's in 600 miles away in northern Minnesota, but we talk at least 4 times a week.  After that I communicate through skype instant messaging with our website developer, she lives in Los Angeles.  Around 10:30AM I start to snack on fresh fruit, I think I can make it will lunch. :)  Then its more computer work, networking to potential sponsors and teachers interested in the education program, etc.

Around Noon:  Lunch, another high calorie plate.  I mostly eat whole foods.

12:30PM - 6:00PM I continue work from the morning.  More work on the website (this will wrap up soon), phone conversations with our sponsors, working on pitch documents, preparing for an upcoming public presentation, talking with the wonderful people at our charity partner CaringBridge and receiving marketing and fundraising advice from various expedition consultants.  Working from home allows me to be flexible and efficient, but I miss the social interaction of working with other people in an office.  However, I feel our expedition project team is growing all the time and I really enjoy my interaction with those who have joined the project via partnership and supporting roles.  

Evening:  Big dinner, often fish on the grill with rice and veggies, I often I eat with my roommate or a friend.  I feel my body craving protein when the work out schedule is heavy.  Dinner is followed by some social gathering, softball (part of Chicago culture), meeting friends or sometimes I just do more work (light-on-the-brain work the that is normally accompanied by the White Sox game on tv or the radio).  I am going to find a way to listen to baseball games on the ice, I love the easy-going cadence of basebal on the radio.  Then a bit of reading and I'm in bed by 10:30PM or so.

All in all it's a fairly normal existence, but with a singleness of purpose.  For the most part I enjoy the administrative side of expeditions, it challenges many parts of my brain and builds skills that will be applied to future non-expedition endeavors.   

by John Huston

The start of the North Pole '09 expedition is still over 7 months away, but Tyler and I have been training since the end of last winter's expedition season in April.  Our workouts are custom-designed by our expedition physical trainer, Piotr Bednarski, Director of Athlete Development for the U.S. Biathlon Association.  Piotr has worked with us to design a workout regime specifically geared toward readying our bodies for the twisting, torquing and stamina necessary to pull 260 pound loads through the ice rubble of the Arctic Ocean.  Workouts consist of weight training, biking, running and most importantly pulling 45 pound truck tires to simulate pulling a sled while skiing.  

Pulling tires is an unique experience that elicits all sorts of fun (mostly) reactions from on lookers.

Traffic slows down, heads turn, mouths drop, eyes widen and silly comments bubble up in the back of people's throats.  I plod by at 3 miles an hour pulling my heavy rubber tire doughnuts behind me.  On hot sunny afternoons in Chicago thousands of people team up and down the lakefront, biking, running, walking, roller-blading and swimming.  Sometimes it seems like half of these people are magnetically drawn to the lone guy pulling tires while walking with funny looking ski poles.  Some people just stop and ask me about the reason for this sort of training.  Others stop and spout out a random comedic remark.  

At this point I've heard a lot of these remarks.  Some are funnier than others.  Themes often repeat.  I wish I could say that I receive all the remarks happily, but I'm human just like everyone else.  My reaction varies greatly depending on my mood, energy level and how hungry I am.  Here is a list of the top ten comments (with my reaction).......what would you say to me, or if your were me, what would your reaction be?

10.  “Hey, can I sit on there?”  (Reaction:  unfunny to me, the first time and the 50th time.  Normally I counter by asking if they want to pull the tires, so far no one has taken me up on the offer :) ).
9.  “Wouldn't it be easier to roll the tires instead of dragging them?”  (Reaction:  I respond to this common quip by saying that I don't want it to be easy).
8.  “Hey, dude, where's you car?”  (Reaction:  funny the first time, but not as nearly as much the 50th time;  car references are perhaps the most popular theme).
7.  “Did you get those off my car?” (Reaction: 'Yes' :) ).
6.  “Do you know that you have two tires behind you?”  (Reaction: 'No' :) ).
5.  “Did you lose a bet?” (Reaction: I find this one to be quite funny, I like a good practical joke).
4.  “Are you being punished for something?” (Reaction: Also quite clever, I like creative consequences).
3.  “Respect!” accompanied by a fist pump or head nod (Reaction: fist pump or head nod back; this positive support is always a bit of a pickup.           Funny how a few positive words can go a long way).
2.  “What did you do to your wife?” from an elderly man with as big smile  (Reaction: A creative exclamation from another generation).
1.  “What DID you DO?!?” from a little, very astonished looking, middle-aged man (Reaction: I thought this one was hilarious).