- 05/15/2009
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Never Stop Exploring
“Never Stop Exploring” may be perceived by some people as the cheesy catchphrase of a multinational organisation, but in reality it’s a philosophy that has far more depth to it. The search for new adventures is something that binds all climbers as we quest all over the world looking for the perfect route, boulder or mountain. In fact, it goes beyond climbers as it applies to a huge number of sports and lifestyles whereby the search for perfection never ends. Many of us dedicate our lives to the thing we love with the only reward being the pursuit of the next challenge. Never stop exploring is how we live our live our lives out of necessity and not choice. The grip of adventure holds such a tight rein on our lives that we are almost slaves to it! I’m lucky to consider myself a slave to such a great master!
We’ve been through many villages, towns, and countries. We’ve seen amazing vistas, beautiful crags, unbelievable sunsets, and on the odd occasion the most magnificent sunrises! Each country we’ve been to has received a mental grade, based on a variety of factors such as rock climbing, food, girls, general vibe, beauty, and the local people. There are important sub genres that are also taken into account which include random variables like quality of toilets, available services, houses, etc. Whilst I think Great Britain is a very comfortable country to live in, I’ve had a niggling feeling that I should be living somewhere else for quite some time. I’ve spent long amounts of time in other countries but a severe lack of one factor or another has meant that I don’t think a move is justified. In the past 40 something days I’ve glimpsed places which I’ve never seen before and this is really cool for me as it means I can tick another country off in my quest to get them all visited! However, it’s really amazing because I’m able to see other cultures, other ways of living and witness the variety of life. The result of this mini tour around Europe has been that I’ve found somewhere which I think may be able to offer me a new home!
For a rock climber, being centrally based with access to good training facilities and plenty of rock is an essential recipe for success. This leaves only a couple of places which need serious consideration. For a dedicated sport climber there is only one real destination which is Spain, and this is where the Big G has gone to! I’m not a dedicated sport climber and so Spain isn’t the ideal solution. For me it comes down to a choice between Austria and Switzerland. Both score highly, but in this instance the scale was tipped slightly towards Austria as the climbing/training scene in Innsbruck seems like the best one around. Luckily Innsbruck also scores highly in many other departments, and it was with this bit of inspiration that we drove to Innsbruck once we were finished with Mellobloco. Even more luckily, I wasn’t alone in my inspiration to move out of England, and James had been similarly inspired so it was together that we embarked on this adventure!
If you really want something then you have to do everything you can to make it happen, so the first day we arrived in Innsbruck was spent with a newspaper looking for potential apartments. We had no idea what to expect in terms of availability, quality, or price but it didn’t take long to learn a whole lot! There are far too many people searching for accommodation in Innsbruck and this means for every available apartment there are at least 20 or 30 contending parties! It’s quite insane. Coupled with the fact that it’s all done privately and not through any central estate agent, the epic of flat hunting soon set in. Luckily I had my wing man in tow so James and I got our A-game on, enquiring after everything we could find, setting up appointments and arranging to meet unknown people in unknown locations.
The long and the short of it is that there are lots of crap apartments, some nice ones, and very few amazing ones (in our price bracket!). I believe that when you are trying hard to make something happen then other random processes tend to conspire only to help you, so what might seem like an incredible situation occurred which made our lives a whole lot easier. We went to see an apartment which turned out to be the best we’d seen by a country mile, but it wasn’t in the centre of town. After chatting to Anne (the girl who lived there) for a little while it turned out that she was moving only to be in the centre of town and thus closer to university. In the time we spent talking to her she seemed friendly, funny and trustworthy so 24 hours later we called her back to ask if she wanted to move in with us! Amazingly, this random proposition was accepted and so the 3 of us once again started looking for an apartment in the centre of town. With Anne being a fluent German speaker and resident of Innsbruck, things really started moving! More appointments were made, more viewings were arranged, and eventually we hit the jackpot. An amazing apartment, wonderfully located, and within our budget! Unfortunately we are probably competing with another 50 people for this apartment, so we won’t be celebrating until we get a phone call informing us that we are the winners! Our fingers are now firmly crossed!
With this small victory in hand it was time to leave Innsbruck behind and head back to England via a cross European route taking in a few last sights and taking care of a few loose ends. The trip is now most definitely in it’s final steps. Our weary bodies are craving real beds, real home comforts, and perhaps even some down time. Whilst the down time can’t come soon enough there are some final chores to take care of and one of them is to upload another webisode ASAP. Tonight and tomorrow will be spent at Maisonbleau, editing video and perhaps even doing a spot of bouldering (if it’s not scorching hot).
I have to apologise for not getting it done sooner but the run up to Mello was intense and I had 3 videos to make for the boys’ final show. One of them will definitely be appearing on here very soon, the other will most likely be saved for the DVD extras (as it’s extra spicey), and the third is loosely based on footage that you’ve already glimpsed in a webisode (think lycra). So check back soon for something which I can guarantee will either cause a wry smile or an all out laugh!
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Comments
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It has been a real pleasure to read this!
Looking forward for the footage !
Posted by: Jan | 05/16/2009 at 02:11 AM
Hej guys,
it's been great to read your reports about the trip.
About moving to Austria. It's by far the best thing you could do. I moved to Austria about half a year ago and have only possitive things to say about it!
Have a great time in Innsbruck... See you around!
greetz
Posted by: BC | 05/16/2009 at 09:48 AM
i am glad to have you two closer!!!
in fact, innsbruck is so close that a visit will happen very soon, you want it or not.
Posted by: nibile | 05/16/2009 at 07:04 PM
:) nice !
talk to you soon !
Posted by: annejulie | 05/17/2009 at 08:46 AM