15. April 2020

Dreams/Dreamer

Dream it! Wish it! Do it!

Loose your dreams and you will lose your mind (Rolling Stones).

You are never sorry what you do. You regret what you don't do!

No regrets!

A dream keeps us motivated, keeps us on a path and keeps us alive. Dreaming and share our stories and adventures make us human and who we are. As older we become and as more we know, explore, hear and see as more we can regret what we haven't done. That makes travelling and hearing inspiring stories dangerous. When I was depressed, basically every cool story of another traveller or a friend made me not happy for him but sorry for me, that I haven't done it with him or instead, which is definitely the wrong perspective but it's hard to control the mind sometimes. But you can't fulfill other dreams or all the dreams in the world. You have to follow your own dreams and therefore, you need to clarify them and maybe write them down. This time is a great chance to really define your dreams.

Dreams are the touchstones of our character (D. Thoreau)

Some people dream about a small little house and a family and a good job, other people dream about money and career. I keep dreaming about adventures and share these with some good friends. The good thing is that dreams can always change and we don't have to stick to them but at least for me they always come back to my mind at some point.

I'm pretty happy when I follow a dream and they still make up the best of my stories. Doing a bike ride along the WestCoast from Vancouver to San Diego, "Most beautiful Ironman in the Rocky Mountains, or the Sunshine Coast Trail, or the Rim to Rim and some smaller dreams like SUP tours etc.. If a dream is strong enough it's our decision to find a way to do it. There is nothing stronger than a dreamer following a dream.

I normally planned most of my ideas and always tried to encourage other people to join me. Some of my ideas were too spontaneous, some too crazy or some just at the wrong time for others to follow but at the end I really often ended up to do things alone or just with one or really few friends. Often people came afterwards to tell me it looks so cool and next time they will join. There will never be a next time. There are so many dreams in this world and to copy a thing the second time will never be like the first time. I also learned that sitting somewhere and waiting for a dream, that it comes to you is always an illusion. We have to chase our dreams actively and with a lot of effort.

Another thing I always learned on my solo adventure achievements was that when I was really in a bad situation there were always people/new friends or angels showing up to help me. A family picked me up after riding for 4 hours in really bad weather conditions on the Icefield Parkway. Going for the Skyline trail the day after in the rain and exhausted, someone lent me a car to drive and to sleep in. I met a farmer family in the middle of nowhere on the Condor trek in the dawn and rain in 4500 m altitude on a stupid solo run. Somehow, I am always lucky but I guess sometimes we have to prove our guardian angel.

When I came to New Zealand I didn't really have a strong dream to chase. Travelling a bit and seeing the beautiful landscape and working a bit beside in a good area.

That didn't work at all for me and I got really depressed and just followed minimal dreams. Luckily, I've been surrounded by a lot of friends at that time and I could join them on a few of their projects and build up some ideas again for myself. Small goals like to go climbing, swim to an island, climbing a tree, applying for a job, running a half-marathon again.

All my dreams have nothing to do with money but with nature, exploring and friends and sharing. Money is just a thing to bring me there faster or more easily.

Running/Exploring is always part of my dreams and luckily ultra/trail runners are often just crazy dreamers and a good community.

Before the crisis, I finally went for a run with the Wanaka trail runners and met Malcom, who did some crazy cool running projects and built up the Wild Things Trailrunning community all over New Zealand. As impressive as this runs in the mountains was that he ran a backyard ultra of 60 km in his backyard for his birthday and even more impressive for me was asking for monetary help for the Wild Thing project for the future. I think it's one of the bravest things to ask someone for help! On the other hand they dreamed and built up a one week trail running dream, working as a team with companies and sponsors together.

They were asking for building up a New Zealand list of Dream trails you want to run in a week (https://contest.app.do/thedreamtrails/Pgfi-lwp) in exchange, they ask for supporting them as a VIP membership of 49$, so basically a lottery idea.

However, building up my Dream trail list helped me to focus and write down the runs and hikes I want to do in New Zealand. An ultra run can symbolize a day in a life. The goal is to run Aotearoa in one week to see a glance of all the beauty of this country and this world.

Take your time to dream! It's never wasted! The hard part is to make your dreams come true!

Dreamers: Nothing is stronger than a person following his dream!

1. Stewart Island - southest point and on an Island

2. Kepler Track to run in Fiordland

3. Routeburn

4. Mueller hut Aoraki NP to run close to Mt. Cook in the heart of the South Island

5. Copland Track to run at the West Coast

6. Abel Tasman to run at the beach

7. Queen Charlotte Island track because it's an Island journey close to the Sea

8. Tongariro Crossing because it's famous and I missed it on my way down

9. Cape Reinga to run at the most Northern point

10. Rangitoto is close to Auckland to finish.

Other dreams for my life:

- A treeverse climbing, sleeping in or under the Kauri trees and being active for them to help to protect them.

- A Carribean bike/run/sailing tour hoping from Island to Island

- Tour de Europe, climbing the highest mountains, paraglide between, kayaking the rivers and MTB, trailrun the trails between.

- Ki uta ki tai paddling down the Clutha river in a plastic build float from the mountains to the sea to show the way of plastic.

- Canyoning all the Auerklamm in Tyrol

- Swim the Imster Schlucht Rafting course in Tyrol

- Having a trail running festival in the Canadian Rockies, running the most beautiful trails in the Rocky Mountains and meeting every evening with friends on a campfire and sharing adventure stories.

- Paddling down the Yukon with friends on a SUP with some good friends

- A CliBoTri Raz in the Adventure Park in Hamburg

- A sail voyage around the world

- Seeing the Takayna forest in Tasmania

- Running all the Volcanoes in Guatemala

- SUP/Sail/Surf down the Coast of California

Risk it for the biscuit!

Shoot for the moon, even if you will miss, you'll land among the stars (Les Brown)

Keep dreaming and never give up!

"Dead dreams rot within us. Not to do what we want causes bitterness. Bitterness manifests in anger, jealousy or depression."

And always remember:

“Your nightmare might be someone else's best dream.”