[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.60,0:00:02.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I essentially drag sledges for a living,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:02.36,0:00:05.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so it doesn't take an awful lot to flummox me intellectually,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.54,0:00:07.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I'm going to read this question
Dialogue: 0,0:00:07.08,0:00:09.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from an interview earlier this year:
Dialogue: 0,0:00:09.55,0:00:12.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Philosophically, does the constant supply of information
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.94,0:00:15.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,steal our ability to imagine
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.68,0:00:18.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or replace our dreams of achieving?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.50,0:00:21.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After all, if it is being done somewhere by someone,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.28,0:00:23.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we can participate virtually,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:23.58,0:00:27.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then why bother leaving the house?"
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.08,0:00:29.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm usually introduced as a polar explorer.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.73,0:00:32.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm not sure that's the most progressive or 21st-century
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.04,0:00:36.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of job titles, but I've spent more than two percent now
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.80,0:00:40.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of my entire life living in a tent inside the Arctic Circle,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.53,0:00:44.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so I get out of the house a fair bit.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.06,0:00:47.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in my nature, I guess, I am a doer of things
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.60,0:00:52.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,more than I am a spectator or a contemplator of things,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.10,0:00:56.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it's that dichotomy, the gulf between ideas and action
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.32,0:00:59.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I'm going to try and explore briefly.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.18,0:01:02.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The pithiest answer to the question "why?"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.52,0:01:04.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's been dogging me for the last 12 years
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.89,0:01:07.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was credited certainly to this chap, the rakish-looking gentleman
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.67,0:01:09.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,standing at the back, second from the left,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.93,0:01:12.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,George Lee Mallory. Many of you will know his name.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.56,0:01:16.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1924 he was last seen disappearing into the clouds
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.55,0:01:18.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,near the summit of Mt. Everest.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.23,0:01:21.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He may or may not have been the first person to climb Everest,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.48,0:01:23.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,more than 30 years before Edmund Hillary.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.46,0:01:26.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,No one knows if he got to the top. It's still a mystery.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.15,0:01:29.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But he was credited with coining the phrase, "Because it's there."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.22,0:01:31.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now I'm not actually sure that he did say that.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.91,0:01:34.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's very little evidence to suggest it, but what he did say
Dialogue: 0,0:01:34.24,0:01:36.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is actually far nicer,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.72,0:01:39.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and again, I've printed this. I'm going to read it out.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.77,0:01:41.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"The first question which you will ask
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.73,0:01:44.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and which I must try to answer is this:
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.22,0:01:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What is the use of climbing Mt. Everest?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.00,0:01:50.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And my answer must at once be, it is no use.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.69,0:01:54.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is not the slightest prospect of any gain whatsoever.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.45,0:01:56.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Oh, we may learn a little about the behavior
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.32,0:01:58.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the human body at high altitudes,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.40,0:02:01.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and possibly medical men may turn our observation
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.07,0:02:04.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to some account for the purposes of aviation,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.10,0:02:06.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but otherwise nothing will come of it.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.30,0:02:08.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We shall not bring back a single bit of gold or silver,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.68,0:02:11.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and not a gem, nor any coal or iron.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.28,0:02:14.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We shall not find a single foot of earth that can be planted
Dialogue: 0,0:02:14.08,0:02:18.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with crops to raise food. So it is no use.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.22,0:02:19.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you cannot understand that there is something in man
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.88,0:02:22.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which responds to the challenge of this mountain
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.55,0:02:25.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and goes out to meet it, that the struggle
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.78,0:02:30.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is the struggle of life itself upward and forever upward,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.23,0:02:33.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then you won't see why we go.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.48,0:02:36.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.61,0:02:39.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and joy, after all, is the end of life.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.54,0:02:41.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We don't live to eat and make money.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.74,0:02:44.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We eat and make money to be able to enjoy life.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.21,0:02:49.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That is what life means, and that is what life is for."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.12,0:02:52.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Mallory's argument that leaving the house,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.57,0:02:55.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,embarking on these grand adventures is joyful and fun,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.01,0:02:58.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,however, doesn't tally that neatly with my own experience.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.92,0:03:02.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The furthest I've ever got away from my front door
Dialogue: 0,0:03:02.32,0:03:05.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was in the spring of 2004. I still don't know exactly
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.46,0:03:07.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what came over me, but my plan was to make
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.97,0:03:12.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a solo and unsupported crossing of the Arctic Ocean.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.21,0:03:14.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I planned essentially to walk from the north coast of Russia
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.77,0:03:18.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the North Pole, and then to carry on to the north coast of Canada.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.10,0:03:21.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,No one had ever done this. I was 26 at the time.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.01,0:03:23.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A lot of experts were saying it was impossible,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.26,0:03:26.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and my mum certainly wasn't very keen on the idea.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.62,0:03:28.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.97,0:03:31.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The journey from a small weather station on the north coast
Dialogue: 0,0:03:31.90,0:03:34.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of Siberia up to my final starting point,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.08,0:03:36.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the edge of the pack ice, the coast of the Arctic Ocean,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.63,0:03:40.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,took about five hours, and if anyone watched fearless
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.09,0:03:43.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Felix Baumgartner going up, rather than just coming down,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.41,0:03:46.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you'll appreciate the sense of apprehension,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.01,0:03:49.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as I sat in a helicopter thundering north,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.32,0:03:51.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the sense, I think if anything, of impending doom.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.98,0:03:55.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I sat there wondering what on Earth I had gotten myself into.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.67,0:03:57.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There was a bit of fun, a bit of joy.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:57.71,0:03:59.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was 26. I remember sitting there
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.55,0:04:02.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,looking down at my sledge. I had my skis ready to go,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.15,0:04:04.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I had a satellite phone, a pump-action shotgun
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.39,0:04:06.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in case I was attacked by a polar bear.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.41,0:04:08.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I remember looking out of the window and seeing the second helicopter.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.70,0:04:12.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We were both thundering through this incredible Siberian dawn,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.19,0:04:15.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and part of me felt a bit like a cross between Jason Bourne
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.05,0:04:17.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Wilfred Thesiger. Part of me
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.94,0:04:24.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,felt quite proud of myself, but mostly I was just utterly terrified.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.27,0:04:26.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that journey lasted 10 weeks, 72 days.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.36,0:04:28.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I didn't see anyone else. We took this photo next to the helicopter.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.86,0:04:31.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Beyond that, I didn't see anyone for 10 weeks.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:31.41,0:04:33.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The North Pole is slap bang in the middle of the sea,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.36,0:04:36.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so I'm traveling over the frozen surface of the Arctic Ocean.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.62,0:04:40.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,NASA described conditions that year as the worst since records began.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.73,0:04:44.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was dragging 180 kilos of food and fuel and supplies,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.38,0:04:46.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about 400 pounds. The average temperature for the 10 weeks
Dialogue: 0,0:04:46.98,0:04:49.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was minus 35. Minus 50 was the coldest.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:49.68,0:04:56.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So again, there wasn't an awful lot of joy or fun to be had.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:56.95,0:04:58.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of the magical things about this journey, however,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:58.49,0:05:00.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that because I'm walking over the sea,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:00.59,0:05:04.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,over this floating, drifting, shifting crust of ice
Dialogue: 0,0:05:04.65,0:05:06.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's floating on top of the Arctic Ocean is
Dialogue: 0,0:05:06.85,0:05:08.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's an environment that's in a constant state of flux.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.80,0:05:11.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The ice is always moving, breaking up, drifting around,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:11.14,0:05:14.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,refreezing, so the scenery that I saw for nearly 3 months
Dialogue: 0,0:05:14.60,0:05:18.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was unique to me. No one else will ever, could ever,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:18.05,0:05:23.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,possibly see the views, the vistas, that I saw for 10 weeks.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:23.08,0:05:27.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that, I guess, is probably the finest argument for leaving the house.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.04,0:05:30.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I can try to tell you what it was like,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:30.92,0:05:32.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but you'll never know what it was like,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:32.77,0:05:35.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the more I try to explain that I felt lonely,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.70,0:05:39.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was the only human being in 5.4 million square-miles,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:39.41,0:05:43.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was cold, nearly minus 75 with windchill on a bad day,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:43.72,0:05:47.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the more words fall short, and I'm unable to do it justice.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:47.55,0:05:51.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it seems to me, therefore, that the doing,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:51.74,0:05:57.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know, to try to experience, to engage, to endeavor,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:57.04,0:06:02.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rather than to watch and to wonder, that's where
Dialogue: 0,0:06:02.43,0:06:04.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the real meat of life is to be found,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:04.65,0:06:08.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the juice that we can suck out of our hours and days.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:08.60,0:06:11.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I would add a cautionary note here, however.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:11.08,0:06:13.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In my experience, there is something addictive
Dialogue: 0,0:06:13.17,0:06:17.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about tasting life at the very edge of what's humanly possible.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:17.61,0:06:19.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now I don't just mean in the field of
Dialogue: 0,0:06:19.84,0:06:22.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,daft macho Edwardian style derring-do,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:22.13,0:06:24.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but also in the fields of pancreatic cancer,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:24.32,0:06:26.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there is something addictive about this, and in my case,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:26.23,0:06:28.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think polar expeditions are perhaps not that far removed
Dialogue: 0,0:06:28.78,0:06:30.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from having a crack habit.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.16,0:06:33.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I can't explain quite how good it is until you've tried it,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:33.86,0:06:37.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it has the capacity to burn up all the money I can get my hands on,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:37.68,0:06:41.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to ruin every relationship I've ever had,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:41.26,0:06:45.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so be careful what you wish for.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:45.66,0:06:48.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Mallory postulated that there is something in man
Dialogue: 0,0:06:48.04,0:06:50.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that responds to the challenge of the mountain,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:50.68,0:06:52.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I wonder if that's the case whether there's something
Dialogue: 0,0:06:52.71,0:06:55.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the challenge itself, in the endeavor, and particularly
Dialogue: 0,0:06:55.76,0:06:58.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the big, unfinished, chunky challenges that face humanity
Dialogue: 0,0:06:58.88,0:07:03.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that call out to us, and in my experience that's certainly the case.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:03.19,0:07:04.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is one unfinished challenge
Dialogue: 0,0:07:04.97,0:07:08.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's been calling out to me for most of my adult life.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:08.24,0:07:09.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Many of you will know the story.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:09.67,0:07:12.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a photo of Captain Scott and his team.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:12.26,0:07:14.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Scott set out just over a hundred years ago to try
Dialogue: 0,0:07:14.14,0:07:17.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to become the first person to reach the South Pole.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:17.40,0:07:19.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,No one knew what was there. It was utterly unmapped
Dialogue: 0,0:07:19.23,0:07:21.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the time. We knew more about the surface of the moon
Dialogue: 0,0:07:21.25,0:07:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than we did about the heart of Antarctica.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:24.00,0:07:26.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Scott, as many of you will know, was beaten to it
Dialogue: 0,0:07:26.92,0:07:29.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by Roald Amundsen and his Norwegian team,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:29.21,0:07:31.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who used dogs and dogsleds. Scott's team were on foot,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:31.56,0:07:33.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all five of them wearing harnesses and dragging around sledges,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:33.98,0:07:38.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they arrived at the pole to find the Norwegian flag already there,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:38.42,0:07:41.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'd imagine pretty bitter and demoralized.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:41.68,0:07:43.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All five of them turned and started walking back to the coast
Dialogue: 0,0:07:43.94,0:07:47.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and all five died on that return journey.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:47.53,0:07:49.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is a sort of misconception nowadays that
Dialogue: 0,0:07:49.77,0:07:53.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's all been done in the fields of exploration and adventure.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:53.39,0:07:54.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I talk about Antarctica, people often say,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:54.68,0:07:55.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Hasn't, you know, that's interesting,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:55.97,0:07:59.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,hasn't that Blue Peter presenter just done it on a bike?"
Dialogue: 0,0:07:59.16,0:08:02.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or, "That's nice. You know, my grandmother's going
Dialogue: 0,0:08:02.75,0:08:05.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on a cruise to Antarctica next year. You know.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:05.38,0:08:08.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Is there a chance you'll see her there?"
Dialogue: 0,0:08:08.25,0:08:10.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:08:10.07,0:08:13.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But Scott's journey remains unfinished.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:13.28,0:08:15.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,No one has ever walked from the very coast of Antarctica
Dialogue: 0,0:08:15.61,0:08:17.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the South Pole and back again.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:17.40,0:08:20.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is, arguably, the most audacious endeavor
Dialogue: 0,0:08:20.18,0:08:22.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of that Edwardian golden age of exploration,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:22.80,0:08:25.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it seemed to me high time, given everything
Dialogue: 0,0:08:25.36,0:08:27.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we have figured out in the century since
Dialogue: 0,0:08:27.28,0:08:30.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from scurvy to solar panels, that it was high time
Dialogue: 0,0:08:30.86,0:08:32.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,someone had a go at finishing the job.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:32.64,0:08:35.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So that's precisely what I'm setting out to do.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:35.33,0:08:37.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This time next year, in October, I'm leading a team of three.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:37.90,0:08:40.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It will take us about four months to make this return journey.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:40.76,0:08:43.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's the scale. The red line is obviously halfway to the pole.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:43.81,0:08:45.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We have to turn around and come back again.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:45.21,0:08:47.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm well aware of the irony of telling you that we will be
Dialogue: 0,0:08:47.45,0:08:50.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,blogging and tweeting. You'll be able to live
Dialogue: 0,0:08:50.19,0:08:52.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,vicariously and virtually through this journey
Dialogue: 0,0:08:52.62,0:08:55.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a way that no one has ever before.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:55.63,0:08:58.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it'll also be a four-month chance for me to finally
Dialogue: 0,0:08:58.21,0:09:02.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,come up with a pithy answer to the question, "Why?"
Dialogue: 0,0:09:02.08,0:09:07.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And our lives today are safer and more comfortable
Dialogue: 0,0:09:07.02,0:09:09.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than they have ever been. There certainly isn't much call
Dialogue: 0,0:09:09.60,0:09:13.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for explorers nowadays. My career advisor at school
Dialogue: 0,0:09:13.46,0:09:16.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,never mentioned it as an option.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:16.10,0:09:18.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If I wanted to know, for example,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:18.52,0:09:20.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how many stars were in the Milky Way,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:20.82,0:09:23.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how old those giant heads on Easter Island were,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:23.40,0:09:25.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,most of you could find that out right now
Dialogue: 0,0:09:25.52,0:09:28.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without even standing up.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:28.35,0:09:31.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And yet, if I've learned anything in nearly 12 years now
Dialogue: 0,0:09:31.11,0:09:34.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of dragging heavy things around cold places,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:34.20,0:09:38.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it is that true, real inspiration and growth
Dialogue: 0,0:09:38.16,0:09:42.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,only comes from adversity and from challenge,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:42.42,0:09:45.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from stepping away from what's comfortable and familiar
Dialogue: 0,0:09:45.43,0:09:47.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and stepping out into the unknown.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:47.92,0:09:51.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In life, we all have tempests to ride and poles to walk to,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:51.46,0:09:53.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I think metaphorically speaking, at least,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:53.26,0:09:56.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we could all benefit from getting outside the house
Dialogue: 0,0:09:56.14,0:10:00.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a little more often, if only we could summon up the courage.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:00.02,0:10:03.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I certainly would implore you to open the door just a little bit
Dialogue: 0,0:10:03.24,0:10:06.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and take a look at what's outside.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:06.14,0:10:07.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you very much.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:07.36,0:10:16.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)