David F. Pelly Writer, Researcher, Historian, Photographer

I use the word “Expeditions” cautiously. What I really mean is something akin to “real travel” – travel that is rooted in truly “being there” and taking full responsibility for one’s own travel, from the planning to the execution. I’d say “self-propelled” except that would preclude sailing the oceans or paddling down fast-flowing rivers – two of my favourite things in the world. Perhaps that could be seen as harnessing the forces of Nature as they become available. It is certainly part of the thrill of real travel. I eschew the word “explorer,” at least in the sense of traditional “discovery” – we are not out there to find something new in the land so much as to find something new in ourselves. That is the joy of expeditionary travel. I have no idea how many miles I’ve paddled – that was never the point of it all – except to say that it’s a lot. But I do vividly recall so many of the places that paddling took me – they will remain fixed in my memory to the end. As my friends and tripping companions have heard me say many times, the ideal approach to barrenlands canoeing, for example, is to take a two-week trip and “cram” it into four weeks.
– DFP