💰 Paid in Full 💰

Hello Adventurers, 

This’ll read like a tongue twister, but it’s simply the truth; I wouldn’t have done this project if I didn’t think I could do it…but I didn’t know if I could get the Marathon Earth Challenge done until I did. Yes, my field craft is tight — because I had already trekked 63,000 kilometres by foot / done 600 freestyle marathons across six continents before the Marathon Earth Challenge had even started — so I had a vision for what I could do in 2023…yet was never blind to the possibility of ‘nemesisical chance’ tripping up my 242 global marathons and/or 11,465 kilometres by foot last year.

Chance…it’s an unpredictable sonovabee, and very much the eternal humbler. How so? Well, it’ll kick your legs out from under you — mid-stride — to turn one’s sure-footedness into a worrisome wobble. Seemingly done for shits and giggles…because chance has a twisted sense of humour (defined by a raptness for twisting things like ankles and confidence). Further, chance can shape-shift itself to become a distracted driver that hits you, a sheet of black ice that topples you or a bad actor that robs, scams or assaults you…all being things I’ve contended with on freestyle marathons through the physical world.

Whether here or there, near or far…it makes no difference. Why? Because I’m always at the mercy of the world (e.g. people and planet). Basically, every marathonic step of mine is a leap of faith done in hope of sidestepping some cosmic misstep. Said another way, ask anthropomorphic Humpty Dumpty if one should count their eggs before they’re walled or hatched. Me? I didn’t count mine until New Year’s Day 2024.

But hatch or not, I had a hunch I could pull off the Marathon Earth Challenge…because I had been visited by an apparitional android in 2022. Hear me out…

On paper, this project started in Bogotá on New Year’s Day 2023…but it actually started five months prior when the clock struck 5PM on July 31st 2022 (signalling my last day of employment before I started planning the Marathon Earth Challenge full time). Anyway, that evening I went to a bar with my friends Jade and Jenny to drink…and celebrate me and Jenny terminating our livelihoods. When we were a few rounds deep, I heard an unmistakable voice behind me. So I casually looked over my shoulder, and there he was. White tube socks pulled up to his knees with the frumpy shorts on too…with the Grandpa garb giving way to that timeless beefcake we all know: Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I didn’t say anything to him…but I nevertheless found myself thinking ‘bout Arnie from time to time thereafter. Like, when I was completely out of my depths, hurting or scared on some foreign marathon in 2023….after chance had thrown me another curveball. And it is dumb to admit, but I’d sometimes think about how — like magical realism — the Terminator had shown up to bless my project from the jump (well, according to my whimsical interpretation of events)…and it’d nudge me from a panicked state back into a soy boy version of the T-800, one now recommitted to attacking earth’s terra firma one solid step at a time.

Anyhoo, this issue of the newsletter is a week late because I’ve been inundated with lotsa TV, radio, and newspaper interviews. I don’t mention this to boast, but to apologize; missing a deadline is unacceptable and disrespectful. However, I had to prioritize doing media (for reasons that’ll become clear herein). Anecdotally, many of the journalists wanted a pithy statement from me to summarize my project…but I don’t have it yet (like, my project just ended so I’m still processing). That said, it occurred to me — albeit cornball in essence — that when you separate the letters in the word impossible, you can reconfigure them to spell I’m possible…and I hope that’s the big take-away from the Marathon Earth Challenge; that we can do hard things.

So how do I wrap things in this medium? Well, I’m ending this chapter of the newsletter the same way I started it; with an explainer and an instruction manual of sorts…published before I disappear once again (this time into ill-fitting normalcy, not bespoke adventure). In office jargon, this issue of the newsletter is either an expense report with anecdotal receipts or a post-mortem analysis. Basically, I just wanted to give you the BTS deets ‘bout my DIY / self-funded project…and share a cheatsheet of learnings to help someone else beat my numbers, and best my achievement. Why? Because the Terminator showed up for me…so I’m showing up to help whoever’s next in line…because that’s the type of ‘sharesies’ world I wanna live in.

And cue the ‘womp womp sad trombone’ sound effect…because this issue of the newsletter is text-y and may get clipped by your inbox (because I’m doing a long-ass knowledge share). So, it is ugz-looking and atypically non-photographic…but I just added a gallery to my website with some images I made ‘round the world last year, and you can now get your visual fill there. We got into it in 2023, so let’s go out with a ba-ba-bang in 2024…

- Ben Pobjoy

P.S. Huge thanks to Scott O’Hara from Behaviour Inc. for once again letting me use his office (for context, he was my boss at the job I quit in order to do this project). Like an a-hole, I recently invited a bunch of news crews to swing by Behaviour to film / photograph / interview me there…and the Big Dawg wasn’t bothered (and I’m eternally grateful for Snotty’s continued support).

SOME GENERAL HOUSEKEEPING

• I deleted the ‘Creator Page’ associated with the ‘Pobjoy Postcard Program’ on Patreon. Former subscribers won’t be billed again.

• Thank you to everyone who participated in my giveaway the other week…books have been mailed to winners…but Joel B, get me yer damn addy STAT so I can send you yours!

• My original plan for the newsletter was to publish 54 issues; a 2022 intro, 52 weeklies in 2023 (based on where Saturdays fell on da calendar), and a 2024 outro…then shut it all down. However, my smarter-than-me wife told me I’m an idiot, and suggested I transition the newsletter. As such, it’ll now become a quarterly thing (since I’ll always marathon and travel). The newsletter archive can always be found through my website, and issues are organized from newest to oldest on Beehiiv.

2023 PROJECT SUMMARY

The Marathon Earth Challenge in numbers and anecdotes

Logistical:

• Paid sponsors, managers, travel agents, fixers, producers, cartographers, navigators, coaches, sports psychologists, nutritionists, road crew, support staff, RMTs, medics and/or security: 0

• Countries visited: 70*

• Flights taken: 75

• Flights missed / delayed / cancelled: 0 / 1 / 0

• Kilometres flown: 139,643

• Boats taken to other countries: 5

• Number of different accommodations stayed in: 72

• Paid nights in foreign accommodations: 240†

• Free nights couch surfing abroad at the homes of friends or family: 50

• Pairs of shoes used: 9

Physical:

• Marathons completed: 242

• Kilometres trekked by foot: 11,465

• Average weekly marathons: 4.66

• Average weekly kilometres: 220.4

• Average monthly kilometres: 955.4

• Total elevation climb: 131,977.9 metres (that’s 14.9 x Mount Everest)

• Total kilometres trekked by foot since 2015: 74,617

Creative:

• Words written for the 52 issues of the newsletter: 228,678 (it is equivalent to you having read a 900 page trade paperback book)

• Original photographs made on global marathons with my camera for the newsletter: 765 (approximately)

• Original photographs and/or video clips made on global marathons with my phone for social media posts / carousels: 385 (approximately)

• Individual postcards handwritten by me then sent to you from around the world: 300 (approximately)

Comical:

• Stomach bugs: 0

• Robbed: 1 (by cops in Mexico City…’twas robbed there years earlier by a different cop while I was marathoning…and I respect the consistency of their corruption)

• Scammed: 1 (by a Casablancan teen…who nudged me to freely get on his camel…then demanded a few bucks from me when I was on it in order to lower me back to the ground, LOL)

• Earthquakes: 1 (Sint Maarten)

• For Aussie Dave…Times I was chased by dogs: 3 (Sint Maarten)

• Times I felt truly threatened and/or that my life was in real danger: 0

Financial:

• Project budget (travel, accommodation, food, health insurance, everything): $38,000USD‡ (paid for by my personal savings / me selling my possessions)

• Project budget divided by 365 days: $104.10 USD a day

• Living to tell: Priceless…the world paid me in full

Footnotes:

*I technically visited / marathoned 62 formally-recognized countries…like, if you subtract the constituent countries, overseas collectivities, unincorporated territories, de facto states, republics, and special administrative regions

†In terms of paid accommodations, there were instances where I was arriving somewhere early / leaving somewhere late and — accommodations-wise — added on a day on the front-end or back-end so I could check-in early or check-out late

‡Budget excludes the fee I paid my communications team (their numbers aren’t my business to share)

RAPID PROJECT RECAP

A speedy synopsis for time-crunched readers

• The Wildest Thing: It’s oxymoronic…but this project was disappointingly beautiful. How so? Baby babble, child’s play, teen rebelliousness, young love, and old couples morphing into one another…all of it looks the same everywhere. Yes, we differ in race, religion, language, customs, etc…but it’s wild how similar we really are at our cores (and I find this to be very reassuring)😍

• The Biggest Obstacle: Us. I’ve seen nature’s bounty and human ingenuity everywhere…like, we could make this planet our utopia…and I can’t believe us nimrods are hellbent on destroying earth as well as each other…by war (be it militaristic or cultural)🤯

• The Lesson Learned: Earth and earthlings are flawed yet wonderful…and the Marathon Earth Challenge taught me both are genuinely worth caring about (and never something to give up on)😘

FIELD NOTES: GO BEAT ME AT MY OWN GAME

10 learnings to help someone else get the ‘w’

The Marathon Earth Challenge was an excuse to dedicate a calendar year to wandering the planet to document the human condition…by way of freestyle marathon. Truthfully, I don’t know if it was a physical project that was creative or if it was a creative project that was physical. What I am certain of, is that the project was a lever I pulled on to do four things;

• Leave a job that wasn’t for me

• Detonate a cozy / cushy / comfy life

• Test my marathon skills and field craft

• Test my creativity and storytelling abilities

My overall aim was to be uncomfortable, vulnerable, go adventure and explore, learn lessons and receive wisdom, be entirely accountable for my success or failure, and then parlay the Marathon Earth Challenge (if successful and noisy) — atop my previous experience as an executive creative director in the marketing industry— to go score a creative role somewhere better aligned with my interests / values (in order to once again earn a livelihood).

I state these aims because they shaped the form which the Marathon Earth Challenge took, and influenced how I utilized my project as a vehicle for storytelling, flexing, and raising my profile. Your version of this challenge — doing as many marathons in as many different countries as you can in a year — may differ in form based on your own tastes, wants, and/or needs. As such, some of the high-level learnings herein may not be applicable to you…but hopefully some are.

Good luck. I know you can do it…and I hope you do it better than me!

Learning #1: The opportunity cost is real

The Marathon Earth Challenge was a risky endeavour. I could’ve died, my wife could’ve divorced me, and my relations with friends and family could’ve deteriorated (because I essentially bailed on everyone for a year). If one cannot stomach these costs, one cannot proceed with this stomach-turning opportunity, period. But if you do, make sure you have buy-in from loved ones (and negotiate project parameters with them), have an up-to-date will, and furnish your inner circle with instructions for how to access stuff like your accounts and/or assets should you die or be killed.

Considerations: Secure funding for a road crew (to minimize your exposure to danger). Prepare end of life documents. Emboss dog tags with your ID info — so your body can be identified — and wear the tags at all times. And determine how to keep your loved ones in the mix when you’re alive and/or abroad.

Learning #2: Time flies, use it wisely

In 2022, I had five months to plan all facets of the Marathon Earth Challenge. As such, I had to parallel path numerous work streams (and do most of the work myself because I had no external funding whatsoever). The ‘to do buckets’ broadly concerned communications (i.e. strategy, branding, copywriting, art direction, photography, graphic design, web, social media, and presentation decks); logistics (budgeting, studying global weather patterns, risk research and assessment, creating a year-long worldwide itinerary, booking travel and accommodations, acquiring visas, and testing gear); public relations (strategy, head shots, making self-portraits in the field, press releases, and media kits); and sales (more on this epic failure if you keep reading). TBH, there weren’t enough hours in the day for all the work…but I’m a punk rocker…so the DIY spirit informed the self-funded ‘look and feel’ of the Marathon Earth Challenge…which is great because perfection is the enemy of the good. Bless!

During this 2022 August-to-December planning phase, I did do a quick trip to Wales to say goodbye to my Dad who lives there (in case I died in 2023). There, I tested my expanded marathon kit — with the GPS tracker activated / my family monitoring it to make sure it worked for them — in darkness and daylight…on a marathon through sideways rain in the Welsh backcountry (and up a mountain). This specific exercise — in perfectly terrible conditions — let me do real-world gear testing, and make crucial tweaks to the contents of my backpack (and play around with the ideal weight…which for me is around 30 pounds…as I’m 5’11” and 150 pounds in weight). For context, everything I needed for the Marathon Earth Challenge had to be strapped to my back at all times in 2023 (because I had no road crew or storage).

I highlight the behind-the-scenes work so you understand what a project like this entails.

Considerations: If your project is DIY then give yourself a longer runway than I did…or pay for help (if you have the means). And test the hell out of your kit before you depart.

Learning #3: Be the dumbest dreamer in the brainstorm

Prior to the Marathon Earth Challenge, I spent two decades working as an executive creative director in the marketing industry (creating campaigns, content, and commercials for brands). There, I was surrounded by way smarter people — namely strategists and planners — who elevated the potency of my ideas.

My good friend Tim Foran — god bless him — brought form to the Marathon Earth Challenge by workshopping this ‘big idea’ of mine into a brand behaviour model (which informed the tone, approach, and expression of my project). Tim is the Head of Planning at Behaviour Inc., is a world-class strategist, and he tightened my idea to not just differentiate it, but also give it the best chance of breaking through. I cannot share Tim’s work — because it is his IP — but he defined my customer need (competitive environment, target audience, additional understanding, and insight); my brand promise (shared beliefs, discriminator, reasons to believe, functional benefits, and emotional benefits); my brand behaviours (guiding principle, team culture, client experience, audience engagement, and copy & style); and my brand direction (purpose, ambition, brand idea, and campaign overview). Tim wouldn’t let me pay him / he helped me for free / I owe him forever.

Furthermore, Deborah Belcourt and Stacey Brooke from my communications team brought the same type of strategic thinking to my public relations. I paid them for their services. And because I had a limited amount of money, I could only target Canadian media (done because that’s the country that Mum pushed me out into).

Having subject matter experts / thought leaders elevate your project’s strategy is a no-brainer…and is critical if you need your project to make a splash (which was imperative for me). FYI, no true collaborator should ever be a yes man / yes woman (i.e. if your strategist doesn’t challenge the hell out of you — and make you uncomfortable / push you in new directions — then you hired wrong).

Considerations: You can casually ‘wing’ anything…but don’t expect it to take flight. Rather, surround yourself with smarter people — who cross-fertilize your ideas — and watch them soar to unimaginable heights.

Learning #4: Know thyself…and thy limitations

The Marathon Earth Challenge was a wonderful vehicle for telling stories from around the world, ones found on my worldwide freestyle marathons. So I told these stories through words and photographs because I am a writer and a photographer…and that is the sum of what I am.

That’s why I paid money for SEO, head shots, and public relations consultants. I didn’t do this for ego…I did this because I quit my job to do this project, gambled a lot of money on it / myself, and had to be findable / make a splash so I could earn job interviews when everything wrapped.

Along the way, lots of people made great suggestions for how l could elevate my storytelling…but I lacked the funds, skills or time for doing things like video and/or audio…so I leaned into what I could do myself / do for free (hence why my website, pitch decks, and newsletter look the way they do…because I’m a pixel-pushing hack / not a graphic designer). All that said, good ideas can come from anywhere…so be open to them; my digi-savvy brother Elliot Pobjoy suggested I do a newsletter, and he recommended each issue contain a bulleted weekly recap. And my old boss Scott O’Hara said he wanted the newsletter to tell him how much things cost around the world (which is the most popular section of my newsletter, or so you tell me).

Creating 52 issues of my newsletter — always comprised of original art and copy — easily took 1,000 hours of my time and/or one full day each week in 2023. So you could easily do 52 more marathons than I did…if you don’t have to produce content like a newsletter.

Considerations: Be you…but be open to suggestions, play to your creative strengths, and be realistic about what you can make and deliver (and deliver with consistency). Alternately, pay creators to make your content…or don’t make content if you don’t need to.

Learning #5: Humility is grounding, and thus essential

The Marathon Earth Challenge was a personal project. The world did not ask for it (or need it)…so I adjusted my expectations accordingly; I was not entitled to anyone or anything — be it person, brand and/or media entity — caring about my project. And if I wanted interest? Well, I’d have to humbly earn it…so I aimed my pen and camera at the world from the vantage point of my freestyle marathons (and shared my findings in my newsletter as well as on social media). Always for free, and never behind a paywall.

When interest was shown, I was gracious, grateful, and showed it the respect it deserved. How so? Well, I tried to respond to every email, comment or DM within 24 hours when marathoning abroad (however, I failed to uphold this standard when my final press release went out on January 4th 2024…because I’ve been swamped with interviews…and it took me up to six days to reply to followers…and that’s uncouth and uncool). And speaking of media, I’ve always tried to honour every interview request whether it was virtual, call, or in-person (and I always showed up early, full of gratitude, prepared, and energized…even if I was operating on fumes). Like the “We’re not worthy” line from Wayne’s World…I was never worthy (because I reject any sense of entitlement)…and media coverage implies something has worth…so it was my duty to bring my ‘a game’ (and prove worthiness). Furthermore, lots of people helped me along the way, and I made every effort to name, tag or hyperlink these people in interviews, on social media, and/or in my newsletter to acknowledge their contributions. Attribution is gratitude.

Considerations: Stay hungry. Earn everything. Give shout-outs to the squad. And media…take the soonest slot offered to you (so you minimize getting bumped by breaking news or a bigger guest), and clear the schedule when the press release goes out…like, I’ve done talk radio at 6AM then been interviewed on live TV fifteen hours later at 9PM. The days are long…and unpredictable (e.g. we recently had two hours notice for a live-to-air, in-studio TV interview…and I happily did it…because any and all coverage is a gift…so don’t look a gift horse in the mouth).

Learning #6: Commercialization is a challenge when you’re a nobody…but a ‘nobody challenge’ has serious appeal to the news media

The Marathon Earth Challenge had a self-funded $38,000 USD budget. It was a sunk cost, and I did not expect to recoup it. Rather, I saw it as a personal marketing cost and/or an investment in myself as well as my abilities (abilities I hoped my project would elevate, and — in turn — hopefully elevate me as a stand-out candidate for related opportunities and/or for a future job somewhere else).

As a former executive creative director, I know brands want big ideas…so I made a modifiable pitch deck for my project, and cold-contacted suitable brands (hoping they’d pony up money to join me on the Marathon Earth Challenge, and co-tell stories with greater reach). You can see a generic version of my unmodified / outdated pitch deck here (please note: variants were customized per brand recipient in order to be personal / sell me as a solutions provider for their specific business problems. Also, this hyperlink may die one day…like, if I end my subscription with the service provider).

Ready for the LULZ? My attempt at commercialization was a total failure!!! Firstly, I had to prioritize more pressing work streams like communications, logistics, and public relations (i.e. if there wasn’t a trip, there was nothing to sell)…so I could only do a small sales push right before I departed for the road. And I did this in December 2022 (which is the worst time of year to do it…since corporate buyers are in holiday mode / proceeding corporate Q1-Q2 plans are generally locked-in by then). Secondly, recipients may have thought my idea was stupid, bad or destined to fail…or that it simply didn’t solve a business problem of theirs (all valid grounds for dismissing me). Thirdly, my unsolicited emails to strangers may have ended up in their spam folders. Fourthly, I am a nobody; an unknown executive creative director, unknown in the endurance sports space, not a professional athlete, and not an influencer (e.g. my social media numbers are peanuts). Fifthly, I even emailed sports management companies to see if they could do sales on my behalf for a commission…but none of them replied. Lastly, I even contacted some former marketing clients of mine, the ones who had relevant products and services that were of use to my project. My pitch to them was quid pro quo; hook me up for free (which would reduce my project expenses) and I’d make them branded content for free / freely bring them along for the ride / advocate for their products and services (which I knew were legit, and could honestly vouch for). 90% of them did not respond to me, and those who did politely declined or ultimately couldn’t make anything happen (which speaks volumes about their perception of my creativity, personality, and utility, LOL).

Because I was grounded in humility, I accepted things with grace, honestly felt no ill will towards anyone who didn’t give a toss about what I was attempting to do, and took nothing personally…yet took total responsibility as well as all accountability for my failure (and shrugged it off…because no one owed me anything / I had no entitlements). Plus, I was pot committed anyway. That said, all the rejection made me recall an old quote from my bestie Jamie-James Medina (who is the most talented and imaginative creator I know); “Move along and prove ‘em wrong!” It was something he’d frequently say to me in the late aughts on the sidewalks of New York after we had left the offices of the hundredth person who had passed on another one of our music, content, or brand collaboration pitches. But that quote? It’s the vibe of humility; it’s always on us, and never on them. So don’t complain…just put your money where your mouth is, and do your project to the best of your abilities. Doing is being, and not doing is death. Go live!

So where am I going with all this…like, what’s the learning? Well, much to my surprise, being a ‘commercial loser’ proved to be a winning formula for earning a different type of gold: extensive media coverage (especially for me, a total nobody).

Like, when the news media began to reach out, they’d often pre-screen me to determine whether my project was secretly a commercialized, brand-backed thing (to possibly weed me out if it was…because they know what coverage is worth), and when I replied — swearing on the grave of my still alive Mum — that it was just me gambling my own money on myself, the media rallied behind my underdog project (and it spread far and wide across TV, radio, web, and print…earning 72,000,000 impressions to date…as per analytics…which is mind-boggling since this is 100% earned media / no paid media whatsoever).

The best thing? I’m a free agent today…with an elevated profile…still without paid sponsors (which means no category exclusives either 😎)…who has proven he can execute newsworthy projects. I hoped the Marathon Earth Challenged could be the big shebang, but I was humbly taught that it was actually just a proof of concept demo vis-à-vis this scruffy dude performing, delivering, and earning headlines. As such, my future freestyle marathon projects could possibly look financially different…or at least one’s pocketbook can hope, LOL!

Considerations: Do a better job at raising your profile / selling yourself than I did…or sign with a management company that excels in commercialization…or find a freelance sales person — with a legitimate network and a track record of sealing deals — who will work on commission. All that said, ‘pureness’ really resonates with the news media…so be careful what you wish for.

Learning #7: It’s a spectacular slog

People want to know how I physically did this expensive but experientially threadbare project…and it is the stinky, dirty, grimy, lonely, doubt-filled type of slog you’d imagine it to be (especially when you’re stretching funds to work hard); lots of flights on budget airlines, the shittiest flight departure times (since they’re the cheapest), lotsa all-nighters, inconsistent sleep, very modest accommodations, couch surfing when possible, head colds that last weeks, everything hurting, eating lotsa canned food, bad actors preying on you out in the world, pivoting when things go wrong, getting battered by wind and rain, melting in the sun, suffering wet bulb temperatures, marathon routes totally backfiring, and learning tough / humbling lessons because you’re doing a tough thing full of many humiliations.

However, I will never frame the Marathon Earth Challenge as being some insufferable and torturous project, because it wasn’t; it was voluntary, and spectacular to intimately see the world by foot…’twas pure joy! Like, it was the adventure of a lifetime, and a luxurious privilege to be able to afford to do…even though I was roughing it IRL.

And real talk; I observed people around the world toiling their asses’ off — and doing insanely precarious labour to earn a meagre living — yet always showing total dignity in undignified situations (and those people have real tenacity…not me…I’m existentially soft in comparison, and don’t have an iota of their grit). They are hard, and I was on vacation (which is why I refused to be cringey, and pretend I was on some BS hero’s journey). Yes, my project was sometimes challenging…but it was easy compared to what real hardship is (i.e. one should never mistake leisure as having parity with life).

Considerations: While nothing can prepare you for this type of physically draining project, it is simultaneously re-charging…because the physical world is the best ‘action comedy drama horror fantasy thriller’ film ever made!

Learning #8: It’s all fun and games…until it isn’t

I’m not an outdoorsmen or a survivalist…but I am a total weirdo outsider, one with chops and a fighting spirit. As such, I can figuratively parachute into most places, react to what’s thrown at me, and get a freestyle marathon done in shit conditions…even when chance rears its ugly head.

My ability to do this comes from being punk, having developed my field craft around the world (over many years, and on hundreds and hundreds of freestyle marathons done solo), having an incredible amount of luck, using common sense, acting defensively, moving with purpose, trusting my spidey sense, and behaving like a respectful visitor when I’m abroad. Overall, it is imperative to be a fast-acting, decisive problem solver to excel at this type of project (especially when someone is frisking you / robbing you as their firearm is caressing your back)…and you gotta pre-prepare too;

On a macro level, you must keep up with world news, current affairs, geopolitics, and have a pulse on shifting sentiments (as it concerns each individual society you visit, and how that society broadly perceives your race, gender, religion, sexuality, nationality, etc.). And on a micro level, you gotta do your research before you walk out the door each and every day; knowing about a place’s gangs / terrorists / conflicts / criminality / signature scams / police or military trustworthiness / checkpoints / no go zones, etc…and then route your marathon accordingly…while being non-stop vigilant the whole time you’re trekking (which taxes the sympathetic nervous system, and that is what is most exhausting about freestyle marathons). Pro-tip; Government ‘state department’ websites are biased; they deride their enemies as more dangerous than they are / misrepresent their shitty friends as safer than they are…and Reddit’ll honestly tell you wassup about a city or country (but you must also follow factual journalistic reporting, and not put too much faith in what you can glean from others’ chatroom anecdotes since they could be fabricated or exaggerated).

All that said, I’m not a danger hunter or a conflict hunter — those types of people are reprehensible and exploitative — but I am comfortable in chaos…and was vulnerably exposed on my project…so my modus operandi prolly isn’t for everyone (like, my approach is solo…I love loneliness…because when you’re alone there’s no energy vampires whinging or moaning…and I’ll take solitude over back-up any day of the week).

Considerations: You won’t develop the necessary skills / field craft if you only ever play on home court. Ease into projects like these by doing smaller versions abroad first. And invest in a GPS unit with the expensive subscription that’ll let your inner circle track your whereabouts in real-time, and ensure it has a SOS button in case you’re attacked or kidnapped.

Learning #9: Friendly fire is the deadliest

Like you, I am a humanimal…so I am flawed, irrational, emotional, reactionary, illogical, and occasionally prone to doing thoughtless or careless things (like, in my private life). Oddly, I am the complete opposite on my freestyle marathons…they require total self-control. Look, we may not want to be these wildin’ out traits…but we’re wildlife; ape-y primates hoo-hoo-hawing about how we’re humans…when we’re actually erratic animals, just ones with iPhones and refrigerators. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Basically, the biggest fires last year were the interpersonal ones…ones that I — or others close to me — lit or fired. It’s privé stuff…but it’s the stuff that wobbles you the most (or wobbles others when you wobble them, and deal with the blowback of your stupid actions). So that’s the imminent danger (boring, right?). And yes, of course, there are bad actors out in the world — those baddies that’ll run game on you / try and fuck you up — because the real world is full of real dangers ala duh. Like, adventure is adventure…so accept it is as the full spectrum that it is…it’s not just secluded paradisal swim spots…but scary situations that may drown you too (even when there isn’t a drop of water in sight).

Lastly, back home…life goes on. So one’s project isn’t an excuse to drop the ball when your loved ones get beaned by existential curveballs. Like, it’d be so immature of me to selfishly expect a time-out from my duties — to others — as I was prancing around the world last year. Me? I still had to help my people (like, my mate Jamie-James asked me to do a lil assistant producer work on his film…which I did for free on top of what I was doing…because that’s what love and friendship is…and why I gotta still mark up the book manuscript that Drew Thomson sent me like six months go / asked me to review…which I’m so behind on doing…fuck…sorry man), I did chores as well as contributed when I was home (I returned to Turonno every quarter to see my wife, immediately unpacked, and often started cleaning the condo to thank Christine for her sacrifices), and I had to do my best to make myself available to my loved ones (no matter where I was or the hour). That stuff is common sense stuff…all of it necessary for the maintenance of relations…so don’t fall into the hole of thinking your project is the most important thing in the world (because your world orbits around some really special people; they’re the real stars in your twinkly personal universe…and never forget that).

Considerations: Keep thy house in order…even if you ain’t home.

Learning #10: Fail yourself forward to victory…and enjoy the ride

The Marathon Earth Challenge was a success in the aggregate…but it felt like I was failing most days (which was the true mind-fuck of the whole project). Nothing went to plan…yet somehow everything worked out in the end. However, it was so daunting that — when I was in the thick of it — I was like, “Fuck it, this is gonna be whatever it is gonna be!” Like, I had so little control…be it over my body which I was terrorizing (and which — in turn — was conspiring against me)…and I certainly had no control over anyone else (because people are sovereign and unpredictable). You just gotta go heads-down…and notch each marathon as a tiny victory…and ignore what’s ahead of you…because it’s fundamentally overwhelming…so ‘day by day’ is the mantra. But yo, the world itself? Geez…the line between chaos and order out there…it is way more fine and fragile than us humans are willing to admit…because chance is always lurking about and lingering in the shadows.

Marathon numbers-wise, I rarely felt like I was where I needed to be — and getting lost in my trek-tracking data was a sure-fire recipe for a mental breakdown — so I just leaned into the experience, and hoped for the best (after I had planned for the worst). TBH, the world is the best and the worst, and so rad and funny and confusing and interesting and depressing and inspiring and thought-provoking…so it provides the inspo and motivation to keep trekking (when you don’t think you can…but will)…and non-essential travel is privileged ding-dong shit…so just be grateful for the opportunity, and enjoy it!

Now lace up and go beat me at my own game…but plz pay it forward (by telling us how you did it, and sharing what you learned). Go get ‘em tiger!

Considerations: Plan like hell, but flow like heaven. Enjoy this paradisiacal planet…but do share your findings / learnings with others to be in service of our collective betterment. And regularly pull-over to stop and smell the flowers as you count your blessings (these two acts often brought me inner peace when I needed it).

MARATHON MUSINGS

On what’s next

It is time to disappear. I gotta close this chapter, and go back to being a regular person (which I am not good at, LOL). Yes, I’d love to be a full-time adventurer…but I’m just not as savvy an operator as category-established people like Craig Mod or Rickey Gates are (those two cracked the code for converting bipedal adventures into livelihoods…and I am forever in awe of their physical, creative, and entrepreneurial abilities).

Me? I am now completing my final round of media interviews / appearances before I create a case study of the Marathon Earth Challenge, and refresh the portfolio associated with my executive creative director work…before I start hunting for a job later this month.

My dream job is a creative role at any company that has anything to do with walking, hiking, running or exercising (be it technology, shoes, technical apparel, outerwear, etc.). Equally satisfying would be a creative gig that has anything to do with health, wellness, travel, aviation, or hospitality and tourism. Or somehow, I convince someone that my creative skills could aid a cultural organization (one associated with art, copy or story) or a NGO / charity (because I’d love to earn a living doing meaningful work that betters our world). All that said, I would happily go back to the agency world if the position was international or if the shop was killer. Heck, I may even ask the wife if I can get on Only Fans — or find myself a sugar daddy — so I can do a Master’s Degree and PhD on the intersecting histories of flânerie and psychogeography (Christine, this one’s a joke). But, I share this all publicly so you can keep tabs on me…to see if I fail or succeed in this next challenge of mine!

Beyond finding employment, I’m exploring what this project could look like as a book, I would like to exhibit the photographs I made around the world last year, and I’m interested in doing talks — whether corporate or public — about what the world taught me on the Marathon Earth Challenge (simply to nudge everyone to go outside, move their bodies, and delight in our pale blue dot…which is fucked up yet fucking awesome). However, all that stuff is hypothetical side-gig stuff.

And of course, I’ll still be wandering, marathoning, documenting, and creating…and I hope to bump into you on my long-distance strolls out there.

Oh, if you made it this far, the only regret I have about the Marathon Earth Challenge is that I lacked the courage and conviction to partner with a NGO or charity, and use my project to fundraise for them (which is something I’ve done with lotsa past marathon projects of mine). TBH, I didn’t know if I could successfully do this thing…and I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I had failed / bailed on the beneficiaries.

Eternal thanks to my wife Christine. And bye for now.

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