The days of exploration of Shackleton and Scott are long gone. Everything has been climbed, crossed, done. Now what we're exploring are the full boundaries of human endeavour. It's not physical - it's all in the head.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I have actually led more expeditions to Antarctica than Scott, Amundsen, and Shackleton put together.
I want to believe humanity has not forgotten how to explore.
As a species, we've always been discoverers and adventurers, and space and the deep ocean are some of the last frontiers.
Expeditions are escapism. The stuff that we're normally concerned about just doesn't matter out there. Tax returns, gas bill, none of it. Life becomes very simple, it's about moving in a certain direction - north if you're going north - staying warm and not getting eaten. That's it.
Perhaps you could say that mountaineers are driven by ego or our competitiveness, but there's a lot more to it than that. Whether it's a huge face in the Himalaya or some crag in the woods behind your house, exploration offers us a unique perspective on the world that you can't really find anywhere else.
We are ever on the threshold of new journeys and new discoveries. Can you imagine the excitement of the Wright brothers on the morning of that first flight? The anticipation of Jonas Salk as he analyzed the data that demonstrated a way to prevent polio?
Let's face it. Adventure and exploration are in my blood.
In the 19th Century people were looking for the Northwest Passage. Ships were lost and brave people were killed, but that doesn't mean we never went back to that part of the world again, and I consider it the same in space exploration.
Exploration by real people inspires us.
Human exploration is something that's been going on for thousands of years, and the models that worked 500 years ago are likely to work again today.