The Transformative Power of Adventure: Sea Kayaking in Scotland Episode #30

Aaron:
How do you define adventure?
Tony Hammock:
I'm not sure I've ever bothered.
Aaron:
Maybe it's because you live it every day. So how would you define it for someone who doesn't live it every day?
Tony Hammock:
It's one of those intuitive things, right. About, I think being somewhere special and it being some sort of a challenge to get there and the feeling of being a bit out on a limb So when you're there, when you're in that special place, there's always that, well, are we going to be able to get back or anyway, are we going to be able to get back on time or is it going to be a bit hairy on the way back?
Aaron:
Welcome to the work life podcast. I'm Aaron McHugh. For episode number 30 today, we're going to talk about adventure, how to find it, what it is and what it feels like to be wrapped up in the middle of it. You'll have to forgive me today. If in some of the intros, you hear some background noise. I'm actually in a little tiny apartment that my family and I have kind of crammed into for a couple of weeks. Speaking of an adventure, we are volunteering at a young life camp up in the Rocky mountains of Colorado. So I've been wandering around here trying to figure out what the background noise is. If it's the refrigerator, if it's some water heater, I can't figure it out. So if you hear a little hum and buzz in the background, you'll just have to chalk that up to us, living out in an adventure.
Aaron:
And I couldn't find a more soundproof booth to record it in. So for episode number 30, you're going to hear you do some recording of recent sea kayaking trip. My brother and I did while in Scotland, I took along this new digital microphone that I have, and actually recorded Tony Hammock, our guide on the shore while he's setting up his tent. And I asked him the question, what is adventure and how do you define it? And I think you'll really enjoy and get stoked. And hopefully as I did, as you listen to the fact that first and foremost, his answer to the question you'll appreciate, which is essentially, I don't know that I've ever bothered to think about it which is what a full time guide should say. Since he's every day, his adventure, but then there's these moments also where I took my mic out into the back country, just on a Saturday or Sunday morning with my dog and found a nameless trail and followed it to long Creek and found a tower to kind of climb up into and hunched down in behind a little alcove out of the wind and flip on the mic and offer a little bit of thoughts on what is adventure.
Aaron:
So it's going to sound a little bit more like a NPR, like assembly of a couple of different stories, but all in the theme of what is adventure, how to find it, why do we need it? And what does it actually do to us? And how does it affect our work, our life and our play, and how does it then stretch us in a way that when we reengage in our real life, we're actually not the same. So here we go, episode number 30.
Tony Hammock:
And get changed, doing the cooking in the best view in the vestibule, keeping, keeping warm and dry keeping the elements off. So yeah, I've got a fair bit of stuff here. This time I brought, there were quite a few bits of kit and in my bag that were left over from the Alaska trip, obviously I don't need here. Like, don't need to put up a top over the tent. Don't need to hang the bear food.
Aaron:
Yeah. Oh yeah. Your bear cord. Yeah.
Tony Hammock:
They don't need any of that. And I just got chucked in, so got it. Yeah. Probably normally be less than this. And if I was backpacking the, be a lot less than this
Aaron:
Yeah. I was thinking the same thing on the backpacking.
Tony Hammock:
Well, with a kayak, you can afford a bit more luxury.
Tony Hammock:
As long as you've got the space, the weight really isn't a problem at all.
Tony Hammock:
Quite so generous. Allowance has stuff here.
Aaron:
Okay. So Tony, I hit record here and I wanted to ask you about adventure. So do you first mind just tell me your full name? Yeah. I'm Tony Hammock. Tell me about your guide service. Well
Tony Hammock:
There's two of us, really myself and Carol. I started the company about 11 years ago, 12 years ago, and then it expanded and Carol and I found we were doing more and more admin and less and less paddling. So we contracted it again. And so now it's just the two of us and we will probably more or less than that Work together sometimes. Okay. Carol tends to do more of the kind of, yeah. Stuff. I don't want to do more of The bespoke, whatever you want to do wherever you want to do it stuff. Excuse me. I'm out.
Tony Hammock:
Sea Freedom Kayaking. We operate we're based and the open area for day trips and coaching, we use an area about 30 miles radius, which gives us 40 different launch points. It gives us a vast array of trips because the variety of trips you can do in this area is just amazing. We've got everything from shelf sorry, really sheltered quite safe sea locks. So you see my word there shape. That was a combination of so sheltered and safe out two areas, which are frankly speaking completely lethal in the wrong weather. We have, we've got massive tide races running eight or nine knots with potential for swell and wind against tide. The weather is very, as you found out, the weather is very changeable, 10 minutes unpredictable. So the forecasting accuracy is quite low for more than 24 hours ahead.
Tony Hammock:
So you've always got to plan your trip taking into account the fact that it might turn out to be nothing like what the forecast has said. Okay. Yeah. So we're mainly West coast of Scotland, but we do do other places all around Scotland. I've got trips on the North coast and in the Orkney islands this year. Carol's Oh, under the chaplains Carol's got trips in the outer Hebrides. We use ML a lot. That's, that's one of the big islands right off of open fabulous voracity of scenery. Okay.
Aaron:
So tell me about how do you define adventure?
Tony Hammock:
I'm not sure I've ever bothered as far as, as a bit every day. So how would you define it for someone who doesn't live it every day? It's one of those intuitive things, right. About, I think being somewhere special and it being some sort of a challenge to get there and the feeling of being a bit out on a limb.
Tony Hammock:
So when you're there, when you're in that special place, there's always that, well, are we going to be able to get back or anyway, are we going to be able to get back on time or is it going to be a bit hairy on the way back? And then the Hebredes and the islands around here that happens a lot. You quite often get there thinking the weather forecast is going to give you a window to get back and then find yourself fighting the elements on the way back. Yeah. So I think it's where you are and the nature of the journey to get there and to get back again, defines it for me and adventure is adjustable and it depends a big part of my job. Probably the most important part of my job is getting the balance right between the client's ability and the level of challenge that I present them with.
Tony Hammock:
Because if I under do it, they'll probably never be bored, but they won't feel fulfilled. They won't feel that they've had an adventure. And if I overcook it, well, they won't come back, they might never do it again. You know? So getting that balance right. Is quite tricky, especially when you're dealing with people that you've not met before. So we've got about a 60% repeat rate on our clients by which I mean 60% of our trips and days are with people who've been out with us before. Okay. and that's in a lot of ways, a lot easier. You can adjust that challenge more accurately with assessing people you've not met before. That makes life really interesting.
Aaron:
What do you think the effect is on whether it's yourself and your own adventures and then clients you bring along, when you say to get out on a limb, what does that actually do to the rest of your life? When you have a chance to actually get out on the limb?
Tony Hammock:
It very much changes your perspective on the rest of life. So things that I'm remembering, some personal experiences are things that seem major and crushing and very important to you and your real,, in your real life-that your real life where you're actually earning your living when you get out into a landscape like this and realize the age of the landscape and, you know, feel your part in it and participate in that journey, it gives you a longer view of your real life. Yeah, that's about it.
Tony Hammock:
I used to be very much involved in the automotive industry. And I can remember during the week would be obsessed with the vehicle evaluation score, score, our quality measure, and then I'd get out of the weekends and I'll be out with the seals. And gannets, and the on the landscape and you think, ah, it's not so important. Or then you get back to work on the Monday and you'd find out that it damn well was everybody else made sure that you knew it was, but but it still gave you that chance to kind of draw back and take some bit of peace to look at it from a distance.
Aaron:
I'm sitting in the shore of the lock that we paddled into last night, surrounded by peaks that are four or 5,000 feet. I haven't looked at the map exactly to see the suns decided to actually poke out through the fog and the clouds and the tops of the mountains. You can begin to see the waffle pattern of snow that remains. And some of the jagged crags are actually coming into view. So we've come a long way to see some mountains and paddle a sea kayak.
Aaron:
And I think the thoughts I wanted to offer really specific to adventure and how adventure is a choice that leaving my front door to go see, I see something new, try something new regardless of the weather, regardless of comfort, regardless of how small a period of time I might have, it really does. Remind me how accessible adventure really is and how far away you can feel without necessarily having to be as far away as Colorado to Scotland. But it's beautiful, beautiful to lean into a story that I've dreamed about since 2009 and beautiful to be willing to see just how it unfolds that all of it's unfolded different than we had planned, but I'd say all of it's unfolded perfectly. So originally we had planned to come paddle and repeat this exact trip that was done in 2009, going port city to port city visiting distilleries.
Aaron:
But it turns out that the paddling sea kayaking paddling requirements were significantly greater than my brother, Matt and I had the skill set for as well. The weather has not been cooperative either. So the seas are more tumultuous than they normally would be this time of year. So we did some alteration and ended up choosing block. That is basically same as a ginormous inlet really that we'd call in the States with waves and current and tide charts and the whole thing. So we paddled to the back of it, where it gets near Ben Nevis, which is one of the largest peaks or the largest peak here in all of Scotland. So back to adventure, I'm just struck by how adventure just puts me off kilter in a really good way. It eliminates my ability to be in control in a really good way.
Aaron:
And adventure awakens something in me, even at moments kind of fearful, caught a wave yesterday and the sea kayak from behind me and it pushed me forward a good and I felt the nudge of, I hope I don't tip this thing and end up upside down unable to do an Eskimo roll. The last time I tried that was 20 years ago in a pool, but even in moments like that, it makes me excited just to feel that out of control unknown, I don't know where this is going to go. And I think we'll in contrast to life. What I love about it is it in life, it's so hard to get things back under control or so hard to know when hardships or challenges are going to end, but in an adventure, you oftentimes gain confidence for what you can do in real life because of what you've experienced out in an adventurous situation. And so you're able to draw upon that experience, that moment of fear, that gasp and then work through, Oh yeah, this is going to be okay. I can do that thing back at home because of what I learned here.
Aaron:
So what you just heard is this brilliant guy Oceanside in this ancient Loche, talk about how important it is. If you're going to have an adventure, how important it is to be in a special place. That's difficult to get to how there, there may be an anxiety of, I hope we can get back the benefits of going out on a limb and feeling that far away place that gets us off kilter. How being out of control temporarily is really, really helpful. And to not really know how this thing's going to go, how it's going to end the result being that we gain confidence, that adventure builds confidence in us for our real life, as well as adventure being out in special places that are hard to get, to gives us perspective when we're able to draw back and then look at our real life from a new position, a new place, new set of eyes, a new lens. So this next part you're going to hear and we'll, we'll be off. Our final little segment is one morning after I had back
Aaron:
From being gone in Scotland. I think it was an early morning like today I got up probably around six or so grabbed our dog or puppy. And I've had this map for the Pike's peak region for a few years, a good friend of mine, Matt gave to me and I've had these trails I've always wanted to go on and I just keep staring at them and never do. And so I decided this morning to finally go out and just explore and actually go off trail. So this next section you're gonna hear is me and my puppy, Lulu kind of scaled our way through this Creek bottom game trail and found herself on this little tower, pulled up my iPhone and captured a few more thoughts on adventure. And I think you'll really enjoy this, especially if you're like me, that you spend most of your time working most of your time in an office, most of your time on an airplane, most of your time, moan lawn going to kids' events, most of your time doing other things. And it feels like to me at times, that adventure is far away and hard to find in is unavailable. And it turns out that's just not true.
Aaron:
Chapter 2- It's Adventure. I am out on forest road three Oh two pike national forest, and I thought I'd fire up my iPhone audio memo and add to the storyline of adventure that I started when I was over in Scotland. My brother on that sea kayaking trip, listening to Tony, talking about going out on a limb, being in a special place. So I want to comment a little bit on, I guess, the verbiage or terminology of play or adventure. Really. I view them as intertwined and some times play can just be down on the floor, playing with your little kids or going out on a bike ride. I did once with my son when we went and did geocashing and pretend that we were like the Goonies from the movie and just kept riding bikes, the next geocache in the neighborhoods. So it was just playful. And in this case, I got up this morning, grabbed Lu our puppy dog, Lulus her name and piled in the car and headed up a forest service road with a map that I keep staring at and a place I keep wanting to go for six or eight or 10 years.
Aaron:
And I just never do. And so adventure for me is just going forward. Despite all the reasons I have on my list that I make to stay home and get things done. And I'm just reminded, I love the movie. I've been watching it over and over the adventures of the secret life of Walter Mitty. And it's about him working at life magazine and just live in this predictable life. The opening scene of the movie is him bouncing his checkbook in this kind of cold stark, blue, green, almost hospital like apartment everything's put in order everything's dusted and organized. I feel like that's my life a lot of times. And then every now and then I'm brave enough to just pile the car and head towards a place I haven't been and park it, pack up my stuff and walk down this nameless trail that I'm hoping to find. So I found it I'm out, nobody around no distinct trail Lulu. And I climbed up to a little perch up in these big Pikes peak granite domes in upper Limbaugh Canyon that you can't really easily get to
Aaron:
By car, for sure. Or by well beaten path. So we followed game trail staring at a big balance, rock, huge, huge domes size. You, you, in three of your neighbor's houses and then they stacked big blocks that go into not a craggy Spire, but basically like those Brillo Legos that your kids have when they're like two or three, just big, big blocks stacked on top of each other. And what I want to say about adventure also is that you might be listening to this thinking, man, this guy lives in Colorado and look how easily accessible it is. And you know, he he's in Scotland and then he's out staring at a Hawk by circling the airwaves above. And it's true, but what's also true is I had an argument with my wife last night and I slept on the couch and I woke up this morning and thought, you know, I think the best way to reengage is for me to go fuel my tanks and find the thing that makes me come alive so that I can restore my cup and out of which then I can offer life back to others most, especially to my wife.
Aaron:
So I want to say that adventure and play is necessary. Whatever your version of that is to get out, to purpose, to go find it to purpose, to go do it. And especially for those of us that are trapped in what my buddy calls Morgan, he calls a Suburgatory. So in the suburban life of, you know, you could always go mow your lawn, fix a gate, sweep the garage, pay a bill, whatever mess with your iPhone and your catalog of pictures, which is crap. I do all the time. But in this morning I was daring greatly enough to just pack my car and go find a place to get lost for a little while. And as Tony said on the beaches there of the lock in Western Scotland, that it helps recalibrate you when you're in a big place, that's bigger than you. That's more ancient and longstanding than you. And it helps me remember that my problems, challenges, desires, hopes, dreams are actually pretty small and it's going to be okay. So adventure is a place that helps restore me and reset my internal world by being in wilderness.
Aaron:
I hope you'll accept my invitation to do your best work, to live the life you want to live and play a whole lot more. You thought this was fun and you'd like some more visit work life, play podcasts.com.