Fear is a survival instinct, the inbuilt self-preservation mechanism in all of us. People often ask if I was scared during my record solo voyage around the world. My answer is “yes”. Fear almost certainly kept me alive in the Southern Ocean: it keeps you focused and vigilant. But when I got back to land I felt a different type of fear as, for the first time, I began to see the world in a different way. I had never questioned whether our planet’s resources were limited, and had certainly not stopped my busy sailing schedule to wonder if the way I lived was sustainable. But when I stepped off my beloved trimaran after setting the record in February 2005, I began to see things differently. When you sail around the world you take everything you need for three months. From toothpaste to teabags, from clothes to kitchen roll; what you have is all you have, and if you run out you can’t just pop down to the shops to buy more. You are managing your own little world with its finite, life-sustaining supply of resources. And you’re doing it when you are more exhausted than you have been in your life.
- Ellen MacArthur
www.ellenmacarthurtrust.org
Inspiring, really.
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