I am an Englishman in Canada teaching Bushcraft and Survival. Its an unlikely thing and often noted. It has been a journey of some 12 years. I thought I would share a little of that journey with you.
I was in England working hard to stay afloat and get ahead in life. I was running a reno company that I had accidentally fallen into rather than by design. It was just the best option for me to make money. Money was the goal! Rising housing and living costs where narrowing my options. By this point I had given up on my chosen career and degree in sculpture. It was unaffordable to be an artist and needed more time and energy than I had left over after paying the bills. You could say I was somewhat disenchanted and stuck.
I took a bushcraft course for 5 days in the lake district. It reopened my eyes. I had always hiked and climbed since I could remember but being immersed in nature and making everything that i needed was so wholly gratifying. I almost decided overnight that I needed more of this. I needed more wild, more nature and less people, more reward and less chasing the money.
I first came to North America and Canada in search of the elusive wilderness that seems to barely exist in England. The romantic notion of mountains, rivers and abundant wildlife filled my dreams. I had a thirst to learn and explore as much as i could. I signed up to Tim Smiths (Jack Mountain) Yearlong Immersion Course so i could soak it in from a master guide. I did just that. I got off the bus at a gas station an hour from anywhere in the middle of the night to catch a ride to my new home. We where an interesting rag tag group of ex military, rich hippies with trust funds, first nations and several foreigners with romantic notions. Including myself. We lived in shelters, lit fires with bow drills, learnt about plants and stars, we canoed, hiked, fasted. We got wet and cold and cried and puked. We argued and hugged and most importantly we learnt. For some it was too much and where just not ready for the challenge.
In many ways I found more than I had hoped and bargained for. I did indeed explore and see those beautiful panoramas and take those Instagram sunset shots. But that was not all. What I found that I wasn’t expecting was a change in priorities of what was important.
The course opened my eyes to all the aspects of living in the woods. Understanding and knowing the plants, animals and fungi on an academic and personal level. But on a physical level I really began to feel the subtle changes each day of the weather and the seasons. At times it was physically demanding, being cold and a bit wet or just plain tired from a bad night sleep on stick beds. It wasn’t all roses and a bit of grit is needed. The change that I didn’t expect was that I was the master of my circumstance. I could make a bigger fire, or spend the day in my shelter to rest. The present was the only place to be. Forced by the changing weather or seasons to adapt your routine. Planning was all good but it always left room for change. Sometimes things didn’t work out but lessons were learnt and that’s ok. In the modern world i like to plan and prepare but in the woods you have to role with it.
Becoming the master of your own condition was a huge wake up. In a world where we often like to blame and point the finger or play the victim of our circumstance. In the woods I felt like a king. I wasn’t limited by how much money I had or earnt. I didn’t need a credit check for everything. I went out and put my sweat into it and made it. Or learnt it. In society those without remain without and the idea of the American Dream does not play out as it is supposed to. Marginalized people or those that are disadvantaged do not have the opportunities of the wealthy and it doesn’t come down to hard work either. The society is rigged for the rich to get richer.
In the woods I belonged to an elite of people that could sleep in a stick bed for months. The burdens of paying rent and bills and societal pressures where gone. I was on the lowest rung of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs in that my concerns where food, water and warmth. However, I was also at the top. I was realizing my dreams, aware of my place and surroundings, learning and fulfilling my own capacities mentally and physically. It was one of the most profound times of my life. I had a presence of mind and clarity brought about by reducing live to a simplicity that is rarely sought or gained in the modern world.
Nature will always be a great teacher. Even if you have working in an outdoor industry all of your life. Just when you think you know it all is the time when you get spanked! Humility and humbling would be just to of the great advantages of my journey.
After the immersion I travelled to Canada I wanted to put my skills to the test. I remember with clarity the moment I knew I was ‘home’. I flew into Calgary and got the greyhound into the Rockies. I instantly fell asleep on the bus. I woke up and my eyes just took in the expanse of limestone peaks and acres of forest. As a climber and a bushcrafter it was like Mecca. I just said to myself. “I am Home”
I settled into a job a wilderness hostel manager in the Rockies. It was the best job I have ever had!! I hiked and scrambled mountains. I hiked without a map. I trailed wolf tracks and scared myself scrambling some sketchy peaks on my own. One day i scrambled a peak and sat at the top eating lunch. I hadn’t told anyone where I was or what I was doing. It wasn’t a frequented peak by any stretch of the imagination. I did everything that you shouldn’t do and what I instruct people not to do. At the time though it helped create my state of mind and awareness. I was sitting observing an amazing panorama of peaks as far as the eye could see. I was tiny, inconspicuous, unimportant, and less than a blip in time, utterly irrelevant. It was, conversely to what you might think, a very powerful and fulfilling experience. It was the realization of total freedom, freedom from the constructs of society, freedom from my own ego and any responsibilities. Nature, mountains and forests had become my church. My place of spiritual significance and where lifelong lessons are earned and won through hardship and revelation.
Now, years on, i have undertaken outdoors programs and been a guide, am a guide. However, bushcraft has never left me. My origins are still my go to. My spiritual home you could say. These lessons and journeys is what I would like to pass on to others. Coming from England gives me the perspective of what others take so much for granted. The great expanses of woodland people are so desperate for in Europe. In Canada its ‘normal’ so normal its not noticed. Everyone believes they know how to use an axe. Very few, in my experience, know how to use one properly.
Today I live with my wife and young son in the Slocan Valley. I have spent the last 2 years building the whole of our house single handed. We have some land in which we grow as much as we can and I hunt for our meat. We are on our way to a full homestead life of fresh eggs, homemade bread, beer, wine, pickles, relish, smoked cheese and fish. My goals are to share and inspire as much as I can. It is a long way from that city guy stuck in England to here. One hell of a journey that is for sure!! It all started with a 5 day bushcraft course.
So, the question is, are you ready?!