Welcome

Given my love and propensity for writing, I’ve always found it strange why I didn’t start committing my thoughts and experiences to the blog world long ago. Maybe it was out of fear for being locked up for having too much fun. Maybe it was just because I’ve been a slacker.  But for whatever reason it was, I finally begin the challenge and enter the world of blogging, in an effort to share my experiences.

At the time of this writing, I'm on a plane. I find it quite cathartic and fitting to be sitting up here, 36,000 feet above sea level, somewhere above the Australian desert staring at the curvature of the world below me while starting the first entry to this blog. This time last year, I would have been slaving away selling real estate. It was an interesting experience, and I’m proud to have been a part of the most high end luxury residential real estate group in New Zealand, but enough was enough. I met some incredible people on that journey, but now is the time for me to formally begin a new life; one that makes a difference. 

I write this entry filled with a feeling of fervour and passion for finally embarking on this journey that not only makes sense to me, but also satisfies that wild hunger in my soul. I hope one day to be able to sit my grandchildren in my lap and tell them “when I was a young lad” type stories, that evoke their imagination and build in them a desire to live life curious, and to explore their world, but most importantly to seek out the answers to their own questions on their own terms.

Growing up I had always been fascinated by the natural world. My father certainly helped ignite my passion for nature, because I was one of the few lucky children that grew up with a private zoo in my backyard. Dad collected animals, but more specifically, birds. It’s not something that I would ever do now, because I’m a believer in keeping wild animals wild, but it was amazing nevertheless to be surrounded by so many exotic and interesting creatures. Every day I’d wake to the dawn chorus of dad’s many birds. We had bulbuls, pheasants, peacocks,  doves, pigeons, and parrots. We had owls that would bob their heads from side to side and hiss at me every time I walked past their cage. 

Our most unusual bird was definitely the cassowary. Don’t know what that is? Imagine a heavy metal ostrich, with a big bone crest on its head like a Mohawk, long claws on its feet that could eviscerate you with a swift kick, and brilliant red and blue markings on its throat and face. That thing was intimidating.

We also had a menagerie of other animals such as bats, deer, mousedeer, porcupine, monkeys, and at one stage we even had a crocodile, a clouded leopard, an orang utan, and some gibbons. My daytimes consisted of me climbing trees, building huts, setting things on fire, and watching the animals. I used to hate being called for dinner, and they’d sometimes have to use a torch to find me in the trees because I just wanted to stay out all the time. Back then I had no idea just how lucky I was. I had my mum to thank for sparking my interest in reading. She bought me books on all the things I found  of interest. I can still remember so many interesting nature facts that I learned through those books. If you had asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have invariably had said “Marine biologist!”.

 So given this love for all things natural, I find myself incredibly blessed that I have the opportunity to get back to doing what I love, as well as play my part in the conservation effort. I hope that through my eyes and my words, more people will see the importance of environmental preservation. This trip marks the official beginning of my journey into this interesting and rewarding life, and I’m sure it’ll yield some fantastic stories and adventures. I have already begun my career as an author, working conjointly with my mother in writing educational articles aimed at teenagers for the Singaporean arm of Pearson publications.

The next few things I wish to achieve are to get my articles published in travel and adventure magazines, and I would love to have my own travel show one day. But really, the biggest goal I have is to get into the world of documentary making. There are some serious issues that I’d like to address, such as the shark finning industry and its destructive ways, as well as deforestation in my native Borneo. I am tired. Very tired, of seeing the senseless destruction working its way across the globe, and I’m glad that I’m finally in the position to offer my assistance to the conservation effort. I recently sent off an application for the Sea Shepherd, founded by Paul Watson; the vigilante conservationist who has made big waves across the world in his fight to protect the seas and its inhabitants. If accepted, I’m hoping to go sometime next year to crew for a few months. It’ll be a positive and life changing experience that will no doubt provide me with many tools and contacts in my quest to protect mother earth.

  Just as my personal hero Ernesto “Che” Guevara felt towards the revolutionary struggle to bring light and hope to the oppressed and downtrodden, I feel much the same towards the capitalistic greed-induced destruction of our world, but most importantly I feel an enormous weight of responsibility and care to the noble and innocent creatures we share our blue planet with. Some may consider this an ideological rant, but I consider this an apt prologue to my new life as an author, activist, and adventurer. I feel it necessary to encapsulate my thoughts and motivations on the dawn voyage of this life; an activist’s manifesto, if you will.

I am under no delusions that this will be merely an easy and exciting life. I have anticipated and considered the risks that lie ahead, and realise the very real possibilities of imprisonment, injury, and even death, taking into account what I have planned ahead of me.

I quite often feel frustrated in having to explain to people the positive rewards of conservation in human terms, and what it means to them. It seems so many people are only interested in these matters when they realize it will adversely affect their standard of living. They seldom look ahead, and think “maybe we should stop this, because tomorrow, there will be nothing left.” That is the mentality I seek to change.

How can we possibly have become so blind to it all? When did we lose our global conscience, and simply refuse to recognize the damage we’ve been causing. And what of the animals? Whatever happened to the joy and excitement of seeing an animal free and wild, roaming its own domain, unburdened and unfettered by human impact and greed? We tend to forget this fact. We tend to only see things through our own eyes, and we don’t think for a second that we may not be the most important beings on the planet, because of our so called “superior intelligence”.

Even if I achieve nothing else in this life, If I can help to turn the tide of destruction even by one iota, I shall die happy. If my words and actions inspire even one person to go above and beyond, my life will not have been in vain. I have encountered far too many people that are the first to complain about the state of the world, yet are not prepared to give something of themselves to make it better. I refuse to be that man. And so, my journey begins. 

If you have read this far, I salute you. 

Come share with me as I begin this journey through our amazing  world.

Dan