Harder than Siberia in winter: Hong Kong adventurer conquers China desert
After 71 days and numerous setbacks, Rob Lilwall completes his solo trek across China’s Taklamakan desert, and learns the value of solitude in our hyperconnected, always busy world
It’s over! On Saturday October 22, just before sunset, I finally completed my expedition across China’s most fearsome desert, the Taklamakan. In my memory, the final few weeks are a blur of desperate struggle.
But I still had unfinished business. There had been two sections (one 30 kilometres, the other 90km) in the middle of the trip, where the police had caught me and forced me to board a truck which took me through their jurisdiction on a road (they didn’t want me to die in the desert, at least not on their turf). These two gaps in my footprints frustrated my sense of completeness. I decided to hitchhike back to these two sections and walk them in the reverse direction with just my rucksack instead of my cart (faster and less conspicuous). Thus I would be able to join my footprints and complete a continuous line for the journey.
Nonetheless, finally, 71 days after I had set off, with early winter dipping the thermometer towards freezing at dawn, I reached the last point where my footprints had been broken and the expedition was complete.
Ed Catmull, president of the Pixar film studio, annually goes on a week-long silent retreat – an experience he claims is essential to help him in his creativity and his leadership. Positive psychologist Shawn Achor urges us to reduce the “noise” (or information/media input) in our lives by just 10 per cent, and we will be astounded by how much clearer we feel.
In the desert, I was fortunate to have great, long periods without any “noise” except the rumbling ruminations going on in my own head. It was liberating to have such space to think, to pray, and to bury old hatchets. Now I am back in Hong Kong, I hope to continue with regular times out of the bustle (so, for example, doing more creative tasks rather than checking e-mail before 10am). It may seem unproductive, I now realise it’s actually counterproductive not to have such times.
However, to my surprise I don’t mind. I know I still completed a really worthwhile expedition, and surely being the first person to drag a home-made beach cart on a meandering route across the Taklamakan deserves some kind of record on its own. But more importantly, I feel very satisfied that I pushed myself to my limits and I embraced new challenges. And I learned that even after disappointing setbacks, I can get up and keep going with enthusiasm and daring.
The third big lesson was about facing fear. I have done this over the years on my adventures, but for some reason it does not make facing new fears much easier. It is hard to describe the feeling of fear. For me it often includes haunting visual images of what is going to go wrong. It consumes all thought. It paralyses the body.
Bestselling author and Christian pastor Rob Bell notes that when we feel fear we can simply reply to our fearful thoughts: “I know about these dangers you are reminding me of. Thank you for reminding me of them, I will now decide what to do.” This kind of cognitive restructuring process is hard work, but I found it did really work.
So now back home in Hong Kong, I hope I will have a new gratitude and appreciation for the security, comfort and opportunities of life in this city. In the last few days I have been struck anew by the beauty of the dark, green mountains, the sparkling cityscapes and the rolling seas. My wife Christine is 30 weeks pregnant with our first child, so it will soon be time to get on with the next adventures of life – parenthood.
Rob Lilwall is a British-born and Hong Kong based adventurer. He regularly speakers to businesses about the lessons he learns on his expeditions (roblilwall.com). For the past few months he has been writing updates about the expedition progress exclusively for the Post.