Young Hong Kong explorer learns gratitude and leadership as he takes groups into the wild
- Christopher Schrader returns from his exploration with a renewed sense of appreciation of the modern world, friends and family
Coming back from an adventure in the wild to an inbox full of work and notifications spilling out of your social media can be a hard come down for many nature lovers, desperate to forget the trappings of the modern world. But for adventurer Christopher Schrader, returning to civilisation is a reminder of all he has.
“I feel a tremendous sense of gratitude for what I have,” said Schrader, 27. “The longer you’re away, the longer you feel that gratitude, but it always fades away.”
Schrader works in the tech sector, but has a side job as a leader for Found Lost, an expedition company that takes clients on extreme adventures. They head into different environments ranging from Canada to the Gobi, to Myanmar and Borneo. Treks can last for three to nine days, depending on the trip, and can take place on beaten tracks or be exploratory, following abandoned trails or ancient archaeological routes.
“I'm fairly lucky, I have a job l love [in tech],” Schrader said. “But I think it's balance. If it really was so good to be in the wild, and modern life was so bad, I could do it, I could disappear. And sometimes I romanticise about it midweek, but it's just cowardice, it's running way.”
Schrader organised a walk across England at just 14 years old. He since taken up endurance sports and showed promise at ultra running and long distance cycling. In fact, he assumed that is where his life would lead before he turned to more adventurous, rather than athletic, pursuits. The turning point was when he lived with Khazak nomads in Western Mongolia after school and he realised he liked the unknown.