At around 10pm on 3rd August 2008 I flew out of Perth, heading for Dubai, and the first goal on my list of 100 challenges. I set myself a target time period of 100 weeks, and by 4th July 2010, exactly 100 weeks later, I had achieved 93 of the 100 goals.
It is now exactly two years since I set off on my adventure, and this morning I have sat and looked through all of the pictures that have appeared on the blog over that time. I am amazed that there are over 2,400 pictures that I have selected for the website, out of thousands more that didn’t appear there. I made a slideshow of the photos, and even at a setting of just one second per picture, it takes over 40 minutes to look through them all.
Seeing many of these pictures gives me that wierd dual sense of time. Some of the earlier goals feel like they happened only yesterday, but at the same time, other photos from the same period feel like they were taken a lifetime ago.
I have crammed so much into two years, and as I look over the photos, I am reminded of so many incredible experiences, wonderful places and fantastic adventures.
But as the pictures scroll by, it is the people that continue to stand out as the high points of the journey. I have tried to include photos of most of the people I have met along the way, but have inevitably missed a few.
I see pictures of friends old and new all around the world, and I feel incredibly grateful to all who have been a part of my journey over these years. I have been honoured to be welcomed by people on all continents, from all walks of life, and have been given unique insights into places that I could never have hoped to gain as a traveller with no local contacts.
To everyone who has been part of this journey, whether in person, or online, I will be forever grateful for the opportunities and experiences you have offered. This truly has been the adventure of a lifetime, and it wouldn’t have been half the experience without the people who have been a part of the story.
As I have quoted so many times now, from the movie “Into The Wild”:-
HAPPINESS ISN’T REAL UNLESS SHARED
Thank you all for sharing this journey with me.
Ian Usher
3rd August 2010
Whitehorse, Canada