My recent travels to South Africa, Southeast Asia and my upcoming trek to K2, which sits on the border of Pakistan, India and China, has got me thinking about explorers. In all truth my life has been hitched to the explorer wagon for a long time. One look at my bookshelf will tell you as much. Marco Polo, Ferdinand Magellan, Steve Sillett and Marie Antoine, Ernest Shackleton, Rory Stewart, Isobel and Ben Shaw, Peter Hessler, Peter Matthiessen.. and the list could go on. I've poured over maps, routes, plans, gear lists, and flights to faraway places and adventure and outdoor magazines for almost as long as I can remember.
Several weeks ago I picked up National Geographic Adventure and read this amazing article about NG Explorer Albert Yu-Mu Lin and his team's efforts to find the tomb of Ghengis Khan - (another fascination of mine.) I was immediately inspired by the growing influence of technology on these types of expeditions and the possibilities for the future.
Read about Lin's expedition into Mongolia's "Forbidden Zone" and the virtual environment used to explore the Forbidden Zone from California here
