Wow I’m both excited and surprised to be
invited here today I was introduced to
Ted through my little brother about 10
years ago and at this time we had
dial-up internet and we weren’t able to
stream the talks online he had gotten
tickets to see TEDx Colorado but when I
tried to get a ticket there was not
available so what I did was I
photocopied his nametag and attended my
first TED event with a counterfeit badge
it’s crazy that nobody’s actually caught
on yet and I’m still here anyway I’m
here today as a National Geographic
young explorer when people think about
exploration they think about beautiful
views and exotic experiences I do myself
in reality exploration is moreso being
in the back of cramped buses for hours
on end sitting out in the cold waiting
for something to happen or being
sleep-deprived just trying to get from
point A to point B there’s been at least
one moment in all of my adventures when
I had to stop and truly ask myself is
this worth it today I want to dig into
that question and make a case for
exploration to begin I want to rewind to
September of 2014 for two weeks I’ve
been trekking over land for Kathmandu
trying to get to Everest base camp this
particular morning I’d be covering some
of the toughest terrain on my trip so I
started early in the freezing cold the
first challenge that I faced was Zoomba
glacier it’s not that this was
necessarily a highly technical glacier
it’s just that I had never crossed a
glacier before as I started through it I
was crossing my way across blue glacial
ponds and trying to find my footing on
the ice and
slip and as the morning wore on it
slowly warmed up but so did the glacier
before I knew it I was surrounded by the
sound of rocks sliding into these ponds
and the glacier itself started
deteriorating right beneath my feet at
times I would come across portions of
the trail that were completely gone just
melted away and I had to turn around and
find another way through but I pushed on
and eventually I did find my way through
but now what lay ahead of me was cho la
paz cho la paz sits at 17,000 700 feet
above sea level this would be the
highest elevation i had ever been to to
make things worse when i looked up at
where the trail should be i realized
there have been a rockslide and the
trail was completely covered in bowling
ball-sized boulders but when i looked
behind me I just saw the glacier and I
didn’t want to turn around to do that
again so I decided to press on what
ensued over the next few hours could
have been a spectator sport I would walk
up 5 feet or so and then try to catch my
breath and it slide back down 3 or 4 but
I kept pushing on through the boulder
field and up the gully soon the clouds
rolled in and fog rolled in all around
so I couldn’t even see in front of me as
I pushed up further it started to snow
but I pushed on and eventually I found
my way to the top of cho la paz as
always i sat here trying to my breath
and looking forward I saw what would
become the second glacier I had ever
crossed but this time I was cold alone
and didn’t know where to go and I
couldn’t even see in front of me because
of the fog and a snowstorm I distinctly
remember asking that question is it
worth it over the next few hours I wound
my way through the crevices tried not to
slip and fall and got lost among the
sacks but shortly before nightfall I
finally found the trail
I made it out
this experience in many ways has defined
what I think of when I say exploration
it’s a time when I tangibly took a step
into the unknown faced insurmountable
obstacles but made it through before we
go further I want to define with you
what I see to be the building blocks of
exploration first off
exploration itself is defined in its
most abstract sense as existence in the
unknown what becomes what comes before
exploration and is often overlooked is a
question questions that require
exploration are those that seem like
they might have no answer but you try to
answer them anyway and when you choose
to try to answer these questions is when
you become an explorer when you choose
to explore what often ensues is
adventure and as I discussed on my story
earlier exploring can be very exciting
now I also want to touch on some counter
points to exploration first off people
say the exploration is uncomfortable and
that adventure is dangerous and this
leads them to the conclusion that
questioning in it of itself is
inefficient and it’s better to actually
learn answers to the questions we
already know but here’s the thing when
you assume this perspective you’re
constructing a world around you that’s
completely static changing you’re also a
limit in your ability to question now
today this world we live in is
incredibly dynamic with climate change
technology spreading and with population
increasing drastically we’ve never seen
the world changing this fast as
explorers we can proactively take
ownership of these changes and even if
we don’t know where we’re going or what
our role will be when we get there we
can take ownership of this and seize the
opportunity to step into the unknown
coming back from Nepal I knew and
learned something really important
but I wanted to apply it to more than
just trekking through the mountains
funded by a National Geographic grin my
brother and I came up with the idea to
travel across the United States and try
to inspire the next generation of
explorers to conserve and protect our
environment with the grant money we
converted an old van to run on waste
vegetable oil and then change the inside
and cover the outside turning into our
very own ice cream truck we traveled
around the United States for three
months and for 3,000 or 4,000 miles we
actually met with kids in their own
neighborhoods and cities asked them to
choose an area that they wanted to
conserve and take ownership of that area
as an explorer somebody who no matter
the unknown things that would happen
would conserve and protect that area the
interesting thing about this experience
is that we set out to inspire the next
generation but it was actually turned
right back on us we were the ones
inspired by the creativity they showed
and protecting and conserving our
environment now let’s fast forward to
just last spring funded by another
National Geographic another National
Geographic grant my team and I traveled
to Ladakh now the dock is a region high
in the Indian Himalayas nestled between
Pakistan and Tibet it’s home to some of
the world’s highest altitude roads but
every single year these roads are
destroyed by the avalanches rock slides
and flooding and this essentially cuts
the dock off from the outside world now
every spring immigrants come to Ladakh
to reconstruct these roads despite of
the extreme altitude while we’re in
Ladakh the story that unfolded was very
much a coming-of-age story we had found
a Tibetan Buddhist culture with this
identity rootedness isolation at an
awkward point development
a time when things had grown a little
bit too fast but not quite fast enough
we found that the connectivity had
increased tourism and sparked
socio-economic change but the lack of
connectivity for six to nine months out
of the year had prevented people from
fully assuming this new way of life we
found that the roads themselves acted as
the metronome of the docks development
as this metronome quickens the docks
isolation will become a thing of the
past they will be forced into the
unknown to take that step what I learned
from this experience was the exploration
it is not always a choice the reality of
our world even if you’ve constructed it
to be static is that the world is
changing a changing world whether you
wanted to or not will shake things up
and you will be forced to step into the
unknown to say this another way at some
point or another we will all be forced
to be explorers or to ignore the changes
happening around us I encourage you to
do like Ladakh ease and step into the
unknown and embrace these challenges
when they cross your path one note I’d
like to say something I’ve learned is
that exploration applies to you
regardless of what you’re doing in life
I want us all to stay here to stand here
today and imagine a world where instead
of businesspeople scientists engineers
students engineers and teachers were all
explorers well yeah what would our what
would our world look like what would our
world look like if we taught children to
be explorers instead of how to answer
questions on tests correctly
what would business look like if we
tried to look for those answers or those
questions and those answers to questions
are really mattered and what would
science look like if we look for
meaningful questions regardless of
whether they are published
in a reputable journal if you’re
inspired what you hear today I want you
to take away three things the first is
practice practice every single chance
you get if a question comes across that
will lead you into the unknown chase
that answer as we practice exploration
we become better explorers ourselves the
second thing is be creative look for
opportunities to explore like the ice
cream expedition I talked about earlier
these types of things are only the tip
of the iceberg the opportunities for
exploration are truly endless the last
thing I want us to do is encourage
exploration like my stores make my story
previously illustrated exploration can
at times be terrifying and you may have
no idea where you’re going and it’s
supposed to be this way when you see
somebody engaging and meaningful
exploration encourage them let’s think
back to that story in the Himalayas when
I was alone in the cold not sure where
to go I couldn’t even see through the
fog in the snowstorm remember that
question I asked is this worth it what
I’ve learned since then is that
explorers come across the raging river
of the unknown and instead of turning
around they jump in and learn how to
swim next time something crosses your
path that encourages you to step in the
unknown
I implore you to boldly do so as an
explorer it’s worth it
invited here today I was introduced to
Ted through my little brother about 10
years ago and at this time we had
dial-up internet and we weren’t able to
stream the talks online he had gotten
tickets to see TEDx Colorado but when I
tried to get a ticket there was not
available so what I did was I
photocopied his nametag and attended my
first TED event with a counterfeit badge
it’s crazy that nobody’s actually caught
on yet and I’m still here anyway I’m
here today as a National Geographic
young explorer when people think about
exploration they think about beautiful
views and exotic experiences I do myself
in reality exploration is moreso being
in the back of cramped buses for hours
on end sitting out in the cold waiting
for something to happen or being
sleep-deprived just trying to get from
point A to point B there’s been at least
one moment in all of my adventures when
I had to stop and truly ask myself is
this worth it today I want to dig into
that question and make a case for
exploration to begin I want to rewind to
September of 2014 for two weeks I’ve
been trekking over land for Kathmandu
trying to get to Everest base camp this
particular morning I’d be covering some
of the toughest terrain on my trip so I
started early in the freezing cold the
first challenge that I faced was Zoomba
glacier it’s not that this was
necessarily a highly technical glacier
it’s just that I had never crossed a
glacier before as I started through it I
was crossing my way across blue glacial
ponds and trying to find my footing on
the ice and
slip and as the morning wore on it
slowly warmed up but so did the glacier
before I knew it I was surrounded by the
sound of rocks sliding into these ponds
and the glacier itself started
deteriorating right beneath my feet at
times I would come across portions of
the trail that were completely gone just
melted away and I had to turn around and
find another way through but I pushed on
and eventually I did find my way through
but now what lay ahead of me was cho la
paz cho la paz sits at 17,000 700 feet
above sea level this would be the
highest elevation i had ever been to to
make things worse when i looked up at
where the trail should be i realized
there have been a rockslide and the
trail was completely covered in bowling
ball-sized boulders but when i looked
behind me I just saw the glacier and I
didn’t want to turn around to do that
again so I decided to press on what
ensued over the next few hours could
have been a spectator sport I would walk
up 5 feet or so and then try to catch my
breath and it slide back down 3 or 4 but
I kept pushing on through the boulder
field and up the gully soon the clouds
rolled in and fog rolled in all around
so I couldn’t even see in front of me as
I pushed up further it started to snow
but I pushed on and eventually I found
my way to the top of cho la paz as
always i sat here trying to my breath
and looking forward I saw what would
become the second glacier I had ever
crossed but this time I was cold alone
and didn’t know where to go and I
couldn’t even see in front of me because
of the fog and a snowstorm I distinctly
remember asking that question is it
worth it over the next few hours I wound
my way through the crevices tried not to
slip and fall and got lost among the
sacks but shortly before nightfall I
finally found the trail
I made it out
this experience in many ways has defined
what I think of when I say exploration
it’s a time when I tangibly took a step
into the unknown faced insurmountable
obstacles but made it through before we
go further I want to define with you
what I see to be the building blocks of
exploration first off
exploration itself is defined in its
most abstract sense as existence in the
unknown what becomes what comes before
exploration and is often overlooked is a
question questions that require
exploration are those that seem like
they might have no answer but you try to
answer them anyway and when you choose
to try to answer these questions is when
you become an explorer when you choose
to explore what often ensues is
adventure and as I discussed on my story
earlier exploring can be very exciting
now I also want to touch on some counter
points to exploration first off people
say the exploration is uncomfortable and
that adventure is dangerous and this
leads them to the conclusion that
questioning in it of itself is
inefficient and it’s better to actually
learn answers to the questions we
already know but here’s the thing when
you assume this perspective you’re
constructing a world around you that’s
completely static changing you’re also a
limit in your ability to question now
today this world we live in is
incredibly dynamic with climate change
technology spreading and with population
increasing drastically we’ve never seen
the world changing this fast as
explorers we can proactively take
ownership of these changes and even if
we don’t know where we’re going or what
our role will be when we get there we
can take ownership of this and seize the
opportunity to step into the unknown
coming back from Nepal I knew and
learned something really important
but I wanted to apply it to more than
just trekking through the mountains
funded by a National Geographic grin my
brother and I came up with the idea to
travel across the United States and try
to inspire the next generation of
explorers to conserve and protect our
environment with the grant money we
converted an old van to run on waste
vegetable oil and then change the inside
and cover the outside turning into our
very own ice cream truck we traveled
around the United States for three
months and for 3,000 or 4,000 miles we
actually met with kids in their own
neighborhoods and cities asked them to
choose an area that they wanted to
conserve and take ownership of that area
as an explorer somebody who no matter
the unknown things that would happen
would conserve and protect that area the
interesting thing about this experience
is that we set out to inspire the next
generation but it was actually turned
right back on us we were the ones
inspired by the creativity they showed
and protecting and conserving our
environment now let’s fast forward to
just last spring funded by another
National Geographic another National
Geographic grant my team and I traveled
to Ladakh now the dock is a region high
in the Indian Himalayas nestled between
Pakistan and Tibet it’s home to some of
the world’s highest altitude roads but
every single year these roads are
destroyed by the avalanches rock slides
and flooding and this essentially cuts
the dock off from the outside world now
every spring immigrants come to Ladakh
to reconstruct these roads despite of
the extreme altitude while we’re in
Ladakh the story that unfolded was very
much a coming-of-age story we had found
a Tibetan Buddhist culture with this
identity rootedness isolation at an
awkward point development
a time when things had grown a little
bit too fast but not quite fast enough
we found that the connectivity had
increased tourism and sparked
socio-economic change but the lack of
connectivity for six to nine months out
of the year had prevented people from
fully assuming this new way of life we
found that the roads themselves acted as
the metronome of the docks development
as this metronome quickens the docks
isolation will become a thing of the
past they will be forced into the
unknown to take that step what I learned
from this experience was the exploration
it is not always a choice the reality of
our world even if you’ve constructed it
to be static is that the world is
changing a changing world whether you
wanted to or not will shake things up
and you will be forced to step into the
unknown to say this another way at some
point or another we will all be forced
to be explorers or to ignore the changes
happening around us I encourage you to
do like Ladakh ease and step into the
unknown and embrace these challenges
when they cross your path one note I’d
like to say something I’ve learned is
that exploration applies to you
regardless of what you’re doing in life
I want us all to stay here to stand here
today and imagine a world where instead
of businesspeople scientists engineers
students engineers and teachers were all
explorers well yeah what would our what
would our world look like what would our
world look like if we taught children to
be explorers instead of how to answer
questions on tests correctly
what would business look like if we
tried to look for those answers or those
questions and those answers to questions
are really mattered and what would
science look like if we look for
meaningful questions regardless of
whether they are published
in a reputable journal if you’re
inspired what you hear today I want you
to take away three things the first is
practice practice every single chance
you get if a question comes across that
will lead you into the unknown chase
that answer as we practice exploration
we become better explorers ourselves the
second thing is be creative look for
opportunities to explore like the ice
cream expedition I talked about earlier
these types of things are only the tip
of the iceberg the opportunities for
exploration are truly endless the last
thing I want us to do is encourage
exploration like my stores make my story
previously illustrated exploration can
at times be terrifying and you may have
no idea where you’re going and it’s
supposed to be this way when you see
somebody engaging and meaningful
exploration encourage them let’s think
back to that story in the Himalayas when
I was alone in the cold not sure where
to go I couldn’t even see through the
fog in the snowstorm remember that
question I asked is this worth it what
I’ve learned since then is that
explorers come across the raging river
of the unknown and instead of turning
around they jump in and learn how to
swim next time something crosses your
path that encourages you to step in the
unknown
I implore you to boldly do so as an
explorer it’s worth it
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