Un explorer is a person who leads the way. Sarah Marquis, passionate about wildlife since childhood, has all her life questioned existence and its limits, sketching a new look at the world around us. These perilous adventures, real programs of self-transcendence, which she accomplishes alone, have notably taken her to the unexplored primary forest of Tasmania, to Siberia, to the Andes Cordillera and to the Australian desert.
At fifty, the expert in hostile environments takes stock of her past life to the rhythm of Mother Nature. In 15 untold expedition stories, Sarah Marquis offers unpublished anecdotes that changed her destiny. She remembers the crossing of the Kimberley infested with crocodiles, the quest for water in the Australian Bush, an old Chinese lady and her gang who sequester her to feed organ trafficking. But also, warm encounters with the Aborigines and signs placed on his way, by a chance that seems very lucky. “The world has always been one gigantic treasure hunt. Most of the time, I leave without knowing what I’m really looking for. I think outside the box, I explore and expose myself to the unexpected. Then, one day, a discovery presents itself to me, without my being able to define how it happened. »
A new skill every year
Adventure is his school. She learned everything in the field at the risk of her life. From the day she left home, she made a promise to add a new skill to her basic education every year, whether it was learning a language, a martial art or computer program.
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Over the course of her initiation, this adventurer who sees herself as a bridge connecting humans to nature, has also shown herself to be a talented author in recent years. His books convey experiences. She not only recounts her wanderings but also distills advice and life lessons to her readers. These expeditions are similar to “missions impossible”. She reassures: “1% of people encouraged me with all their energy. This 1% is enough, it is the wind of hope […] and confirms that you are on the right path […]. There is always a solution, if you haven’t found it, it’s because you haven’t opened your mind enough. […] Go for it if you feel the wind blowing in you, go to meet your destiny, because you are the only one responsible for what happens to you. »
She shares touching moments with us, like this scene where a Mongolian child is dozing, his face in the sun, snuggled up against the leg of a bull which acts as a pillow for him. “My hope for harmony between man and nature finds its meaning at this precise moment. Magic that contrasts with the episode of her first attempt to cross the Gobi Desert, when she realizes that she is being followed by drunken Mongol horsemen, whom she ends up confronting with her bare hands by scaring their horses away. “This kind of experience demonstrates our ability, as humans, to adapt and find solutions on the ground. These solutions, they are there, and you just have to tap into your instincts and believe in yourself,” she writes.
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This story in an alert style, without embellishments, charms us with its audacity, its sincerity, its universal scope and its advice applicable to everyday life. It invites effort, “the price to pay for an incandescent life”, celebrates the taste for risk, to a certain extent. “Only those who risk are free,” she writes. He who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing. He can avoid suffering and sadness, but he can’t learn anything, can’t feel anything, can’t change or develop, can’t love or live. A thought-provoking, brave and energizing book. In this time of uncertainty, a must read.
15 untold expedition stories. who changed my lifeby Sarah Marquis, Michel Lafon, 18.95 euros.