Explorer-In-Residence, Mikael Strandberg, On The Meaning Of Life

Mikael Strandberg has travelled to 117 countries and has slept more than 2500 nights in his tent.  The Explorers Club in London considers Mikael "the best contemporary explorer in the world" at present. He is currently working as an explorer, a lecturer and a writer and has produced three internationally renowned documentaries for television: PATAGONIA – 3,000 kilometers by horse and THE MASAAI PEOPLE – 1,000 kilometers by foot and his much awarded, -58 degrees – exploring Siberia on skiis. Considered one of the world’s 50 most important and famous explorers, Kensington Tours is proud to have Mikael as one of our Explorers-In-Residence. Mikael started his professional career as an explorer 25 years ago. His expeditions have included; Chile to Alaska by bicycle (27,500 km including the "impassable" Darien Gap), Norway to South Africa by bicycle (33,000 km including pushing across Sahara Desert), New Zealand across Asia to Cairo by bicycle (90,000 km), a year with gauchos in Patagonia (3,000km by horse) and a year with the Maasai people in East Africa, completely immersed in their culture. His ongoing quest for the meaning of life landed him in the coldest inhabited place of the world – Siberia. In 2004 Mikael explored the unknown Kolyma River in North-Eastern Siberia. He traversed 3500 kilometers by canoe and by skiis in temperatures below -58 degrees Celsius. His Siberia expedition is globally hailed as one of the coldest ever in the history of exploration and was picked as one of the most important Expeditions in the 21^st Century. “Normal-na!” becomes the simple philosophy by which Mikael discovers the Siberian way of looking at life. Two words that define a way to live and be happy no matter what happens. In this TED x lecture, he explains how he had to almost lose his life before trying to understand it and he shares the important existential lessons he learned along the way.

Mikael Strandberg - NORMALNA, The Siberian Way to Understanding the Meaning of Life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-Pqg0zIuvzA