John Harlin's Swiss Border Adventure

JOHN HARLIN’S

SWISS BORDER ADVENTURE www.JohnHarlin.net; john@JohnHarlin.net; 541-490-9055

AROUND THE BORDERS IN 100 DAYS. OOPS, MAKE THAT TWO YEARS.

2010 was big, but 2011 will be huge.

On 22 June I set out on foot from my childhood village of

It didn’t work out that way.

Leysin, headed for the French border. My plan was to hike, climb, paddle, and bike the circumference of Switzerland, staying within a stone’s throw of

hospital with two broken feet after falling 15 meters.

the political border. I hoped to finish in 100 days.

Ten days later I was in the

Next July I’ll return for the southern (Alpine) borders, the biggest challenge I’ve ever faced.

In October I returned with a new plan: paddle and bike the northern borders while my feet

Please join me on this great adventure by following the journey on swissinfo.ch and Facebook, then enjoying my film,

were still weak.

book, and lecture tour.

S W I S S I N F O. C H MY BORDERS PROJECT IS SUPPORTED PRIMARILY BY THE GREAT PEOPLE AT SWISSINFO.CH, WHERE I FILE A DAILY BLOG AND MORE. WHILE I’M ON THE BORDER, THE “AROUND THE BORDERS” SPECIAL IS ALWAYS FEATURED ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE EDITION. SEVEN OTHER LANGUAGES FOLLOW ME IN VARYING DEPTH.

FACEBOOK SWISS BORDERS MANY PEOPLE PREFER TO FOLLOW MY JOURNEY ON FACEBOOK--IN FACT, THAT’S HOW MY WIFE LEARNED ABOUT THE ACCIDENT. IN JULY ABOUT 2,100 PEOPLE HAD “LIKED” ME. BY THE END OF THE NORTHERN BORDERS IN NOVEMBER, THE FIGURE HAD JUMPED TO NEARLY 22,000.

FO LL OW JOH N EACH DAY I UPLOAD SEVERAL PHOTOS TO A GOOGLE MAP. PEOPLE FOLLOW MY PROGRESS AROUND THE BORDER BY THESE PHOTO POSTINGS, WHICH ARE ANNOUNCED ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. ZOOM INTO THE MAP TO CHOOSE A PHOTO, THEN CLICK THE PHOTO TO EXPAND IT. THE LINK ABOVE IS TO THE FULLSCREEN VERSION. HERE IS HOW IT LOOKS ON THE “AROUND THE BORDERS” HOME PAGE.

PIC ASA LIVE ALL THE PHOTOS POSTED TO THE GOOGLE MAP ALSO APPEAR ON A PICASA PAGE, WHERE THEY ARE EASIER TO VIEW AND CAN BE TURNED INTO A SLIDE SHOW. PICASA BECOMES THE VISUAL DIARY OF A LIVE ADVENTURE.

SWISSINFO A RC H I VE S HERE YOU’LL FIND ALL MY DAILY BLOGS FOR SWISSINFO, INCLUDING PHOTOS AND VIDEOS. THESE ARE THE DAILY POSTS THAT PEOPLE FOLLOW WHEN THEY’RE NOT ON FACEBOOK.

SWITZERLAND TOUR ISM SWITZERLAND TOURISM IS SUPPORTING MY JOURNEY WITH THEIR MANY LOGISTICAL CONTACTS AND CONSIDERABLE ADVICE ON ROUTE PLANNING.

S W I S S TO U R I S M MAP SUPPORT WHILE IN THE FIELD I RELY ON THE SWISSTOPO MAPS THAT SWITZERLAND TOURISM LOADED ONTO MY SMARTPHONE. BUT PLANNING THE JOURNEY INVOLVES THE SAME MAPS THAT MYSWITZERLAND.COM (A.K.A. SWISS TOURISM) PROVIDES ON THE “PLANNED ROUTE” SECTION OF THEIR WEBSITE (IF YOU DIG DOWN A FEW LAYERS).

SWISSINFO VIDEOS SWISSINFO HAS PRODUCED TWO SHORT VIDEOS ABOUT MY BORDER JOURNEY SO FAR. ONE DESCRIBES THE VISION AND THE TECHNOLOGY BEHIND REPORTING IT, AND THE OTHER TELLS THE STORY OF THE FIRST TWO STAGES. (CLICK THE TRIANGLE)

J O H N H AR L I N WEBSITE ON MY WEBSITE YOU’LL FIND SEVERAL EXAMPLES OF MY WRITING, MANY PHOTOS TO COMPLEMENT MY BOOK “THE EIGER OBSESSION,” A VARIETY OF VIDEOS, AND DETAILED BACKGROUND TO MY SWISS BORDER ODYSSEY.

L E C T U R E TO U R THOUGH MY JOURNEY AROUND SWITZERLAND IS ONLY HALF COMPLETED, I’VE ALREADY PRESENTED “SWISS BORDER STORIES” TO CORPORATIONS, CLUB BANQUETS, AND FILM FESTIVALS. NEXT FALL I WILL START SHARING THE FULL STORY FAR AND WIDE.

SWISS BORDERS F IL M WE PLAN TO PRODUCE A FILM IN TIME FOR THIS YEAR’S “GRAZ MOUNTAIN AND ADVENTURE FILM FESTIVAL” IN NOVEMBER. ROBERT SCHAUER, DIRECTOR OF THE FESTIVAL, IS SPEARHEADING THE PROJECT, WHICH WILL INCLUDE VIDEOS I SHOOT AND WHAT HE FILMS DURING HIS PARTICIPATION NEXT SUMMER.

SWISS BORDERS BOOK FOLLOWING A FEATURE ARTICLE IN BACKPACKER MAGAZINE, I’LL WRITE TWO BOOKS FROM THIS JOURNEY. ONE WILL BE THE ADVENTURE NARRATIVE, ANOTHER A COFFEE TABLE PHOTO ALBUM.

S C E N E S F RO M 2 0 1 0

I STARTED MY JOURNEY IN LEYSIN ON 22 JUNE (UPPER LEFT). A WEEK LATER THE MOUNTAINS ENVELOPED ME IN ROCK AND ICE, BUT AFTER 10 DAYS THEY SPIT ME OUT WITH BROKEN FEET, GLAD TO BE ALIVE. THREE MONTHS LATER I RETURNED TO BIKE AND PADDLE THE NORTHERN BORDERS, A CULTURAL VOYAGE THROUGH NATURE AND HISTORY. IN 2011 THE HIGH MOUNTAIN ADVENTURE CONTINUES...

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