Walk Across Australia: The First Solo Crossing

"That part of me that I could not ignore needed to be tested. It needed to be tired, cold, hungry, thirsty and frightened. It was not just a need for adrenaline; the Foreign Legion gave me plenty of that. It was a need to see other parts of me. If what other people thought of me did not matter, knowledge of my own self certainly did. It meant that to be happy I had to know myself, and the only way I could do that was to be exposed to fear and hope and the possibility of losing everything. I wanted to see other parts of me that a comfortable life could never expose. I felt the need to strip away the noise and colour that made up so much of everyday life and find the noise and colour inside myself." *** In 1998, David Mason became the first person to walk solo across Australia at its widest point. After his experiences in the French Foreign Legion, his trek was at once a challenge and a way to reconnect with life, people, and Australia. It was one man, a swag, three camels, and his hopes and his fears. Mason did it all on foot (there was no riding of the camels) so that, at the end of the expedition, he could say that he had walked his country, every single step of the way. He was alone, with no support crew offering massage tables, beds, or beer. In the course of the expedition, David Mason also became the first documented person to walk solo east-west across Australia's Simpson Desert and its 1100 dunes. He sought to demonstrate that, in taking on challenges, one can truly experience a life more fully lived. For this achievement, Mason was named Australia's Adventurer of the Year and was awarded the Gold Medal of the Australian Geographic Society. In Walk Across Australia: The First Solo Crossing, David Mason shares the experiences of his personal achievement.