“How’s it goin’?

Graeme here, 25 year old river rat from Ireland. Why do I paddle? It’s something I can’t fully describe and to be honest that’s just how I like it.

Some things just are and should never be explained, just accepted.

What I do know for sure is when sitting in my little boat about to run a rapid, be it my home run or in some far away place, there’s a sense of calm being with friends  doing what you love far from the madness of a materialistic world.

To date I’ve paddled around a lot of Europe taking in beautiful creeks in Italy and Corsica and rivers in France and Switzerland.

I’ve headed twice to Norway, the land of the Vikings for undoubtedly some of the world’s most amazing rivers and shared these experiences with good friends.

And also to Africa on the mighty White Nile where the plans for my next great adventures were laid.

I basically bust my balls for months at a time “working for the man” to then take off and have some serious fun. People might see me as a bit of a flake and I do get asked “When are you going to take your life seriously?” but I say to them perception is relative.

I’m happy and that’s all that matters. A big house, big car and a big bank account, you can’t take any of it with you when your time’s up.

Somehow I doubt I’ll die saying “I wish I did more overtime”.

They thought they’d got me with my current “real world job”. Man they are going to be pissed when I bail. Tough shit, ‘cos I’m going boating for as much of 2007 as I can starting  back in Africa on the White Nile, then hoping to get in the Zambezi and some off the beaten track stuff.

Then possibly Canada or back to Norway, I’ll see how it plays out, stay tuned for some pics.

I’ll be having a blast, I love being off somewhere living out of a rucksack but getting to do the one thing that really makes me tick which is doing anything that gets my heart racing.

The coolest thing in the world dropping into a big rapid, as once you accept nature’s power you can just charge with it.

There ain’t no roller coaster or no drug in the world like adrenalin …… that’s why I feed the rat.

Pure natural highs and fun, that’s what makes life worth living. Anything else is just existing and what’s the point in that?”