Because it's there.
A guiding principle for life.
Back in 1923 George Mallory was asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest. ‘Because it’s there,’ he replied. It’s an answer that I’ve always respected. More than just a deflection to a pesky question; it’s a guiding principle for life.
Last Wednesday I did something that I’ve wanted to do since moving to Genoa, for the simple reason that it was there. Our house sits in the hills on the eastern edge of the city, and off to the left of our view of the Mediterranean is a big forested lump of rock called the Promontorio di Portofino. On the far corner of the rock is the fabled jewel of the Italian Riviera, the picturesque ‘fishing village’ (ahem) of Portofino.
I’ve always wanted to walk back to my house from Portofino, because it’s there. So I did.
Luckily this also happens to be a superb place for a walk. The first half was across the rugged Promontorio itself, through rocks and chestnut trees to Camogli, with sea views and helicopters hoving into view and then disappearing again. This is the short video that I’ve pulled together from that first bit (a break from my usual Dutch videos).
The second will be along the coast road (the old Roman Via Aurelia) back to Sant’Ilario, with a tonne more sea views and lots of multicoloured houses dotted around on hillsides. You know the kind of thing. That video will be along in a week.
I also recorded a YouTube Short video, with a quick and ranty explanation of why people should simply stop going to Portofino. Yes, it’s physically magnificent, but it’s also a dreadful hellhole of crowds, over-priced tat and posing influencers. Even though my visit was in early November there were still two cruise ships moored offshore, ready to disgorge their passengers so that they can join the shuffling, posing, free-spending hordes. It’s pretty dreadful, and after all if you see my two proper videos you’ll see the rest of the magnificent coastline. And Genoa itself, which is a very, very different Italian city, and well worth it. Do it because it’s there.
The walk itself was a terrific reminder of the value of getting out onto two feet and tramping over physical land at 4 miles an hour. I’ve been along that road by car (and bicycle) plenty of times before, but I’ve never had time to notice the amount of life and detail that I saw on foot. I think the final distance was a very manageable 23km, and more people should do it. Simply because it’s there.
Most of my ‘because it’s there’ adventures tend to be on foot. One was from the northern tip of the island of Singapore to the south, after an evening studying a map with a glass of wine in my hand. My route went from Sembawang Park through far-flung housing estates, a reservoir, streets of colonial ‘black and white’ bungalows, the Botanic Gardens, and down to the gun emplacements of Labrador Battery, famous for facing the opposite direction to the invading Japanese in 1941. Once I’d started writing my book on that country, ‘Singapore, Singapura’, it quickly became obvious to me that I’d have to do it based around a single day 53km walk from the western edge to the eastern edge. It made sense for the narrative of the book, but once I’d picked out a route from the border post with Malaysia to the ferries leaving for Indonesia, I would have done it anyway. Because it was there.
George Mallory’s reply about Everest is also important to me because it underlines the essential purposelessness of some of our most rewarding achievements. Just think, if we had to justify an activity because of some ostensible higher meaning, would we get such a kick out of playing or watching sport, sitting in front of a fire, or fiddling around in the kitchen with a new recipe? One day you’ll be dust, so why not just do something, just because it’s there?