Unplugged

Unplugged #22: Adventure is about making choices, inside the print revival, a visit to the new local darkroom, and how the world got so ugly

A regenerative time of year.

Oct 18 •

Unplugged #21: Alex’s madcap climber era, what endures when adventure ends, and the great fusion of all things

I’ve been spelunking in old journals in the name of book research.

Oct 4 •

Unplugged #20: Analogue11, a creative wellspring, from the Gothic to the divine, and memory on fire

Yes, it’s been yet another Alps-based personal creative revolution.

Sep 12 •

Unplugged #19: Thinking long-term, an upgraded film scanner, fear and finding out, and a phoenix rises from the ashes

Where is this thing going?

Aug 8 •

Unplugged #18: A doomed landscape, the pleasure of creation, against compression, and getting back your time

Drawing together the threads for a larger audience this week

Jul 18 •

Unplugged #17: Anti-conquest mountaineering, drones on Everest, end of an era in Glen Coe, and the edit is the adventure

I don’t identify with having a fear of heights, but tackling some issues has helped me on the rock… and it doesn’t have to be about ‘conquering…

Jun 26 •

Unplugged #16: Revealing the elemental, the future is trust, a walk without a camera, and failures of imagination

‘Elbow grease is out. Handprints are in.’

Jun 12 •

Unplugged #15: A year on Substack, rehabilitating our relationship with adventure, and dances with editors

I've been thinking about rehabilitating our relationship with adventure lately, and I'm glad to see others writing about it.

May 27 •

Unplugged #14: Craft and integrity, a fullness of presence, the call of the goldfinch, and maker’s knowledge

I got into an online debate with a pro-AI evangelist, and I don’t think I completely disgraced myself…

May 6 •

Unplugged #13: Seminal moments outside, the invisible cost of staying dry, and romanticising Romanticism

A few analogue adventure treasures from this week, plus a tweaked Unplugged format

Apr 22 •

Unplugged #12: The Meta book heist, tall fences and old trees, growing is painful, and the pursuit of perfection

In which I try to join the dots between Meta's colossal data theft from creatives, the future of outdoor storytelling, and thinking with simple tools...

Apr 8 •

Unplugged #11: Uncertainty and adventure, a wildfire outside, the enshittification of komoot, and the rise of New Romanticism

What do Cicerone guidebooks, an adventure app acquisition, the Luddite uprising of 1811, the Outside crisis, and the music of Ludwig van Beethoven have…

Mar 26 •

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