Last year a Google map proved once and for all that no matter how deep American children dug holes in their backyards, they would never reach China. The antipode (diametric opposite) for most of the United States, the map showed, would have them emerging salivating for egg rolls beneath the Indian Ocean. I doubt this is crushing many kids’ dreams these days, since the world as we know it has become such a smaller place in the last generation. But what does the smallness of the planet—and its increased interconnectedness—mean for the spirit of exploration?
Well, as you might’ve guessed, we believe that the spirit of exploration is alive and well—even if it’s less connected with earthly terrain. And even though you read a bound magazine but surf the endless web, we set out to prove that the spirit of exploration can flourish within the confines of the print medium. We have created what we would like you to treat as a field guide for exploration, demonstrating that we explore through our relationship with time as Claire Hoffman finds in her interview with Eckhart Tolle; we explore by hacking into places that have been declared off-limits as Moses Gates shows us in his descent into Paris’ catacombs; we explore by defying political convention as Sarah Stankorb shows us in her story of a burgeoning subculture of gun-toting liberals; we explore by increasingly living our lives as global citizens as Rosie Spinks shows us in her investigation of a group of tech nomads; we explore through compassion as Colin Finlay shows us in his improbable photos of a planet viciously scarred by climate change; and finally, we explore by gazing toward the unknown as Maxwell Williams demonstrates by charting the cross-pollination of conversations emerging among artists, entrepreneurs, futurists, and social innovators about outer space as the next human frontier.
We’ve also given you a series of exercises in this issue to facilitate your own exploration. But if you’re reading this email in Argentina, get back to your digging and don’t worry about purchasing a copy of the Exploration Issue. Your antipode, as it turns out, is right smack dab in the middle of China.
