Olli

Oliver Heise

Composer, filmmaker & media educator

Motivation for the trip

When the idea of walking the PCT first came up in 2015, it was pure fascination - right from the start. But somehow also very far away; the dream was postponed until after "65". But we kept talking about it. And in December 2017 we asked ourselves the question: "Why do we always talk about it? We'll just do it!"

That's it. It was that simple. At least until then ...

I never asked myself the question "why?", however, because it is probably more of an unconscious, emotional nature. It is hard to explain rationally why you would want to forego all the comforts of your life for 6 months, with enormous physical and mental exertion, and all of that "just" in exchange for beautiful natural landscapes. But since your own motivation is worth exploring because it reveals something about your own self, I asked myself the question.

In addition to the small everyday moments, it is the highlights that carry you through life. And these are events that have their rough edges! "You have also learned something when you know how not to do something," said dowel inventor Artur Fischer about his own work during filming. Feeling joy, experiencing pain and learning about life. Highlights are the spice of life. And dreams can become highlights. One of them is the PCT. But why the PCT?

Nature is the most beautiful thing we have here on earth. Being able to move freely in it for six months, day and night, is a great gift for me: getting out of the "tetheredness" of our feel-good society and in the pleasant life that we lead here in Germany and for which we are nevertheless very grateful. We will have little on our tour, foregoing all comforts: everyday life reduced to the essentials.

I want to know where I am in my life. What does the time on the PCT do to me? Do I continue where I left off? Or do I continue to go where I haven't been yet, in the spirit of Diane Arbus' saying? That would be the next adventure...

(Portrait photo by Claus Rudolph)