JOHN HARLIN’S

On 22 June I set out on foot

from my childhood village of

Leysin, headed for the French

border. My plan was to hike,

climb, paddle, and bike the

circumference of Switzerland,

staying within a stone’s throw of

the political border. I hoped to

finish in 100 days.

It didn’t work out that way.

Ten days later I was in the

hospital with two broken feet

after falling 15 meters.

In October I returned with a

new plan: paddle and bike the

northern borders while my feet

were still weak.

Next July I’ll return for the

southern (Alpine) borders, the

biggest challenge I’ve ever faced.

Please join me on this great

adventure by following the

journey on swissinfo.ch and

Facebook, then enjoying my film,

book, and lecture tour.

2010 was big, but 2011 will be huge.

AROUND THE BORDERS IN 100 DAYS. OOPS, MAKE THAT TWO YEARS.

SWISS BORDERADVENTURE

www.JohnHarlin.net; john@JohnHarlin.net; 541-490-9055

SWISSINFO.CH

MY BORDERS PROJECT IS SUPPORTED PRIMARILY BY THE GREAT PEOPLE AT SWISSINFO.CH, WHERE I FILE A DAILY BLOG AND MORE. WHILE I’M ON THE BORDER, THE “AROUND THE BORDERS” SPECIAL IS ALWAYS FEATURED ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE EDITION. SEVEN OTHER LANGUAGES FOLLOW ME IN VARYING DEPTH.

FACEBOOK SWISS BORDERS

MANY PEOPLE PREFER TO FOLLOW MY JOURNEY ON FACEBOOK--IN FACT, THAT’S HOW MY WIFE LEARNED ABOUT THE ACCIDENT.

IN JULY ABOUT 2,100 PEOPLE HAD “LIKED” ME. BY THE END OF THE NORTHERN BORDERS IN NOVEMBER, THE FIGURE HAD JUMPED TO NEARLY 22,000.

FOLLOW JOHN

EACH DAY I UPLOAD SEVERAL PHOTOS TO A GOOGLE MAP. PEOPLE FOLLOW MY PROGRESS AROUND THE BORDER BY THESE PHOTO POSTINGS, WHICH ARE ANNOUNCED ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. ZOOM INTO THE MAP TO CHOOSE A PHOTO, THEN CLICK THE PHOTO TO EXPAND IT. THE LINK ABOVE IS TO THE FULL-SCREEN VERSION. HERE IS HOW IT LOOKS ON THE “AROUND THE BORDERS” HOME PAGE.

PIC ASA L IVE

ALL THE PHOTOS POSTED TO THE GOOGLE MAP ALSO APPEAR ON A PICASA PAGE, WHERE THEY ARE EASIER TO VIEW AND CAN BE TURNED INTO A SLIDE SHOW. PICASA BECOMES THE VISUAL DIARY OF A LIVE ADVENTURE.

SWISSINFO

ARCHIVES

HERE YOU’LL FIND ALL MY DAILY BLOGS FOR SWISSINFO, INCLUDING PHOTOS AND VIDEOS. THESE ARE THE DAILY POSTS THAT PEOPLE FOLLOW WHEN THEY’RE NOT ON FACEBOOK.

SWITZERLAND TOURISM

SWITZERLAND TOURISM IS SUPPORTING MY JOURNEY WITH THEIR MANY LOGISTICAL CONTACTS AND CONSIDERABLE ADVICE ON ROUTE PLANNING.

SWISS TOURISM MAP SUPPORT

WHILE IN THE FIELD I RELY ON THE SWISSTOPO MAPS THAT SWITZERLAND TOURISM LOADED ONTO MY SMARTPHONE. BUT PLANNING THE JOURNEY INVOLVES THE SAME MAPS THAT MYSWITZERLAND.COM (A.K.A. SWISS TOURISM) PROVIDES ON THE “PLANNED ROUTE” SECTION OF THEIR WEBSITE (IF YOU DIG DOWN A FEW LAYERS).

SWISSINFO

VIDEOS

SWISSINFO HAS PRODUCED TWO SHORT VIDEOS ABOUT MY BORDER JOURNEY SO FAR. ONE DESCRIBES THE VISION AND THE TECHNOLOGY BEHIND REPORTING IT, AND THE OTHER TELLS THE STORY OF THE FIRST TWO STAGES. (CLICK THE TRIANGLE)

JOHN HARLIN WEBSITE

ON MY WEBSITE YOU’LL FIND SEVERAL EXAMPLES OF MY WRITING, MANY PHOTOS TO COMPLEMENT MY BOOK “THE EIGER OBSESSION,” A VARIETY OF VIDEOS, AND DETAILED BACKGROUND TO MY SWISS BORDER ODYSSEY.

LECTURE TOUR

THOUGH MY JOURNEY AROUND SWITZERLAND IS ONLY HALF COMPLETED, I’VE ALREADY PRESENTED “SWISS BORDER STORIES” TO CORPORATIONS, CLUB BANQUETS, AND FILM FESTIVALS.

NEXT FALL I WILL START SHARING THE FULL STORY FAR AND WIDE.

SWISS BORDERS F ILM

WE PLAN TO PRODUCE A FILM IN TIME FOR THIS YEAR’S “GRAZ MOUNTAIN AND ADVENTURE FILM FESTIVAL” IN NOVEMBER. ROBERT SCHAUER, DIRECTOR OF THE FESTIVAL, IS SPEARHEADING THE PROJECT, WHICH WILL INCLUDE VIDEOS I SHOOT AND WHAT HE FILMS DURING HIS PARTICIPATION NEXT SUMMER.

SWISS BORDERS BOOK

FOLLOWING A FEATURE ARTICLE IN BACKPACKER MAGAZINE, I’LL WRITE TWO BOOKS FROM THIS JOURNEY. ONE WILL BE THE ADVENTURE NARRATIVE, ANOTHER A COFFEE TABLE PHOTO ALBUM.

I STARTED MY JOURNEY IN LEYSIN ON 22 JUNE (UPPER LEFT). A WEEK LATER THE MOUNTAINS ENVELOPED ME IN ROCK AND ICE, BUT AFTER 10 DAYS THEY SPIT ME OUT WITH BROKEN FEET, GLAD TO BE ALIVE.

THREE MONTHS LATER I RETURNED TO BIKE AND PADDLE THE NORTHERN BORDERS, A CULTURAL VOYAGE THROUGH NATURE AND HISTORY.

IN 2011 THE HIGH MOUNTAIN ADVENTURE CONTINUES...

WWW.JOHNHARLIN.NET

SCENES FROM 2010