Project Pause… The Empty Quarter – Part 2

I ventured into Project Pause in the hope of making it a valuable experience and when sharing my ideas and objectives, I found that other brands were keen to be part of the story. With their support, it opened doors to record the gig and share what it stands for with a bigger audience. I really hope to kick some butt and shift some mindsets!

Wouter-Kingma-Blog-for-Project-Pause-5

On drop off day, I had a film team join for an afternoon of filming but when they left at sunset, the rest of the week was self filmed. My photo gear has been able to do video ever since the Canon 5D Mark 2 got launched in 2008 but strangely enough, I had just never had the desire to flick the switch and shoot video. Thankfully, video pro’s, Alex and Maellyn gave me a quick 10 minute crash course before leaving the desert on how to set my Canon 1Dx to film mode. I also had the newly launched Canon Legria MiniX and a couple of GoPro’s to play with. On the last day I got picked up, Maellyn joined to film the missing takes.

I certainly had enough hardware to film the story and was delighted that there was such enthusiasm for me to document the project as best I could. Keep your eyes peeled for the Project Pause documentary video!

Project-Pause-walking-up-dunes

The timing for such a project is never going to be perfect and inevitably, it was really hard to find a week-long window amongst back to back shoots and my latest book project. During the month of March, I think I was only actually home for four days. Project Pause came right after an intense 11 day shoot in Kuwait leaving me with just 48 hours to pack and shop for my week of solitude as well as squeeze in some quality time with the family. In parallel, I’ve been working on an amazing book called ‘Falcons of Arabia’, scheduled to go to print mid April. Willingly cutting myself off like this meant I had to have a great team in place during my absence. My thanks go to all involved for making it work!

One of the brands that instantly embraced Project Pause was VW Middle East and they provided me with a brand new VW Touareg. Driving their latest model, packed with all my toys and desert survival kit was a real joy and undoubtedly the most luxurious thing I had with me. I’m working on a separate behind the scenes video with all the kit I brought along, sharing what gear works and what you may want to pack if you feel the urge to go on a similar adventure.

There’s only one place to do all your outdoor shopping for a trip into the wilderness and that’s Adventure HQ. The guys are super helpful and highly knowledgeable about the products they sell. I’m a big believer in technical clothing to keep me dry when exercising and warm and comfy in the evening. Marmot fits the bill perfectly and is my preferred garment of choice.

One thing I was keen to start during my week was the writing of my own book ‘1975 – connecting the dots.’ Eventually, I hope to see it as a printed book, filled with stories and images. Each story feeds to the person I am today, why I do what I love and how I choose to live my life. It was inspired by a blog post I once wrote in May 2013 after browsing two amazing photo books in the Yas Hotel lobby. I’m delighted to have made a good start with notes, anecdotes and the makings of a general outline. The book is very much about how opportunities have landed in my path, some expected and others far from it. I guess I’m keen to find out from where they originated from.

The big question, of course, is when is the right time in your career to scribble down your story? Never, I guess… so the best time is NOW. Don’t wait for someone to write your memoir knowing that you’ll never get the chance to read it. Read the 2013 post and you’ll find out how.

An unexpected highlight of my week was when my wife and two little boys joined the pick-up team on day seven. Total surprise! The kids where ecstatic about dune bashing and our family dinner in The Empty Quarter will be etched in my memory for a long time to come. My big thanks to Kiki for manning the fort in my absence and taking on the long journey to collect me.

To wrap up this post, I would love to leave you with two questions. 1) What would be your version of Project Pause? 2) Within the next six months, when could you spare a week to explore in solitude? From experience, I can tell you how great it feels not having the urge to pick up my iPhone and check my status, email or other stuff.

Great ideas happen when not glued to a handheld….

Wk.

‪#‎adventureHQ‬ ‪#‎Volkswagen‬ ‪#‎Marmot‬ ‪#‎SanDisk‬ ‪#‎GoalZero‬ ‪#‎FstopGear‬ ‪#‎Fatboy‬

‪#‎CanonMiddleEast‬ ‪#‎Thuraya‬ ‪#‎GoPro‬ ‪#‎xtralink‬

One thought on “Project Pause… The Empty Quarter – Part 2

  1. menno says:

    Nice job mate,
    Love to see both our similair routes to discover ourselves. Next weekend i Will be on my own in the great planes of kootwijkerzand. Nothing but food, water, paper notebook, pen, tent and inspiration.
    I call it me@me me at me, also to be read as meatme. A inner search.
    Love to see your plans for “1975 connecting the dots” great. Already a bestseller Wout. 🙂
    Cant wat to exchange ideas and creatieve processes this summer.
    Cheers mate

Comments are closed.