Paving the Way with Leather

On this trip we have met such a wide range of people living such different lives.  This has fuelled recurring and meandering thoughts about the choices we make and how different life can be. Just to be clear, we both love our jobs and, you may be surprised to hear, are really looking forward to returning to them and the different sorts of challenges they present, so no rash decisions to be made here.  Nevertheless, we’ve been interested, inspired and in some cases incredulous at meeting all sorts of individuals and families forging their own paths and demonstrating just some ways to live that differ from the relatively well trodden route that many of us find ourselves on.

We met one American family in Guatemala who were two years into a trip sailing down the west coast of the Americas with their 4 and 6 year olds; an old Belgian guy who had an unrelenting obsession with orchids, spending his life travelling around the world in search of specimens, chartering helicopters to drop him into deepest, darkest Venezuela in search of an elusive sample; an American who’d stumbled across a quarry of petrified wood, taught himself everything he could about handling it, sold his business and moved to Panama on a whim (without his wife who doesn't like humidity and mosquitos) hoping he could ‘make something happen’. These are all people who feel brave, they are finding their own way; as Antonio Machado says “Searcher, there is no road. We make the road by walking”.

The most recent example we have found is a friend who was a mechanic on our ride through Africa in 2013, called JJ. Prior to the trip, he had managed a bike shop in Canada and joined the support crew for our journey whilst he was at a bit of a crossroads in his life. He has always enjoyed working with his hands, and early in the trip he had obtained a piece of leather and had worked it up into a journal cover.

JJ's original journal cover and how it looks now -
some progress made on the stitching! 

At the end of the trip, the Tour Chef somehow ended up purloining JJ’s backpack - they say necessity is the mother of invention and a necessity to carry his stuff led JJ to source some leather in Mozambique and make a backpack. Over the next few months, people saw some of JJ’s handiwork and asked him where he got it - the response of “I made it” often leading to a request of “Can you make one for me?”. People were willing to pay JJ for what he loved doing - working with his hands, creating something beautiful and long lasting. A few months of meandering led JJ to South America and his improving leather skills helped fund him to Otavalo, in Ecuador - somewhat of a home of artisanal crafts.

Otavalo is quite a mecca for handmade goods, exploding in colour every Saturday on market day, and merely bursting at the seams on other days of the week. He has found a real niche, tapping into a rekindling desire the world over for well made goods that will last, whilst filling a gap for leather backpacks and other innovative designs.

Some of JJ's goods on display at his workshop

JJ and team

Some leather rolls awaiting their fate

As with the other examples above, JJ has certainly not followed a well trodden path - he has found something he loves doing, worked hard to identify a market and establish a brand and is able to produce something everyday of which he is proud. Maybe this is the story of every entrepreneur; but meeting these examples encourages us to prod and poke around our lives and keep challenging ourselves that we are actively shaping our path rather than just going with the flow.