The Unexpected

This issue is all about unexpected stories.

Often, these stories are revealed to us by someone remarkable. For James Dorsey, the Chasing Demons story, A Stone for Henry Leman, began with a cup of coffee and an unlikely friend and culminated in a visit to Auschwitz years later.

And in our Portrait piece, the last traditional boat-builder in the French Caribbean shows Melissa Banigan the deeper story of a centuries’ old craft, revealing a magical process that only The Nautical Alchemist could perfect.

Sometimes, though, we have to search for the unexpected ourselves. In our Human and Nature written feature, our very own Creative Director, Sivani Babu, seeks to break through the desolation of the Drake Passage — the body of water between South America’s Cape Horn and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica — as she makes her Passage through the roughest sea in the world.

After nearly two decades away, Nicholas Bratton revisits South Africa and the turbulent waters of the Tugela River to observe how a community has changed, in his Time Travel piece, Return to the Tugela.

And finally, in our photo feature, world-renowned photographer Robert Holmes uncovers the true meaning of adventure in the Karakoram, during his Quest to survive an angry mob, an unexpected stranding, and an unknown illness in Just Another Adventure Story.

As always, we extend our deepest gratitude to our readers, who share our dream of powerful storytelling, and to our contributors, who send us stories worth sharing.

Yours in wanderlust,

Sabine Bergmann and Sivani Babu, Hidden Compass Co-Founders

Liz Shemaria, Hidden Compass Editor-at-Large