"Prosperity, as we know it,
is abundance.
It's the dream to amass houses, children, cars.
It's the dream to collect
things of value.
But it is an equally reoccuring dream to be able to abandon,
drop everything,
to jettison,
without guilt,
anything that weighs you down."
Emily Mester in her book "American Bulk"
"The kayak is my passport."
Paul Caffyn
When Eric Stiller of Manhattan Kayak Co. introduced me to the sport of sea-kayaking on a dark, cold October day in 2003 — as the sole participant in his "Paddle Basics 1" class — my life changed.
Since then, I’ve visited countries, islands, and coastlines with my three-piece kayak that I’d never have considered visiting before. Because in some cases, like the 800-mile-long Patagonian archipelago between Puerto Chacabuco and Cape Horn, access would have been impossible without a kayak. But more importantly, kayaking itself became the initial spark to travel in the first place.
Paddling along remote coasts, I encountered not just stunning landscapes and wildlife, but also the generosity of people living in some of the world’s most isolated places. I was invited into the homes of Chilean farmers, Argentine soldiers stationed in solitary and surreal outposts, and sheep farmers in the Falklands. These are people I never would have met if I hadn’t taken up kayaking. They offered me meals, a bed, and stories from life at the edge of the world.
Kayaking also sparked a deep interest in the natural phenomena I now witnessed firsthand and on eye-level from the seat of my kayak: Waves, currents, and weather systems — which led me to pursue a Master’s in Oceanography at Bangor University.
I’m deeply grateful to the sport and to the sea kayaking community—especially Nigel Dennis and Eric Stiller—for their guidance and inspiration, and to the many open-hearted people I met along the way.
The kayak is my passport.
Marcus Demuth
June 2025
(Paul Caffyn is an expedition sea-kayaker, best known for this ground-breaking circumnavigations of Australia, the UK, New Zealand etc.)