TIM COPE

Earth was not built to serve the needs of humans.

Exchanging gifts is an important thing in the steppe culture, a way for them to feel you have become a part of their lives.

Finding shelter with nomads in the desert during summer was a matter of survival for me and my animals.

For the traveller, Kazakhstan offers more than just a staging post for the Silk Road, as is often perceived, and there is more than just steppe.

Gradually, I came to know my horses intimately. You go through every mood they experience and come to view the world much like a horse.

I am struck by the wild character of this land and, as the Kazak herders often do, I have the urge to sing.

I don't think patience is something that any of us grow up with in a large dose. It's a world of instant gratification.

I think in our society we too often choose the people we associate with based on our own hasty judgments.

I think the nomads really give us inspiration about how we can live in harmony with our environment.

If you want to make the most of travel to Russia, it is better to leave tight plans and preconceptions behind and just enjoy the journey.

In Mongolia, the nomads always told me that wolves were the most dangerous things on the steppe, and I didn't believe them at first.

In wider spaces, people bearing historical grudges with each other were separated by the muting qualities of distance.

It's hard to find a place where you're out of earshot of some kind of noise.

Much of my journey in Kazakhstan was about understanding the legacy of the Soviet times and finding out what remained of nomadic.

Steve Fossett and I would share a common belief that it is possible and good to challenge yourself to the extreme.

Ultimately, it's a sense of camaraderie and friendship with local people that is core to my journeys.

When you hear that howl alone at night in the forest, it's one of the most frightening sounds you'll ever hear.

A single camel can carry around 300 kilograms. Using camels for hauling during migration is becoming a rarity in Mongolia, where mechanized transport is gradually replacing traditional means.

Although we had been led to believe our mission was suicidal, Russia's intrigue was irresistible. Almost twice the size of Australia, it spans 11 time zones from the Baltic to the Pacific.

Bakhchisaray was formerly the capital of the Crimean khanate and once an important crossroad of the Silk Road, where traders met from across the Black Sea, the steppes of Central Asia, Russia, and eastern Europe.

For me, adventures are a vehicle for travelling deep into the fabric of society, coming to know the environmental conditions that shape people's lives and viewing the present in the context of history.

From the rugged cliffs of Cape Liptrap peninsula jutting bravely into the swells of Bass Strait, the coast arcs southeast, hugging the waters of Waratah Bay with sweeping flat lines of fine pale sand and knotty scrub.

Had I not stepped into the saddle in the first place, entire cultures, histories, and most importantly, profound connections with people and animals whom I now counted as my friends would have otherwise passed by, invisible.

I have brought many artifacts back with me from the steppe. My favourite is a 90-year-old Kazakh saddle decorated with silverwork in traditional motifs. It symbolises the deep relationship between man and horse on the Eurasian Steppe.

I have dreamt of being an author since the age of 14, and writing about my experiences has always been a part of digesting an experience and sharing it with others.