11–18 November | Tasmania, Australia
Cradle Mountain → Lake St Clair

I completed the Overland Track in November.
Not as a holiday. Not as an escape.

It was a deliberate challenge.

No service. No distractions. Just walking, thinking, getting uncomfortable, and continuing anyway.

This .log isn’t a trail guide. It’s a record of why I put myself in situations like this, what happened when I did, and how that mindset carries directly into my work as a freelancer.

The Why

Freelancing rewards comfort very quickly.

You find a routine. Tools that work. Clients you understand. A workflow that’s “good enough”. And before you realise it, you’re optimising instead of improving.

I don’t function well there.

I deliberately take on things that:

• Remove safety nets
  
• Strip away convenience
  
• Force patience, discipline, and follow-through
  

The Overland Track was one of those decisions.

Eight days. Self-sufficient. Alpine conditions. No signal. No shortcuts.

The Walk

Before getting into what I took from it, it’s worth grounding what this actually involved.

The Overland Track is a multi-day, self-sufficient alpine trek through the Cradle Mountain–Lake St Clair World Heritage Area.

In simple terms:

• ~65km point to point
  
• 7 days on trail
  
• Carrying everything: tent, food, supplies (22kg+ in my case)
  
• Variable alpine weather, including knee-height water crossings
  
• Long repetitive sections mixed with short, technical climbs
  
• Bushwalker alerts (yes, I still went)
  

I’ll include a simple Strava map graphic here — distance, days, total hours. Enough context without turning this into an info dump.

Shared Discomfort Levels Everything

One of the most unexpected parts of the track wasn’t the landscape — it was the people.

Over eight days I met:

• Photographers
  
• Artists
  
• Architects
  
• Sound production crew (ABC)
  
• Solo travellers from all over the world
  

When everyone’s wet, tired, and carrying their entire life on their back, titles disappear fast.

You talk about what drives you. Why you do what you do. What you’re working toward. The laughs inside the hut at night — soaked clothes frozen outside, minus temperatures, boiling snow just to make a cuppa — stick with you.

For me, as a young freelancer, that mattered.
I need to do more of that. Connect. Listen. Learn outside my bubble.

That alone justified the walk.

When Things Don’t Go to Plan

Halfway through, I got ill.

Nothing dramatic — but enough to:

• Kill appetite
  
• Drain energy
  
• Make each day feel longer than it should
  

On the Overland Track, your options are limited:

1. Stay put
   
2. Keep going
   

Option one sounds sensible — until you realise deadlines don’t pause.
There is a third option: trigger the PLB and get flown out. But that depends on weather (it wasn’t permitting) and comes with a five-figure bill.

So you adjust.
You slow down.
You lower expectations.
You stop thinking about the end and focus on the next section.

Uncomfortable — but clarifying.

Boredom Is the Real Test

People assume the hardest part is physical. It isn’t.

It’s boredom.

Long stretches where:

• The scenery barely changes
  
• Your thoughts loop
  
• There’s no signal, no dopamine hit, no distraction
  

As someone who works in digital, that absence is jarring at first.

Then it gets quiet.
Then it gets useful.

That’s where ideas surface. Not because you’re trying to have them — but because there’s nothing else competing for attention.

No Signal, No Systems

This wasn’t my first time without service.

I’ve done similar before — including weeks in Cape York, sleeping in a one-man tent, limited signal, genuine isolation.

The contrast isn’t lost on me:

• I build websites for a living
  
• I rely on digital systems
  
• Yet I deliberately put myself where none of that exists
  

Removing the safety net simplifies everything. You stop optimising. You just do what’s required next.

That perspective always comes back with me.

What I Take Forward

So why do I keep doing this?

Because I don’t settle for average.
Even “good” isn’t enough.

I push myself in:

• Personal challenges
  
• Fitness
  
• And most importantly, my business
  

The Overland Track didn’t change who I am. It reinforced it.

I build things the same way I walk long trails:

• One section at a time
  
• Calm under pressure
  
• Comfortable being uncomfortable
  
• Finishing what I start
  

That mindset carries into every project I take on.