The accidental geographer

Writing this first blog, I’m thinking about travelling …

Last year, my secondary school (c 1980–87) in Redcar, north-east England, was demolished. A shiny, ultra modern replacement had already been built just across the road, and the board of governors hosted a ‘reunion’ evening on the Friday before bricks tumbled, for all ex-pupils: the old place was filled to the rafters! (We were also invited to ‘bring a bottle’, but this story isn’t about the chaos and anarchy that ensued - another time perhaps!!) What I want to think about here is how, wandering around my old school, I was overwhelmed by the curious geographies that led me to where I am today.

I should tell you that I’m a lecturer in human geography at Northumbria University, in Newcastle, North East England. I should also mention that I didn’t study geography at school beyond third year senior (Year 9 I believe it is called now). I enjoyed the subject but not enough to choose it over others. As I walked the corridors that reunion night, I felt haunted by this gap in my education, and compelled to go to the geography classroom in which I’d spent little time. There was a large (and old) map of the world on the wall, which I didn’t remember being there. After I finished my A’ levels, I left England and spent a few years working my way across several continents, and I traced my travels across the map. What started out as a ‘gap year’ morphed into extended drifting, ‘education through experience’… which it most certainly was: I learnt how to read maps of all kinds for a start!

Then I spotted some geography textbooks, and flicking through I noticed the predominance of environmental issues. This made me smile. Both during and after travelling (living in London) I worked in the voluntary sector (homeless shelters, then mental health projects) because I’ve been passionate about social issues for as long as I can remember. My problem was that this ‘social work’ was rarely concerned with the environment - the focus was only on people, and I had a nagging feeling that place was important too. So I did a degree in environmental management as a mature student (Manchester), followed by some time in the community composting world (Lincoln then Kent). Then I stumbled across ‘human geography’ as a discipline through a friend, and knew I’d found a home! I did a PhD that combined my concerns regarding social and environmental justice, and as a lecturer I feel privileged to be able to work with these interests every day.

As I stood in the geography room that night, spinning the globe on the teacher’s desk, I was amazed at how far I’ve travelled (physically and emotionally) in the 20-odd years it’s taken me to get from school in Redcar to university in Newcastle - and a little astonished at the curious routes I’ve taken. My sense is that the geography curriculum and geography teaching has changed since I was at school, maybe if I was studying now I would take a more direct path to becoming ‘a geographer’. But my point, I guess, is that a passion for ‘geography’ can come in many disguises, and involve many journeys.

Kye Askins is a member of The Geography Collective, a group of guerrilla geographers who create books, events and ideas to get people exploring and seeing the world differently www.geographycollective.co.uk. The Collective has just published the Journey Journal with another book, Mission: Explore due out in early 2010.