Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Briana Gervat
38 Plays15 days ago
This week join Alasdair as he sits down with Briana Gervat. A poet, photographer, historian and author, Briana walked the Western Front Trail to follow in the footsteps of soldiers from World War 1 in a life changing journey.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Outdoorsy Educator Podcast, where stories become lessons and every journey has something to teach us. Every week I sit down with people from all walks of life to hear their adventures, explore their experiences, and uncover the insights that have shaped them along the way.
Featuring Brianna Gervet: Her Creative Journey
00:00:21
Speaker
Whether it's from the outdoors, the classroom, or any other path, each conversation offers a fresh perspective on learning, growth, and what it means to truly connect with the world and the people around us.
00:00:40
Speaker
And on this week's episode of the Outdoors The Educator podcast, we have Brianna Gervet. Brianna, how are you today? I'm wonderful, Alistair. How are you? Oh, doing great. Thank you so much for spending this time with me today. Why don't you tell the listeners a little bit about yourself?
Brianna's 500-mile Journey along the Western Front
00:00:56
Speaker
So my name is Brianna Gervat and I am a writer, a poet and a photographer. And four years ago now, it's crazy to think it was four years ago, i went on a 500 mile journey walking the length of the Western Front.
00:01:12
Speaker
And yeah, that'd be just amazing. yeah yeah ah Because I'm a historian. I'm also a historian. So ah then so I spent so four years ago, i went away and walked the Western Front and then I spent the next three years writing a book about it. And it's almost as if the journey continues. The journey itself took 36 But as I continue to evolve and think about what it means, it just means so many different things in so many different ways. So I'm going to spend some time exploring what that means and sharing it with people that are interested in the outdoors and interested in history and, you know, nature and all that, all that other stuff.
00:01:50
Speaker
I love it. So I think many of our listeners, like myself, embarrassingly, I'd never heard of the Western Front Trail. And I'm sure that this is not uncommon. So why don't we
The Western Front Way's Historical Roots
00:02:00
Speaker
start there? What is this trail what drew you to it?
00:02:03
Speaker
Well, you know, and up until I walked the Western Front Way, I did not think, I didn't know that there was a Western Front Way either. You know, you go to Europe and you walk the Camino, you hike in the Dolomites, maybe you go to the Balkans and you do those kinds of hikes.
00:02:18
Speaker
um Or even you you know go with the f fjords and people do that. Or they go to Scotland to go to highlands. you know yes And I mean, those are beautiful. Why wouldn't you go? Why wouldn't you spend time there? But when I discovered that there was the Western Front Way, I was like, this is right up my alley.
00:02:35
Speaker
you know You get to walk through history. And it was a path that was conceptualized during the war, during the Great War, during World War I, by a soldier named Alexander Gillespie.
00:02:47
Speaker
And he imagined as he was watching all the war happening, all the fighting taking place, that the path of war would one day become a path of peace. Oh, lovely. Right. Yeah.
00:02:58
Speaker
So he wrote about it in a letter to his professor. And that letter, like there was billions of letters that were sent during the war and it was re-found in 2015, 2014. And it was right along the center it it was around the centennial of of the war. so so there was a lot of commemoration, a lot of memorials, a lot of a lot of honoring taking place at that time So they the people that ah that developed the Western Front Way really went after it and decided that that's what they were going to do. They were going to develop this path of peace that was dreamed about 100 years before.
00:03:34
Speaker
That's just incredible. i mean Again, my assumption would have been that the the concept of a trail and a path came after World War one Somebody looked at the map and thought, you know, why don't we create something? So to hear that it happened beforehand is is just incredible.
00:03:53
Speaker
Yes. Well, i think that I can't imagine being there in the dark or in the snow or the rain. and thinking how much longer must this war go on and not dreaming of a time of peace and then looking around and being like, maybe peace can be found in this place where there's so much war. you know So I think that you know we don't know, i mean, we do know what was in the minds of soldiers. We see it in their art, we see it in their letters. We see it in some of the um images that they captured and stuff like that.
00:04:21
Speaker
And so, and we see it in their poetry. So I think that, I don't know, I think that we are hopeful and we don't get, you know, those that those of us that survive are the ones that don't get lost in the the sadness, you know?
00:04:32
Speaker
Absolutely. So it's one thing to read about a trail like this and to even be inspired by it and and find out more. But you made the decision to to go and walk it. You weren't just going to read about this in a theoretical sense. You wanted to to see, to feel, to breathe in this trail.
00:04:49
Speaker
But it also happened, I believe, around the time of COVID. I'd love for you to walk us through a bit of that journey.
Impact of COVID-19 on Brianna's Travels
00:04:55
Speaker
How did you decide I'm actually going to do this to doing it and how COVID impacted that decision?
00:05:01
Speaker
Oh, that's such a great question. So it was at the tail end of COVID and the world was starting to open up a little bit more. You're located in Texas and I was in Southeast Georgia. So I think that it's safe to say that both of us had a little more opening than other parts of the world. Yes, yes.
00:05:17
Speaker
But once I knew that I could travel and be in other parts of the world, I got really excited about it because I felt very claustrophobic, very contained, and I always wanted to travel. And COVID, you know, for many of us, COVID, you know, stopped us in our tracks for a myriad of reasons. And so once I learned about this Western Frontway, I just thought, that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm going to France. And there were so many times during COVID that that people related it to the nineteen twenty s They're like, oh, the roaring 20s, everything else like that. It's like, well, what happened before that to make that situation happen? COVID was a huge factor in it because I missed the world. I missed interacting people. I missed spending time in foreign places and and really feeling like you were connected to people. It felt it felt so disconnected that I i craved it. i I longed for it. There was an ache in my heart that was only going to be found traveling again.
00:06:16
Speaker
Right. And you've mentioned traveling again twice. I think once you get that bug, it's really hard to step away from it. What were some of the journeys that you'd experienced prior to this that I'm assuming inspired at your desire and love for travel?
00:06:30
Speaker
Yeah, no, I mean, I've always traveled. So as soon as I graduated college, I just packed my bag, you know, did the backpacking thing throughout Europe for a couple of months. And then I lived in China, taught English over there. Right. Crazy, because you're, you know, in China, you have, and we were talking about before, connections to the internet, everything. you Like I had to go to a, ah you know, an internet cafe and you had limited access. So it was really, it was cool. Then I went to Australia Then I went to Cambodia where I went to, you know, the killing field. So it was, ah like and when I was in Europe, I went to Dachau. So it was always this macabre fascination with war and how we do the most terrible things to one another when we have so much beauty, when there's so many wonderful people out there. How, how can we, how can we have such lovely experiences with people and then on have the opposite side of that? And that was something that really was a conflict for me that I really wanted to, um
00:07:27
Speaker
ah really learn about and and and and and think about mull over. and then after that, what's that? Go, go ahead. Oh, i was it's I think it's just fascinating because when I was reading about your trail journey, what you're saying is very similar to what I was thinking because I was curious how when you hiked on the Western Front Trail, in my mind, there must be a balance of this is stunning, this is beautiful, but there's also, I assume, some kind of emotional weight of knowing that you're walking in an area where there was such tragedy.
00:08:00
Speaker
It was almost unshakable. You know, you you had to carry that with you as you were walking. But as you were walking, you're walking through these devastating landscapes, right? But then you're seeing the most gorgeous sunrise. You're hearing birdsong. You're hearing the wind go through the trees. And you think, my goodness, how am I so lucky to be in such a beautiful place and yet still have to reflect upon something so tragic?
00:08:28
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. I think I'm thinking of other you know trails that we all know. And while every trail naturally has a history, this this is something different. This is something special. And I feel like the gravity of it is more than perhaps any other trail that I can really think of.
00:08:46
Speaker
No, absolutely. I think that that that is what really connects to. And then when you learn about, you know, the Western Front Way, you also learn about the other migratory tales that people went on, you know, like after I studied World War I, obviously I moved on to World War ii And then I'm Polish. And you learn about how during the war, the Russians took the Poles to Siberia. And then and when they joined the side of the Allies, they're like, okay, have fun. And then the Poles did this trek from Siberia to Iran. Goodness.
00:09:14
Speaker
Yeah. and And it was and and and you hear about all, you know, so you think about these paths that people went on in search of peace, in search of um safety. And so it was just it's just it's just that the Western Front way doesn't stand alone. But it is a ah it's almost like it encapsulates all the other things that people have lived through and survived to want to get to a better place.
00:09:39
Speaker
I mean, the the human spirit is just incredible. And I feel like yeah you're personifying it by telling those stories. It's just mind-blowing. When we think of our day-to-day struggles and troubles we all have, to think of what people these people went through is just incredible.
00:09:55
Speaker
Yeah. And that they, and they, that so many of them went on to, you know, to live these magnificent lives or create a deeper, more meaningful life, despite what they had experienced. It's just, it's just, we are so lucky in so many ways, you know, we get so caught up in the minutia of everyday life, but we forget that we are part of the human collective, that these people experience these things. And You know, if we just open up the door or the window to let some of their stories in, maybe we can understand life a little better.
00:10:26
Speaker
I think that's a great lesson for all of us. Absolutely. and When I was reading about your incredible journey, the forest of Verdun appeared to be particularly impactful. I, again, must admit, I don't know where exactly that is or why it would be impactful on you. Could you talk to us a little bit about that?
00:10:44
Speaker
Yes, absolutely.
Emotional Journey through Verdun Forest
00:10:45
Speaker
So the Forest of Verdun is in, it's after the Vosges. So the mount there's there's mountains. If you think about it, like the Vosges as an extension of the Alps through the tiny foothills. So you said you walked the Appalachian Trail in Jersey. So it's ah it's maybe a little taller than that, you know, a couple of couple of hundred more feet or a thousand thousand more feet or something.
00:11:06
Speaker
But the mountains are more subtle. And then you get out of the Vosges and you go into further into Alsace and then you get to the battle, the great battlefield, the great fortress of Verdun, where the most, like the longest battle of World War I took place.
00:11:22
Speaker
And so yeah, right there. are Oh yeah. It's the longest battle. So it started, it was supposed to start in the beginning February, but then there is this whiteout snowstorm. So the Germans were going to surprise the French surprise them, you know, yeah and then they had to delay it, but the French were already, you know, at the great fortress of Verdun. And so this battle started at the end of February and did not end until 300 later.
00:11:50
Speaker
300 days. That's incredible. Yes. And every day, military bombardments and barrages and just shells, enormous, enormous shells would just be launched. And there and you know there was wasn't a spot in Verdun that wasn't destroyed.
00:12:10
Speaker
So you have this entire forest. that was dwindled down to like matchsticks. And you you know that because you learn about it, but you get there and you're like, wait, hold on, but there's trees and, you know, Nature has returned and there's hiking trails and there's all of this stuff. So it's just, you get to Verdun and you think, what we talked about before as well, feel the heaviness of the war. You can't you can't escape it. there's no There's no running away from it. It is just there and you have to move through it.
00:12:43
Speaker
That's just amazing. And it's I think it's impossible for these things to not have a ah substantial impact on your outlook going forward. Oh, no, absolutely. Verdun scared the ever living crap out of me. It really did because, you know, and I'm camping out in it. So, you know, I'm walking through the forest of Verdun and I just, you know, it just, you, you go to those places. if you've been to like Gettysburg or even, I don't know if how the, if the Alamo is like that or, you know, certain places that you go and you just, you feel it and you can't avoid know,
00:13:21
Speaker
you have to sit with it and to to walk from one end of the battlefield to the other and know what took place there. it's It's a wild, wild experience.
00:13:32
Speaker
i can I mean, I'm feeling truly inspired to find out more because it it sends it. I was curious as when you were experiencing all these things and seeing these things, what did this journey really teach you about yourself, if anything, that you perhaps didn't expect?
00:13:48
Speaker
I think it re-solidified the unwavering belief that I am incredibly stubborn and pigheaded. Right? Okay. Like, no, no, I'm going to keep on going. ah What did it tell me about myself that i I think I fell deeper in love with history in the process of it. And I didn't let myself be angered by it as much. It it was almost, it was almost like a cathartic um experience. Because i you know, you, you learn about moments in history and you get so fired up and you're like, I can't believe this happened. And then you walk the Western front and you experience what happened for four years. And then you think about what what is happening in the world today. And so you kind of, you relate to it and you put it in its proper place. And a not that you can accept it. There's no way you can accept things, you know, and that we shouldn't do that as humans. We should try to reach, we should try to use our moral imagination to get to get to the place that we all want ourselves to be or imagine humanity to be in terms of progress.
00:14:51
Speaker
But I think that it gives you a little bit of room to breathe. I love that. Right. That's it's fascinating. I'm assuming, again, I was thinking about your journey this morning, and you now now you've mentioned backpacking around Europe and China especially. A lot of the places you seem to have traveled to, there's a lot of people there.
00:15:13
Speaker
I'm assuming on the trail there was moments ah of of solitude. It's certainly not a hugely popular trail, I'm assuming. And i was wondering how that played into the journey. I'm assuming there was quite a lot of time by yourself.
00:15:27
Speaker
Oh, I love be alone. well I'm so good at being alone. like i Like we talked about before, I love people. I love talking to them. i love I love spending time with them. I love my family, everything else. But if I can be alone for a little while, like that that that's perfect. Hits the spot. That's yeah very similar. I'm a people person. I'm around people all the time. But going away for a couple of nights camping or something is just the best. It's it's such a great reset.
00:15:57
Speaker
Oh, yeah. No. And I felt like that was especially after COVID, walking alone in the forest of France was exactly what I needed. You know, it was it was almost as if like France opened up its arms and said, here, like, come, come, come be with me. You don't have to be with anybody else. Just be with me.
00:16:18
Speaker
And it's it's such a a fascinating story. And I think you could have done this journey and most people would just, you know it's a story that you relay to people and you tell people, but you went in another direction and you have written a book. I'd love to hear about what made you decide that. Was that the plan all along or did you decide
Writing Challenges: Bridging History and Present
00:16:37
Speaker
afterwards? And what was the experience and the the metaphorical journey of writing a book like?
00:16:44
Speaker
So writing a book is never an easy journey. And I relate this to World War and Tolkien fought in World War I, so it's like going to the depths of Mordor. It's like Frodo, but Frodo had Sam, and you know, Frodo had And so, but you're by yourself. So I went away with the intention of writing a book. I didn't know what the book would look like. I didn't know what the story that I would tell, but I would relate it to the world that we know today. And, you know, try speak about history as well. But, you know, World War I is such a massive undertaking. You know, can't even, can barely skim the surface. You know, you there's no way I can convey all that I wanted to convey about the war that, one, hasn't already been written. But also I, you know,
00:17:38
Speaker
I am more of a writer and a poet than I am a historian. So it was, it was interesting. So the first parts of the war, the, the, the book, We're, you know, kind of just vomiting on paper, regurgitating everything. Right. And and then refining and sifting through. So the metaphorical journey was really, ah there was a journey within itself. You know, how how do you write a story that appeals, you know, we here in America and in the rest of the world, we have so many people that are so caught up.
00:18:09
Speaker
in politics and taking sides and extremism and thinking you're right and they're wrong. So how do I write a story that's more universal? That sounds like a huge undertaking. Because you're right, you you have to be able to let all the the prejudice and bias that we we all carry to about different things to some degree, having to let that go um to write this book. just Just fascinating. And I also think that so many of us think we have a book in us. And I think it's beyond commendable when people actually do it.
00:18:43
Speaker
because we all, i think many people, like said, have that vision and that dream, but very few do it. So well done, first of all, on getting to that finish line, because that, I think, is is underrated in terms of achievement.
Brianna's Personal Definition of Success
00:18:57
Speaker
um We're kind of coming to the end of our time together, but I always want to ask my guests what the word success means to you, and if that word has changed yeah how you perceive success from before you going on the Western Front trail and writing your book to afterwards?
00:19:16
Speaker
You know, walk ah finishing, completing the Western Front was just, you know, that was a success within itself. um But, you know, my ultimate goal, my ultimate, you know, the the top tier of the success that I long for, is a quiet house in the countryside of France or Spain and chickens and maybe a cow. You know, success would be to be able to continue writing throughout my life and that being the way I make my living and the way I live, you know, to fully embody the the life of an artist in a very...
00:19:50
Speaker
singular way. um But also, you know, having friends and family come visit and stuff like that. So success would be, I think it's ever changing because it's just, you know, you wake up and you have a cup of coffee, maybe that's success. You wake up or have a wonderful conversation with someone like you, that's success. And it's just those small moments of breakthrough that get you to the next, the next level or the next, the next place you want to go.
00:20:17
Speaker
I love that. i love that. um Other than your own book, has there been a book that's been particularly impactful on your life? Not necessarily the best book, but something that has just impacted you in your life.
00:20:32
Speaker
Oh, gosh, there's there's a closet. there' is There's of books that have made a difference, but I always my favorite book. Yes. And you want to talk about success. If my book makes it really big, my goal is to get this book with with an illustration. But my favorite book is The Night Circus by Aaron Warkinson.
00:20:51
Speaker
Okay. then night I've never heard of that. Tell me a little bit about it. So it's about these two magicians that are in competition with one another. And every few years, they they have to pick ah people that are going to compete with one another. So that way, they they they are who wins and who loses. And there were a boy there was a boy and a girl that were chosen and they wind up falling in love. But the whole idea was the competition takes place within this world of a night circus.
00:21:23
Speaker
There's something very romantic about that vision of a night circus. And it's so interesting because it's all in black and white. And I think there's these little wisps of red throughout it, but it's always, it's black and white. And this little boy comes in and it's it's just this whole story that is so magical. And the people that go to this late night circus, they're called reverse, which in French means dreamers.
00:21:49
Speaker
I love it. Yeah. I love it I'll be looking this book up without a doubt. It's a beautiful book. And then she wrote The Starless Sea, too. So when I think about my favorite books, I love that kind of fantasy, romantic, um imagined realm where you you think, oh, my gosh, where did that idea come to you? And how beautiful, how beautiful, how that success to be able to sit there and and and take that story and put it on paper.
00:22:17
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. and I'm not sure if you are ever going to walk the Western Front Trail again, but if we pretend that you are, if you could take one person with you for the whole time, you get to pick their brains, talk to them, learn from them.
00:22:34
Speaker
it could be somebody in your life, famous, somebody dead, somebody alive, anybody in the world. Who would you like to hike this trail with? Ooh. Anyone.
00:22:46
Speaker
And it can be more than one person if you so choose. Oh, my gosh. Can I pick all of the poets and writers that lived and survived the Great War? Like, can I have Tolkien? Can I have C.S. Lewis? Can I have Wallace Stevens? Wallace Stevens didn't fight in the war, but he wrote one my favorite poems. And after the war, he took letters from French soldiers and made them into poems. Yeah.
00:23:08
Speaker
Of course you can. I want all the poets. All the poets. A poet's trick. love that idea. That's such a really good idea. Just a poet's trick through the Western Frontway. That's right. Don't forget me if that happens. You can come. I'll come join you.
00:23:24
Speaker
I want you to come. That's right. You know, all these dead people and you. That's right. Perfect.
Connect with Brianna Online
00:23:30
Speaker
Perfect. Well, if people want to learn more about you, find your book, and just generally, maybe if they want to ask you a question, where can people find you and find your book?
00:23:40
Speaker
um Interestingly enough, my Facebook, I mean, my Instagram page just got permanently disabled by a bo by AI. So can't find me there until I figure out how to get back on there. um Apparently posting about, you know, trees and spring are just.
00:23:58
Speaker
How dare you, right? I know, getting outside, you know. For shame. yeah i i know, I know. ah But they can find me on my, they can find me through my webpage, which is, you can just look up briannagervatt.com. And if you want to be real professional, you can go on LinkedIn and connect with me.
00:24:15
Speaker
Fantastic. I just joined LinkedIn last year, so I'm slowly getting used to it. So I'll see if I can find you. I will find you too. Awesome. Well, Brianna Gervatt, I cannot thank you enough for sitting down with me today. This has been fascinating.
00:24:28
Speaker
Yes, thank you. was so much. It's been a wonderful conversation. Thank you so much. Of course.
00:24:36
Speaker
Thank you again to this week's guest and I hope today's episode was as enjoyable for you as it was for me and perhaps even inspired your next adventure. If you did enjoy the show, please be sure to subscribe, leave a review or follow us wherever you get your podcasts. You can find more information at theoutdoorsyeducator.com or follow us on Instagram, TikTok or Facebook. Until next time, thank you so much for listening to The Outdoorsy Educator Podcast.