By ROD ZOOK
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON — The granddaughter of one of the great explorers was the first speaker of the 2022 Dillon Lecture Series.
But Céline Cousteau, whose grandfather Jacques Cousteau brought adventure to the television world in the '60s and '70s, has a very different approach and outlook to all of her travels. Cousteau spoke about exploration and the impact it has had on the world both good and bad. Cousteau says, while she did get to be a part of her grandfather’s adventures, she had the opportunity to go her own direction.
“Obviously I grew up in a family of environmentalists and explorers, so that influenced my life at home and just the way I see the world,” Cousteau said. “But my family never forced me into doing what I do now.”
Cousteau’s travels have taken her to some of the most remote areas of the world, including numerous trips to Brazil. She says people all around the world thrive for the same basic wants and needs.
“The basic needs you know are food, water, lodging and love, I don’t think we give enough value to that,” Cousteau said. “A sense of belonging is also something we’re searching for and I think in this modern world we have moved somewhat away from that. Not just the nuclear family, but a sense of tribe and a sense of community.”
Cousteau says that each place she visits has a special feel and look, offering her first look at a Kansas sunset and how spectacular it was.
“I think it’s just over the course of time, you see that same thing over and over again and you lose appreciation for it because it becomes commonplace,” Cousteau said.” I lived in the northeast United States for a long time and it just seemed to me that nature was bountiful, it was always beautiful and it was always out there. Then I moved to New Mexico . . . boy, what’s here? Then I saw the sun set, then the rocks changed colors every 10 minutes. So I think it’s just a question of perception.”
As far as exploration and the cost and impact it has had on indigenous people and the environment, Cousteau says that since her grandfather's incredible explorations, more knowledge and planning goes into any trip she takes.
“You have to go back to the 1950s when we were starting to take off, we didn’t have a lot of hindsight as to what the impact was,” Cousteau said. “Through the years, what was being documented is an understanding that our going anywhere has an impact from the act of going there to being there. We now have much more information on how to do that thoughtfully, or at all.”
During her presentation, Cousteau shared stories of the places and people she’s met on her vast explorations. She says she has hopes of fostering cross-cultural communication and connecting everyone’s collective experience as one human tribe.