Outside, Mona Lisa

Peak bagging, tourism and authentic engagement

Featured in

  • Published 20230207
  • ISBN: 978-1-922212-80-1
  • Extent: 264pp
  • Paperback (234 x 153mm), eBook

THE GREEN HUMP of Mount Foster is a gap on my map.

Right now, I’m filling in gaps by climbing mountains like this. I know that sounds a little detached, maybe even cold, but over the past eight years I’ve been busy with three young children, so walks have been rare. The gaps in my map have been staring at me. Perhaps travellers stuck at home through the pandemic have felt something like this – the call of the named unknown. 

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

If you are an educator or student wishing to access content for study purposes please contact us at griffithreview@griffith.edu.au

Share article

About the author

Ben Walter

Ben Walter is the author of the short story collection What Fear Was. His work has appeared in Meanjin, New Australian Fiction and The...

More from this edition

Run River: An exercise

PoetryLittle space in this town for dead game. Steal a teal Corvette, hit the drive-in, Find the tatty shop. They serve a fish dish.

Rogues’ gallery

Non-fictionIn the age of technological optimisation, we are equally as preoccupied with entertainment as we are with devoting leisure time to projects of self-actualisation. The contemporary success of art museums rests on their ability to compound the entertainment value of an amusement park with the promise of an educational experience.

A passing phase

In ConversationI went to Tim’s Guitars years ago and I saw Grant Hart from Hüsker Dü do a solo thing and he had a Q&A after the solo. And some guy went, ‘How often do you practise guitar?’ And then Grant Hart said, ‘I never practise guitar, practising guitar gets in the way of my personality.’ And I was like, ‘Oh wow, that’s actually really true.’

Stay up to date with the latest, news, articles and special offers from Griffith Review.