I was always so very intrigued with geography. When I was 2.5 years old, I asked my mom what was the capital of Santa Barbara. Clearly that was before I could actually understand the concept of countries and nationalities, and lacked Theory of Mind. Even though my question sounds dumb at the moment, it was a foreshadowing for my future fascination. My parents told me that it was excruciating to travel with me as I grew up, because I would ask if any body of water or any rolling hill was visible on the map? I would constantly point at ant cavities and say "North is that way!". As I got older, my fascination showed itself in participating "Geography Olympics" with my high school friends, arguing about the capital(s) of South Africa, and insisting to a certain stubborn friend that "Mt Kilimanjaro is located in Tanzania not Kenya" at a pub.
As you can imagine, it was a dream come true, when 6 good friends and I decided to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. It is exhilarating to even think about landing at Nairobi, and getting on the shuttle to head over to the base of Kili, let alone stand on the top of the summit at sunrise with some of the dearest people in my life. It is worth going to gym and working out for months, to have that experience. At the risk of sounding outstandingly cheesy, it really will be the journey that counts as much as the destination (I'm not going to say it is not the destination, because come on, it is pretty damn meaningful to be able to climb up to the highest standalone peak of the world, and take a look at the view). I can already feel the effects of it starting to bubble up.
From time to time I will report how we are doing, how the training is going, and how carried away we got about shopping for gears (hopefully not that often). I will share my personal insights about this special journey of mine. After all, Kili is my most recent Everest!
With drive,
Me and Team Name TBD
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