Pole-Pole ¡Venga-Venga! An Intro to my journal…

This past year has been demanding in ways that I never expected it to be. I lost someone very important to me. I, like the people around me, have been dealing with this loss in our own ways. I’ve sunk into depression several times over the past 12 months and hit some almighty highs only to crash into some dark places again. Depression is a nasty fiend. Luckily, my life has been sprinkled with some beautiful and loving individuals who have been helping me through it. Slowly-Slowly or as I remember on Kili-“Pole Pole”, I’m on the mend, yet I have another large mountain to climb.

Spain, France?! Yes, I’ve been mentioning it in previous blogs, though I’ve kept it vague and under the radar intentionally. Life has moved on and with the craze of uni and the goings on of life, I really didn’t know whether I would be able to afford to go live in a tent to eat fondue, drink wine, practice my bad French and Spanish and climb until my fingers bled- It didn’t seem possible. With all of these doubts and uncertainty, I did something that I don’t normally do- I bought a flight to Spain.

I have advocated clean travel and sustainability through all of my expeditions, so it may be slightly hypocritical jet-setting off to Europe, but it’s something I must do.  A year ago I made a bet with myself that I would stop being just “ok” at things. I want to grow as a person, as a climber, and as someone that can actually be effective in this world of uncertainty and challenges. My studies are in full swing and I’ve got some plans as to what I want to get done afterward, however, Europe is the birthplace of modern mountaineering and climbing so I’m going to get some learning done!

I’m off at the end of December and until then I have a lot of training and a lot of work to get done. I’m also working on myself. This journal is here as my platform of “thinking out loud” about my fears, passion, and adventures.

Stay tuned.