Scrolling through the comments today on Facebook, reading the news this morning, I have to sum up my experience as: appalling. I know, I know: if I don’t like it, I should “just keep scrolling.” Which is what I usually do, and have been doing for months. The problem is, continuously ignoring all the imbecilic …
The Kilimanjaro Story
Do you remember the dreams you had as a teenager? And I don’t mean the steamy, hormone-driven kind that keep you awake at night. I’m referring to those grand ambitions we each had – the wants and needs that influence your outlook and drive your actions. The obsessions that determine your reading list and which …

Carstensz Pyramid: Summit Day
Overwhelming. Breathtaking. Magnificent. Dumbfounding. Yes, some experiences and moments leave you bereft of speech – which is particularly powerful when it strikes a person who usually relishes transforming said experiences into words. Yet here I stand, and the words fail me. I try to speak, try to capture on video the immensity of the moment, …
Advanced Zombie stage
Recently I had a nightmare, featuring me in the leading role (how narcissistic, I know!) and battling a horde of Zombies. My younger sister turned into a zombie (sorry, Jill - probably a result of your insistence on the Walking Dead visit last December!). She was, however, a good one and worked undercover to help …
Keep your goal in sight
It's good advice, really - we've heard it countless times from keynote speakers, read it in business and self-help books, see it highlighted in LinkedIn articles. In fact, if you google that catch phrase, you'll get over 10 million results! Perhaps one of the reasons this is so often stressed is because it's anything but …
Sploosh! Splosh.
Anyone remember that little kindergarten chant we did as kids? "Goin' on a lion hunt. Goin' on a lion hunt. I'm not afraid!" That's what kept me going today as I saw the next yawning expanse of mud ahead ("can't go over it. Can't go under it. Gotta go THROUGH it!") Sploosh, splosh, sploosh, splosh. …
Too high to get over, too low to get under
Are those actually song lyrics? I feel like they are, but I can't for the life of me figure out which song they belong to; it's turning into one if those brain-melt situations, so if you know, do a girl a favor and put it in the comments! 🤔 It's also a perfect description of …
Trek day 1 – sketchy AF
https://youtu.be/DUR5__2Fhec The day started with lots of bustle, as porter loads got packed up and distributed and we figured out who all was going on the trek with us. A couple of anomalies about porters here: many of them are women, which is something I’ve not seen before on other expeditions. In fact, the women …
And this isn’t the hard part yet!
Have you ever been in a situation, where you have so much to say, that you don’t know where to start? I’ve been sitting here for 3 minutes, looking at a blank page and trying to organize my thoughts. “sitting here” Maybe that’s a good place to start. I’m in a rather dark, very dusty …
Rest day before we start
Just hangin’ out at the hotel today. It’s good to take it easy and get some rest, but I’m a bit afraid it’s making me inefficient. I should be testing equipment & stuff. It’s really hot, though, and lack of a clear program kind of lulls me into complacency. So I’m netflixing (downloaded episodes, of …