everest2024 – Working Mom

“World News” and “using your brain”

I have 2 items today. Up first is “World News”. So I have a group chat on WhatsApp with several friends I made while in Tibet from around the world. I woke up to quite the chat on there about the earthquake in Tibet. Living here in the states I had not heard anything so I clicked their posted news links from their countries and read up. Wanting more I clicked the link for “World News” online when I got to work figuring it world be one of the top stories since it just happened and it was big enough to be felt in Nepal, India and Bhutan. I didn’t see a peep. But apparently McDonalds is extending their $5 meals and J-Lo is getting divorced. It seems the banner of “world news” is misleading since it does not actually contain any actual “news” from anywhere else in the world until you get 3 pages deep in it and find an article about the UKs new tourist tax that’s pretty much an online e-visa, when it starts and how to apply. I actually read this since I’ll be traveling there later this year and 5 pages deep into my search for any actual “World News” I gave up and just typed “Tibet Earthquake” into the search and found information finally. Aaaaand this is one of the reasons I have not watched American “news” programs since 9-11 when I was watching a “live” segment from the air force base near my home saying how everything is quiet there as I am watching fighter jet after fighter jet take off out my window. I was also late to work twice due to road closures from large military convoys moving large things on big trucks covered with tarps. All quiet my butt.

Anyway, I lost my faith in the news back then. I figure if anything big happens EVERYONE will be talking about it. Well, decades later, that is no longer true. You need to dig deep to find any actual news. But hey! If you want to know pretty much any of what use to be called “entertainment news” just pop open your browser and click on “news”.

Ok, news rant over…Up next is a conversation I had with my co-workers about chicken and eggs. Apparently they told me that they can’t buy chicken or eggs because of the outbreak of bird flu.

I work in healthcare. I asked them if they know how the flu spreads. They just stared back at me confused. So I explained that the flu is airborne and you get it from inhaling germs after someone coughs or sneezes or by touching a surface they touched then touching your face. With the bird flu you can also get it by touching infected birds then touching your face.

So, to keep from catching the flu don’t be nasty. Wash your hands and don’t touch your face. Problem solved. They then were confused why all poultry products were pulled because of the bird flu.

Yeah, I question that too. My guess…morons and hysteria. but just to be safe I said maybe the concern is Salmonella. Do you guys know how to keep yourselves from getting that? (Again with the blank stares) Cook your meats thoroughly. Wash your hands and any utensils before and after dealing with raw meats. Easy.

Apparently they just blindly believed the signs at the stores and news and no one took a moment to ask themselves if this makes sense. Not one single one of them until I said something. They just kept passing on what they saw/heard without taking a minute to question if it makes any sense and they work in healthcare. They should know these things.

I had a frustrating day where I seriously felt like I was the only human left capable of any sort of rational thought. How can “World News” 1. Not be from other countries around the world and 2. Not contain any actual news? Am I the only person wondering that? Am I the only person not blindly believing and spreading information that let’s face it…makes absolutely no sense?

I guess I’m old. I miss the days when the news was actual news and people washed their hands and understood how to prepare food without giving everyone food poisoning.

With my heart going out to the kind people I met in the remote areas of Tibet and their families in this trying time. I hope you are all well, find shelter to keep you warm and safe in winter and rebuild again. Namaste.

Everest!

This is the last item remaining from my original bucket list that I made back in high school of all the things I wanted to do after I graduated. Everest base camp. Given that I’m about to turn 50 let’s just say given the physical demands of the trek that I probably shouldn’t put it off much longer. So I planned. I trained. I went. I made it. I lived to tell the story.

I’m a big believer in bucket lists and setting goals in life. I’m always working toward something. I always hear how lucky I am to do things. Luck doesn’t have anything to do with it. I set a goal, came up with a plan and made it happen. I don’t have a genie in my house granting me wishes. I made it happen.

Everything takes work and a sacrifice of some kind to achieve. It does not matter what it is. You sacrifice your time for money. Your money for things. You get up an hour earlier to work out, you just sacrificed sleep for fitness. Little fairies didn’t poof you a fit body. You put in the work and made it happen.

I flat out refuse to be one of the masses just existing and going through the motions of living. Why? We only get so much time on this planet. Why not make it amazing? Why not accomplish your dreams? Why not see the world, run the marathon or climb the mountain?

So I went. It was hard, but I made it. I accomplished my last goal from my high school list. It took me a while to get there, but I made it.

Don’t be afraid to do hard things. Prepare yourself and make it happen. You CAN do it.

There was 13 of us in the group but only 5 made it to base camp. Here we are with our guide.

Preparing For Everest

Wow! It seems so weird that the time is almost here! I started planing this adventure shortly after my 45th birthday. I wanted to do something EPIC for my 50th birthday. I knew something the scale of what I had in mind was going to take some work. I already had my plan to see the Northern Lights but wanted to start work on my epic adventure.

I started by reading some books on the Everest base camp trek. This was back in 2019 just before the pandemic started when I got back from my solo trip to the UK to see Stonehenge and Scotland.

Up next was going to see the Northern lights in Feb 2021… Lets just say that didn’t happen with the pandemic travel restrictions still in full swing. But I eventually got there. I saw the lights dancing accross the sky. I could then focus on my next goal… Everest.

The books I read were on the training and gear needed to make the trek. With all the pandemic restrictions I was watching things closely to see if I could even make it happen especially after my Northern Lights trip got bumped from 2021, to 2022 and finally happened 2023. I finally booked my trek WAY in advance since I was working so much overtime I wanted it to go toward something fun. I booked Everest. With all the overtime I also booked a trip to the UK with my husband as well.

I needed to make some changes. I picked 1 year prior to my trip and put my foot down at work. I started getting in shape. My family and friends freaked out as I told them of my plans. But one thing they all agreed with… You can’t get more epic than Everest.

Of course my Mom wanted to know why I can’t just be normal and go to Hawaii to celebrate my birthday or something. Mom, I have never been that person. You know that. If you want “normal” look at my siblings. I will forever keep you on your toes. What is “normal” anyway? Work, go home, watch TV, go to bed repeat ad-nauseum? Pass.

I want to go new places, see new things and try things I have never tried before. I want to experience other cultures. I don’t mind working hard to do those things either. I am fine with sacrificing some “normal” things for experiences. For example… I don’t have cable and I have not had it since 2005 when I left my ex-husband who cared more about booze, drugs and his TV shows than me. I make my own coffee at home rather than grabbing starbucks on the way to work. I pack my lunch every day. We make dinner at home rather than grabbing take out or going out to eat. Now, I’m not saying that I never go out because we do. It is just the exception rather than the rule.

Back to Everest… Here I am almost 100 lbs lighter. Now I still have a ways to go but I am better than when I started. Lets talk gear… I have needed to acquire some different things for this trip. A special duffel bag for the Sherpas to take from tea house to tea house in Tibet. A special sleeping bag for the tea houses. Water purification tablets, shots, anti altitude sickness medication and antibiotics just incase something gets through my water purification efforts. With my weight loss I have also needed a new coat and new pants. I have gone back and forth between my hiking boots or trail running shoes and I am more comfortable in my trail running shoes so I’ll probably take those. Many places have spotty power so they recommend a battery to charge your devices. I got a solar one just incase it is a while before we find reliable power in the Himalayas. I’ll charge everything up in Kathmandu before I head out to Tibet.

Overall, I think I am set. I will be going through my checklist and starting to pack this week so I have time to get anything else I need. I never pack this early, but when I am going to be so remote that power and clean water are hard to find and it is reccomended that I bring my own toilet paper for the squat toilets and body wipes since showers will be rare. I added in a really cool hand washing bag thing for laundry and my favorite travel clothesline so I can do laundry in the evenings if I have access to water. I like to travel light so I am hoping the laundry bag thing works good. It may come with me on all my trips that are longer than a few days if it works well.

On a training hike with my husband. I’m not sunburnt. I’m hot and hiking in a sundress. We picked the day and got a sitter for the kids. Then the weather was over 100 degrees. We should have just gone kayaking.

So I did a thing…

I was reviewing my bucket list after returning from my latest trip to the UK where I could check off a few more items.

Stay the night in a castle-check

See the Crown Jewels-check

Ok, what else is on here? Everest… I’m doing that in September. Let’s see… do a triathlon. Ok, let’s look at races and maybe find one nearby sometime in 2025 since I’ll already be in shape from Everest.

So I start looking and lo and behold I find one. It’s 3 hours away and on my actual 50th birthday. So I got a book about training for your first triathlon. I read it. I looked at the course. Lake swim vs ocean. That’s easy. I can easily do each of the distances solo now but one after the other will be the challenge. The temptation was too much for me. I signed up.

I’m a paper girl despite this digital age so I got myself a small notebook and drew out my training plan. I joined the gym to have access to a pool for conditioning and convenience despite living so close to the water. I got another book on triathlon training and read that one too. Today I officially started my training.

Part of me thinks I have probably lost my mind. Maybe I’m having a mid life crisis of some kind. But, if I’m going to do something crazy at least it’s health and fitness oriented. Ok maybe the crazy part is doing the Everest base camp trek a month before the triathlon and not the triathlon.

Either way, I made the most of my first 50 years and I’ll be doing everything I can to make the next 50 even better!

My training log book and inspirational stickers. Yes, I’m really doing this.

Welcome 2024!

I am actually fairly happy to see 2023 behind me. It was a hard year, granted I have had worse. 2023 was tough because of how much overtime I worked. I felt as if it stole my life away. I was working 10-12 hours a day Monday-Friday and another 8-10 on Saturday… I did this for 5 months straight. I was completely exhausted at the end in mid-October and didn’t start to feel human again until around Thanksgiving.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom. We did fix up some things around the house and booked a nice trip to the UK for our anniversary in 2024 with the overtime. Pretty much every time I got paid I’d look at how much I made in OT and book another part of the trip so everything is paid in full except food, drink and our train tickets that I can only book 2 months out. It was nice to have something to look forward to while working so much.

With all that extra work some things slipped. I am back on track working on my mental and physical health. I even joined a stress management program. I feel like I lost out on a lot of family time so I have also booked some fun stuff to do with the kids in 2024 as well as an epic solo trip for my 50th birthday in the fall.

I am choosing to be positive as I enter 2024. I have a lot to look forward to as I spend more time with friends and family but I am especially excited about the travel. From the short overnight and day trips with the kids, to taking my husband to the UK for our anniversary (a trip he is very excited about and it will be the farthest he has ever been from home) to my epic birthday trip to see Nepal and Tibet where I will trek to Everest base camp, enjoy a helicopter ride to Annapurna base camp and end with a safari in the Chitwan National Park in Nepal.

Yes, 2024 will be an exciting year.

Getting ready to travel

Some thing about FINALLY going on my Northern Lights trip in a few days really has put some pep in my step the closer I get. I first booked this trip shortly after I got back from the UK back in the fall of 2019. I set it up for Feb 2021. I was so excited to finally see the northern lights. Then Covid hit. But surely the pandemic would be over by February… In November 2020 I bumped my trip to February 2022. The pandemic will surely be over by then. Well, it wasnt and the travel restrictions still restricted me so in November I rebooked for 2023…after all…the 3rd time is the charm right?

I have sat and watched the restrictions and as it grew closer to the holidays I started to worry about the travel restrictions but they didn’t get tight again. Now here I am just days away from my long awaited bucket list trip to the northern lights and I am exited! I have my polar gear ready to go. I have a rough plan of things to do while I am there. I am still a little nervous about frostbite since I will not see any weather above freezing the entire time I am there and as a California girl… I really don’t do well in cold. I have consulted with a friend who grew up in Alaska who gave me some awesome tips on staying warm in the freezing temps. I have really learned a lot.

People are still surprised that I am going alone. I highly recommend solo travel. Why wait around for other people to get it together and want to go where you want to go when you want to go there? If you happen to have someone who travels similar to you and wants to go the same places you do by all means…DO IT! But, if people you know either have zero interest in going where you want to or lack the time or money to go with you do not put your life on hold waiting. Just go! you will meet new people along the way…People who also like to travel, are interested in the same things as you and have the same budget. After all…You met them while traveling to somewhere you are excited about.

This isn’t just for big trips, but small things too. Have you always wanted to do or see something but no one wants to go with you? Just go anyway. Have people who want to go do something but no on wants to make the decision on when? Make the decision for them. Pick the date and time and invite everyone who was interested with “Hey, I am going to ___ on ___ day at ____ time if you want to join me.” Then if they decline, or want to change the plan say “Ok. Well you have fun with that. Maybe next time.” then move on. Do not change your plans. If everyone declines just go anyway and have a great time.

I find the older I get that a lot of people are all talk and no action. People love the IDEA of going places and doing amazing things but when it really comes down to actually taking action they would rather just sit around the house in their PJs, binging Netflix and eating take out. Now there isn’t anything wrong with that. I enjoy a nice gluttonous day occasionally but I also have goals and dreams that I want to accomplish. I can’t do that from my couch.

So how do you make the switch from watching other people do amazing things on YouTube to being the person who is doing amazing things? Action. Make a plan and actually follow through with it. For example; I am planning on doing the Everest base camp trek in fall of 2024 for my 50th birthday. I want to do something epic and Everest is pretty epic. So, how do I make that dream a reality? Well, first I researched the trip and made a plan to see what I need for time and about how much it will cost including any specialized gear for the trip and I started that research over a year ago. Seriously. Then once I had my travel plan I started looking at training and what will I need to be able to do physically to train for that. Again, I made a plan. I am currently in what I call Phase 1 of my training plan that will last until September. Then I will move into Phase 2 for the winter. Phase 3 will start in the spring and the summer will be phase 4 as I approach my departure date. I will put the deposit down on my Everest trip when I return from the Northern Lights trip to secure my dates. I have a plan in place to pay it off before I enter phase 2 of my training. Action is what makes dreams a reality.

So stop wishing for your dreams to come true. Make a plan no matter if it is big or small. Then take action to make those dreams come true. Your friends and family may think you are nuts for doing all these things and some may grumble or even mock you… but I guarantee you that more people are interested in hearing about the amazing things you did than anyone’s endless days sitting on the couch, binging Netflix and eating take out in their PJs.

***The featured image on this post is of me, alone, preparing to do a wildlife safari in a marine estuary about a 2 hour drive from my house. No one was interested in going so I went alone and had an AMAZING time. It was definitely a hidden gem.

Standing on top of the world

I woke up today after having an amazing dream. For some reason most of my dreams play out like movie previews. I’m not sure why that is, but anyway… in this dream I had accomplished my goal of making it to Everest base camp before my 50th birthday. It was amazing! I looked great. So happy and healthy and everything I could imagine in a perfect world. I even had a bit of a tan. It looked cold there since I was wearing my red coat and hat with the ear flaps. It was set to the song “Standing on top of the World” by Van Halen. and I was spinning in a circle taking in the Himalayas. It was beautiful.

Why mention this? After all, it was just a dream. Well, I believe that you can accomplish anything you put your mind to. I know travel has been on my mind since I just put in for my annual leave at work that morning and was working out my budget for 2024 to make sure I have enough left at the end to put in for my trip to the UK with my husband (his first time there and I think my 5th) as well as my 50th birthday trip to Nepal to make the trek to Everest base camp… something that has been on my bucket list for an eternity. I am not getting any younger and I wanted to do something epic for my 50th so Everest it is!

Let me start by saying I am by no means in shape to make the trek now. I have just over 100 lbs to loose and my current average of 4000-5000 steps a day is far less than the fitness level I will need to make this dream a reality. But I have a plan. I am goal oriented and now after my dream I have seen that it is even better than I imagined. But I have 20 months to get where I need to be. I can totally do this!

No matter what your dreams are you can achieve them with a plan.

#EVEREST2024