Our quest is officially on. Earlier this month, I (Vicki) put my name in the hat to accompany Edward as our team from Bolton at Home on this amazing adventure to trek the 135km at altitude to Everest Base Camp. My heart was beating fast with excitement and nerves, mostly the latter as I tuned in to watch our Chief Executive select the person by the good old fashioned way of pulling names out of a hat. Hearing him say my name happened in slow motion and I sat there for a moment stunned before shouting to my husband to come downstairs and see what had happened. I was gobsmacked. What an opportunity to go and do something very much outside my comfort zone for this great charity but what a lot of challenges and obstacles to overcome first. I'm reasonably fit as I have been running quite a lot during lockdown in the absence of my usual hobbies. I've travelled quite a bit, so culture shock and the journey should be not too bad. I'm quite an aviation geek so the flight into Lukla, often termed 'The World's Most Dangerous Airport' sounds quite exciting. It's recommended that you stick to the local lentil dishes to avoid potential food poisoning so that fits with my vegan diet. The dangers of altitude sickness are real though and I won't have any idea whether or not this will be a problem till we get there. I'll have to travel very light with minimal changes of clothing which will mean my usual two showers a day won't be possible but we will deal with that. I don't really deal very well with the cold and we will be sleeping in minus double figures some nights but I will layer up and get a decent sleeping bag and it'll be ok. I can do this. I'm excited. Then I realise the things that really are bothering me and what I will need to work through as well as breaking in my walking boots and getting my visa are the suspension bridges, the squat toilets (This bothers me way more than it should do!) and mostly being away from home in case I am needed in an emergency.
Anyway, we are starting our preparations and more importantly starting our fundraising. Over the coming weeks we will introduce ourselves a bit more to you all (you already know too much about me now - I'm an oversharer!), tell you more about our itinerary and fundraising and more about the great charity we are supporting. For now though please check out our fundraising site and support us if you can and leave us your comments on what we have got ourselves into!
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