You don't know until you go

I came home 11 December to a house reeking of dog pee. The good news is the damage was contained to the sun room – Daphne's room. I spent the next week and a half doing laundry, cleaning carpets, scrubbing the tile floor and unpacking. I washed one dog bed and took another to the dry cleaners (too big for my machine). I ended up taking my colourful sunroom rug to the recycling centre (aka dump). I couldn't get the smell out.

I also decorated for Christmas and caught up with friends. I had just over three weeks between Tanzania and the US so it's been a bit of a sprint. Buying/wrapping/delivering presents and cards didn't get all the way done, but more than two thirds.

I've had a lot of conversations with friends about Kilimanjaro. It's really hard to summarise that trip because it was a lot of different experiences rolled into one. While my narrative focuses on being ill on day 3 and not making the summit on day 6, there's a lot more to say about the trip. One of the intangibles is that I was in better shape than I'd been in in many years. It was a pleasant discovery that that is even possible. Since I gave up running several years ago, I would never rate my fitness that high. The combination of working at a gym with a personal trainer and preparing for this trip made me realise there's a lot more in the tank than I thought.

The other intangible is being willing to get out of my comfort zone. To be far from home with people I don't know well, at risk of ill health or political turmoil is a big stretch for me. I'm more of a homebird (and an introvert) than an adventurer but every time I take a risk, I am generally well compensated. For a month before I left, I lay in bed reviewing every possible adverse scenario. But I went anyway.

This post is really just an excuse to put up photos I didn't use elsewhere. The title of the blog is something I heard in Montana, the first place I went backpacking and camping. I did two hiking trips there and loved them both. On the second, I met Cynthia, who invited me to join her on three amazing backpacking hikes in Chile and Peru. You don't know until you go indeed.

Here I am with tentmate Paula.

Weeks leading up to Christmas 2025