Lessons from Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro

Summiting Mount Kilimanjaro had always been a dream of mine – a dream that I was never sure would come true. My memories of trekking have always been mixed. I love the outdoors, but I often have trouble with altitude sickness and my asthma makes breathing above the clouds difficult. I remember having to descend one hike at 10,000 feet in Yosemite because my lungs were burning. Another time I suffered extreme nausea on the Inca Trail at 12,000 feet. Mount Kilimanjaro is a staggering 19,341 feet! I wasn’t sure how I was going to reach the top of one of the highest mountains in the world, but I knew I had to try.