6 Lessons I Learned On My Way To The Everest Base Camp

It was March 2012.

I saw a Groupon deal with beautiful copywriting. It said “Relaxing scenic trek in Annapurna with yoga. Relaxes your mind and stuffs like that”. OK, relax and yoga sounded like the right keywords for a getaway. How tough could it be when it involved morning yoga and yogurt?

So I signed up with two buddies, William and Saha. They were marathon runners and I was a walking potato.

2 weeks into booking the trip, an after-thought kicked in.

“I would probably not go back to Nepal anytime soon anyway, so might as well do Everest instead”. So William proposed a “trade up” plan – Let’s go to Everest! Saha said “Sounds like a good idea!” and I screamed “Guys, we agreed on Yoga and Yogurt! Everest doesn’t sound relaxing weii!”

The truth was: the idea was exciting. But, I was never a trekker. In fact, I couldn’t even stay on the treadmill for 20 minutes without getting a heart attack from panting too hard. So, as exciting as it was, the thought was equally daunting. I was scared.

Eventually, I decided to #YOLO it.

I went to Everest Base Camp. I made it.

Here are 6 lessons I learned.

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1) If you are doing it for the first time, you will never be ready anyway.
Same goes for every other “first” attempt in life.

Remember when you first learn how to swim? As much as you can memorize the techniques – you would feel insecure until you got into the pool for the first time. Remember your first stage performance? After 200 hours of grilling practices – you would still feel a tornado of butterflies in your tummy. Same goes to heading off to Everest Base Camp for the first time. We trained, over-stocked our medicines, bought expensive waterproof socks, and a pocket knife in case we walked into a bear – we weren’t certain until we did it.

A comfort zone is a place where you’re in control because you know what to do. A comfort zone is a nice cozy place but eventually, you will get bored. Remember, progress is living.

Stop progressing, stop living.

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