Go Big or Go Home

This all isn’t really about the 7 or climbing mountains. It’s about going big. It’s about putting myself out beyond my limits and way outside my comfort zone. The 7 are about the process, the journey between point A and B. It’s about going big.

After having lost a sense of who I was due to a difficult relationship, I was given an opportunity to reexamine myself and really take a look at who I had become and who I wanted to be. I realized I wasn’t happy. Not just because of a breakup but also just because of where I was in life. I felt like I had gotten stagnant, like I was living in the slow lane. In pictures of myself before the relationship I was outside all the time hiking, backpacking, or climbing and I looked really happy doing it all. It was time to get that back. I settled into my old routine of 3-4 days a week at the climbing gyms in between weekend trips outside. I started feeling great. I started feeling like I wanted to do something big. I wanted something gnarly I may never achieve out in front of me on the horizon. I chose the 7 because it was huge. In the end it wouldn’t be about the summits, it would be about the journey. It would be about pushing myself to my limit because that’s where I figured I would see who I really was. In November 2016 I choose the 7.

I began training right away for Kilimanjaro and after summiting I came home high off the travel bug. Almost immediately I turned right back around and ended up in Iceland over the Presidents Day weekend. I flew out Thursday afternoon and landed in Reykjavik Friday morning at 4am. I had rented a camper van to sleep and drive around the island in with no particular plan. The only thing I had on my itinerary was to scuba dive the Silfra Fissure on Saturday morning and fly home Monday night. Everything in between was open and since I had a camper van I could sleep anywhere. I had no idea where I would go but was pumped for the adventure. Over the course of four days I went on quite the road trip. I landed Friday morning in Iceland and by that evening had managed to get adopted by an Irish Stagg Party going to Iceland’s mini Coachella, called Sonar. It was held at the Harpa which is a giant music hall with multiple stages and venues inside. There I saw numerous DJ’s and musical acts but the highlight was seeing an Icelandic Gangster Rap group. Trust me it was awesome!

After partying with the Irish till the early hours I went back to my van and slept a bit. I got up that morning and after breakfast headed out for my dive. This was the only thing I had scheduled for my trip. I had to drive through the countryside to Thingvellir National Park. In the park I would dive the Silfra Fissure located in Lake Thingvallavatn. The fissure is the boundary where the North American and European tectonic plates meet and the only place in the world where you can touch both continents.

The water was so cold that I had to wear a dry suit which was a whole new experience after diving in the warm waters of Zanzibar a month prior. The dive was unlike anything I had ever done. Even in the dry suit it was COLD but the visibility was amazing. After I drove around the park and found a campsite for the evening.

Sunday was spent exploring the island as I pleased and ended with a trip to the famous blue lagoon. I went back into Reykjavik that Sunday night and while I was getting dinner at a Turkish spot I found myself swiping left and right on Tinder. I was on a quest to go outside my comfort zone and being alone in the capital of Iceland my last night I figured what the hell?! I actually ended up matching with and meeting up with a girl and her friends that evening. The ladies showed me around Reykjavik and took me to some local bars. We ended up closing down the bars and had a great time. The whole point was to go big and somewhere between my new Irish buddies, the freezing cold scuba dive, and random Tinder date I felt like I pushed myself outside my comfort zone and accomplished this.

After that trip I was on a roll with going big. I came home and kept climbing and training for my next summit, Aconcagua. That wasn’t until next year and this whole going big thing became a drug. In April I entered my first Tough Mudder competition which is a 10-mile course with 20 obstacles scattered through it. Then after that I set my sights on the next trip. I figured that since I would be planning to climb Aconcagua in the Winter of 2018 I should hit another big peak in between then and now. I decided that over fourth of July I would climb Mt. Rainier. It was time to start training again for another adventure and chance to go big.