Kilimanjaro Experience

So as many of you read last week, I'm climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in July- the tallest freestanding mountain in the world - to not only raise awareness, but much-needed funding, to save the endangered pangolin. [ Please click here to donate  to conservation efforts] You're probably asking - why the pangolin? Well, not only is it the spirit animal of my beloved employer (Pan golin , for Golin - get it?), but the pangolin is the single most trafficked animal on earth. A ll eight species of pangolin are on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list of animals threatened with extinction. It's a really unique-looking animal found across Africa and Asia - but that has caused certain cultures to hunt the pangolin for its apparent "healing" qualities in Eastern medicine. According to The Guardian newspaper, more than  100,000 pangolins are captured every year so their meat and keratin scales can be sold in China and Vietnam.  Losing an entire s...

*Updated donation link: www.bit.ly/GoAllUp * Hi everybody - So as I lie here comfortably on my couch on a Saturday night - I'm less than three months away from embarking on a trip of a lifetime. I can guarantee this trip will have no comfortable moments as I'm experiencing right now! I've been keeping this secret under wraps for a few weeks - other than family and a close group of friends - but here's some big news: I'll be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro - the tallest freestanding mountain in the world - later this summer. If you're asking why - it's for a simple reason: I'm part of a small group of Golin employees trying to save an endangered species. I've always had a travel bug since I was a kid - but oddly enough, I never had a strong calling to visit Africa... I don't even think I had anything in Africa on my 'bucket list' - but now I do! I guess I planned to check it off eventually with a trip to Egypt - but never imagined I...