It's time to #GoAllUp - departure day!



Well, today is the day. I'm flying to Africa to climb a mountain. It just seems so surreal to even utter those words.

I feel ready. I stopped working out and hiking last week to prevent any last-minute strains or pains. Mentally, I'm excited. I'm just a little worried about the 48-hour journey over (and maybe the bathroom situation on the mountain 😅), but the climb isn't fazing me at all.

I've probably mentioned before, but I'm climbing with approximately 20 Golin colleagues from around the world. We will all arrive in Tanzania this weekend and get ready for the climb. I decided to do a safari on Sunday to get me out of the Arusha area and see some of the wildlife of Africa - that piece I'm REALLY excited about. I'll have lots of pictures to share, I'm sure! 

My plan is to keep a diary each day of my trip, and publish it once I'm back (with a ton of pictures). I've been told there is some cellular connectivity on the mountain, but I doubt it will be reliable enough to post a blog. I'll try to post as much as I can!

Our seven-day Kilimanjaro climb up the Lemosho route starts on Monday morning (overnight Sunday Dallas time) and we expect to summit at 19,341 feet the following Saturday (day 6). 

I’d encourage you to follow along with our trek online (activate the Bridge for #GoAllUp! Just saying!) through the links below:


For tracking purposes, I think our climb ‘name’ is TESP (TEam Save Pangolin)


I want to thank each and every one of you who donated to help save the pangolin. As all of our colleagues from around the world fly out today for Kilimanjaro, we not only reached, but surpassed our $20,000 fundraising goal! We couldn’t have done it without your generosity. It’s actually not too late to keep donating – pangolins still need your help and we’re nearing our $25k stretch goal: www.bit.ly/GoAllUp.



I appreciate every prayer, positive thought, good vibe and well wishes that you are sending our way.

Here we go and #GoAllUp
-M


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