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I always wanted to do something different, daring and maybe dangerous. Pushing myself out of my comfort zone was always something I constantly tried to do, but I always kept within the boundaries in which I felt in control. Then in April 2017, the opportunity to climb Mount Kilimanjaro came knocking and I opened the doors wide open to this adventure. Fueled with a sense of pride that I was doing this for a great cause and encouraged by a team of incredible people who were of a similar physical capabilities, I pushed through nine months of training and at the end of December 2017 we left for Tanzania. What no one 'warns' you about is the sheer expanse of this place. The long van rides from one place to the other, which I, coming from a tiny island, am definitely not used to. On the other hand, from day one, Tanzania started giving me something I wasn't expecting : finding time to listen to myself and others. I chose not to purchase a local SIM card and thus was partially disconnected apart from the sporadic areas in which WIFI was available at Marangu hotel. When we hit the mountain trail, this became more real as even those with a 4G connection lost all connection and our communication was limited to us and to the local guides and amazing porters who helped us with our gear on the trek. We spent New Year's eve in a simple camp called 'Shira Camp', going to bed in our two person tents at about 8pm and waking up to a simple, but heartfelt 'Happy New Year' greeting, by our cook. I started realizing that things which we embellish so much in our busy daily lives, here become simpler, but have a much deeper feeling, because they are not drowned with distractions of our fast ‘modern’ world. On summit night, the feeling of loneliness was at its maximum. I was there with another eighteen members of my group and four guides, but I was alone, feeling every movement, every step I took and I was literally speaking to myself and in some cases to the mountain. I do not know how many hours it took to reach the summit and I can recall all the trek in fast forward motion as if it took less than an hour! What I can recall, are all the thoughts and conversations I had with myself. How I urged myself not to give up and even remembered vividly pep talks from my dad of when I was about five years old, when he encouraged me to continue, when I just wanted to give up. When all was over and we were all back at the hotel and connected again to the outside world, I was excited to reach out to my loved ones and tell them I was fine, but a lot of it couldn't come out. A big part of the experience was encapsulated inside me, it was personal and I just couldn't explain it. The elation of the achievement was huge, but the feeling of being a ‘cheat’ in everyday life, with our gizmos, our comforts and our egoistic attitudes towards what's around was huge and still is. I never thought this mountain, which so many people climb every year, was the place in which I find myself and what I want for myself. A mountain, an inanimate object you can say, but very alive I assure you, showed me who I was, my fears and my strengths and I will always be grateful and it will always be with me, wherever I travel, in search of the other parts of me.