Do you have something that you’ve dreamed about most of your life? This journey began when my Mom came across the list of the “10 Things I want to do when I’m older” that I made when I was in junior high. One major unfinished task on my list stood out: Climb Mt. Everest. Considering I’m married, have a 2 year old son, a pregnant wife, a full time job; I decided to scale it down to something that could fit into my busy life. After some deliberation, I decided getting over 20,000 feet was a nice compromise.

One day I came across a guided trip to Island Peak Nepal. The itinerary included a trek to Everest base camp, then an ascent of the 20,305 ft. Island Peak aka Imja Tse. Not only would I get to break the 20,000 feet barrier, I would also get to see Everest base camp and be exposed to the incredible culture of Tibet.

Immediately, my head was spinning with details. I needed a month off of work, money for the trip, I was fat and out of shape and most importantly, I needed permission from my pregnant wife to go on a four week vacation. So I did what any self respecting husband would do, I put a deposit down on the trip – better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.

Now I needed to get in shape, beg for vacation, learn the requisite skills, buy the technical gear and most of all get in shape. Did I mention I was out of shape? And, I had six months to do all of this. In my next post, I will tell you how I accomplished all of the above in six months.