6 months at home.
Africa was the beginning of the summer but it seems like years ago. One of the standout experiences of our trip
was living and working in Malawi. Making
friends and being part of a community but a community that was nothing like
anything we had ever been a part of.
Then we came home.
For John the transition back
to “normal” life in the states was quicker and easier then it was for
Kathleen. John enjoyed the ease of life in the United
States. Grocery stores overflowing with not just any type of food or
vegetable that we would want but multiple choices. Instead of 3
types of breakfast cereal there would be 3 different types of one
kind. We had not driven in years and suddenly we had cars and the
ability to drive around and out of town whenever we
wanted. Electricity was available 24 hours a day. Clean
drinkable water was available out of a tap. It may have been because
of the ease of all of these things that Kathleen had a harder transition back. Realizing
that most of the world does not have the abundance and luxury that America and
Europe have bothered her more. Even harder to understand was how
this abundance is just taken for granted here. Yes, there is hunger
and homelessness but in Malawi most of the children we saw had stunted growth
from malnutrition. Protein is not a usual part of their
diet. The main source of nutrition is corn porridge (similar to
grits) with a little bit of vegetables mixed in. Meat is too
expensive for most of the people. Clean water means walking to a
town pump to fill jugs. The difference between “poor” Americans and
“normal” sub-Saharan Africans is still a big jump. This transition
back to an American/Western lifestyle took Kathleen longer to adjust back to.
Then we were back for 6 months. During
that time John worked as an Emergency Veterinarian as much as possible to save
up for the next chapter of World Tour. Kathleen started working as a
gear representative for a hydration pack company called Ultraspire where she is
also one of their sponsored athletes. She started reconnecting with
friends and trail running a lot. After a summer and fall of
incredible runs and adventures Kathleen felt like she was finally getting back
into solid running shape with a group of friends that wanted to run on a
regular basis. 6 months was enough time for her to just be getting
back into a comfortable routine. John on the other hand was back in
his work routine and missing the days of being a nomad. Some months
he was working more than full time. During the summer it was fun
being back but once the grey, dark, and wet returned to Seattle he was ready to
leave.
Whatever head space we are in
at some level does not matter because we are about to launch into the South
America leg of our World Tour. We fly to Santiago, Chile on 9
January and will be in South America for 6 months. As usual, we have
a rough idea of what we want to do but no definitive plans. Besides the
plane ticket there is no set itinerary. The plan is to initially go
and make an attempt on Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Western and
Southern Hemispheres. John summited this mountain in 2001 and
Kathleen wants to make an attempt. We then plan on going to El
Chalten to do trail running, trekking, and climbing in the area around Fitz Roy
and Cerro Torre. All these mountains are in Argentina where the peso
just collapsed 40% in the last few days making everything on sale if you have
American dollars. We plan on being at the foot of Fitz Roy on 14
February to have a memorial service for our friend Chad Kellogg who tragically
died descending that mountain two years ago. Then it is off to
Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America. We plan on
swinging around into Chile (probably early March at this point) to explore
Torres del Paine and do some more trekking. Eventually we
will make our way north through the Chilean Archipelago to the Atacama
Desert (the driest place on Earth) and then to the salt flats of
Bolivia. Continuing on to Peru we plan to see Machu Pichu (this will
be a repeat for Kathleen), hike in the Cordillera Blanca Mountains, and
hopefully do some volunteer veterinary work. Then to Ecuador to
climb Chimborozo. The summit of this mountain is the closest to the
sun a person can get while attached to the planet. The Earth bulges
at the equator so this mountain sticks out into space more than any other spot
including Mount Everest. Lastly, we plan on being in Columbia to
meet our friend Amanda McNabb and do some bike touring. We will be
back by July 1 as John's hospital had an opening that needed
filled. 6 months to explore another corner of the world together
which should be just enough time for us to just have readjusted to being on the
road again. Then we will have to readjust back to the US again.
We have been
fortunate to have been supported on our World Tour by a few sponsors and that
continues. GU Energy Labs gave us a huge
amount of gels and chomps that we continue to use on our adventures. Ultraspire gave us new Epic Fastpacks to use
as our day packs and even hired Kathleen as an employee this summer. Seven Hills Running Shop has continued to
help us out over the summer since we tend to burn through running shoes pretty
quickly. Lastly we are psyched to
announce that Vasque footwear contacted us this summer and asked if we could be
Adventure Travel Ambassadors for them.
Since we already used their products it was a natural fit so now we have
new boots and running shoes from them.
Stay tuned to the blog and Facebook for the continued travels of the FidEgans and Knucklehead Adventure Tours.
