Headed to Nepal!
Here we are in the Memphis airport with four duffels for 8 weeks!
I tried to start a blog a month ago when Tom and I went to do our final big training trip to Ecuador in preparation for our trip to Everest. I proudly thought that I had set it up and was able to make a blog post on our way there. I wrote a second post after a few days there that was somehow not connected to the first post. After weeks of trying to figure out how to fix it, I have finally given up and am now attempting to start all over. I’m hoping that I’ll have more success this time. I am attaching links at the end of this post to those two posts I made. I plan on doing one more post on this new blog about the end of our Ecuador trip/climbs and our time since then leading up to now…
I have decided to start a blog as a way to journal through experiences and to hold on to memories. We have also had lots of people ask for updates on our adventures (particularly the one we are en route to now). My husband, Tom and I are currently in the Doha airport on our way to Kathmandu, Nepal. Tom has been diligently training for over a year to climb Mount Everest. I have been doing most of the training with him, but not all of it. There have been days when my body has felt pretty beat down, and I have opted to do either less or take the day off. I never carry as much weight as Tom does on our weighted uphill workouts. He carries 40-50 lbs uphill for 4+ hours on the weekends and up to 70 lbs uphill for 1.5 hours once a week. I usually do those workouts but with an average of half the weight. I struggled with Tom’s decision to go back to Everest after attempting the mountain twice before (once when we were together and once before I knew him). His immediate response after deciding to come down in 2019 was that he was done with his attempts. I would be lying to say that I was not relieved! It did not take long for him to change his mind. It was a process for me to get on board and beyond that, to be supportive. Little by little, as I have been willing to let go, I have come to accept that the man that I love has a big goal. It is a goal that I think would leave him feeling incomplete if he abandoned it. When I was finally able to get out of my own fear and need to control, I was a little more free to show my support for him. Watching him train for the last 14 months has only reinforced what I already knew. Tom really wants this and has been willing to do the work to achieve it. I have shifted from fear and resentment to so much respect and reinforcement of so much that I love about him. I’m still a little scared at times, but I know that he has done every single thing he can to prepare for the very best outcome. I am super proud of Tom and am excited and honored to be along for the ride!
We will be in Kathmandu in about 6 hours. We will spend a few days there before flying to a little place at about 10,000 ft called Lukla where we will begin the trek through the Khumbu Valley to Everest Base Camp. I plan on hopefully updating this blog every few days give or take. We’ll see if I can actually successfully pull it off! Thanks so much to everyone that have shown your support for Tom! We are so grateful for all of the prayers and good thoughts and vibes you are willing to send our way! Ellie
https://ellielawrencesblog.com
https://ellielawrencesblog.com/getting-acclimatized/?fbclid=IwAR1z2jv0sY1gz_0wUY_oBlKInHAGRJYfftwN_Jk8ti9MbT0a7vhMs9qJ-kg