Ai yi yi

I remember once telling someone that I had spent several months preparing for a trip to Africa in 2007. This elicited raised eyebrows, followed by an unspoken vibe: “Geez Louise. Talk about overkill. Should be a snap. All you have to do is throw clothes and toothbrush in a suitcase.” I found myself explaining, but could see that I’d utterly lost them. Obviously, I was mismanaging everything.

Well, preparing for a five-week trip to Africa to climb a mountain is much more than throwing clothes in a