What’s Taking You Forever…est?
The Spark
When I first started dreaming about Everest 10 years ago, it felt impossible! A daydream reserved for other people—the hardcore mountaineers, the disciplined athletes, the ones with sponsorships and six-packs. Clearly not me, right? 😂
But after climbing Kilimanjaro, I realized I didn’t want to let fear or self-doubt stop me from at least trying. From there, TakingForEverest took shape, because it’s about taking the long way: one mountain at a time, one skill at a time, one paycheck at a time.
The Path
The name TakingForEverest began as a joke, because this will quite literally take me forever to accomplish. I don’t want to be a passenger on Everest being dragged to the top. I want to be a competent member of a team, carrying my weight, contributing my skills, and knowing I’ve earned my place. And that will take time and practice, while also balancing a budget, a mortgage, a family, my fur babies. But we all have to start somewhere…
Learn the Basics
✅ Kilimanjaro (19,341 ft)—altitude, expedition life, and grit.
▶ Ecuador (Cotopaxi, Cayambe, Chimborazo)—glacier travel and technical climbing.Build Skills & Confidence
▶ Bigger expeditions like Aconcagua.
▶ Technical climbs in the U.S.—rope work, crampons, ice axes, crevasse rescue.Test High-Altitude Expeditions
▶ Cho Oyu or Manaslu—8,000m peaks where the margin for error is thinner, oxygen’s involved and teamwork is essential.The Big One: Everest
▶ As a climber who belongs there. Slow, steady, deliberate—taking forever…est if I have to.
The Heart
I realized later TakingForEverest also had a deeper, personal meaning: the time it has taken to accept myself—to believe I’m capable, worthy, and allowed to chase this dream. To see it not just as a destination, but as a journey of becoming. Every step, every stumble, every mountain in between is shaping me into the person I’m supposed to be.
Everest, for me, is spiritual. My biggest journeys begin as small seeds planted deep in my heart. They grow quietly, unfold in their own timing, and eventually become inevitable. Everest has been like that for over a decade—a calling I cannot shake no matter how many other hikes or trips I take.
So this is about honoring the calling—even if it takes years, even if some people don’t understand—because to ignore it now would feel like a betrayal of who I truly am, of some plan that’s been written for me. It’s about finding the answer to a question I don’t even know is being asked yet.
And I’m sharing this journey because I believe in vulnerability and connection. Speaking my dreams out loud keeps me accountable—and maybe it gives someone else permission to believe in theirs, too. So what’s your Everest—the thing that’s been on your heart forever, waiting for you to believe in it? It might be time to answer the call.
“Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition; they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion.” – Anatoli Boukreev