As someone who regularly thinks about death, not in a morbid way just always have, I tend to think about what I would remember on my death bed. It has helped me through life to make sure I focus on the things that matter and less on the things that don’t. Certainly I will not be thinking about how clean my cars are, but that doesn’t stop me having an unhealthy obsession with their cleanliness… No, instead I will think about happy moments with friends and family and certainly a vast majority of those memories are built or focused around holidays. Memorable moments that I can quickly recall and remember the feeling of. True happiness.
So my recent adventure to Norway to compete in the IGO N60 challenge was one such experience that will stay with me as one of those ‘life moments’. The opportunity came through a friend, who I met through work, who knew the founder of the business. Basically he had rowed the Atlantic with three friends and after the 60 or so days arrived in America with an incredible sense of achievement. He decided upon his return to try and give everyone the kind of experience but in more manageable chunks. His business (IGO Adventures) therefore focuses on adventure holidays based on Summer and Winter themes. There is Morocco which involves running and cycling across sand dunes and dusty landscapes to Montana and swimming across lakes to the N60 based on Norway which involved ski touring, cross country skiing and running across icy tundras.
It is the Norway trip we signed up to and while I won’t go into detail on the trip, as another blogger, Jamnes Henderson, has captured my experience (see link), it did end up being one of those life memories. From flying Concorde to a holiday in Italy with all my family to the birth of my daughters or my wedding day they are memories I will think about when I die. I am proud of those memories and makes me feel I have not wasted the opportunity I have been given. Certainly dying with regrets is one of my biggest fears and that helps to define my life.
I have many ambitions, as I am sure we all have, I just hope I have long enough to complete as many as possible before I have to say goodbye. In the meantime I will keep focusing on those key memories.
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