I am crossing Greenland on skis in May, pulling my sled to raise money for "Right To Play" and "Children in Crisis". These charities help children in the most traumatised regions of the world. I strongly believe that the world is a community and that children are our future. So for me, it is absolutely necessary that children all over the world acquire social skills, team spirit and an education so that they can respect themselves. I will face extreme cold, howling winds, fatigue and icy snow. I will have to carry everything I need on my sled and back. I will sleep in a tent in the middle of nowhere. I might even encounter a polar bear!! I am really super excited but terrified!! It is a minimum of 3 weeks so I think that my limits will be thoroughly tested.

Tuesday 26 April 2011

My schedule

I am planned to leave London for Copenhagen on Friday afternoon, the day of the Royal wedding!! By the time I board my plane, Kate Middleton will be reborn as Princess Catherine. On Friday night I will meet up in Copenhagen with Per-Thore and we will fly to Greenland on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon will be spent going through all our equipment, food and clothes. On Sunday we have to show everything to the authorities in Greenland and get formal approval to start the crossing. They really want to make sure that we are very well prepared and that the chances of having to do a Search and Rescue operation for our group is reduced to a minimum. 
And on Monday, off we go! 
I do not know until when we will have phone contact from then on, but our satellite phones will work. I will try to update my blog as often as I can, but was already warned that emails don't work all the time. I'll do my best. I should fly back to London on May 26th.

My heartfelt thanks to all of you who gave me or sent me a surprise to take with me across Greenland, or who simply wrote the most lovely and encouraging messages and mails. It made me quite emotional. I think that I will have enough surprises (but please don't stop sending them, I need your support) to open at least an envelope everyday if not many more while listening to some beautiful music wrapped in my warm Tordrillos jacket. Doesn't it sound like heaven?! I WILL really look forward to my evenings in the tent... And if I slack during the day, I even have plenty of workout playlists to help me keep a steady rhythm... 
All of this will bring back to me some of the most wonderful and happiest memories of my life, of loved ones and great friends, and will  give me strength and warmth. I am going to miss you all so much, but you will be with me in my thoughts, and I look forward to put back on the weight while boring some of you to death with my stories over lunch or dinner for many many months to come!! 

I will end here with the very encouraging quote from Bernard Pivot that my mother sent me when I told her that I doubted my physical fitness: 
"the body is so famously proud and vain that it doesn't want to forfeit its owner while an important game is being played". 
(in French: "le fameux orgueil du corps qui ne veut pas lacher son proprietaire quand se joue une partie importante")
Hopefully, it is true!!
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