Biking instead of walking..

I had decided to train by walking along the path which goes from Sperone to Ciapilli. It is a stunning path right above the sea, and meanders through rocks and flowers, being quite steep at some places. Here are some pictures. 

the "tafones", rocks sculpted by the wind

Looks like Shrek

Even the weeds are lovely here...

Ciapilli

the path

 But I saw a snake as I was walking and I totally freaked out! I HATE snakes. For me they represent death! So I ran back home and went on my exercise bike on my terrace and trained for an hour. Later I went to town and this was what the sunset looked like on Bonifacio:

Corsica

I arrived in Corsica with Nicholas and Christophe two days ago and it is a place which I love especially in Spring and Fall. The landscape is very rugged, the wind can be very strong and the sea can change from a scintillating lake to a battering sea in a couple of hours. From my house, I can see the Lavezzi islands, which have been the scene of many shipwrecks, including the "Semillante" which crashed on the rocks in the straight of Bonifacio during a terrible storm while on her way to Crimea in 1855. It is still to this date the most deadly naval disaster in France with the loss of all 693 men on board.This is such a strong scenery that it always leads me to some reflections on my life. 


I have been asked quite a lot by very sceptical people, "Why do you undertake this challenge? These children are not our problem. You won't be able to change anything!".
Well let me answer like this: "What if I would be one of those children. I would have seen my village been destroyed, some members of my family killed, some others raped. What would be my future? How would I see it? Probably I would see the only way to a secure future to become a child soldier, or a drug trafficker. Of course I would be able to learn. But instead of learning how to read and write, I would learn to shoot and harm. It would be my only way out of being a constant victim".


I know that it is a cliche, but I always try to put myself in their shoes, and think that if I would come into a refugee camp, I would be very happy that someone somewhere has not forgotten me and wants me to be a peaceful and successful human being by sponsoring my education and allowing me to develop my self confidence and team building skills through games. Then I could go back to my village and inspire more children to do the same.


The same people ask me: "How do you know that you will succeed in changing their lives, that you are not wasting your energy and money on an hopeless cause?". 
Well I do not know for sure. But if I would only do things when I am 100% sure of the outcome, I would not have done much. I would not have married, not have had children, I would never have engaged in the emotional side of my life, and , of course, I would never have even thought of this challenge. I would be a super rational human being living in a super rational world, and it would be a nightmare! If everybody thought like those super rational people, there would have been no Mother Teresa, no Nelson Mendela, no Charitable Trusts, no WI and it would be really horrible.
Call me an optimist or an idealist, I don't care. I am happy to be doing what I do. I feel that being a citizen of the world, travelling a lot, I have a global responsibility.


I also strongly believe that being more fortunate than others, it is my duty to help them, not a prerogative. I must never forget that luck and fate put me where I am. I could very well have been born a disadvantaged child but I have not been and I must somehow be grateful for this, and my way of giving back is by helping the weak of this world (children and animals) with money and energy. I am also trying (and think that I have been successful) to give my children the same sense of responsibility.

Flying back to England

I love travelling as I quite often have wonderful conversations with complete strangers on planes, and today was no exception.


On my way back from Trondheim to Gatwick, I sat next to a lovely couple who were going to London for a few days to escape the Norwegian snowy weather and find some spring and flowers in London. I started to chatter to the Lady about banalities and one thing leading to another, we talked about everything: the lack of sun in the north of Norway for 3 months of the year, our different cultures and our consumer habits. We talked about the poorest countries of the world where we export our toxic waste, although, as she rightly said, no one taken individually would approve about pollution or bullying, but unfortunately, often the financial argument always manages to make it a collective necessity. We discussed the teachings of the old, the blessing of having children (she even has grandchildren), and above all, the importance to realise how lucky we are and to remain humble. It made me really happy to share so much and realise that at heart we have the same values and the same honesty. I can get so downhearted when I watch the news, listen to war reports, or simply watch how our society is money driven, that it gives me a lot of hope in the future to meet such people as Ester. If you read these lines, thank you for sharing so much with me. 


This challenge has a wonderful impact on my life. I have discovered how the majority of people are keen to help but are too shy to propose their help, so I have had to come out of my shell and ask, which is difficult for me, but so rewarding! I have made many friends who share the same vision of a world where we work together and use our resources to give back and help humanity instead of only helping ourselves. I have learnt to be open about my feelings and more vulnerable, even if it makes me uneasy. And above all, after all these years, I am starting to trust myself, the real Sabine, and it is a wonderful feeling and gives me a lot of confidence and serenity.

Filming with TV2

On Friday afternoon, I boarded a Norwegian.no plane and landed in Trondheim where I met Petter and his son Ola. It was snowing and windy. What luck that I trained in good weather! We drove back to Stoljen in Sweden. There we spent a couple of hours going through all the expedition material that I had bought in the UK and which cost me a little fortune in overweight luggage!! Luckily apart from 3 down mats which are very comfortable but quite tedious to inflate, we kept everything. I will send the mats back and exchange them for some simpler ones.

The next day, Thome the TV2 reporter met us and we reenacted my training process for him. It started to snow quite heavily at times and the wind picked up, so setting up the tent was more difficult than before. But we managed and were filmed doing all this. I dug the snow inside the tent, installed the mattresses, the sleeping bags, we lighted the stove and conducted my interview inside the tent. We were dressed in our wonderful Brynje clothes, a Norwegian brand which is quite extraordinary and it looked like an advertising campaign! Thome told me that he was going to interview me and that it would be great if I could give him short and precise answers (....) which, anyone who knows me well knows that is not really my style!!... I am more like :"ok, I do it for this... but, .. also for that... and actually..., maybe also for this... although....". No, none of that, precise and concise answers, argh..., but somehow, I seemed to manage!! Thome was interested in:

.  the Norwegian connection to my challenge, i.e. Right to Play and Johann Olaf Koss, and Per-Thore Hansen and Arctic Adventures

. the charity side of it 

. my reason for coming to Norway to train, 

. but also my personal reasons for doing this challenge. 

Then we packed the tent and he conducted an interview of Petter before filming us skiing. After I not so gracefully fell just in front of the camera while going downhill (my only fall...), it was time to say goodbye to Thome. I can't wait to see the interview on TV.

The rest of the afternoon was spent going through more planning, and, of course, some eating (they make very good waffles in Sweden!). After picking up Ola who went skiing with some schoolfriends he met there, we drove back to Trondheim where I slept in the airport hotel. I am really happy as Petter and I get along really well. He teaches me without condescendence and he actually listens if I make a suggestion. Thus we are a good team, we work as hard and as efficiently as we can, but have a lot of fun, crack a lot of jokes and I love it.

Meeting Chemmy and filming in the park

 I had the great pleasure of meeting an extraordinary woman yesterday, 3 times Olympic skier Chemmy Alcott, who very kindly gave me tips on how to prepare myself for such a big challenge. Chemmy came to my gym and we filmed our conversation. She was so gracious in saying that she is confident that I am physically up to the crossing, but she foresees my biggest challenge as being a mental one: keeping strong and positive. She gave me tips on how she does it. She trains herself to think about a lot of happy memories in the week before a big competition, and to go back to those memories as soon as she feels mental tiredness creeping in. She also talks to herself in a very positive way, never negative, to keep her spirits up.

  She also told me to think about songs which cheer me up or have a good rythm. They were all laughing when I told them that I was singing the "Thomas the tank engine" song when the uphill going was very tough in Norway as I really felt like a steam train going on and pulling a heavy load. And last but not least, to seek the help of my team-mates. I will have to be very honest with them and let them know if I feel rotten or have a bad day. Maybe it will be difficult to tell them then, so I must warn them of the signs to look out for, so that they can step in. We already talked about it with my guides, and they say that is one has a particularly bad day (exhaustion, blisters, etc..), the others can help with taking more of the load until spirits are up again. The great thing with going with Petter and Per-Thore is that I think that they have been through it all themselves and tough guys as they are, they have no problem admitting that it can be very tough, sometimes even hell, depending on the weather and the snow condition. It makes it much easier for me to be honest about my weaknesses, and people who know me, also know that weak is not really a part of my vocabulary!! But, this is exactly the type of mental challenge which will be extremely hard for me.


We also talked about food, and Chemmy thinks that I should put on weight before the challenge as she is a bit concerned as to how I will resist the cold if I don't have enough body fat and taking into consideration that I will probably lose  more weight on the trip. So she advised me to buy some..... breastfeeding cookies, which have 3000 calories each and eat plenty before the trip. I might even smuggle them on the trip and secretly feed them to Petter and Per-Thore (although I know that I will laughing myself silly seeing them eating the biscuits and they will be suspicious..). She also mentioned I should buy something called ...a "she-pee" so that I will not have to put my pants down every-time I need the loo! But I'm not sure about that!!

Then it was off to the park where we filmed my training on roller-skis with my heavy backpack. It was a bit difficult as the park was so busy, but Ronit the camerawoman and Tim the soundman were fabulous. We had a lot of laughs (especially when I fell straight away trying to get up the bench with my backpack on and the weight just pulled me down backwards, so that I just sat from the bench on to the road...). We then filmed with Ronit and Tim walking along while I was roller-skiing and talking about my upcoming challenge.


And finally we went back to my home and I talked more about the challenge, my motivation, my fears, etc.. The aim is to produce a short promotional DVD that we can send to prospective donors, and the media. 

Getting publicity to get more sponsorship!

Since coming back from Norway, I have done two things: 

ordering huge amounts of merchandise and food needed for the crossing, 

and, 

meeting famous people for photo-shoots and interviews to get more exposure

At the beginning of the month, I had the pleasure to meet again Johann Olaf Koss, the founder of The Right to Play.

with Johann Olaf Koss

Today I had the pleasure of meeting again the lovely Sarah, Duchess of York, who is the founder of Children in Crisis. I am full of admiration for these two people as they are doers and are really trying to improve the terrible situation in which so many of the world's children are.

with Sarah,. Duchess of York

Tomorrow, I will go to the gym with , Chemmy Alcott the lovely British top alpine ski. She is an ambassador for The Right to Play and who has very kindly offered to give me some guidance on training and food.

On Saturday I will have an interview with a Norwegian TV Channel as they are very interested in the fact that 2 of their countrymen, coming from a country who is the birthplace of almost all major polar explorers, keep on this tradition by teaching me how to be a successful explorer. They also are very interested in my motivation and the charity side of it.

The food and polar equipment are all over my house, and I will definitely have to check in more than one bag when I fly out to Trondheim! Amazing all the things we need, even though clothing is kept to a minimum!   

Lessons learnt

The most important lesson that I learnt is that in order to succeed, the key element will be 

the management of energy. 

We will have to: 

- conserve our energy, by eating, drinking and sleeping.

- conserve our heating energy by not wasting fuel when working with the stove

and use the stove heat to dry clothes at night 

- use our body heat to dry gloves, socks and small items in our sleeping bag at night

- conserve water by making sure that we don't spill it while filling thermoses

It is also very important to 

- focus on the positive: getting angry or depressed is not going to change the weather or remaining distance!! On the contrary it will only make the remaining of the trip harder by depressing me. Nature is very powerful and we can't fight it. We have to learn to live with it.

- be disciplined and methodic: Organisation is paramount, and tasks should become automatic, therefore easier to perform

-  find a walking pace: and try to maintain it if the terrain does not change. Should the terrain change, adapt the speed in consequence

- remembering that this is a team effort: work with the partners, forget egos, and trust your instincts to judge the other members of the team's moods, aches, and give them moral support. 

- if any tension, diffuse it with jokes

- be confident 

Observe, think, share, be practical, show initiative and learn

I love it. A trip like this is totally character building. It also gives me tremendous confidence as I can see that if I put my mind to it, I can do almost anything.
It is also amazingly rewarding as I know that each penny or pound that I raise will make a big difference to a child's life.