Where to start? People ask ‘so how was it?’ No way to sum it up in a few words. It was promised to be life changing. It was.

I cried on the daily when I got home. I’d been training for this for a year and I’ve been committed to @rlpshelterfdn as a top 1% donor in the country for about 5 yrs. But the commitment deepened as I took my journey.

We had an incredible doctor on the journey with us. Rosie. Sweet Rosie. (And that was a real blessing when one of my dear trek mates needed nitro and in fact needed to be transported to hospital to ensure his heart was ok to cross the finish line.) Rosie warmed us up each morning with an epic stretch. And one day she said ‘shout what you’re grateful for’ I shouted ‘all of you.’

So the country was extraordinary and the people warm & kind. The temps were extremely hot – this WAS advertised as a challenge. BUT the highlight hands down, was the people.

100 dedicated Royal Lepager’s trekking to support women & children affected by domestic violence.

The day that stands out for me was our last full day. It was discovered that we had 11.2km post lunch vs 8km. People were struggling with heat. Blisters. Rashes. And the guides were mentioning dividing us into 3 grps. Slow, medium & fast. My dear pal and long time trekker @shawn_zig said no, we’re a team. And if it means getting into camp at 7pm we do it together. 🩶Then came the ritual post lunch.

After lunch, always a story was shared. It was the story of one of the 100 of us & their very personal experience with domestic violence. As you can imagine these were heart breaking and very real.

This last day one of the women in the group who I had traveled with on my journey to Siem Reap stepped up. Her story was her own I realized as she was at the end. An involuntary sob came out of me – this could be your mom, sister, daughter or friend. We piled onto her – the 30 of us for a grp hug.
Her vulnerability & courage was surreal.

Thank you for following my journey and for your support. It’s means the world.
Love,
Shea x