Putting the Real in Realtor—Kathryn M.

Let’s step behind the lockboxes and “For Sale” signs for a moment. This is week three in our agent spotlight series, where we reveal the fun and totally unexpected sides of your favorite Realtors.

Here is Kathryn M!

My husband, Ben, and I adore traveling. We have traveled around the world to many different countries, but one trip out of all of them stands out. About 11 years ago, a year before my 15th wedding anniversary, Ben tasked me with organizing the trip of a lifetime. He wanted to summit Mount Kilimanjaro. For those of you not familiar with the mountain, it is the tallest in Africa and the world’s largest freestanding peak, standing 19,341 feet high. I admit, I never planned making the trek myself, but reveled in the challenge.

I discovered a wonderful company (DETASA) specializing in Kilimanjaro hikes and safaris and mapped out our Western Breach (the most challenging route) approach hike in addition to a Tanzanian safari after our trek. The trip lasted 2 weeks with 7 days allotted for the hike, with the majority of the days ascending the mountain. Climbing the mountain this route only entails hiking 28.6 miles round trip. Only 14.8 miles of this are hiked to the summit, which, over the course of the 6 days allotted for hiking to the summit seems like minimal mileage, but this is where the Swahili mantra of “pole, pole” comes in.

Those who know me, know that I have one speed and one speed only, FAST. From walking to talking, I flit from one place to the next as quickly as possible. In Tanzania, they do things differently. When our guide led us onto the trail he told us “pole, pole” when we tried to set a brisk pace. A bit frustrated, we ensured him we had trained for the hike and were in top shape and prepared for its rigors. Still, he insisted “pole, pole.” It disappointed us that some of our porters (the “sherpas” tasked with carrying our provisions) would “run” past us while we creeped along. Our guide persisted in his repetition of “pole, pole.”

On day 6 of our hike, the day before our summit, we were scheduled to camp at 18,800 feet. The guide noticed that Ben was struggling at our peak altitude that day, displaying the early signs of altitude sickness. In lieu of camping at that altitude and waiting to summit, we summited early and descended to a lower campsite to avoid severe altitude sickness as well as ensuring we achieved our goal of reaching the summit. Had we taken the hike any faster, we almost definitely would not have been able to reach the summit because we would not have acclimatized properly. Our wise guide recognized this, thus his persistent “pole, pole” enabled us to reach the peak.

Now, if only I could apply the Swahili “pole, pole” (slowly, slowly) to my every day life….