More training, more new people, more excitement

I spent last weekend up in the Lake District with the other Trainee Leaders (TLs) and the Leaders, so the people in charge of the science projects, basecamp and the adventure side of things. It was awesome meeting more people and finding out about their experience with expeditions and mountainous environments - lots of inspirational role models.

We stayed at the YMCA National Centre on the western shore of Lake Windermere - a beautiful place for a morning run with everyone, next to the mirror flat lake and surrounded by the rugged Lake District hills.

One of my favourite parts of the weekend was learning about Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), High Altitude Cerebral Oedema (HACE) and High Altitude Pulmonary Oedema (HAPE) (don’t ask me why the acronym ends with an E not an O..). It was slightly depressing learning how I might have a headache for the six weeks I’ll be in India, and terrifying learning how quickly HACE and HAPE can develop, but the medical team who will be part of the team seem really knowledgeable on the subject and will take great care of us all.

It’s important for all of us to know the symptoms and treatments of altitude related illnesses, as it could happen to anyone in the expedition team and we all need to know how to react. We learnt about the Lake Louise scale, which allows a score to be assigned to a person depending on their symptoms, and helps with the monitoring of people’s state. We can all expect some tiredness, headaches and poor sleep, but it’s important to know when people are deteriorating.

We’ll be acclimatising slowly on the way up into the mountains, taking time for rest days and factoring in going slower if anyone is struggling. We’ll be flying from Heathrow to Delhi to Leh, where we (the advanced party; the TLs and some of the Leaders) will then spend time sorting supplies of food, fuel etc. for basecamp and acclimatising - Leh is already pretty high, at 3,524m! ‘High altitude’ is classed as anything above 2,500m, and your breathing get shorter and deeper from only 1,500m, so we’ll definitely be able to feel it.

Our outdoor classroom - where we learnt about ice axes, crampons,
security on steep ground and roping up for glaciers

We also spoke a lot about hygiene and how we’re going to stop illness from happening and spreading. Some of the techniques we’ll be using at basecamp and during our short expeditions are very clever, such as the system we’ll be using for getting clean drinking water. Although the water we’ll be drinking is from glacial meltwater and will look crystal clear and clean, it’ll actually be full of tiny particles of rocks and even tinier bacteria. We’ll be using bags to filter the water through, before then using chlorine tablets, then adding a tiny sliver of vitamin C tablet to make it taste better.

Me, roped up, pretending I'm on a glacier and surrounded by ice
(lots of imagination required..)

We spent some time out on the hill, talking through crampons, ice axes, security on steep ground and how to rope up together when on a glacier. It was very useful revision of the material I covered on my Mountain Leader Training week last summer, and it was great to see how to teach each topic well. As a TL, I might need to teach or remind some of the Young Explorers on the expedition how to use the equipment and stay safe.

Loving life outdoors with Imi, one of the other TLs

One of the highlights of the weekend was drinking wine and playing an old board game - it involved climbing K2 via different routes and answering ridiculous mountaineering and climbing questions as a team. We found out a lot about each other, such as who would cut the rope when their friend was dangling off it, who would happily let their climbing partner pee out the tent door, and who cheats at board games..

I’ve now been set the task of planning a short session on the ‘leave no trace’ principle - it’s something I’m interested in and a big advocate for, so it should be a fun session with lots of discussion. That’ll be at the next training session - the TLs have an expedition first aid week soon, followed straight after by a weekend with the YEs. I can’t wait to meet everyone!

Meeting the TL Team

Last weekend the 20 Trainee Leaders for the British Exploring India and Amazon 2015 expeditions met for our first training session. Despite going on two different expeditions, the two TL groups will be doing all of our training together.

We met up at a scout camp in Lichfield on Friday evening, arriving in dribs and drabs because of major train delays and traffic - I was the first to arrive, so I made the most of the tea and coffee provided and chatted to James and Sam, the two guys taking our training.

We started off the weekend by talking lots about leadership, what it means, what makes a good leader, what our leadership style is at the moment and how we're going to develop over the course of the TL programme. It was interesting to hear about other people's experiences with leadership and their expectations for the programme. We all shared our favourite quotes -

"Leaders are not born or made - they're grown"

"Assumption is the mother of all f**k ups"

"Be the best you can be"

I'm sure lots more quotes will come out of the time we all spend together! (especially if we carry on playing Cards Against Humanity..)

We split into different 'syndicates', groups that we're going to stay in to complete our training (we're working towards a certificate in Basic Expedition Leadership, Expedition First Aid and Offsite Safety Management, as well as doing the expedition to the Himalayas), which was a great way to get to know people better (and learn names!).

We had a look at different tents and tried putting them up, then cooked our lunch on some different stove options. The dehydrated ration packs weren't actually that bad, but a 1,500kcal lunch definitely wasn't necessary!

We then learnt more about what's required to be an expedition leader - lots of risk assessments and planning, as well as the ability to be adaptable and motivational once you're out on the expedition. It's made me even more excited about developing my leadership style and putting it all into practice out in India and afterwards on other expeditions.

Our next training weekend is pretty soon - off to the Lake District in three weeks' time. A blog post will follow :)

Being a lone wolf

After I finished school, before I went to university, I decided to try something new, exciting and scary, and go to Uganda for four weeks, by myself.

I went to a place called Fort Portal, in Western Uganda, to 'volunteer', with IVHQ. Now, I can see both sides of the story for voluntourism, but in all honesty I don't think I helped much in the school next door or the orphanage over the road.

Yes, I taught some maths lessons and hopefully inspired some of the kids to work hard at school and get further with their education. Yes, I washed up some pots and collected water in the orphanage, so that the staff there could spend more time on other important jobs. And yes, I painted a wall in a hospital ward that would otherwise have been left looking tatty and unclean, so that builders could fix more important things.

Decorating a room at Ibonde Children's Home

I also, however, was just another Western person to come into the orphanage, make great friends with the kids and form a bond, only to then leave again and not come back. I painted in a ward where people were dying because they couldn't afford the hospital food, and didn't actually help anyone.

The main thing I got out of my trip to Uganda was personal development - but I don't actually think that's a bad thing to admit.

I recently read a great blog post by my friend Maia, who I met in Uganda. It says how every woman should travel alone, at least once in her lifetime, and explains all the reasons why it's important.

I completely agree, and I thing more people should do it.

When I stepped off the plane at Entebbe airport at 3am, I felt more alive, excited and free than I ever had before. I had to think for myself, be alert all the time, and look after myself in a completely new place. I met tonnes of new people from around the world in that month, many of whom I still keep in touch with, and had so much fun. I learnt so much about myself in a really short amount of time, and gained so much confidence, I'm still amazed by it.

I even learnt the valuable life skill of how to milk a cow!

I'm going to India in less than six months (eek!) and although I won't actually be by myself, I'll still be with new people, in a new environment, challenging myself and learning new things - I can't wait to go. I'm unbelievably excited to see how the expeditions goes and what I get out of it.

I'll then be embarking on a whole year of travelling (and working to raise money for flights, at some point..) before I start my first real grown-up job in September 2016. I'll be going on my own, mostly, as my friends are either still at uni, starting jobs or not interested, which is why I found Maia's blog so interesting and inspiring. I'm going to have an awesome time. Keep following my blog (which will change its name when I get back from the Himalayas) to follow my journey of countries, friends, food, stupid ideas and self-discovery..