Now, back from Borneo – the Gulf for Good Challenge is over! An amazing trip, but more arduous, grueling than I expected.
I kept a diary during the trip, but there were a number of occasions, when I didn’t feel like writing. Still, it’s a pretty good accounting.
What comes to mind the most about the trip?
That virtually everything I did to train and prepare for this trip, both physically and mentally, was helpful: from the rowing machine, to the 16% incline on the treadmill, the walking up and down the Dusit and this apartment staircases, the cycling of course in the flats and the mountains, the moderate-weight high-rep weight-lifting, even the rock-climbing I did years ago!
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| Mt. Kinabalu, in Malaysian Borneo |
I didn’t make it to the summit of Mt. Kinabalu. I was too tired and nervous, and fell short about 1.2k in distance, 250m in elevation. The wind was whipping, it was rainy, and I was getting very tired and cold when I (wisely) decided to turn back. Because I still needed my energy and wits about me, on the downhill return. But I have every confidence that I can tackle this mountain, on a second try.
It dawned on me at one point that while I really liked the Gulf for Good concept, it was too much work, too much focus on me and not enough focus on the charities. I believe this occurred to me, after a grueling day’s trek up from Mesilau Nature Resort to Laban Rata Resthouse. I was nervous about the summit trek in the middle of the night, and this led to literally a sleepless night. Anyway, I’ve since eased up on that thought: that each of us is simply a vehicle for charity, that we’re each responsible for keeping things in perspective about and focused on the charity, that the ability and the experience to endure an arduous challenge bodes well for what I need to accomplish in helping people. Just as cycling helped me be a more effective manager, which I remember mentioning to Marc Lubin et al. when I was at ISPP/Chicago, cycling etc. can help in other parts of my life.
It felt a bit odd being around the people I was with. I felt awkward. I didn’t necessarily feel like socializing much. It was almost as if I was out of practice socially. Having spent time mostly alone, outside of work, I was both rusty and disinterested about socializing, at least for the most part. On the whole, though, it was fine. I found my spots to socialize, e.g., with Brian, Werner, Marie, Martin and Michelle. I didn’t relate so well with the “young lads,” like Keiron, Emmanuelle and Scott.
When the children from Borneo Child Aid traveled about 8 hours to our longhouse site at the Sabah Tea Plantation, along with the project manager (Torben Venning) and some of their teachers, it was a highlight. I smiled as they recited on the virtues of discipline and the shame of doing wrong – typical Asian emphases. It broke my heart a bit, when they performed music from makeshift instruments. Most of all, I felt I was fated to meet the Francisco family: Anir and Junecel (the parents); Junecel (27) and Yvette (24); plus these young ladies’ children. More of them later on, but it was interesting to hear them say that I looked American and then to ask “If you live there long enough, you start to look American.”
It dawned on me at one point that while I really liked the Gulf for Good concept, it was too much work, too much focus on me and not enough focus on the charities. I believe this occurred to me, after a grueling day’s trek up from Mesilau Nature Resort to Laban Rata Resthouse. I was nervous about the summit trek in the middle of the night, and this led to literally a sleepless night. Anyway, I’ve since eased up on that thought: that each of us is simply a vehicle for charity, that we’re each responsible for keeping things in perspective about and focused on the charity, that the ability and the experience to endure an arduous challenge bodes well for what I need to accomplish in helping people. Just as cycling helped me be a more effective manager, which I remember mentioning to Marc Lubin et al. when I was at ISPP/Chicago, cycling etc. can help in other parts of my life.
It felt a bit odd being around the people I was with. I felt awkward. I didn’t necessarily feel like socializing much. It was almost as if I was out of practice socially. Having spent time mostly alone, outside of work, I was both rusty and disinterested about socializing, at least for the most part. On the whole, though, it was fine. I found my spots to socialize, e.g., with Brian, Werner, Marie, Martin and Michelle. I didn’t relate so well with the “young lads,” like Keiron, Emmanuelle and Scott.
When the children from Borneo Child Aid traveled about 8 hours to our longhouse site at the Sabah Tea Plantation, along with the project manager (Torben Venning) and some of their teachers, it was a highlight. I smiled as they recited on the virtues of discipline and the shame of doing wrong – typical Asian emphases. It broke my heart a bit, when they performed music from makeshift instruments. Most of all, I felt I was fated to meet the Francisco family: Anir and Junecel (the parents); Junecel (27) and Yvette (24); plus these young ladies’ children. More of them later on, but it was interesting to hear them say that I looked American and then to ask “If you live there long enough, you start to look American.”
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