Journey or Destination?

Originally posted on Linked In 5/28/2022

It's about the journey, not the destination. Here's a story.

Back in 2001, I climbed Mount Fuji with my friend, Mike. It wasn't a technical climb, it was more of a hike in high altitude. We did this very soon after I landed in Japan so I was a bit loopy from the jetlag. Probably not the best idea but we did it anyway. The goal of the climb is to get to the top by sunrise.

Everything started out fine but as we got above the clouds, I started to experience altitude sickness. We had to make a decision - continue climbing or stop for the night and sleep in a cave. We talked about it and decided that Mike would continue on and I would stop for a while and sleep in the cave and then would make a call in the morning to either continue the climb or head back down. I ended up spending the night in the cave and watched the sunrise from above the clouds - it was an AMAZING sunrise, probably the most beautiful one I've ever seen.

At this point, I didn't feel that I needed to get all the way to the top to have the experience I was seeking. I recognized that the journey was more important than the destination; I already saw the sunrise from above the clouds. Rather than rushing to the top before a storm came in (and risking more altitude sickness), I decided to hike back down the mountain with several other people who slept in the cave. I met up with Mike at the bottom a few hours later and we shared our adventures before heading back to Tokyo.