It’s time for “awe” Iris….time to mindfully schedule and pair that with adventure; pursue something that challenges (and maybe slightly scares) you and visit a far away land that is unlike what you have ever experienced before.  The Gobi Desert Race has been sitting on my “bucket list” for a long time as I made my way through the Racing the Planet’s amazing adventures in Patagonia (2017), Atacama (2018) and Lapland (2022).  I realize that if one doesn’t plan ahead and commit to those adventures now when will you?  So with a lot of research (thank you to ALL of the past Gobi bloggers – your words, thoughts, achievements and challenges are absolutely amazing and inspirational to read) I made the commitment and my countdown clock has been ticking with an eye to a June departure to the other side of the world. 

Pulling out my well loved gear last used in Finland has made me plain old “happy”.  The careful consideration of my equipment being either 1. Too old and needs replacement or 2.  Old but perfectly useful and very comfortable or 3.  Too old and they have newer and better versions out there now(!!) has been taking up my idle moments for the past few weeks.  Much of that task now narrowed down with a huge shift for me from a folded sleeping pad to a blow up air mattress to try and squeeze out better nights of sleep and have a smaller footprint when packing (a perfect example of #3 from above).

For now, my flights and hotel for booked --- funny how that is exciting in itself!  There are so many hours in the air to get there (NYC-Seoul-Ulaanbaatar) with me leaving on a Sunday night and not arriving until Tuesday afternoon (where does Monday go?).  I made sure to book some extra days upon arrival to pad my body battery with jet lag adjustment, sleep and a chance to explore.

For now saying hello to fellow participants – what an adventure ahead we have!