Long time no read! The year+ following my return home from Everest has been a whirlwind to say the least. I returned home to Wisconsin on June 1, 2009, completing the goal of standing on top of the world AND returning safely to family and friends. It was a tremendous moment hugging my family in the Appleton, Wisconsin airport. I satisfied my cravings (Jolly Roger's bacon cheeseburger pizza in New London, a peanut-buster parfait from Dairy Queen, and last but not least a Double Quarter Pounder w/cheese from McDonald's restaurant which in fact was the first craving to be satisfied within the Detroit airport after landing on US soil!) within the first week of being home. Oh, and sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep! And it didn't take long to regain the 27 lbs of weight I lost! Geez....
I returned to work one week after returning home, soon after taking on the role as spokesperson for an Alpharma-sponsored agriculture awareness campaign called Reach, Teach, Learn or RTL for short (http://www.reachteachlearn.com/). Through this program I have been able to address thousands of students across the US and in fact, am typing while preparing to speak at Bucknell University located in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. I have also lined up many business venues to speak at on my own time. Sharing the story of how important it is to Dream, Believe, and Achieve has been terrific. You can find out a bit more about my speaking engagements on the Speaking Page of my website, http://www.foxeverest.com/ which has been craftfully put together by my friend and Everest teammate Megan Delehanty (aka Ms. Perserverance while on the mountain).
I am in the process of writing a book about the adventure and what led me to want to climb Mount Everest. The title of my book is No Place but UP! It is a phrase I feel is important to remember, even on a bad day. Why? Just think about it, from there you have No Place but UP to go! I hope to have the book completed and in the hands of a publisher by early next spring, just in time for my return trip to Nepal. This time however I won't be climbing any mountains. I have tied into a foundation called Friends of Humanity (http://www.friendsofhumanity.ch/) out of Switzerland which focuses its work primarily in the region surrounding Everest. With their help we have created a new program within the foundation called "Healthy Yak." Please check out my website, specifically the Healthy Yak page to find out more about my plans to help the people of Nepal by helping their beloved yaks.
I hope to provide you with updates on the progress of Healthy Yak, my book, and my travels around the country. For now remember, No Place but UP!
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Sir Winston Churchill
