Just because it was 20 years later didn’t mean I couldn’t do it or should politely say no and sit on the sidelines. I just needed to be smarter about it this time.

Volcan Acetenango, Guatemala

20 years ago I was travelling solo in Guatemala and heard about a volcano climb that sounded interesting. Knowing nothing about it I said sure, let’s do it. I was in pretty good shape. It was a good climb but we made it to the summit and back down in one day. I’ve got some amazing pictures from that climb on that day.

Fast forward a couple of decades and I found myself back in Guatemala with my family. My daughter had been researching a volcano hike and the neighbouring volcano was very active so there was a good chance we’d see it erupt. 

This trip was different though. We climbed to a base camp at around 12,000 feet, Stayed overnight there. Then, in the darkness of night, we’d get up and climb another 1000 feet or so to the summit to watch the sunrise.

Not long after we started my wife and I could feel the burn in our legs as we climbed and the shortness of breath as altitude took over. But we were smarter this time because we needed to be if we wanted to do this. We arranged our packs to be carried by local porters. We used altitude sickness meds in advance. We drank lots and lots of water on the climb. 

And we paced ourselves. I’m sure the porters were bored waiting for us. But slowly and steadily we climbed… taking it all in as we did. We weren’t in a hurry. I remembered landmarks. The trees, plants and flowers were beautiful. The vistas were incredible. We supported each other when needed. We joked. We laughed. 
Then at each rest point we caught up with our daughter and the other younger people who had been pushing the pace. 

I was older now. But that didn't mean the adventure was off the table. It meant preparation, pacing, recovery and knowing my limits mattered more.

The erupting volcano against the dark night sky was magical. The summit was just as I remembered. And with my turtle-like pace on that last 1000 feet to the summit I found myself giving support to a kid less than half my age who was struggling from going out too fast.

Sagres, Portugal

Then, more recently in Portugal I found myself facing a different kind of challenge. My daughter has really taken to wake surfing and is quite good. I’m not too bad myself. And it’s fun. But here we had a chance to surf, in the ocean… no boat.

I did it once before, almost 20 years ago. I really wanted to have a fun experience with my daughter but felt I was not nearly as prepared for this as I needed to be. I did it anyway. It was pretty taxing for me. I don’t have the hip flexibility like I used to nor the endurance, and getting up to standing is the big difference between regular surfing and wake surfing. It takes a lot of energy doing it over and over.

But I was able to get up and ride the waves a handful of times. This time it was me needing to know when to say when. When fatigue took over and I was done… I was done. I enjoyed watching my daughter surf a while longer as she naturally got better and better. 

We had a wonderful day that will live in our memories forever.

Maybe staying active over the years isn't about doing everything you did the same way or to the same level as when you were younger.

Maybe it's about continuing to do the things that make you feel alive, while becoming smarter about how you prepare for them, how you recover from them, and how you care for the body that gets you there.

Things I Learned

I learned some important lessons from those two adventures. You never know when opportunities like those might come up, so staying active and healthy and mobile is a way of being prepared in advance. 

These days I have created a pattern of exercise, sport and recreation, recovery and rest, along with a preventative maintenance team of support including my physiotherapist, chiropractor, and acupuncturist. All is designed to support my health day to day but also keep me ready for the next adventure that comes our way.

The goal isn't to prove that you can still do what you did 20 or even 30 years ago. The goal is to remain capable of saying yes to the things that matter to you now.

That's a big part of what I mean when I talk about staying capable. Not fighting age. Not pretending nothing changes. Simply refusing to assume that getting older means our world has to get smaller.