Day 22

Tough day today. Around 30mph headwind to start, plus snow, felt like my pulk was deadweight and of course uphill. The wind was increasing to about 40mph this evening to the point where I had to stop to put my tent up. You may be able to hear it in the background.

I was being a bit tough on myself for finishing slightly earlier and then had to remind myself that I’m actually doing way more hours than I had planned and I’m also way ahead of schedule. I’ve been averaging on about 5 and a half hours sleep so I may reduce my skiing hours in the next few days anyway. I’m also eating constantly, i’m currently on about 5000 calories a day and probably burning almost double that.

I want to give a shout out to the group of Outdoor Leaders I spoke with in the Peak District, a few weeks before I left the UK. One of my biggest aims is to inspire people but this group genuinely inspired me. I have been asked on many occasions why it matters that I am an Asian woman, why is it even mentioned. And I asked the group for their comments and opinions and their responses just made it so clear. Having somebody that looks like you, or just different from the image you expect is so powerful. I filmed some of their comments and watched it tonight. I posted the video on my Social media at the start of November, it is a great video if you want to watch it. One of comments was ‘If she can do it, I can do it.’ Yes you can. Thank you all for inspiring me and thank you Rehna Yaseen (@outdoors_with_rehna) for inviting me to speak.

I also wanted to add in tonight’s blog, that it took me a long time to be proud of the colour of my skin. I used to be embarrassed, having eggs thrown at me and people spit at me when I was a teenager because I ‘looked different’ certainly didn’t help. It took me a while to appreciate my culture and my roots, so when I describe myself as a ‘woman of colour’ it is because I am finally proud of my skin colour, my roots, my culture. This term isn’t used to offend anyone. It is part of me and doing this expedition as a woman of colour is incredibly powerful. Having been told on many occasions that I don’t look like a polar explorer… lets change the image you expect to see.

You can see my live location and listen to my audio updates here.