A Woman to Inspire

This morning I was listening to a Rick Steve's podcast: Helen Thayer: Walking the Gobi. What caught my ear was that Helen walked the Gobi Desert when she was 63 and her husband was 74. They didn't walk the 'short' version from north to south (2-300 miles) but 1600 miles from East to West. They did it in 80 days, accompanied by two camels, Tom and Jerry. Their supplies and water were restocked every 20 days but aside from that they were on their own, meeting nomads along the way.

As I listened to Helen describing her experience to Rick, she described walking 18 hours a day, every day. (At the time I was listening to Helen I was running on my treadmill for a mere 45 minutes - I quickly decided that I could do better than whine about the boredom of 45 minutes of running inside.) Helen and husband hiked up and down sand dunes (the down is more challenging for a camel in case you didn't know) and hunkered down next to their camels for the most severe type of sandstorm that turned the sky black and included thunder and lightning.

It was a most enthralling interview. I kept trying to imagine a 63 year old woman carrying off such a feat. She said that it felt wonderful to lie down each evening and take off her boots. I imagine it did. It is amazing to see what we as humans are capable of if we set our minds to it!

Helen has a book on her travels, Walking the Gobi: A 1,600 -mile Trek Across a Desert of Hope and Despair, that has just come out in paperback. I intend to get it soon and read more of her adventures. In the meantime, the next time you are faced with what seems like an insurmountable task - just compare it to hiking the Gobi - particularly those sand dunes.

Judy Warner