In September 2021 in my article for CEOWorld Magazine ‘Life’s Too Short’, I shared with you that my ex-husband and the dad to my three amazing kids had passed away at 54 after a short battle with cancer. I also shared with you what you already know – that life is too short to the point where we need to focus exactly on what is most important to us and those we most love because frankly, life is too short not to do exactly that. 

I created a list of changes I was, and am, making to ensure I live my best life and so many of you wrote to me thanking me for my list and asking for an update. So here it is.

One of the items on my list was this: Do one incredible ‘first for me’ every year. 

By way of further background, in 2020 I also turned 50. I can’t tell you the sorts of comments this milestone provoked, such as “Oh, you have swum to the middle of the stream and now you are heading to the other side…’ . Or: ‘You have climbed the highest mountain, it’s all downhill from here.’

Seriously? I was turning 50 not 500.

But all of that to one side, approaching and then turning 50 along with everything else that was happening in my family around that point in time, did cause me pause and to very tangibly challenge my thinking about my life. I was turning 50 (not 500). Surely it was time to do things a little differently? To mix things up? To stop playing it safe? Surely, it was time to take the goddamn bull by the horns? 

Short of actually taking a bull by its horns (but who knows, running with the bulls is certainly up for grabs with my new mindset), what I decided there and then was that It’s time to ‘Live Stupendously’: and so, every single year from now on I am going to open a brand new door and challenge myself to do something that massively stretches the limits of my comfort zone.

Being a framework sort of gal, I of course needed a framework that would make the whole experience of massive discomfort an easy(‘ish) pill to swallow – a framework that would allow me to make massive life changes in around 90 seconds flat. And so I designed The MOMENTum Magnitude Framework – to make sure I actually put my money where my mouth is. I wrote about the Framework for CEOWorld Magazine in How to Change Your Life in 90 Seconds.

In 2020 the goal was to ski for the first time ever (tick – 4 days, in France no less, and I survived with a torn shoulder and broken thumb).

In 2021 the goal was to swim every day of a whole year at the beach without a wetsuit – spring, summer, autumn and winter and with or without stinging jelly fish (tick – well, I probably swam about 330 of the 365 days, but give the girl a break – there was some pneumonia in there, and the beach was occasionally closed due to e.coli. Plus, even though the year is up and we are well into 2022, I am still swimming mostly every day).

And so to 2022.

The Larapinta Trail is 223km long and runs from Alice Springs in central Australia along the spine of the West MacDonnell Ranges.The landscape is incredibly rugged with the trail rising above 1,000 metres 7 times along its length and peaking at 1,380mhigh at Mt. Sonder.

In May 2022, in order to ‘Live Stupendously, I will be undertaking the ‘Larapinta Trail Super 6 Day Trek’ – 107km of the trail with 10-12 hours of walking each day with warm days and cool nights (average temperatures range from 12 – 27°C (53.6 – 80.6°F)). 

According to the website: “This is not a trek for the faint hearted…The Super 6 Day Larapinta Trail trek is for experienced hikers seeking a spectacular challenge.” Apparently one such challenge will be the requirement to poo in the bush and then scoop up said poo with a mini trowel, bag it and carry it out of the bush. Yay… but perhaps they are joking?

The hike is graded as ‘Epic’ (which I take to mean, ‘really f**king hard)’, but which the website defines as a trek appealing “…to those wanting to explore very remote wilderness regions… You can expect to spend up to 10+ hours trekking on unmarked, rocky, steep, uneven terrain – potentially in very adverse weather conditions. You will accept that due to the nature of the terrain and remote locations, evacuations may be very difficult. A high level of mental and physical fitness is required.” 

Ok. That seems to fit the definition of ‘Living Stupendously’. 

Over a series of posts, I am going to share with you the ups and downs (ok, sue me…) of preparing for and walking the Larapinta. Because life is too short not to.

I would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the Central and Western Arrernte Country for allowing me to undertake this trek.

Written by Kate Christie.

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