Bella's Log

What place in the world do you never want to visit? Why?

Here at Bella’s Adventure Log, I share stories and guides about the places where I have traveled to encourage people to expand their horizons. However, there is one place for which my readers will not find an article regarding my adventures: Mount Everest. 

Thousands have climbed Mount Everest since it was first summited in the 1950s. Many of them return to life at sea level to give lectures and TED Talks about their experience. The mountain has also become a metaphor for achieving a goal or encountering an extremely challenging task. However, no matter how appealing these talks can be or how much social clout climbing the tallest mountain can afford me, I neither can nor want to visit its summit. Here is why. 

The Weather

You can take a girl from the Caribbean, but you cannot take the Caribbean out of the girl. It has been more than fifteen years since I left my native tropical climate to reside amidst the temperate winds of the American northeast. At first, I tried to adjust to my reality of changing seasons and bitter cold winters. Alas, the longer I live where it gets cold, the more I realize that my true nature thrives in heat and sun.

As I scroll through pictures and videos of Mount Everest, it is clear to me that I would not do well going ever upward to colder weather. Even more, when I traveled through the Carpathian Mountains of Western Ukraine one fine summer day, I kept asking myself: “Who decided one day that it was a good idea to keep going up and up a mountain?” If that was my attitude traveling up a mountainous region in the summer, I can only imagine what my mood would be like climbing up Mount Everest in sub-zero temperatures. 

The Challenge

Mount Everest is considered the epitome of accomplishment because it is the ultimate challenge. Climbers face external challenges like cold temperatures, thinning oxygen, piling snow, and treacherous paths. All these add to the mental and physical challenges they must overcome to reach the top. I admire those with the mental fortitude to push through and achieve that goal. However, this sort of challenge is not my goal. As a child, I had the random thought of climbing Mount Everest because of a lecture I heard from a motivational speaker at school. The thought lasted no more than a second, and I moved on to other things that interested me and challenged me in a way that fulfilled me. 

I like the challenge of exploring new places and learning about different languages and cultures. My type of challenge is sitting for hours trying to make sense of a concept in one of the languages I am learning and seeing how people from that culture see the world based on how they express themselves. After fifteen years of learning English, it still baffles me that people “pay” attention in English when, in my native language, people “lend” attention. I can speak, listen to, and discuss these concepts for ages. These mental challenges test the limits of my understanding of the world and myself and push me forward to keep challenging and keep seeking. Climbing Mount Everest would not do that for me, even if it does it for others. 

The Cost

Climbing Mount Everest is not cheap. A quick internet search will show prices ranging from $30,000 to over $100,000 just for the expedition. I am the kind of person who loves the best bang for the traveling buck. Most of my articles on this website show people how to make the most of their vacation while staying on a budget. I see $30,000 and automatically start calculating how many countries I can visit with that amount.

Lastly, there is the human cost of reaching the summit. Unfortunately, not all who set their sights on the tallest mountain can return home to tell the tale. Some do not make it to the summit. Others perish on their way down. There are stories all over the Internet of those who must step over frozen corpses to continue their journey to the top. I hope that their families are able to find solace and closure and that those who lost their lives rest in peace.

As for me, I will set my sights on other travel destinations with the weather I enjoy, that offer me challenges that fulfill me, and come at a cost I can afford. In the comments, I would love to hear what other places people would never visit.