Rudolph Giuliani said in his book "Leadership" that one of the key points to an effective leader is to prepare relentlessly. In that sense, I am a little ashamed to say that preparation has never been a strong point in most parts of my life. Sometimes, however it is not the lack of ability to prepare but to choose not to be too prepared as I feel that too much preparation in something like a holiday trip takes away the sense of adventure in it. However at other times, the lack of preparation hits you in the face hard.
I had a sense of this feeling a couple of weeks ago as I climbed Mount Kinabalu, the tallest mountain in South East Asia. The climb was supposedly a walk in the park for many but I was rudely awakened to the fact that I am getting old and very unfit. I came to Kota Kinabalu without any preparation as I just thought of coming the week before and was told by friends that going up the mountain usually requires 3 to 6 months of advance booking. The climb was also said to be rather tough for an unfit 30 something year old person who leads quite a sedentary lifestyle.
The park was beautiful and pleasantly cooling as it was situated higher at around 1800m above sea level. There were jungle trails and guided nature walks. I spent a night over at the camp so that I could put myself on the waiting list for any cancellations the next morning. I thoroughly enjoyed staying at the hostel there and having tea and chats with 2 backpacker there. The next day, there was a cancellation and thus began my painful journey...
