32 days until I start the next leg of my “Coaching for a Better World Fundraising Tour”. There might be a bit of an extra challenge with my tour this year. Due to an enormous heat wave with temperatures between 30°-40° over several weeks, there are more wildfires than usual. I was cycling nearby wildfires during my trip last year when crossing British Columbia and Alberta but was entirely unaffected by them. This year, it might be different. See the map below.
While the route that I have chosen, Saskatoon – Winnipeg – Minneapolis – Chicago – Detroit – Toronto – Montreal, should be pretty safe in terms of actual fires, the smoke from the wildfires in the air is spreading over hundreds of kilometers in south-westerly directions and is causing cities like Chicago and Detroit to issue warnings to not go outside because of thick smoke hanging in the air.
I guess there is not much I can do other than bring masks and pray for rain across North America.
About 30 years ago, two zis scholarships helped me to broaden my horizon, expand my understanding of what is possible, and develop more self-confidence. zis is a non-profit organization that has been awarding scholarships for study trips to young people between the ages of 16 and 20 for more than 60 years. Today, the word we use for tenacity and grit is resilience - and I've made it my profession, to help managers around the world to develop more of this inner power.
In retrospect, the experiences I've had on these trips to Scotland and Iceland have been priceless for my development. After having had a childhood with some challenges, I learned that I could cycle 1,700km on my own and get wet every day without despairing. I have learned that I was able to get along with only 300 € for 4 weeks and still had a good time. I have learned what it's like to be threatened with deportation and how to get an interview with the President from such a crisis. I have understood that limitations are primarily constructs in our heads, and I want to make these insights available to as many adolescents as possible.
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