Esperance is a small yet fierce Senegalese woman . In 2012 she sent a letter to Belinda , signed with a simple thumbprint and 4 years later , 15 of us hop on a plane and climb Africa ’ s tallest mountain . This photograph represents the power of stories .
RESOLUTION 2017 : Couch to Kilimanjaro
Think about your favorite travel story . So many great pieces of literature come immediately to mind : The Odyssey , On the Road , Life of Pi , The Alchemist are just a few . The most engaging and memorial travel stories become classics because they are a roller coaster of emotion from the familiar to the unknown , from the comfortable to the vulnerable . With a little luck and ingenuity , the characters return home with lessons well learned and worth a listen . The best travel stories have impact : they make us think and feel and imagine .
The travel story for this issue of GreenBook is one such tale . It is about local photographer determined to document a climb up Africa ’ s tallest mountain . Ultimately , this story is about resolve : the willingness to take that first hard step away from home , the bravery to face a journey toward transforming resolution into reality , and the courage to tell others about the trip through art . We hope you will find both the journey and the lessons noteworthy .
Story by Diana Love , Photos by Chelsea Hudson
GREENBOOK | SPRING 2017 13