Scott Ragsdale

Dreaming and setting a goal is a complete waste of time if you don’t go after (at least) try to achieve your goal.

Maybe your goal has nothing to do with physical activity … but whatever it is — try and make it happen.

How and why did I get the idea to attempt to swim the english channel?

I remember the morning/instant very clearly….it was a couple of months ago, around 3:30 am.

I was reading the news and drinking my morning coffee, getting ready for a 4 hour bike ride before work  – at the time, I was training for Ironman France.

On that specific morning, I read a news story about a business man who twice failed to swim the English channel.

The article stated that only 30% of the people who attempt to swim the English channel make it to the other side.

It went into explaining that summiting Mt Everest is statistically, more achievable than swimming the English channel.

More than 4,000 people have stood on the summit of Mt Everest.
Less than 900 people have successfully, swum the English Channel.

One site states that out of 4,370 attempts, only (just over) 800 have been successful (which is less than 20% success rate)

Thus, I discovered only 20-30% of the people who attempt to swim the English channel succeed.

I was hooked.

September 3^rd is the day my swim attempt is scheduled.

I have done two Ironman this year which gives me somewhat of a base to work with – and for the past month I have been hammering the weights, cross trainer, and swimming more hours than I have done in my life.

I lost a lot of body fat over the year, and my weight is down to 190-195 lbs ….but I read most people intentionally - gain up to 40 lbs for their swim.  The extra fat protects from the cold. 

I am lucky because my life style and working schedule is conducive to training – and my wife, Sophie is extremely supportive and does everything she can to accommodate and support my training schedule.

Although I work and live most of the year in Dubai, I have an office in Monaco and a house in the south of France.
Since my girls are on break from school in Dubai, we live in France for the summer and I work from my office in Monaco.

I  swim in the Mediterranean sea for 2-3 hours a day (either early in the morning or after work) and longer on the weekend.

I lift weights 3 times a week and do the cross trainer every day for 60 minutes.
I have also been working my core more focused than ever before.

To research and learn as much as I can about the swim, I joined a couple forums and emailed people who have swum the channel, etc.

A few months ago, I became forum buddies with 3 people who were also training to cross the channel.
Two of them have been training for more than one year (most people train for at least a year) ….
To my surprise, all 3 of these people failed in their attempts over the past two weeks.

Physically, I will be ready.

It will all depend on my adjustment to the cold water, the weather, and how strong mentally, I will be when the going gets tough.
13-14 hours in freezing cold water is a long time…

According to the captain of the boat who I hired (if all goes to plan) I will begin my swim from Dover, England around 2-3am on September 3rd and swim towards Calais, France.

It’s about 21-24 miles across, but because of the tide and currents, I can expect to swim about 30 miles.

I figure the swim will take me 13-15 hours.

A boat will follow along side me as I swim – and I will feed (drink something) every 20-30 minutes.

An official from the channel swimming association will be onboard  to officiate the crossing.

Why am I doing this?

Because I want to experience the cold, pain, suffering and see if I am mentally and physically strong enough to make this happen.

Only a 20-30% success rate makes the English channel swimmer part of an exclusive club.

On September 3rd – I will do everything in my power to make sure I join this club.

I am going to post several pictures of this trip because the photos speak much better than any of my words…
For those who are interested in seeing more pictures of my trip to Yemen, later this week I will post our trip photos on my facebook and in the photo section of this blog.

People who are close to me know that I am big into battling “misinformation” or “exaggeration” in the media, especially when it comes to the Middle East and the Arab world.  This post on my trip to Yemen is another example.  Yes, some areas in the north of Yemen are dangerous for foreigners, but these sites are in the north and the tourist sites have all been closed.

However, Sana’a, the capital of Yemen and the UNESCO protected old town in Sana’a can be argued is as safe or safer than some areas of LA, Chicago, DC, London, Paris, etc.

The purpose of this post is not to try and fight the misinformation, or try and convince you Yemen is safe to visit–  but importantly, keep reminding everyone about the amazing world out there….try and not let fear prevent you from experiencing it, especially the Middle East.

Romain, my brother-in-law,  and I go on a trip each year with the focus of the trip on adventure. 

We started this ritual in 2008 when we toured Lebanon.  On that trip we drove all the way from Beirut to south Lebanon upto 400 meters from the  border of Israel (I made a post on that trip)  … I wanted to go to Rwanda this year, but Romain said “Yemen would be a cooler story” …

The flight to Sana’a, the capital of Yemen was an easy 2 hour Emirates airline flight from Dubai.  Because of the 1 hour time difference, we left Saturday morning at 6:00am and arrived to Sana’a at 7:00 am. 

On the flight, I was surprised and somewhat disappointed to see at least 10 other westerners….

We sat at the exit row and the stewardess, a talkative Australian sat facing us on the takeoff and landing … she asked me “why are you going to Yemen?”  And I replied, “for sightseeing.” 

She said, “yea right…” and obviously, did not understand our interest in visiting Yemen. 

It was quick and easy to get our visas upon arrival and within 20 minutes of landing, we were out of the airport and in the car with our driver, a big burly, efficient man named Ibrahim.

The drive to our hotel, the Movenpick lasted maybe 15 minutes — We quickly, checked in and left straight away to start our tour without even going to our room….we had just two full days in Yemen and we did not want to waste even one minute.

Throughout the day, everyone was warm and friendly; we never once felt any anger from anyone and soon forgot we were in a country which CNN and most of the western media considers dangerous and hostile.

The afternoon we drove an hour outside Sana’a to Wadi Dhar and one of the most spectacular sites I have ever visited, a palace built on a rock called the “Dar Al Hajar.”  I should point out, although I would rate this experience up there with my visit to the great wall, Petra, even the pyramids …. we saw no other tourists the entire day.

The Dar Al Hajar is a palace built on and inside a massive rock.  With the risk of sounding melodramatic, “remarkable”  … “incredible” does not adequately describe this place.  We walked all over Wadi Dhar, I even went for my 45 minute run which I had to do for my IM training … we took many photos and talked with the local people.  Everyone was warm and friendly, and several of them thanked us for visiting Yemen.

We then drove to Bait Baws, the old Jewish settlement which stood for centuries (pictured below)   This massive village was completely deserted and we walked freely, through this incredible maze like site and did not see any other tourists. 

Most of the men chew something called “ghat” … they call it “Yemen whiskey.” 
We reluctantly tried some, but only to please a group of men who invited us into the guard tower they sat.  Both of us did not like the taste.

Around 6pm, our driver dropped us off at the gate entrance to the old city of Sana’a, a walled in city protected by UNESCO.  This gate and walled in city dates back 700+ years.  Two young men came up and started to speak in English to us and became our guides through the old town. 

Absolutely, incredible … walking around tiny back alley streets at night without street lights in Yemen…

We went through “Suq al-Milh” the Souk (the market) and saw everything on sale, from Donkeys, chickens, lamb, spices, fruit, silver, tobacco, honey, blacksmith goods, just to name a few.

We even stopped in an area of the old town with several small hole in the wall restaurants and ate dinner (pictured below).  We did not see any other westerners and nearly no women.

Around 10pm, the two young guides, Saleem and Maher took us to what is considered the nicest hotel in the old town of Sana’a, (Burj al salam).  When we entered the gorgeous hotel, Romain and I looked at each other with regret because we had not stayed at this hotel. 

Romain smoked shi-sha on the roof balcony, I enjoyed a great cigar … and we sat quietly, both thinking about how gorgeous everything was…

The next day was the most exciting.

Sunday – we woke up at 4 am and flew to the Hadramaut region of Yemen (I dont know the name of the city we flew to)  We wanted to visit “Shibam” which is called “the Manhattan of the desert” and has been a UNESCO protected site since 1983

To visit the Hadramaut region, one of Yemen’s most famous historical sites we had to have approval from the government which our travel agent in Yemen got for us. 

The flight was easy and safe.  Upon arrival, we did not have to go through customs and we were out of the airport within minutes of landing.

We were met at the airport by our driver as well as a truck of 6 soldiers all carrying AK-47s, our body guards for the day.  We had three sets of guards for the day who changed at each check point.  We had a truck of 9 guards plus a guard sitting in our truck on the long drive through the desert.

I will not go into all the various sites we visited … but I want to point out our body guards really took great care of us, always ensuring they went into sites before us, and one stood guard behind us and in front …. they really went out of their way to ensure our visit was safe and enjoyable.

We had to drive 5 hours through Hadramaut and Wadi Dhan … driving through oasis like valleys, mountains and flat desert plans.  Gorgeous.

Writing about “body guards” protecting us and driving with us, in my opinion distorts the reality of our experience because we never felt in danger; we were never scared and I am confident had we been on our own, we would have been ok.

We stopped at a road side cafe where Romain ate fresh chicken.  I stuck to my vegan diet and only ate a small portion of cooked rice.

We flew back to Sana’a from a different airport which was near the Indian Ocean… stunning.

The low cost airline (Felix Air, like easyjet inexpensive open seating, similar to a bus) was great – both the planes were brand new and very efficient.

We arrived back to our hotel around 9pm, went for a swim in the massive swimming pool at the movenpick and then went to sleep … our flight back to Dubai was at 10am the following day, and we organized to have Ibrahim pick us up at 6:15 and drive us to the old town of Sana’a so we could walk around for a couple hours before we went to the airport.

Monday morning, we arrived to the old town by 6:30am, met our two guides and walked around the town which was slowly waking up … we went to the hotel, burj al salam to have breakfast and coffee.

The open terrace on the roof of this hotel overlooks the old town as well as Sana’a, and the view is exceptional.  After quietly enjoying strong coffee and a cigar, we walked through the souk back to the entrance of the gate where our driver was waiting to take us to the airport.

I think Yemen was the 85th country I have visited, and I sincerely consider this trip to be one of the most exciting, memorable experiences of my life.

What made this trip so fantastic and memorable was the Yemeni people.  Very few people asked us for money, many turned my money away when I tried to ”tip” them for a service.  More people than I can remember came up and thanked us for coming to visit their country.

I was told by someone that Prophet Mohamed referred to the Yemeni people as “the most gentle of all.”

For anyone planning a trip to Sana’a … I highly recommend the Burj Al Salam.  (the Movenpick is a 5 star western style hotel and very nice, but the Burj al Salam is in the middle of the old town with extraordinary views over the old town and Sana’a)

Our travel agent “Al Mamoom International Tours” was exceptional (+967712593688) they went out of their way to ensure we had a safe and enjoyable trip.  A special thanks to Beatrice, the Italian woman who heads up this company who took great care of us.  Beatrice has lived in Yemen for more than 5 years.

This blog is about a trip that I took this weekend. The 80th country I have visited. With this entry, I hope to inspire the readers to travel and experience the world – as well as remind us not to judge people or issues by what you see on TV. My marketing team will add pictures to this post – so if you enjoy this blog, please check back monday afternoon to see some pictures.

Romain Tordo and I went to Lebanon for the weekend.

I have wanted to visit Lebanon for the past 4 years and this trip turned out even more unbelievable and exciting than I had imagined

A couple of themes that I have touched upon over the past 6 months or so, themes that are important to me …. misinformation in the media is massive – do not believe all the crap on CNN. …Adventures and experiences open our mind further to the world so do not be scared away from experiencing the world.

Lebanon is the 80th country I have visited in my life. Surely, I am a far different person today because of all of these travels and experiences.

I should begin by explaining that before my trip, several friends, including one Lebanese at naseba warned me to “be careful – it is dangerous for americans.“ One of my Lebanese staff even told me that I should not go…

Just something to think about…

I bet that more people are murdered per month in Los Angeles or Miami or New York than are murdered in 6 months in Lebanon. Statistically, surely Lebanon is much safer than America.

We stayed at the historical and exclusive Phoenician Hotel which is easily one of the nicest hotels that I have ever stayed. On Friday morning, after we had checked into our hotel – we asked the girls at the front desk where we should go visit. We explained that we wanted to walk.

The young women at the front desk took out a map and pointed out a section of Beirut that they told us not to go to …”it is too dangerous…” and the young woman told me that I should not tell anyone I was American….

I looked at Romain who was smiling and he winked at me because he knew exactly where I wanted to go.

As soon as we exited the hotel – Romain pointed the way to what we had been told was the dangerous section of town …and we started walking towards it.

Beirut is a city of roughly 3 million people made up of 45% christian and 55% muslim …. it is a mountainous, gorgeous city that even endless war has not destroyed. Lebanese people have to be some of the nicest people I have ever met. They have a reputation for being brilliant at business. Surely, Lebanese women have to be some of the most beautiful in the world. There are 15 starbuck’s coffee shops, at least two Armani stores, a ferrari dealership and not to mention, Beirut has a big cigar culture. I saw men smoking cigars every where … and we stumbled upon 3 great cigar bars on our adventure.

Friday afternoon we walked for a couple hours in the section of town that we had been told was Hezbollah. Not at one time during this day was anyone rude or aggressive or unfriendly to us.

Until I came to Dubai for the first time, 4 years ago, I had no idea or understanding of what “Hezbollah” is. In America – we associate the word only with terrorism.

Hezbollah is a political party – America, Israel, UK, Japan and Canada consider Hezbollah a “terrorist organization” — however, other countries including France, and most of the EU and the arab nations classifies Hezbollah as a “resistance organization.” According to wikipedia, more than 60% of the lebanonese recoginize Hezbollah as a legitimate governmental organization/party. Hezbollah loyalist hold a large number of seats in the government senate.

I am not going to get into a discussion on what they are fighting for …. the conflict is much too complicated for me to discuss, however, it is worth pointing out that these are people with jobs, kids, families etc….not all of them are the monsters that we are shown on CNN.

Hezbollah organizes an extensive social development program and runs hospitals, news services, and educational facilities (they build and fund schools). Its Reconstruction Campaign (’Jihad Al Binna‘) is responsible for numerous economic and infrastructure development projects in Lebanon.

Friday afternoon, my goal was to experience and spend time with these people….

After walking a good 2 hours through the streets of Beirut – Romain and I arrived at a check point near the area on the map we were told to stay away from (all check points were man’ed by the Lebanese army) The guard, a sweet man in his early 20’s named George pointed down the road — and said to us in french “it is too dangerous…stay away from there.”

We thanked him and eagerly walked towards the area….as we got closer to the camps, we notice on the side of the high way was a shack-like tent with a couple plastic chairs outside it and a man smoking a shi sha (water pipe).

Romain loves shi sha and he looked at me and said in french “it’s the most exclusive shi sha bar in the world.”

Luckily, the man running the cafe/shi sha bar spoke english and happily told us to sit down and he would bring us our shi sha….we sat down on two old plastic chairs next to a young man, maybe early 20’s. The man did not speak one word of english.

I wonder what would happen if two arab men walked into a cafe in the middle of america…. I seriously, doubt they would be treated with as much hospitality and warmth as we received by this man.

So there Romain and I sat enjoying shi sha… inside, what we were told is the most dangerous part of Beirut (we never once felt in danger – and all the people were friendly to us)

The man we sat next to, and we smoked shi sha with, pointed to a big poster of the leader of Hezbollah and told us by his gesters and hand actions (he did not speak english) that he would do anything for this man, even kill himself…. and then he showed us his arm which had a big scar from where he said he had been shot by Israel.

The owner of the cafe came over to us and started to translate … we told the owner that we were French and that we wanted to see the real beirut, not just the tourist places.

I would like to mention – The coffee he made us is potentially the best coffee I ever had … I don’t know what he put in it, but it was great. We bought the young man smoking shi sha with us a coffee and paid for his shi sha as well.

As we sat there smoking and talking with the man who spoke english…several people came over to see what we were doing. All of the men were extremely friendly. All of them were Hezbollah loyalists.

After we left the cafe we walked in and around the camps. On each corner was a group of young men, probably guards and nearly each group would say hello to us and invite us to join them for tea or shi sha. Although we did not take any of them up on their invitations because we had just finished a shi sha, we did small talk and show them appreciation.

Unbelievable day. We walked easily 4 hours all over Beirut and not one person was rude, aggressive or anything like they are shown to be on CNN. There is no way I would walk around certain parts of Los Angeles … but we walked all throughout the sections of Beirut we were told was “dangerous” and we had no problems.

At night, after our dinner at a restaurant a good few miles away from our hotel, we walked back to the hotel along the Cornich which was a big sidewalk along the sea…. (similar to the cornich in Nice and Cannes) we walked easily 1.5 hours in complete darkness along the sea. (all the lights had been broken so there is no light along the side walks) Many many many young and old Lebanese alike were parked in their cars or sitting along the sidewalk smoking shi sha enjoying the beautiful evening.

On our walk back to the hotel, we decided to go the next day t0 south lebanon and go all the way to the israeli border to take a picture. We had been told at dinner by our waiter that South Lebanon is the most dangerous place in all the middle east (excluding Iraq today) and a google search back at the hotel confirmed this …. learning this made us want to go even more.

The next morning we went to the front desk to hire a car and driver – but we quickly discovered that no one would take us because they said “it was too dangerous….” We went outside to hire a taxi, but none of the taxi’s would take us. South Lebanon is the toughest, poorest and most loyal Hezbollah land in Lebanon.

After 2 hours of searching, finally a travel agency that we had called earlier in the morning found a driver that would take us.

Our driver, a 58 year old whose name is Souheil, is a Christian and has lived in Lebanon his whole life. As we drove away from the hotel, he asked me where I was from …. and when I told him “america,” he sceamed “oh my God! Dont tell anyone you are from america !!!! We will tell people you are from Holland….”

This part of our trip …. begins the most amazing, adventurous day of my life. I am lucky that Romain was with me to witness with me because people would think I was exaggerating what happened ….it was incredible.

We noticed that the further south we drove, the poorer and rougher the country looked.

We stopped in Tyur to visit a roman archieolgy site. We were the only people at the site. After and hour or so of looking and taking photos, we walked back to the car which was parked by a police office and there was 2 police officiers and a woman drinking tea– they invited us to join them for a tea so we did. The woman told us that she was a singer named “Layal.” Later our driver would tell us that she is famous in Lebanon.

As we drank very good tea, we explained that we were tourists from Holland …

We all sat at a plastic table and faced a view of the Roman ruins as well as the city. Layal spoke english so she explained to us that one day last year, as they sat smoking shi sha….they watched an Israeli plane fire a rocket into a building that was in front of us (but no longer there) and they witnessed the building collapse and 150+ people died in it.

I noticed that they did not speak aggressively, nor negatively. They spoke as if it just happened and that was just the way life was….

During our three days, No one ever said anything negative about America and or Israel. Surely, they do not like both …. but throughout the three days, I noticed people were not focused on negatives. They were just trying to live their lives the best they could.

We left our new friends and drove further south.

Now we were driving on a two lane dirt road that went along gorgeous mediterranean landscape – banana farms, lemon orchards, and olive tree groves … truly gorgeous. But we also began to see houses that had been blown up and or shot up and destroyed.

We saw many UN vehicles and tanks. We even saw people driving tanks that had someone man’ing the machine gun in the tank. It was surreal.

About 15 miles from the israeli border – you have to go through a final check point. I am not sure why the check points are there – but we were told that no journalists and or outsiders are allowed in/ past the check point.

At this final check point, Souheil thought that maybe they would let me through if they knew I was American … so he gave the man from the Lebanese army my passport and explained that all I wanted to do was to see the israeli border.

The man from the check point told my driver excitedly to get back immediately (he told us to “get back get back get back get back”) and then told me and the driver not to tell anyone else that I was American. He explained that no one gets past this check point unless they have “an order” (whatever that means)

As we backed up and drove away…Souheil said to us “well guys thats it, now we go back to Beirut….”

I told the driver …. that there is one more check point we can go to … and that we must try again…..and Romain made a joke about the man at the top didnt fall there ….so we could not quit now.

We drove a good 10 miles or so to the other check point and this time we pretended I was French …. and Romain showed them a yellow post-it note with a number on it that by chance was on the outside of his passport, and luckily it worked and the guard let us through.

By now we were in the heart of the land most destroyed when Israel invaded Lebanon in 2006. We saw large beautiful posters along the road of young men who had died in battle. We also saw many large bill boards of the Ayatola Komeni as well as the main Hezbollah leader.

The closer we got to the border the rougher the roads were. Many houses had been destroyed and there was gun shot marks on everything.

We saw many children playing. Souheil pulled up next to a group of children who were eating ice cream to ask them which road to take to get to the border. A young boy, maybe 10 years old came to the window and told us “you cant get too close because it is very dangerous – they will shoot you.” It makes me sad to think as I type – this young boy has no hope. He does not have the same opportunities that my daughters have.

By now we have discovered that there is no wall seperating the two countries …. the border in this area between Israel and Lebanon is just land — and in some places barbed wire and land mines.

We drove down a small dirt road (since the last check point, all the roads were dirt – no cement) and we came across an old man, probably in his 80’s dressed very sharp, wearing a tweed sports coat and walking slowly up a hill with a cane.

Souheil stopped and asked him where the Israeli border was — and the old man chuckled softly, and pointed his cane to the land below the hill we were on and he said this is all the border. We learned that he has lived in this village his whole life.

We were in Bent Jbil which is the small village that Israel invaded and destroyed in 2006 — and I discovered later that night it is the most contentious/dangerous place in Lebanon.

We continued to drive slowly along the dirt roads looking down the valley at a big Israeli, ultra modern guard tower below. The scenery was gorgeous …. lush and green.

Finally, we came to a fork in the dirt road, two roads that slopped downwards towards a beautiful green lush valley, and the israel border– and just like in a movie, there was a late 80’s model white mercedes benz parked, that had 4 men sitting in it — facing the Israeli tower, but because they were sitting, looking down they were a bit higher than the ultra modern, super high tech israeli border tower that was below down the road.

It seems as though these 4 men were the watch tower for Lebanon.

Romain and I were pressuring Souheil to find us a fence we could take a picture next to….so we made Souheil stop and ask the men where the border was.

The men pointed at the guard tower that was maybe, 500 meters down the road from us. All the men were very friendly and told us not to go too close or Israel would shoot at the car. (they were not joking and sincerely believed we would be shot at if we got too close)

We smiled and waved …. and drove on the dirt road towards the tower. (The same dirt road that the Israeli tanks took when they invaded the small town in 2006) Souheil, our driver was very scared and was nearly crying – he said that we will be shot if we go closer….and he stopped the car, maybe 200 meters from the tower. He was very scared, but stupidly both Romain and I were not.

We heard a car horn and saw flashing head lights behind us — our new friends in the old white mercedes came speeding up to us and told us to get back immediately…. then when we were back to the spot where we had originaly met them, they told us that Israel would surely shoot at us – or blow the car up because they would think we were a car bomb or something because there is no reason for anyone on the Lebanese side to go up to the tower.

For the first time…. reality hit me and I realized that I was in the middle of something that I had absolutely no control over.

We took a few pictures and video and we drove back towards where we came from to go back to Beirut … our driver was sweating and he was obviously nervous. He kept saying over and over “you guys are crazy…you guys are crazy….”

As we started to drive, a blue 750 BMW with 4 men drove up to us and flashed its lights for us to stop (apparently, they had been called to come and check on us).

I need to remind the reader…. I am an american and we had essentially snuck into a place that we had no right in being. I am in the area of Lebanon that google had told us was the most dangerous …. Stupidly, I had my american passport in my pocket.

As we pulled over, our driver told me “no matter what, do not tell them you are american and hide your passport under your seat…” 4 nicely dressed men got out of the car and stood at each of the 4 doors of our car — with the leader reaching in and very nicely shaking hands with us and telling us very gently to relax….

He asked us how we got past the check point and what we were doing. He asked us if we were journalists – and he told us journalists are not allowed. He stated that absolutely no photos were allowed (we had been taking a video and many photos)

He asked for our passports – and Souheil explained in arabic that my passport was at the check point -and we gave him Romain’s french passport. Souheil explained that we were two french tourists that just wanted to see the border.

Again, I think it is worth comparing…from my experience, the police in America are super aggressive and very unfriendly when they stop people or assume someone is in the wrong, but these 4 Hezbollah police men, although they were very stern, but they were also very kind and gentle.

We apologised over and over if we had offended them – but they kept telling us “don’t worry” “it’s ok” and they explained their concern (Souheil translated for us) is that Israel would blow our car up if we had gotten too close because Israel does not take any chances.

However, their main question was how did get past the check point …. and what was our ”order number” (whatever that is) Finally, they accepted our excuse and let us go….

Our driver was absolutely scared shitlesss….he drove very quickly and explained that if they had known I was american they would have thought I was a spy and surely would have arrested me …. and he wanted to get past the check point asap in case the men changed their mind or contacted the check point to verify our story.

On the way out, we drove by many tanks, at least 20 tanks– one of them was laying on its side, tiped over. We drove by children playing in the streets….oddly, there are also many very modern mansions ….. massive houses that looked brand new. It was a strange site — to see several gorgeous 10,000+ square foot homes in the middle of a war zone. The beautiful homes seem to be untouched by the war.

Everyone waved and smiled to us. No one was unfriendly. Romain and I never felt like we were in danger.

We drove out of the check point with no problems…..and as we drove back to Beirut the driver kept telling us over and over how dangerous of place Bent Jbil is … and how the Hezbollah would have taken me to jail, etc.

We drove straight to Beirut and arrived at 8:30 pm to “Munir” the most famous restaurant in all of Lebanon … it is in the mountains and is very modern and beautiful– the meal was one of the best meals I can remember having.

Souheil ordered a lot of food for us and he finally admited that he had never been to the areas we had gone today. As he toasted to “life” …. I thought about the group of children playing….children who have no running water. Most probably they live in houses with no glass windows….. they have no hope. It is very sad to think about.

On the 3 hour flight back to Dubai, I reflected on all the great adventures we had over the weekend – and how stupid we had been on trying to get as close as we could to the guard tower.

Lebanon is a gorgeous country. In my opinion, what makes Lebanon so gorgeous are the people.

The Hezbollah ”terrorists,” as most people call them … were extremely warm and friendly.

Out of all my travels and adventures over the past 18 years – this trip was the most exciting. I am very proud to have experienced Lebanon in the way we did.

In France, Sophie and I have friends from Israel… and in Dubai we have friends who are Hezbollah…. although politically and their ideology is completely different, both groups of friends just want peace.

It is horrific to think about how many women, children and other innocent people are destroyed because of politics.

Do not let others tell you what to think.

Experience the world for yourself.

After the race was over – several people came and told me that I was known on this adventure because I wore all black – I wore running tights (like pants) black – to keep cool and protect my legs from the sun – also they were tight so they helped my muscles — I also wore a long sleeve black naseba t-shirt — every day.

I don’t remember the heat as much as I remember the pain on my feet. It was around 49 degrees Celsius every mid day, but at night it was very very cold, so every morning when we woke up, it was cold. I lived in my clothes and never took them off, mainly because my feet were swollen and blistered and I could not get my tight pants around my ankles. There were 767 participants in the beginning and nearly, if not all, were in great shape and very focused.

I was not in good shape — but I was very focused. Nearly everyone I met had done the Iron Man — and the day before the race I stood in line waiting for my water listening to 10 or so people talk about how they trained together carrying a 20 Kilo bag with them and comparing training regiments. I was very nervous about my back not holding up – as well as my lack of a comparison training regiment.

The first day was a major wake up call — I expected it to be difficult, but the race was much harder and challenging then anything I imagined. The first day was just less than a normal marathon, but in dunes and climbing mountains etc. — absolute hell.

What I remember the most was the shocked feeling of wondering “how am I going to explain to my office if I cant finish… because I can not imagine how I can finish this – it’s so hard.”

When I got back to my tent, I got rid of 1/3rd of my food and supplies to make my bag lighter. The guys I stayed with said that I would not have food left the last days … and I explained that if I did not lessen my bag … I would not be there the last days …. so I threw away the food and supplies. And from then onwards, my bag was not a problem at all.

I ate once a day and my food lasted to the very end. I slept great that first night and in the morning took 2 Advil before I started — and before we started we were warned that the 2nd day was probably that hardest. I ran the first hour or so and felt good. The 2nd day was definitely the hardest thing I ever did in my life. We ran over mountains, across valleys, through dunes….then finally we had a 5 miles or so run across a valley — gorgeous – but we were running straight towards a massive mountain — and as we are running towards the mountain, I am thinking — “how are we going to run around that?” — surprise surprise — we had to climb over it.

The climb itself was a 37 degree climb in sand … very very difficult. But the best memory is finally getting to the top and thinking “ok – we are done, now I can go to camp and sleep…” but when we got to the top and looked down ….the camp looked 50 miles away…of course it was not that far, but easily 8-10 miles across dunes … and running/hiking in dunes is absolute hell.

I arrived into camp around 7pm and went to sleep instantly without eating. Throughout the race they had water check points each 10 kilometers so I was well hydrated – and you had to take salt tablets so I never had a problem with hydration. The third day was funny … I was sore, but a bit excited because they announced that the third day was the easiest of the week … and an easy 35 kilometers (around 18 – 20 miles) … but nothing was ever easy — and I don’t understand what the race director was referring to — I think the 3rd day 15 or more people quit. I never came close to quitting during the whole week.

The third day ended and I was a bit excited now because my body had held up for 3 days … so no matter what, at least I had made it through 3 days of marathons. The 4th day is the most famous part of the race — 72 kilometers (around 45 miles) non stop that goes through the night … this is the part where most people that quit the race – quit.

The 4th day started great – I ran for a good 45 minutes (my feet are completely trashed by now – but I was taking 4 Advil in the morning and then 4 more Advil mid day to survive the pain… I should state that although I ran at the beginning of each stage – after a period, I powered hiked … with ski poles. Most people powered hiked — a very very fast paced walk, but not walking… I was excited because my back and body was holding up — and I knew that if I could make it through this day, that I would make the race … which was my only goal — to finish.

The 4th day was broken up into basically 2 marathons — with a small tent city at the end of the first marathon where people could stop and rest and make dinner. Early into the day I decided that I would not stop – I wanted to finish straight and figured if I did not stop – I would end up at camp around 2am .. the next day was a rest day … so It would give me a real day off.

The first 25 miles or so was great – but lots of dunes … really high dunes. I remember thinking, “ok, once we get to the top of this dune, we will see camp and we will be finished”… but I would get to the top of the dune, and it would look like miles and miles and miles of dunes to go … an endless sea of dunes.

Of course it was super hot – but the heat never bothered me and I was drinking all the time — carrying 2 liters of water on me so was good. Before the race – I bought 2 extra iPods — so I took 3 iPods with me, all with the same “make it happen” music mix on them … I took 3 iPods so the battery would last enough during the hardest stages … this day was one of them.

I got to the mid way point at sunset … stopped and made dinner, and bumped into a German woman that I met earlier at one of the doctor tents in the camp – she had done the race before and we talked about her experience …the guy I was racing with wanted to take a nap at the mid way camp – but I didn’t so I was going on alone — into the complete darkness in the middle of the desert — unbelievable experience. However, the German woman — who I personally found very negative and complaining, wanted to come with me – and I agreed because I would have a partner.

It was very very dark – the stars and moon light the way – we wore head lights and there were small glow sticks each kilometer — we had to follow a compos setting as not to get lost.The German woman led the way — and we basically hiked quickly … I listened to my iPod and dreamed of when I would be in my sleeping bag.4th stage …the night was very very cold and we were racing in the desert — normally throughout the day you saw people… either they were passing me or I was passing them … but this night we saw no one.The night was all dunes … and dried river bed … mostly, all sand.

Running/hiking in sand had become common place … and I was used to it by now. We got to the last check point at 3am … well beyond my schedule. Reflecting back … I think we went a long way out of our way because it took us so long to reach this last camp. The woman was dead tired – and wanted to stop – but I didn’t want to stop … so we pushed onwards.

The last stage of this day was probably the hardest of the whole race … massive, never ending dunes…as the sun was rising. Beautiful … but disheartening … because I would see a mountain of a dune in front of me and think “ok, when I get to the top … I will see camp…” but it was always the same … a sea of dunes … and no camp. 2 hours into the stage … Brigit could not move anymore. It was horrible — I was feeling great and I knew I had probably 2 hours left before my pain medicine wore off so I had to push on … (I was always on 4 advil to ease my pain) but Brigit had to stop. It was terrible … in the middle of the desert with a German woman that you do not know … and I had to stop because she was about to pass out. We stopped for about 2 hours or so … now the sun was rising and the helicopter saw us sitting down so they sent someone on a 4 x 4 to check on us … still we saw no other runners. I seriously thought that most were behind us … and that we made great time. I discovered when we finished that most runners had finished around 2am … I ended 620th out of 730 that stage!

The race official suggested that Brigit drop out — but she refused and asked to hold my arm as we walked. It was terrible … we walked super super slow… and all I could think about was my pain medicine was wearing off and my legs were dead tired — nearly 20 hours non stop and I was feeling the pain.Finally – I decided to give Brigit my ski poles, wished her luck and left her alone and ran onwards.Another hour and half later – and I finished. When I arrived to camp 21 hours after starting my day … constant 21 hours of work – I could barely move — my feet were very swollen and my legs were dead — I went straight to the medical tent to have my feet cleaned and looked at.After my feet were bandaged and cleaned – I went to sleep at around 9am and woke up at 1pm. When I woke up I was told that the man in the tent next to us (I don’t remember him) had died in his sleep and they had taken his body past our tent.Although I did not know the people I stayed with before the trip — the 6 guys work for Theolia – and I am friends with their CEO. Great guys – and we had an enjoyable experience together – they were always positive and never complained.

I made a point of always smiling – and always being positive – no matter how poorly I felt — I always told people when they asked me – “I feel great.” Nights were freezing – and we slept in Berber tents — simple black cloth tents that were open.The 5th day was a rest day and I basically did not move out of my sleeping bag all day.

The last two days of the race were considered “fun” because the hardest part was over … however, we still had a full marathon and the last day is considered to be the hardest by most people that do the race because it is 8 – 10 miles of 20 story dunes …I was confident that I would finish the race – but I was still scared my back would lock or I would get sick or something would happen to me … so I did not change my rituals … to ensure I did not eat anything new or take new medicine that could make me sick.

The marathon day for me was definitely the easiest — my feet were blistered and bloody – but 4 Advil made me at least not feel them … and I ran most of the way. I finished in just under 8 hours … which is considered a “respectable” time because of the sand and dunes.

The last few nights I did not sleep much at all. My feet were completely blistered and without pain medicine I could hardly walk – before the race – I stupidly bought new shoes that I thought would be perfect — but they were absolute shit — and they filled with sand very quickly.

I am sure my shoes cost me 10 hours over the week. If I had proper shoes — I am sure I would have finished easily 10 hours faster. Easily – 2 hours a day would be spent stopping, taking them off, dumping the sand … putting them back on … and then getting up and trying to get back into my rhythm. Not to mention the massive blisters all around my feet. Anyways … my last day hell for me … massive dunes and my feet were dead.

The only time on this day that I stopped to take my shoes off to dump the sand, my tape came off my feet so I had to put my shoes back on without anything on my feet — so the sand was rubbing completely against my cuts and blisters – painful.

Finally – I slowly ran through the finish — got my medal – met my friends and sat down to rest … dead tired, but proud to have finished.

The M.D.S is considered to be the hardest race in the world — and I am proud to say I finished it. Throughout the race – I would think to myself “there is no way I would ever do this again…” but reflecting back now, as I type …

I would love to experience it without blisters as well as in better shape and thinner. It is a crazy concept … of at least 8 hours a day of constant movement and exercise for 6 days straight. I bet my heart rate was at least 140 bpm all day long … I felt great. I got in bed last night at 8pm … and reflected on what I did during the day yesterday… and how long my day felt … but last week this would have been spent constantly moving/running or hiking … and the time went by very quickly I proved this week how mental everything is — there is no way I was in shape enough to run the M.D.S. no way.

However, I wanted to finish so badly, that I found the strength. My next challenge is the Iron Man in the next 6 months. I have talked about doing the IM for so long … finally I am going to pull my finger out and just do it. I am focused on losing 30 pounds and get down to 185 lbs …(but its so much easier to talk about it)

My feet were completely trashed when I got back to Monaco – I could hardly walk — as I type I can feel my heart beat in my left foot … boom booom booom booom, the worst of the two.

Yesterday I went to the doctor to have my feet looked at and cleaned – but all is ok – they are not infected.

If I could do it all over again – I would have given more focus to my shoes and I would have dieted before the race. I probably lost 10 lbs during the week … but I need to lose more. I am not fat – but too big for stuff like this amazing experience – that puts things in perspective.

I am sure that this race is/and will continue to be a life changing experience for me. As hard as I expected the MDS to be … it was much much harder. There was never a let up … it was constant hell … but awesome experience.

Liam Findlay and Ian Tracy, both senior level managers within naseba — their keen interest and support in my race had a big motivating impact — certainly their support is one of the big reasons I made this race happen … and did not just sit around talking about doing it.

Three years ago, I made a trip to Rio de janeiro and I got to stay in one of the most famous hotels in the world, the Copacabana Palace right on the beaches of Rio.

…my main interest in going to Rio was the Corcovado, otherwise known as the Christ Statue…on TV it looks massive, but up close it is not as big as it looks.

The three days that I spent in Rio and surrounding areas was exciting … but the truth is once I got my picture taken in front of the Christ Statue … I was ready to fly back to Monaco.

I woke very early the second morning to go and walk on the beaches of Rio … sadly enough as I was walking out the door of the hotel, the concierge comes running up to me …”sir, its best not to go outside with your gold watch on your arm….Rio is quite dangerous….”

Apparently, Rio is very dangerous … as a matter of fact, Rio seemed like the most dangerous city I have ever visited (before my trip to J’burg in South Africa). Many people “warned” me about not walking alone …crazy, but sadly true.

Of course, nothing happened to me and the trip is a nice memory for me …

Although it almost seems like cheating because the story takes place many years before my Rio trip, but the focus of this entry is on my first trip to Brazil via Suriname in 1990, 15 years before my trip to Rio and my successful picture with the Christ Statue …

In high school my roommate for two years was a guy from Suriname, South America name Giovanni Linscheer. Giovanni and I became like brothers and during the Christmas break of 1990, I went to Suriname with Gio to visit Suriname and his family. (Sadly, Giovanni would die in a car crash several years later – and my daughter, Giovanna is named in his honor)

My first trip to South America in 1990 was my first trip outside America …although I was 18 years old, I did not have a passport and I got one especially for this trip. The trip to Suriname and surrounding areas was a great adventure …

After several days in northern Suriname, the family took Gio and I for a trip into the amazon jungle directly south of Suriname… before we left, G’s father warned us that we would have to sit in the back of his pick up truck for 12-15 hours as we drove on dirt roads and there would be many bats …. I remember laughing thinking to myself how his Dad seemed to be purposefully trying to scare us …but he was being sincere.

The next morning we left at 4 am … G’s mom and dad sat in the front of the pickup truck and Giovanni and I sat in the back … several bumpy hours later, after all conversation was completely exausted between Gio and I … his father stopped and picked up a black man hitchiking with a large rifle around his shoulder …

Gio got a bit nervous and spoke aggressively to his father in Dutch … I imagined Gio was asking his dad, “what in the F……. was he doing picking up a man with a machine gun….” ????

By now, 6 hours in the sun in the back of a pickup truck that was bouncing down a muddy dirt road had completely numbed me to reality.

The man with the gun would remain with us for the rest of the drive and he would also drive back home with us 3-4 days later … a couple days later I would learn that Mr. Linscheer had organzied for this man to come with us to protect us in case we were attacked along the dirt road as we drove into the thick amazonian forest.

Finally, we arrived at an area we would make our camp … the place had wooden house, like tents … tents, but stronger than the standard cloth tent., but absolutely filthy.

Giovanni and I were dead tired so we went straight to our tent … ate dinner and both of us crashed. We woke up in the middle of the night about the same time …. because of all the noise the monkeys as well as the bats were making. It was insane …even Giovanni seemed scared.

The next day finally came and after cold cereal and warm coca cola we went for at least a 4-5 hour hike into the amazon jungle … no guides, no trail …nothing … but Mr. Linscheer, Mrs. Linscheer, Giovanni and I …. we hiked and hiked in super thick jungle …the only thing I remember clearly being scared of was the snakes.

We saw a couple along the trees when we first entered the jungle, but after a couple hours of hiking, I was used to the surroundings and did not think about the snakes … I thought about “what happens if we get lost in the jungle….” this was before cell phones and or satelite phones were every where….but Giovanni’s father had everything under control – he knew exactly where we were going.

Finally …. we arrived at our destination … gorgeous water falls with an area to swim.

The first thing I thought about was “piranahs” when I saw the dark, shadowy water but Gio’s father assured us that piranahs did not go in areas of water with strong currents and water falls …Mr. Linscheer assured us that it was safe to swim … stupidly I trusted him.

I was super hot, tired and a bit excited to finally be at our camp for lunch … so I challenged Giovanni to jump in the water … and with out thinking I jumped in myself … “I was swimming in the amazon river … unbelievable….” then suddenly, a strong electric shock went through my whole body … like when you get shocked by a power plug, but this feeling was 1000 times worse …

As I tried to swim toward shore, I looked at Giovanni and saw that his face looked very concerned because he saw something I had not …and he rushed to the rock near where I was swimming …and I yelled something like, “Giovanni…there is an electric wire in this water … I just got an incredible electric shock …” and I remember him saying very dully, without looking at me, “yea there must be….” and then he pulled me out of the water.

Just as I am pulling myself out of the water of a tributary of the amazon river, I turn to look at the area I was just swimming — and suddenly, what to me seemed like a huge snake sticks its head out of the water and looks around. I freaked out …shouting to Giovanni for us “to get the F out of the place.” Apparently, Gio had seen this monster when I jumped in the water.

In my memory, the snake stuck his head out of the water, and had rows of teeth and made a hissing noise looking to see what he just “shocked” …. but I would soon discover that this was not a snake, it was a fresh water electric eel.

Mr. Linscheer came rushing over to tell us to stay out of the water …. that his friend from Holland had been knocked unconscious a couple years before by one of these “electric eels.”

As we stayed on the rocks with the thick forest surrounding us … both excidely looking for the eel to show itself again, a group of 10-20 monkeys started throwing berries and nuts at us, Mr. Linscheer shot the rifle in the air to scare them away….an absolute surreal experience.

We adventured for a couple more days further into the jungle … but I never got back in the water and I never saw another eel.

On the drive back when we stopped at an old, runned down road side gas station, a station from something out of a 1930s movie in America I imagined …. Mr. Linscheer laughingly told me … “one day you will be proud to tell about the time you got shocked by an electric eel in the amazon jungle….”

oddly enough … it was not until my trip to Rio 15 years later when I was on an easy half day guided tour into the amazon jungle that I understood how true his comment would turn out to be.

The purpose of these travels stories is to share my experiences and ideally, challenge the reader to make life happen.