Written September 22, 2009 by Ilya Brotzky.

It’s been one week since my decision to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in January. Since then I’ve contacted Seth Cochran and spoke to him over skype about his trip experience, his life, how I wanted to proceed with my trip and what the next steps would be.

We decided to open the trip up to anyone who wanted to join and that this trip would be the start of a company that would attract young high potential global leaders for the most incredible transformational leadership experience imaginable. It will be called Peak Life and will raise money by helping people assemble teams to climb the Seven Summits and raise money for and volunteer in charities that are close to the mountains. I started a preliminary blog to help get the word out about Peak Life. Here it is:http://peaklifebeta.blogspot.com/

Since then, Seth flew to New York where he was diagnosed with Malaria, which he must of picked up the last time he was in Africa. I haven’t been able to speak too much to him since, but from what we talked about last week, I’ve decided to start getting the word out about Peak Life and seeing if there’s any interest. So far, the response has been great. We’ve had 4 people say that they’re interested in coming along and excited about the cause, which isn’t too bad for one week and no clue what we’re (aka I’m) doing.

This being said, I’m very, very excited about starting Peak Life and think that we can do great things with it. It’ll be a win-win for everyone involved. The participants will have the most amazing adventure, climb a mountain, have a paradigm shifting experience, and actually meet the people they’ve fundraised for, and I’m pretty sure it looks alright on a resume. At the same time, the local charities will get support and help improve the lives of the people they look after.

Right now I’m trying to put together a team of people who are passionate about global development and making a difference. I’m open at any and all suggestions and am the thinking that the more the merrier. Imagine if we got 200 people raising awareness instead of just one guy.

Personally, I’m nearing the end of my visit to Sydney with a week and half remaining. I’m really going to miss this city and can’t wait to be back when it’s actually summer.

I feel like this summer was a very large period of growth for me. Living alone on the other side of the world, working a full time job and having to start from scratch socially has really pushed me to become more proactive and make an effort to put myself out there, while instilling a sense of responsibility and appreciation for what I’ve been blessed with.

I hope that you all can help spread the word about Peak Life and look forward to your thoughts.