It’s always great when the ordinary girl or guy next door gets out there and inspires, right?
This is exactly what you have here: Sarah and Aimee are a north eastern lasses from County Durham and Teeside and they’re proud of their roots.
Touching the Summit caters for people who are eager to leave the “I can’t” at home and enhance their mental health and wellbeing through adventure. They will provide inspiration and tips for all kinds of adventures and budgets.
– Founder & Contributor, Sarah –
I’m Sarah, I went to school in Spennymoor. I work near Munich, Germany and spend every weekend in the Bavarian and Austrian Alps, but it was a tough journey to get here. it wasn’t always easy.
Sounds dreamy? We all have dreams and aspirations and people often assume that my road was an easy one, but things happened along the way during my teens and early 20’s (bullying, sexual assault and meniere’s disease) that caused severe anxiety and depression to the point where during my first degree, I couldn’t leave the house alone and didn’t want to continue with life and subsequently quit my degree.
I thought, “fuck it”, there must be more to life than this. So, I began with therapy, running, hiking, climbing and University. This combination opened doors to all kinds of international opportunities… and here we are!
Due to my background, I like to continually challenge my comfort zones; this is my interpretation of adventure.
– Contributor, Aimee –
Aimee is from Teeside and is the founder of AMALAwellness. Aimee spent a large proportion of 2017 and 2018 practicing yoga and meditation in Thailand and India.
Aimee suffered with severe anxiety and rather than visiting the doctor again, she thought “there must be a better way to heal”. And this is where Aimee’s journey with yoga and meditation started. Aimee started to practice Hatha and Ashtanga yoga regularly and this started to improve everything.
Aimee has clocked up over 400 hours of yoga and meditation training in India and Thailand, has a Diploma in Advanced Holistic Nutrition, as well as being a Reiki level 2 practitioner and completing a yoga trek in Nepal.
If anyone can advise on the impact that yoga and travel can have on anxiety and depression, then it is Aimee.
Both Sarah and Aimee had normal (non lavish) up-bringings and have both battled extreme anxiety and depression. Sarah and Aimee met online in 2007 due to a mutual love for science and all things outdoorsy. Between travels, they have since met up a few times and have become good friends.
Sarah and Aimee can show you that it is possible to achieve your dreams regardless of your mindset or budget.
– Affording Adventure –
People often ask how we managed to afford these adventures; do we earn a lot of money or are our families wealthy? It is simple, we have learnt to live with less.
- We have a normal job, a normal salary and normal holiday allowances.
- We make sacrifices in other areas of life to enable adventures;
- Average apartment
- Don’t splash out on the latest trends in technology and clothing (unless it is technical mountain equipment)
- Drive a car that meets our needs (Sarah used to have Cindy the Citroen C1, before upgrading to something larger when her son came into the world)
- Don’t stay luxurious hotels
- Don’t party every weekend and spend loads on alcohol.
You hold the key to your happiness. If you have a dream, follow it. A dead end doesn’t always mean the end of the journey; it means an opportunity to find a new route.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step – Lau Tzu
love & Peace
Touching The Summit 