Cotopaxi

A group of friends from business school put the trip together. Cotopaxi is one of the highest active volcanoes in the world — 19,347 feet, higher than Kilimanjaro — and it sits in the Ecuadorian Andes about 50 kilometers south of Quito. I'd never done high-altitude mountaineering, and the combination of a physical challenge, a new country, and the chance to really disconnect made it hard to say no.

We spent ten days in Ecuador with no cell service, staying at a small hostel called the Secret Garden of Cotopaxi near the national park. Electricity would go out most of the week, and there was no Wi-Fi. It forced us to disconnect completely — something I hadn't done since Alaska — and come together as a group. In the days leading up to the summit attempt, we did four or five acclimatization hikes, including a rappelling rock climb. I'd never gone rock climbing in my life. The whole trip was about pushing into things I'd never done before, including some genuinely scary ones.

The summit attempt starts with a hike up to the refuge at about 15,000–16,000 feet. You go to sleep at 6 PM and wake up at 11 PM. Then you climb through the night — every step the highest you've ever been. Climbing in the dark is a real psychological drain. You can't see how far you've come and you can't see how far you have left. It's six hours up. We made good time, but there were several moments where I wasn't sure I was going to make it and thought I'd have to turn around. It was very physically demanding, very mentally demanding. But making it to the peak at 19,347 feet was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

Doing hard things together brings people closer. I really value the relationships that were built and deepened on this trip, and I'm proud of myself for summiting something I'd never attempted before. But the deeper takeaway is the same one I keep coming back to: it's important to give yourself intentional time away from technology — no push notifications, no emails, no texts. As much of a technologist as I am, disconnecting lets you reconnect with yourself as a human being. I hadn't gone that long without a phone since Alaska, and I needed it more than I realized. We went in as friends and came out stronger together.