Emily Wilson

Time! The love language I speak and the construct that slips through our fingers so dam fast. A very limited selection from work and play over the last 6 months I can add to the memory bank.

The Magnificent Adventure Race #2 -The Catlins. Owe to find the words…it’s been a week and still I don’t think I can do it justice. My good friend Em said to me, it looked like I was the best version of myself out there, vibrant, content and engaged in the moment. I think I am. It’s where I belong. I thrive off being in a team, working together toward a common goal, using each others strengths, the strategy and the challenge of the unknown. Through this sport I’ve discovered who I am and this time, I wouldn’t want to have done it with anyone else. Racing with Team RAB was such a delight for me in particular, the depth of experience is impressive and I felt privileged to have the opportunity. I hadn’t raced with Theo for 10 years, he complemented Chris well on nav and is fun, decisive and organised. Stu I’ve never raced with before but I have been a big fan since meeting him at a race nearly 20 years ago🫣. He is a seriously humble super star, smart, strong, kind and unruffled by anything. Side surfing our packraft cleanly into the beach will always stay with me! Chris is a relentless optimist and always strong, he is a pleasure to race with and I’m lucky to call him a good friend. Our race felt relaxed and even with some mistakes we kept a good pace, looked after each other, and got a lot more sleep than anticipated, to build a healthy lead we maintained to the finish. It was an interesting and unique course, real passion and thought had gone into the design!Those 3d maps were testament to that. Our particular favourite was the ocean paddle and coasteering which did require good decision making and confidence to back yourself at the right moment. As for my diabetes, despite some technology issues I think I handled it pretty well. Although feeling slightly underdone with our late entry, I was pleasantly suprised by how I felt. I realise I need to give this body I berate too much for being flabby and lacking, more credit!. Thank you to the amazing media team for capturing these moments, the event team and volunteers for allowing us to race, it’s a real privilege! A massive thanks to @rab.nz @lasportivanz @fenixlightnz , your gear makes it all possible 😁❤️

Shoutout to Isobel and Emily 💚 Two amazing humans who have been part of our journey for a while and continue to show up with care, patience, and commitment for our children. One final week of the holidays — let’s finish strong! 🌈

Long time no post. Some months in time I’m not interested and would rather just be present. However, on the flip side, I really like to remember some of the things I experience and like to keep a wee log here, even if it’s just the odd candid photo and a blurb about life at that time. My hope is that it will jog the memory and allow me to self reflect on all the good in my life. When I feel alittle snowed under or unsatisfied with what I’m doing, when I feel overwhelmed and have the sense I’m not reaching my potential in anything, I can look at these and smile. It’s ok really. I said I wanted to use my brain more and lately I’ve been deep in study, amongst my usual work, adventures and mayhem with friends, going through the steps required to be recruited to lead overseas trips with high school students for World Challenge. I’ve still got a Bush assessment and a trip to Melbourne to go but I’m hopeful I’ll have the opportunity to be an Expedition Leader. I’ll get to lead afew trips a year and work it around other life goals. It will add strings to my bow, and will be a good step up to facilitate these experiential learning experiences for the students. It will build on past opportunities working in similar environments overseas. It does require burning more carbon, which I’m getting less tolerant of, especially when I do everything I can at home to live a sustainable and low consuming lifestyle. Alas, if only my curiosity wasn’t so strong, I’d live a simple life. It’s all self inflicted but as much as I thrive off challenge, this season I’m learning how much it stresses me and how much this stress has affected my overall health over the years. The expectations I have are high and I want so badly to do well, be better….I don’t realise how much impact that pressure has on me. I love learning, I just wish it didn’t come with assessment 😣 if I can just be concise (for anyone who knows me that’s a big ask) and not verbalise all my thoughts 🫣 we might just crack it. My self confidence has always fluctuated and I’m trying to lift it up. In the meantime I need to remember to breathe, and believe that if I do my best, that is enough.

The Wilson’s and a Robson on tour🫣 Now I can count on my own hand how many family holidays we have had together, so when Dad won some travel money, Mum decided to book a mid winter escape to the tropics. Samoa didn’t disappoint. Despite the laid-back kind of disorganisation that threatened to derail our plans, we managed to get on the ferry from Upolu to Savai’i ….eventually. We spent time on both islands. The people of Samoa are warm, friendly and kind and I like the way that it still feels authentic and not overrun by Western culture. The highlight for me was definitely being under the water (no suprises there). Swimming with sea turtles, observing giant clams, big healthy coral and swmming through trenches was well worth the effort to get out to the reef, sometimes against the tide and currents. It is still of deep concern to me to observe the impact of humans and climate change on our oceans. Although I was impressed with the life I saw on more remote reefs, a lot of damage in local areas around the resorts was sobering and a reminder that we have a vast amount of work to do to ensure the oceans thrive for generations to come. David Attenboroughs recent ‘Ocean’ is a case in point. As a family, we had our moments, and I often felt like I was being the worst version of myself. However, with a joint love for the ocean, it was easy for everything to dissipate when you could bob together, marvelling at the life below you. A big thanks goes to Mum and Rose for doing the bulk of the organising for this trip. Enjoy afew random shots, as usual most moments past without a camera and Laura and I really wished we had been able to capture the magic under the surface, but alas you’ll have to make do with afew of these! P.S back to reality now, although it’s a pretty good life I must admit 😉

It’s the end of my time in South America and I do feel sad about it. The opportunities when you travel are endless and I could stay much longer. But as my friend Gemma wisely said, it’s good to leave something for next time! It’s acknowledging you just can’t experience it all. Another wise thing my friend Ben always says is ‘be where your feet are’. Sometimes I’m not so good at this but mostly I’d like to think I am. I have been totally in the moment here, happily soaking up all the interactions and the stunning vistas you’ll see in my videos and photos, or my smiling mug here 😉 After a pretty average year last year, with poor mental health due to many hormonal/diabetes issues, which, still are not resolved or explained, I told myself I would go travelling on my bike, for a decent chunk of time, alone or not. I’m so glad I made it happen. It’s been the best decision and I’ve come to appreciate things about myself I never really appreciated before. I can say I’m a curious, brave and kind human with a body that allows me to push my limits in places that are remote and wild. For that I am extremely grateful. What am I most looking forward to upon my return……is a hearty meal! I’ve had days where nothing seems to satisfy my hunger. On the latest adventure Kaylie and I were dreaming of a big lasagne with lots of veggies and a Greek salad, maybe I can make that happen on Thursday. Anyway thanks to those that have followed along on the journey. I don’t expect it but it’s nice to read the comments of support and encouragement. I’d be stoked to think I can inspire the odd soul to go on an adventure too! As for all the new friends I’ve made on my travels, I can’t thank you enough for enriching my time in South America 🙏 And I’ll leave this quote here to end, as I like it a lot and it relates to how I want to live my life always. Hopefully I have left a positive impression on the people I’ve been lucky enough to meet here. And despite social media’s wicked ways, I hope I come across as genuine on here, as I am in real life! ‘One day, you’ll be someone’s memory. Make it a good one. Not by being perfect—but by being present, honest, kind, and real ‘ ❤️🥰😊✌️ Kia kaha

Choquequirao! Dubbed the sister site to the famous Machu Picchu, it really exceeded my expectations. A solid 30km trek into these mountains means that there are very few people about and it feels like you have the place to yourself, something that us kiwi’s seem to love. The trip was made that much more enjoyable with my three kiwi friends, Daniel, Gemma and Kaylie. Three siblings I’d love to do more adventures with in NZ. Thanks so much team for letting me be apart of your Cusco experience! I’ll try let the videos do the talking but this place really is something special. We especially enjoyed our late afternoon dash to the structures that were overgrown. It seemed like we were discovering a forgotten city and that felt quite neat. I also enjoyed doing a big day to get out to the local city Abancay to catch a bus back to Lima. I walked the 20 odd kms down and up out of the valley, around 1700m then got on my bike and climbed another 1700m ish to then drop down into the city in the dark. The shower was well worth it though, after sweating profusely for 4 days and then layering that with lots of dust, I felt more than ready for a hot scrub! All in all, it was well worth the sweat and steep climbs! I’m so glad we made it happen ! @gemmapotaka ☺️

A tiki tour in the Sacred Valley with the kiwi sibs! Amigos on the road are splendid ❤️ @gemmapotaka Highlights : A plethora of interesting historical Inca sites Great company and conversations, a contrast to doing it alone. Sandwhich club! Hidden camp spots Lowlights Bum wees.

The Huscaran loop 🤩 300km and 7000m vert on the bike 5.5 days 2 awesome side trips on 🦶 with 1620m vert 7 cyclists I met 1 fox seen and all topped off with a great catch up with a friend I met racing in Ecuador 6 years ago 🥰

The bike got ditched for abit…. and I’ve since been on some epic side missions in true Emily style. Diversity is the spice of life and the adventure kid in me, is saying yes to all the adventures and upskilling! I got to summit a more technical mountain in the Cordillera Blanca called Yanapaccha and I now know why it’s world famous for mountaineering, climbing and hiking. Wow is about all I can say! Enjoy the wee video I managed to take 2 pitches up. Don’t worry my guide was safely off belay, I hadn’t left him hanging and I was cleaning the anchor. The blood sugar levels have been on a rollercoaster, maybe too many Peruvian staples such as potatos, rice and pasta soup, but apart from that, life is great. Hopefully these photos/vids inspire or give a chuckle. It’s easy for it to be a highlight reel on here and these are posted mainly so I can have a time-stamped memory bank to never forget. I’ve been reminded again lately that life can be short, and as cruel as that can be, it really motivates me to not waste a second of it! I’m squeezing that lemon hard over here. ❤️✌️ P.S thanks @rab.nz , never have I been so proud or grateful to be wearing great gear. P.SS of course those were not our donkeys, this pack horse lugged it all, including both ropes 😉

Part 2: The Great Peruvian Divide Oyon to Huaraz 4 days 310km 5950m elevation Another few moments from the last piece of the route to the mountain meca of Huaraz. I take some fond memories with me, like this moment where Isobel wanted to dress me up in her traditional blanket, brooch and hat from her mum. I have found that people are kind and despite my full-on nature and tendency to chat and chat and chat, people must genuinely like me because I have been shown so much generosity, given so many treats - cake, 500g of peanut butter, cute homemade key rings and dinner. I am happy alone but realise how much energy I get from others, I’m genuinely buzzing when I meet new people 😆 I’ve had more delightful interactions with cyclists on the road, quiet camping, long switchback climbs and massive vistas. Lapping up some rest and good food before I head out into the Cordillera Blanca to bike the Huascaran loop, climb some mountains and find some stunning lagunas. ❤️✌️

The Great Peruvian Divide Part 1A, more that I couldn’t fit into Part 1 It’s always about the people and this chance encounter in Peru with a friend that I made climbing Huayna Potosi in Bolivia, it made my day @rab.nz 🙏