This was truly a weekend to be a remembered. I am still in a state of awe towards the people I have met and the things they have done.To name a few: doctor’s who have practiced in Antartica and outerspace, a nurse from UK’s International Search and Rescue, medics training soldiers in Ukraine, mountain rescue teams, etc. Everyone at the conference had a story to tell.

Honestly, my imposter syndrome was through the roof. I was amongst some of the most intelligent and inspiring people. I sat there wondering where does one even begin to gain that level of expertise and experience. Everyone was asking … “How do you prepare yourself to work in xyz environment?” … and it was cool that many speakers had similar advice. What was MORE cool was that I was already on track. The advice?…

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Let me explain. Distress tolerance is constantly on my to-do list. With my history of anxiety and disordered eating, I feel uncomfortable A LOT. I have also learned that trying to fix that discomfort (or should we say AVOID), only worsens the problem. At the end of the day, I am going to have anxiety, whether I am climbing a mountain, singing onstage, performing CPR, or trying to pick-out groceries. For whatever reason, my little amygdala LOVES to get excited. With that, I must lean into that fear, letting my brain know I can be uncomfortable and still okay. That’s how I get to live a life in accordance with my values and dreams.

I actually wrote more about this idea in a graduate program application. If anyone wants to read, the link is HERE

That part aside, let’s get back to the conference ADVENTURES!!!!

Sunday

Highlights of the conference today included lectures on the realities of humanitarian work, a humanitarian-aid panel, health-care related to venomous snakes, and the story of a mountaineer/paraglider who used his passion to raise money for polio!

Highlights AFTER the conference was a Cèilidh. This is a fun night of music, and traditional Scottish dancing. It is great fun to watch the most intelligent medics become clueless when trying to move in a circle at the same time. My personal dance method was to look for a man in a kilt and follow whatever he did.

I stopped by the golden arches on my way back to my hostel. It’s really cool how McDonalds is different in each country. UK McDonalds has some pretty fire chicken wraps and also a lot of vegetarian options. My only complaint…is their lacking of a proper sprite. They did have IRN BRU, which is a very popular and old soda here. I tried it for the cultural experience. It was not great in my opinion, but I also definitely wouldn’t share that opinion in Scotland. Folks here LOVE this beverage.

Monday

This was the final day of the conference. I woke up and packed everything up, lugging my whole pack, backpack, and guitar, and boy was it raining that morning. I could probably use an umbrella, but also I have no room for one anyways.

It was kind of funny bringing all my stuff into the conference center. However, there was ZERO judgement. I was amongst other people who had packs of their own. Even when it came to dress attire, I wore my one nice outfit the first day, but others wore jeans and hiking boots. I felt right at home.

The highlight of the conference today was getting to see presentations from Dr. Ben Labrot, the CEO of the organization I volunteered with when I was in Panama. He was also the doctor who gave me antibiotics and saltine crackers when I was sick. That trip to Panama and my time with Floating Doctors inspired me towards public health and humanitarian work. It also helped drive my love for the outdoors and adventure!

The final highlight of the day was meeting a new friend, also named Ashley. As we were chatting, we discovered our similar plans of going out to the highlands and trying to hike Ben Nevis, UKs tallest mountain. I had already bought a train ticket and was going to have to leave the conference 30 minutes early for the Four and a half hour ride. Instead, she had a rental car and offered to let me tag along! And that is where I will leave off for the next post.