Creating your path becomes easy once you align with the authentic version of yourself, even when the path you take is unconventional.
I GREW UP IN MANILA and moved with my family to America at the age of thirteen. As a child, my parents didn’t have the money nor the time to take us on regular trips, including the mountain areas near the city. It would have been a hardship for my parents to do so with four kids.
In the fifteen years I practiced law, I was living a dual life where I devoted all my free time to planning trips and traveling with others, all of which involved the mountains. My hobby proved to be a calling. I didn’t actively search for this path. Guiding treks around the world was never planned. The epiphany happened during a year I was away from my law practice, doing extensive solo treks. As I started to enjoy my own company and silence, my truest desires ultimately revealed themselves. The answers to the questions we have about our lives reside within us. To reach those answers, you have to be willing to spend time alone. The act of “doing” isn’t necessarily what gets us where we need to be.
I returned to my lawyer role with a new set of life philosophies that slowly paved the way for me to overcome my fears. At that point, I knew I’d fallen in love with the nomadic lifestyle and the mountains. I had no choice but to go back to them. The experience changed me completely—from selling all my possessions including my house in the city, to starting Peak Explorations, which is dedicated to sharing with others the joy I experience from trekking mountains. During this period my mother passed away suddenly. Her passing left me with two gifts—clarity and courage. That was when I knew it was time for me to leave the legal profession, become a mountain nomad, and live the vision that I’ve had for years.
Peak Explorations has taken me to various mountain regions worldwide— the Himalayas, Andes, Albanian Alps, Drakensberg, Mount Roraima, Cordillera Blanca, Kilimanjaro, Patagonia, and more. Our goal is to introduce hikers to lesser-known mountain trails that yield a world-class travel experience. We also support sustainable economic income in remote mountain regions by providing employment opportunities for marginalized groups and women.
Let your voice be the ultimate guide in the decisions you make. Creating your path becomes easy once you align with the authentic version of yourself, even when the path you take is unconventional, or one that you take later in life (I was forty-one when I made the change!). And yes, there will be fears along the way, but trust that they will dissipate as long as you focus on your desires. Soon enough you learn that fear is merely an illusion, whereas your desire is what’s real. Always be of service to others—only then will your every move be right.
MARINEL MALVAR DE JESUS
