The Summit of Strength

Audio Note from Genevieve:

Hey friends—I’m still learning the editing ropes, and you might notice the volume shifts a bit in this episode. I’ve done my best to balance it, but I’m still growing in this area. Thanks for your grace as I figure it out! I truly believe Jillian’s story is worth the listen, imperfections and all.

____________________________________________

Jillian’s story fits beautifully with the Hidden Chapters theme: the parts of our experiences that live beneath the surface, beyond what’s shared in photos or casual conversation.

In this episode of Hidden Chapters, I sit down with my friend Jillian, whose journey to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro was about so much more than just reaching the summit.

While the photos and stories might show the mountain, Jillian’s true story lies in the quiet moments of strength, perseverance, and discovery that unfolded long after the climb. Guided by the Swahili phrase “pole pole”—meaning “slowly, slowly”—Jillian faced challenges that tested her in unexpected ways. As she says, “You are capable of more than you ever imagine. You can do hard things.”

 Jillian’s life is all about adventure, fun, and embracing the journey—whether she’s climbing mountains or traveling the world with her husband, checking off every escape room they can find along the way.

This episode reveals the deeper layers behind her journey, showing that the true summit is about much more than what’s visible on the outside.

What you'll learn:   

• Jillian climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to challenge herself and prove her mental strength.
• The climb symbolized determination, perseverance, and inner strength.
• The journey was grueling, requiring mental endurance and support from others.
• Climbing taught Jillian that the struggle is often unspoken but essential to the experience.
• Jillian experienced silent struggles and moments of self-doubt during the climb.
• The climb transformed Jillian, leaving behind her old self and self-doubt.
• Jillian learned the importance of patience and taking life slowly, embodied in the phrase 'pole pole'.

What we talked about: 

• 00:00 The Journey Begins: Climbing Kilimanjaro
• 06:43 The Inner Struggle: Emotions on the Ascent
• 11:47 Transformation: Leaving Doubt Behind
• 16:09 Reflections: The Climb's Lasting Impact
• 20:53 Letting Go: The True Strength of Climbing
• 23:04 Closing  

Follow her on social media: 

Facebook: Bucket List Escapes (Jillian Delgado) 

Instagram:  @escapoholics 

Transcript

Genevieve : 0:00

Some milestones in life are easy to spot. Big wins, big moments, and the kinds of things people cheer for. But what we don't always see is the meaning behind them. The hard stuff that came before and the way those moments changed us afterward. My guest today is my good friend Jillian. And she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. But what makes her story really special isn't just the mountain. It's what that climb meant to her. what pushed her up there, what she carried with her to the top, and how that moment has stuck with her through life's ups and downs ever since. Jillian's got big dreams, like traveling the world and doing every escape room she can find. But today, she's here to talk about the hidden chapters behind her climb and what it's taught her about facing fear, finding strength, and moving through tough moments with a whole lot of heart. Okay, so hey Jillian, welcome to Hidden Chapters. So let's start with what led you to this moment. What was happening in your life before you decided to climb Mount Kilimanjaro?

Jillian : 1:10

Well, hi, Genevieve. Thank you for asking. I'm so happy to be here and be a guest on your Hidden Chapters. So Pilar Manjaro, it was really a tough climb. What led me to there was I just wanted to challenge myself and believe myself and just show myself that I had this strength in me, this mental strength in me. And I just wanted to prove to myself that no matter what, I will not give up. So what led me to this is just just a challenge that I wanted to prove to myself, that I have this mental endurance, this resiliency, this belief, and I wanted to prove that I could just be stronger than what I had shown others. I just wanted to do this for myself.

Genevieve : 1:56

Right, so that was that personal drive that you were talking about. Oh,

Jillian : 1:59

yes.

Genevieve : 2:00

So what did this climb symbolize for you? It

Jillian : 2:04

symbolized determination, for sure, and perseverance. I wanted to show what's possible with focus and the heart. And I wanted to prove that I'm capable, I'm strong to do tough things. So it was more than just like a physical challenge. It was more of inner strength and believing in myself that I could do this, accomplish this goal that I had for like a year now that my husband, he challenged me because it all started off. I challenged him to do a marathon. He's like, You made me do a marathon. Let's see if you could do, let's see if you could climb a mountain now. I'm like, okay, I think I could do it. Let's go. So I was just trying to prove to myself and to him that no matter what I am, I'm going to do this. I'm going to climb this mountain. I just didn't know all the details that are involved in climbing this mountain. So I actually wrote a story about the summit of strength that happened. led me to climbing this mountain so would you like to hear it yes yes yes i would okay so let me start by also mentioning that i am not an avid climber i've never climbed a mountain this high before but i do have an active lifestyle and a very adventurous spirit okay here we go this is the story of the summit of strength i stood at the base of mount kilimanjaro staring up its peak It's piercing through the sky. It was so surreal to think that in just six days, I would be at the top, reaching 19,341 feet. I had promised myself before even taking the first step, I would not quit no matter what. The journey was grueling. Six days without a shower, sleeping in a tent with nothing but a sleeping bag to separate me from the hard ground. Each day was a slow and steady climb. We had porters that would help us carry our items such as food and our tent, and my body was adjusting to the thinning air. My mind locked into a single goal, reach the summit. It was all about my determination to get there. Luckily, the porters, they would remind us which means slowly, slowly. We just had to take small steps because as you get higher in elevation, it just feels like you're breathing out of a straw. The final push began at midnight. We layered up against the freezing temperatures and set off under the glover headlamps. The wind was relentless, howling through the darkness, cutting through my clothes and chilling me to the bone. The terrain was otherworldly. Endless and eerie, as if we were walking on a distant planet. My mind was strong, but my body, that was another story. At about 18,000 feet, that's where my altitude sickness, it hit me like a freight train. I felt so sick to my stomach. My strength was draining in an instant. I had no choice, but I had to scramble behind a rock, my body betraying me in the most humbling way possible. I felt so weak, embarrassed, but as I struggled, my husband stood by me, shielding me from the wind and from the world. It wasn't just a physical endurance I needed. It was the support of the people and my husband around me. Later on, I found out I wasn't alone in this. Others in the group had faced the same battle, stepping away silently, suffering in their own ways. Others even making their way down the mountain. But in the end, this is what no one talked about. That's the thing. When people share their stories, they talk about triumph, the breathtaking sunrise, the bucket list moment of standing on the top of Africa. They do not talk about the suffering, the breakdowns, the raw and filtered struggle it takes to literally get to the top. But that's what makes the summit worth it. Not just the view, but the knowledge that I endured. That I kept going. Even when my body wanted to give up, my mind refused. Climbing Kilimanjaro didn't just show me a spectacular sunrise. It showed me that I'm capable of more than I ever imagined. It was truly surreal standing on the top of the world's tallest freestanding mountain. Reminded me I could do hard things and I always will. So honestly, like the summit is just a moment of great achievement and accomplishment. And it sets in. It takes time to set in. Like weeks later, you really understand what it takes to get there. That's my story.

Genevieve : 6:27

So I know that when we were prepping for this, you sharing that with me for the first time, and I just knew that your story could resonate with so many people. But even hearing it the second time, it is amazing what you did. And I love that you have this story. And I think it is a lesson that we can all take, right, of just not giving up all of the challenges that we have in life. So I want to ask you, you said you just kept going. But in those climbs, you had emotions and things that you weren't expecting. So take us back to that just a little bit about those days that you had that were hard. And so what emotions or memories did it bring up that you weren't expecting?

Jillian : 7:13

Oh, yes. Great question. That really takes me back to the very moment. Like every day, it just became a little harder and harder. Like your stomach would turn. You couldn't eat certain things. Like the weather was like different types of climate. Like in Kilimanjaro, they have different like microclimates. Like you see the desert, like the tundra, and then you're like up in the clouds. Yeah, so... There's a lot of struggles. There's silent struggles. There's moments of like fear and frustration. And you're just in your thoughts wondering, like, do you really have enough strength to finish? Like there's those moments you're like you're exhausted. You're overwhelmed. It's like I would describe it as like a mental tug of war. Like, why am I really here? What am I doing? Why am I doing this? And as the days pass, you realize you're here because you can, it's just like, it's a mental battle. It's those tiny decisions that you hear like, okay, one more step, just breathe. You could do this one more hour. Just, it's just an incredible community that, um, helps you build that strength and like those porters that like guide us and luckily they are holding like our heavy equipment like our tent and there's people that have food for us and cook for us and we have to just stay strong we have our walking sticks and our backpacks but then you see others like I even saw a guy with his friends or tour group he had no legs and he was climbing this mountain of course they're holding him but he still is feeling like we're feeling we can't we can't live we can't breathe it's just so high up so it's just those moments that bring me back like those struggles and the fears i'm like okay no matter what like let's let's go we're gonna do this no matter how many like cold nights we had we're just pushing through every day mentally and physically, but more mentally challenging, of course.

Genevieve : 9:17

Wow. Well, I think the important part of that too, is you weren't doing this alone. You know, you had your husband with you, you had people with you and think, no, I couldn't do that journey without having people supporting me on that. So looking and connecting to the hidden chapters themes, you look back at the pictures and the stories that you can tell, but what, what part of this journey isn't visible in the photos or the stories that you usually tell?

Jillian : 9:43

That is a very thoughtful question because Kilimanjaro, it's like a journey that happens like inside. It's behind those photos or the highlights and the reels and Instagram. It's like I had mentioned, it is a silent struggle and it's a bond that you go through with like the strangers and the group of people that were there with us. But for me also, it was like a transformation. I left my old self, my old version of myself on the mountain and And I just felt a new sense of pride and joy. I felt stronger, lighter, more clear. You let go of some baggage and you realize what is really important in life. So it's just like an inner shift. It's hard to explain, but it's nearly impossible to see in a photograph all the things like your mind and your body change. So it doesn't show the grit, your inner battles, those victories and the soul work that happens each step of the way. Yeah.

Genevieve : 10:47

So you said you left a little piece of your old version of yourself behind. What was the old version of yourself?

Jillian : 10:54

So back then, sometimes I wouldn't be as confident. I would just feel like, oh, I don't know if I could do that. I don't know if I'm strong enough. I would just have like self-doubt in me because I've just never done that before. And I didn't really know I had that in me, that courage. So I felt like after each day that passed by, I just felt like I made a new person through this journey. So I just said, Like I could prove myself wrong just climbing this mountain. I left the doubt and the fears behind.

Genevieve : 11:34

what did it feel like coming down that mountain after six days

Jillian : 11:38

yeah going up was a lot harder like those six days or like long hours like we barely slept it was just like we had to climb high sleep low so we would climb a day like six to eight hours at least a day and then have to climb a little lower to get used to the elevation so we we set up our tents and had our dinners and it was just a beautiful moment just looking up at the stars conversating with our group no technology so it was very very beautiful peaceful times so climbing up the mountain was a lot more challenging of course took longer and then coming down it was just like it was incredible how like the time like it only takes one pretty much one day to come down so you finally reach the top and you're there just enjoying the view for a little while like maybe the most like 30 minutes because we're like okay we still need to climb all the way down but Like, it's just a different, like, feeling. You feel, like, a sense of overwhelmment and gratitude that you made it to the top. And at the end, like, you start feeling a little sad that this journey is sort of over. Like, oh, my God, all these beautiful moments we had. So it's like a bittersweet feeling, I guess you could say. Yeah. Yeah. So it was just, like, a lot of pride and a bittersweet moment.

Genevieve : 12:58

Yeah. Yeah. That is great. And how did you recover? I know you said it was a physical as well as a mental battle going up. And then you said it took you a day to come down. Did you have to have another week to recover? What was the time frame?

Jillian : 13:15

actually didn't like take too long as we were coming down like we had like different weathers as well so one day it was super one hour was like super sunny the next hour started like raining on us and it got really windy but when we finally came down we just had to like adjust a little bit I guess to the elevation but I felt my stomach felt settled we were just starving by the time we finished and wanted to take a shower so bad so we just Yeah, I settled into a hotel and took it easy. Like nothing mentally or physical, no injuries or nothing like that, thank God. So we just had a sense of like gratitude and fulfillment. So once we finished climbing this mountain, it just carried us over through the days. We just felt so grateful and happy that we were able to do this with a group of people.

Genevieve : 14:09

So thinking about the mountain, Climbed the mountain, you proved to yourself you could do these things and you came down the mountain. This was done eight years ago. What changed you since that experience? How have you been able to take that moment in your life and be able to apply it to things that you've done now over the years?

Jillian : 14:35

That's a great question. Yeah. So this was done back in 2017. So I think I would say it would like rewired my thinking. So like eight years later, I still remember what it took to get up there. So it kind of pushed me to like do things I didn't think I was going to be able to do. Just I went back to school in 2020. I got my MBA, taking a business class. And I business. It's something I had never done before, but I'm like one day maybe I'll need it and maybe I'll open up my own travel agency. So it stretched me to learn new skills because my passion is teaching. I am a teacher, but I don't know how long I was going to be a teacher. So it just like stretched me and like forced me to do things. I didn't I didn't think I could in the past. So climbing this mountain, it just brings me back to a moment of like strength. Like, okay, if I climb Mount Kilimanjaro, I can do these hard things. This was like no big deal. So it just like makes me revisit that moment when I need that like moment to think about, okay, why can't I do this? If I climb Kilimanjaro, it just takes me back to... to that. And I know I could still like challenge myself and do things I haven't done before because of climbing this mountain.

Genevieve : 15:54

Yeah. And I know you said there was a saying that they would say pole pole.

Jillian : 16:00

Yes.

Genevieve : 16:01

What?

Jillian : 16:02

So in Swahili, pole pole means like slowly, slowly. So the porters, everybody would just say this and remind us because in life, you can't go too fast. You make mistakes. So sometimes it's just like, an advice in itself, like a life lesson. So you kind of like rush through everything. Sometimes things happen when they're supposed to happen, right? So like it could apply to like your relationship, like your career, your even like healing. So in a world like today, we want everything like, okay, fast, like give me the fast speed, like everything as soon as you want. But sometimes life isn't like that. So it taught me patience, right? More patience. So the most beautiful moments are with patience. So in Kilimanjaro, yeah, they would say, okay, pole, pole. So I think it is like a mantra I live by now. So it's with your intention, with your heart and trust the process. And I guess it maybe led me into like yoga now too, because I always like those high intensity workouts, but then like with yoga, you really feel grounded and in the moment and just take everything a little slower. So you could just be present and Yeah. So it's something that stuck with me.

Genevieve : 17:17

And that's great advice, too, because I think I've started to adopt the breathe in four counts, breathe out four counts and really just take a moment because there's been a lot of stuff in my life, as you know, just crazy that I just need to take that. Yeah, so I love that. And ever since you told me about that, I want to be able to adopt that as well. So just to kind of conclude, how does this chapter fit into the bigger story of who Jillian is now?

Jillian : 17:57

Well, it could be a rare chapter for me. I could describe it like a turning point in my life, not because the story... because the story changed, but because it revealed who the narrator was. And I was the narrator in the story. So basically before that climb, I thought strength was about like how much I could carry. Like Dave was like, oh, I carried all these rucksacks and ran these marches. But it wasn't about how much you could carry. After the climb, I realized it's about how much you're willing to let go. It's about letting go. Let go of that fear. Let go of that control, your ego. Let go of the doubt. and keep climbing. So that's how it fits into my bigger story. Those exact words of just letting go sometimes.

Genevieve : 18:45

I couldn't tell you how excited I've been to interview you and have you share this because this is a message I think so many of us can take. Well, hearing how this chapter fits in the bigger story, this is truly inspiring. And it's a reminder that the mountains that we climb, both literally and metaphorically, shape us in ways we don't always see in the moment. So I want to thank Jillian for coming on with me and sharing her heart, sharing her story, and sharing how she just moves strength through life. If you want to connect with Jillian and follow more of her journeys and travels, you can find her on social media and I will link those in the show notes. And before we go, I wanted to share one fun fact about Jillian. Can you share with us, Jillian, about your one, of course, your goal to travel the world, but what was the other hobby that I want everybody to know?

Jillian : 19:41

Oh, yes. Another favorite hobby of ours besides traveling. Eventually, I do want to climb all seven summits, just get to the base of Everest. And as we're traveling around the world to do an escape room in every place possible. So we've accomplished doing an escape room and all over Europe. And we just set the record past December of completing an escape room in all 50 states. So we're going to keep on going. exploring the world slowly, slowly as long as we can because we don't have all the vacation days. But that is our next goal to see all the seven continents, climb all the seven summits and visit the world.

Genevieve : 20:24

So awesome. Well, make sure you all follow her on social media because I just live vicariously through all of your amazing travels. All right. Thanks, Jillian. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. If this episode made you feel something, share it with a friend. Leave a quick review or come say hi on social media. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Until next time, take care of yourself, keep listening, and remember the stories we hold close are often the ones that connect us the most.