Happy new year to you all. I hope you had a nice and peaceful Christmas break and a good start into the new year. I hope 2021 will be a good year for all of you.

Today I would like to give you a quick overview of what I have been up to, what is on my list for the coming weeks, and where I would love to get you involved. So.... drum roll please!

For many of us, January is the month for a challenge of some sort. For some it’s about shedding the extra pounds from the Christmas feasting. For others it’s part of a new year’s resolution. For others again it’s something else.

This year I joined Sean Conway’s #whenyoureoutyourein challenge (check it out on Instagram). The idea is to be out in mother nature each and every day for the month of January. Sean is running day in day out. Each day he runs the equivalent kilometers to the date. So on January first, he ran one kilometer. On January second, he ran two. On January third, he ran three kilometers. You get the idea. So on January 31 he will run 31 kilometers. Totaling almost 500 kilometers in this month. 

For me this is beyond my limits. And normally I have no objections to tackling something that is beyond my comfort zone. I actually quite enjoy these challenges. But this is so far beyond me that I came up with something better suited for me and my abilities. So for me the #whenyoureoutyourein challenge looks like this. I am walking, not running (obviously). I also started out with one kilometer on the first of January, adding one kilometer each of the following days. But I will do so only until the middle of the month, and then decrease my daily dose of walking until I am back to one kilometer on the 31st of January. 

With the new lockdown, the uncertainty about what will be possible and what will need to be moved to a later point in time and with the additional responsibility of homeschooling my youngest one, this list has a lot of question marks attached. But as things stand at the moment, here are some of the things that are in the making.

Cooperation with OttoBock

A new cooperation with OttoBock, providing travel advice for active amputees. This is an exciting cooperation that will soon see the light of day. OttoBock and I teamed up to provide hands-on tested advice for amputees prior to and during longer journeys. Many people with limb differences shy away from traveling, especially if this leads them to remote locations and off the beaten track. Worries about accessibility, about security checks at the airport, about skin issues in tropical climates, about what happens if they encounter problems with the prosthesis, to name just a few. OttoBock brings in its immense wealth of experiences covering decades of providing amputees with cutting edge prosthetic devices. And I contribute my tipps and tricks, my life hacks and lessons learned from extensive traveling in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Australia. This information, check-lists, additional links and the like will soon be available on the OttoBock homepage. 

New hiking project

My project ‚Four seasons, four hikes, four stunning regions of Germany' - initially planned for last year and then postponed due to my workload, socket issues, and the Covid19 restrictions - is back on track. In late February/early March 2021 I will attempt to hike 100 km of the Bergischer Weg (which passes my house). The sections are between 14 and 23 kilometers, and pass through a nice mixture of hills, open farmland, dense woods, and little villages. This should take me six to seven days and my current January walking challenge provides me with a great training opportunity. In addition the new USB charging device for the Genium will allow me to stay away from any charging point for the complete duration of the trip - if needed. If you ask me, that is the best new item on the market for active amputees since the launch of the first waterproof microprocessor knee. 

Some of you know that I will turn 50 this year. It’s still a few months (September), but it’s lurking up there on the horizon. So I thought I make this a special year, adding a few challenges, pushing my limits, and getting people involved.

The idea is that each month there will be a challenge that involves the number 50. The idea is that I should be able to do each of these challenges within a day or a weekend. Some of the challenges I set for myself, others have been proposed by you, and there is still time to add new ones to the list. The one for January is being able to do 50 push-ups in one go. The challenges for the next months will be published in early February. And I would like to invite you to join me, to share your progress, to show us which ones you mastered and which ones will need a bit more practice. Something to build a supportive community to push our limits and grow.

Here are some of the possible challenges (and yes, as I said, you can still propose new ones):

• being able to do 50 push-ups in one go
• walking 50 kilometers in one weekend
• jumping 50 minutes on a trampolin
• commenting on 50 Instagram accounts from amputees/people with a limb difference
• jumping onto a 50 cm high obstacle
• riding a bike for 50 kilometers
• encouraging 50 people to donate to a good cause

The possibilities are endless and I really would like to hear what you think I should do. And I really would love to get you involved, joining me on this journey.

Okay, so much for today. From next week onwards I will be back to me regular posting schedule here on the blog. In addition there will be regular new podcast episodes.