My decision to do this started in a bar in Las Vegas this past August. I was there with two travel industry friends and they were signed up to go with a group trek in six weeks. Something about that experience, at that moment, seemed like a must-do for me. I called to see if there was still space available, then checked for flights. It all came together seamlessly.

In the following weeks I did try to train for this very physical event, but in hindsight, I would encourage anyone who is interested in doing it to find a way to train at altitude. Working from my company headquarters in South Florida did not have the same effect. I jogged, I walked, I used (and I recommend) the stairclimber at the gym. But in the blink of an eye, it was time to get on a plane and fly to the other side the world. It was wise to arrive early in Tanzania to begin to get acclimated, but it was unwise to spend a week diving off the coast of Zanzibar first. Don’t do that, I’ll just tell you right now.

A big thing that I did get right was to have the best gear for the endeavor. It gets cold, and I mean very cold. Take what you need to stay comfortable for the weather extremes. Our trip leader was a man named Dismas. He has summited Kilimanjaro 250+ times. The day before our trek began, he went to every person in his group to personally go through our gear. Some had to go out and buy different gear to get his approval to make the climb—it’s that important. It takes 5 days to go up and 2 days to get down. There is no running to the outfitter store 3 days into the climb.

Understand that you are required to have a guide and porters for your trek up and down, and that there are degrees of comfort you can sign up for depending on your budget. There are basic group trips where trekkers carry more of their own gear and they sleep on the ground rather than on cots. Some prefer their Mt. Kilimanjaro experience to be this way. There were 20 people in our group, and we had several porters to help carry our gear, and to port and set up sleeping tents, cots, the mess tent, shower tents, etc. Many prefer to do it that way also.

This journey starts at around 5500 feet above sea level, and in the first day you will climb to over 10,000 feet. You continue uphill for the next 4 days. For me, that first day was one of the hardest, but it’s the last day of this trek that is certainly the most dramatic. You go to sleep around 6pm the day before you summit. You wake for breakfast at 11pm. Then you finish your climb in the dead dark of night, with a headlamp for illumination. It’s steep. Remember that: dark and steep. The sun is rising when you reach the summit, and it’s recommended that you stay there only 6 minutes before you start your descent. That’s enough time to take your picture with the sign. Don’t look down until after you take that photo. When you realized by the light of day what you just attempted in the dead of night, it’s a good thing to be in motion going down as the enormity of your accomplishment sets in.

If you aspire to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro, let me advise you to focus on the aspects you can control: what kind of shape you are in, how good your mountaineering gear is, and how much help you will accept. Don’t spend time fretting over things you can’t control like the weather, and the timeless majesty and dominance that is the mountain itself. September and October, by the way, are the best months for this lifetime experience.