Having climbed everyday the last few days, I wanted to continue climbing. I knew there was a great sport climbing area nearby called Piedra Parada (Standing Rock in English) but was hesitant to go as I didn’t have a climbing partner and this place was quite far away. Eventually thanks to Dylan encouraging me to go and finding two Swedish girls on a Facebook group who were open to sharing a cab to go there, I decided to go for it.

After 11 hours of eventful travelling which included a busted wheel on the taxi we reached the place. A large free-standing rock going up at-least 200 hundred meters surrounded by a barren desert in the scorching sun. The only relief from the sun was the moving shadow of the rock and a line of trees surviving on the river next to it.

Nearby this rock we entered a canyon surrounded on both sides by large walls of rock going up hundreds of meters. Rock formations like none I have seen before, flat pillars shooting up as if they held the sky, caves with bubbling holes which looked like skulls in the wall and boulders which looked like fists precariously placed between rock-walls.

Formed by a volcanic eruption millions of years ago, the area has been used by ancient humans to take shelter in the caves and today has become a heaven for rock climbers with hundreds of sport climbing routes across the canyon.

I spent 5 nights at this magical place but it really felt like a few hours. Almost everyone camping here was a climber. A hodgepodge of people, from around the world with different backgrounds, different beliefs and different levels of wealth all here for their love of climbing. Young and old all alike. Some in their cars, some in the free-campsite bathing in the river and going to the bathroom with a shovel or a bag into the trees and some in the paid-campsite where they could have a hot shower at the end of the day. The biggest perk at the paid-site being the canteen where you can buy a cold drink at the end of the day.

What a beautiful display of human spirit. A spirit to spend money, go far away from home and live in discomfort just to be able to experience the zen like feeling of going up a wall while experiencing the beauty of this natural formation.

The human spirit is strange and elusive but so powerful when it grips you. When it leaves you, getting out of bed becomes almost impossible and brushing your teeth feels like a momentous task your arms are not capable to perform. But when the spirit flows through you, you are gripped by a super natural energy. The energy that makes you laugh through the pain and wake up with no-sleep ready to fight your way deeper into discomfort.

After a few days of climbing I met Mar. Mar is 57 years old, diabetic and a stronger outdoor sport climber than I am. She used to be a professional dancer and the last 3-4 years she has found a passion for climbing. She drove down to Piedra Parada alone and was living in her car the coming few days to climb around the area.

Coming from Pakistan where most people live for their kids and slowly start giving up on life by the time they reach 60, Mar was breaking every stereotype I had learnt about aging. As she put it “The body gives you back what you give the body”. Mar taught me how to be a better climber and helped me overcome my fear of falling as we were out climbing every day from 8 in the morning to 8 in the evening.

Being diabetic, she would prepare food for herself at night to make sure she had enough food the next day. Such an inspiration for me to not make excuses and think like a victim of my circumstances but instead act to become what I want to become.

After a full day of climbing, I was lying on the ground looking at the Piedra Parada and the Milky Way beyond it when I realised something profound.

Here, I was very content even without work. I love working and have loved every minute of it since I was 16 and started by first company in Pakistan. My love for work is why I have never taken more than 2 weeks off in my life, not because I wasn’t allowed to but because I didn’t want to.

I remember a few months before this sabbatical, I was meeting an investor I deeply respect who was in his 70s and he said to me “Umar, I don’t have any hobbies. I have tried retiring many times but I can’t. The only thing I know how to do is to work”. I felt sad for him in that moment. How unfortunate that even when you have the means to not want to work but still have to work. At that time I told myself I don’t want to become a slave of my work which was part of what fuelled this sabbatical for me.

Lying here, 2 months into my sabbatical I realised I can be content in life with things beyond work but there was a catch to this realisation.

All the things beyond work that give me joy and purpose are in the great outdoors. To make sure I can continue enjoying life in the future I need to prioritise my health and fitness for the years to come. I don’t think I will be as fit as Mar when I am her age but I can still aspire to keep my fitness a priority to make sure I can be content and find joy in things other than work as I grow older.

I don’t know if this will have any direct implications for me today but having felt deep joy and satisfaction without the inkling to have to work is definitely calming my soul. I feel happy to have answered at-least one important question I wanted to answer in this period.