This is it. We are in the last few days of my race. Wow, this has been a challenge that has tested who I am, why I’m doing this race, what I give myself as objectives.
The other day in Panama, I was talking to a taxi driver and when I tried to explain what I was doing and what it meant to me, I suddenly felt all of this was inconsequential compared to what other people face on a daily basis just to provide for their families. I am fully conscious that what I’ve nearly completed is a privilege.
This is the time to reflect on my whole experience and I know that the memories I have will stay with me for the rest of my life. Perhaps one day, if I have grandchildren, they will be interested to hear what their grandmother did!!
I filmed a lot, took hundreds of photos of each member of the crew on both leg 1 and 7 in all types of situations and I hope they will appreciate these on the “race of their lives”. The friendship that I experienced on these legs and the friends I made I will hopefully keep for a long time.
The best and the worst moments, the feeling of accomplishment and achievement are definitely there. I am very proud of having completed this journey that I promised myself five years ago, after my husband’s death, to honour and live life to its fullest since it can be so fragile: it is now complete and I’m ready to turn the page of my life and look forward to new challenges :)
To all who supported me and in particular Vincent, Sebastien and Anthony, THANK YOU for all your encouragement. I hope I learned a lot through this and I’m now a better version of myself. And if I can inspire other people to get out of their comfort zone and enjoy life at its fullest, well, this will have made it all worthwhile.
Muriel
Songs of the day/week: Coming home-Furkan Sert & Karnaser, Ride-Melih Yildirim, Dark water-Ferr, Ferry Corsten