Hiking the Sahara for Women’s Shelters

In 2019 I had a life changing experience. When you put a big group of like minded Realtors together you get amazing results – not only did we raise tons of money for women’s shelters, we talked, laughed, shed some tears, and formed lifelong bonds while walking through the Sahara and travelling Morocco together. So much happened in those 10 days. In the first days while getting to know my trekmates better and learning about Moroccan culture, we heard more about what our desert life would be like, toured Marrakech, drove through the High Atlas Mountains, and had the first of our big laughs together.

After a year of planning, fundraising, training and worrying about spiders and snakes, my hike through the Sahara Desert finally came to life in the last 2 weeks of November. Royal Lepage Realtors from across the country came together to raise over 1.1 Million dollars for education programs and shelter’s supporting women and children fleeing abuse. We spent 5 days hiking 100k through the heat of the Sahara, sleeping in tents, without contact to our families back home or proper showers and toilets; and another 5 days exploring the cities of Marrakech and Ourzazate. I came home from this journey inspired to do more for our community, and with life-long friends and memories.