Vomiting at the top of a 5,895-metre peak, Docker Ed Langdon finds some perspective
Ed Langdon was 5,895 metres above sea level and suffering from headaches and vomiting. It was -20 degrees Celsius and 11:00 at night.
Climbing Africa's highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro, was a humbling experience for the Fremantle midfielder.
"It's a bit of cliche that travelling gets you out of your comfort zone, but it really does," Langdon says.
"To be honest, if I knew how hard it was, I'm sure I would have reconsidered doing it.
"It was probably one of the toughest things I've ever done.
"When I was at the top, I literally had nothing to give, and I thought, 'jeez, footy is really not that hard as climbing this mountain'."
Escaping the AFL bubble
Travelling is a passion for the 22-year-old and there is an added bonus beyond seeing the world.
It gets him out of the AFL bubble and away from the spotlight, which can be intense in a two-team town like Perth.
"Some of the more third world countries, you see just how they live life and how happy they are, it definitely is grounding," he says.
"You go there and they have no idea what football is. To them, you're just in the same boat they are."
While many of his colleagues often head to the US on holiday, Langdon prefers to check out some of the world's most remote locations.
This year, he spent a month with teammate Connor Blakely in South America visiting the Galapagos Islands, before travelling to Tanzania with his father, Chris, and brother, Collingwood defender Tom Langdon.
"Me and my brother, I do a lot of my travelling with him, so we're pretty lucky to have very similar holidays," Langdon says.
"We were incredibly lucky to do a lot of travelling with dad, through his work, when we were younger."
Those travels, which saw the Langdons visit large parts of Asia and Europe, sparked an unofficial competition within the family.
"I'm always looking to go somewhere new, somewhere I haven't been," Langdon says.
Trip coincides with career crossroads
The brothers' most recent trip came at a challenging time.
Tom was coming off a grand final loss to West Coast and was considering his future at the Magpies.
At the same time, there was speculation that the Dockers were interested in bringing him to Perth.
"That was probably the hardest situation I've been in, in terms of my relationship with Tom," Langdon says.
"We were actually in Cape Town for four nights before we were doing this hike in Tanzania.
"He had about four days to make his decision before we went out of phone range.
"I really felt for him. He was barely sleeping. All he was thinking about was his decision.
"I tried to be as neutral as I could. Being at a club that had expressed interest in him, I didn't want to influence him too much.
"I think in the end, I was never going to be the one to make the decision for him. He knew he had to be the one to live with it."
Tom eventually re-signed with the Magpies.
Kilimanjaro brings clarity
As Langdon reached the summit of Kilimanjaro earlier this year, he also reflected on just how lucky he was to be a professional footballer and have the freedom to travel in his down time.
"I think I'm one of those guys that will get to the end of my life and think, 'jeez some of those places I went to are pretty cool'," he says.
"I'm going to continue to travel, probably for the rest of my life.
"Along with football, it's the biggest passion I have."
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