Americans are cool, if you show just a chink of vulnerability, they respond so much. They'll pat you on the arm and say, 'Hey kid, you're all right'. Brits will respond but they are much more cynical.
I loved climbing because of the freedom, and having time and space. I remember coming off Everest for the last time, thinking of Dad and wishing that he could have seen what I saw. He would have loved it.
"I remember collapsing to my knees and just crying and crying inside my
mask as all those emotions from so long began to flow. Neil and myself,
with our oxygen off, just hugged. It is an extraordinary place and you
see the curvature of the earth at the edges and at 7.22am we watched as
the dawn came up over all the land of Tibet 20,000 ft below." - On
Climbing Everest.