Nepal or Bust

Those of you who’ve known me for a good long while probably remember my love of Nepal. Not the current political disruptions, but the peasant villages, mountains, and orchard paths. For a long time, I wanted to spend a couple months from the Fall after my senior year there. The plan was to buy a ticket there, a ticket back, and have 200 bucks in my pocket for the trip. And it could be done. But, due to the circumstances of where I was at and what I needed to do to keep moving forward academically, there was simply no way to not postpone that trip.

And I do say postpone, because the intent to make that trip hasn’t passed. I haven’t thought about it in awhile, but just recently I’ve been realizing that, quite literally, everything in my life is turning out beautifully. I’m moving up to a scenic, progressive, intellectual city; I’m starting work on my doctorate in Philosophy at a school with an amazing reputation which is only continuing to move up the charts; my coursework, advisor, and TA assignment all fell perfectly into place; and, to be frank, outside of all that my heads in the right place, again. So why not make this trip?

It is something I’ve not been telling myself I need to do but have been feeling deep down that I need to do. JMD, when I was out at his cabin in Colorado, asked me why I needed to go halfway around the world when I could achieve the same level of isolation within 14 hour drive. There’s nothing mystical or special about Nepal – it’s just the place that’s calling to me. What’ll I do there? Nothing…and everything. I plan to not plan a thing, outside the aforementioned ticket there and ticket home. And given the recent resurgence of my bike riding, I see no reason why I can’t pack up my bike (and more than a few spare tubes) and send that with me. Add to that some hiking gear, a tent and pad, and the tools to cook some rice, and I’m set. Travel some, hike some, converse some, but spend a good deal about a day's ride from a village for necessities, but far enough away to be completely alone. Completely alone. Maybe I’ll take turns between sitting under a Bodhi tree and letting out a battle roar (in honor of NRZ). Whatever it is, I feel it’s important that I do this.

Naturally, I won’t be able to this coming Fall. As I mentioned in passing, I’ve got a great schedule lined up for the coming term. Add to that getting settled into Madison, acquiring a second job bartending, and finding the intriguing and eccentric med-school student to share my life with, I’ll have a pretty full plate. But after a year in the program, I might see about taking a semester off for Fall ’08. Get someone to sub-lease my apartment for the term having acquired all my inoculations, passports, and languages-learned in the semester leading up to it, and then just go. **Blink** and gone from the world of the known for a couple months. How’s that sound?

Namaste’.