Relative Something

I packed my first item! I placed the trekking poles into the duffel bag.

I’ve been thinking lately, about how this trip is really a combination of multiple adventures for me. First off, there is the small detail of flying across the Pacific Ocean and the long number of hours in an airplane that entails. Then, navigating airports, keeping track of my property, finding transportation, facing foreign languages, dealing with Customs regulations and culture differences, all pretty much adding up to more adventure than appeals to me. If you know me well, you may recognize that this is even more daunting because I won’t have my wife along, with her magic abilities providing guidance and protection; I chose this trip on my own. Next, I get to deal with Kathmandu, a city of about a million people and a fair amount of pollution and poverty. I intend to rise to the occasion and focus on the highlights offered by this ‘big city’ part of the adventure. Finally, we get to the Twin Otter flight to Lukla and begin our trekking. I’m hoping I’ll have been able to save some of my reserve for the subsequent challenge offered by the high altitude environs. At least the hiking in mountains part particularly suits my desires.

I am already sensing how the support and encouragement from friends and family combine and magnify, which boosts my intuitions about the invisible power of the collective. Being aware of how excited your friends are for you is energizing, but when it expands to include friends of family and friends, it becomes a sensation that transcends. I’m realizing that for the many times I’ll wish that one of you were with me to share the experience, there are a dramatic number of other people who are gleaning their own vicarious joy out of the adventure. That is empowering! Through the ability to publish my words here, you will all be going on this trek with me. I’m glad, and blessed, to have you along.

We aren’t the first ones to make this trip, but we are the ones doing it in April, 2009. The Nepali people providing services have seen a lot of tourists, but they’ve never met me before. There are many adventures awaiting and I look forward to being ‘in the moment’ for each and every one.

I have learned that an 8th trekker has signed on with our group and she is a doctor, adding a medical presence to our ensemble. That’s a comfort. I wonder how many pharmaceutical resources she carries with her when she travels.

“Doc, it hurts when I do this…”

“Don’t do that.”

Of course, my perennial wise crack is, “It only hurts when I breathe.”