Day 1.

In Nepali tradition it is a taboo to start a trip on a tuesday. Very bad luck, in fact. Luckily enough for us, it will be Wednesday in Nepal when our flight takes off. So here we are: The Vancouver International Airport! This place is crack-a-lackin'. I've never been to such a nice airport. We have maple trees, babbling brooks, a huge fishtank with starfish and various gilled inhabitants. It is incredible! Can't believe this day is finally here. The past few days have dragged on with the usual pretrip scramble, but now it seems unreal. Got the 72x from Kendall to Bellingham this AM. Received praise from the local Juggalos (google it if you are unfamiliar with the posse) for being able to carry my pack, and met Kevin in town. A brief, but wonderful, farewell from Ben Morgan made me much less anxious. Always nice to have a good friend see you off. Kevin's friend Brandon was kind enough to take us across the border and to the airport. Now we are about to board our flight. In about 30 hours...3 plane rides and 3 more countries, we will be in Kathmandu.

Start Your Engines (Kevin)

"The adventure doesn't begin until something goes wrong." Yvon Chouinard said this or something like this. If this is true then March has been an adventurous month. I have yet to place a foot outside of the country and I've already been swamped with setbacks. A month long illness that erased all the training I'd done in January and February. The uncertainty and stress I felt from not knowing if I would be quitting my job or taking extended leave (the leave was denied and I quit). The most devastating event happened yesterday when I lost my wallet. Yes, March 2011 is a record breaking month of travesties. It's no surprise that lately I've taken a twisted comfort in listening to DNTEL's album "Something Always Goes Wrong."

Before things were going wrong I was working as a crew supervisor for the Washington Conservation Corps (an Americorps program) out of Bellingham, Washington since 2008. In my spare time I hiked and biked and got outside as much as possible. Then I started climbing and mountaineering and I met Krissy. We've done a lot of climbing together and undoubtedly it was during one of these climbing trips that I complained about my job and confessed my desire to quit. Four years of a decent wage and reliable employment funded my weekend outings and even a month to New Zealand. But I still felt restrained.

After a particularly difficult year on the job I decided I had had enough. I booked a ticket to Kathmandu last August with Krissy and started down the path towards Nepal. After the initial excitement of booking my flight, quitting my job and departing for Asia was always far away. "Oh, I can look for jobs later. I've still got four months." "I can put off a training hike for just one week. I've still got two months." Then suddenly, behind a veil of sweet smelling cherry blossoms, March made it's inauspicious appearance and I never seemed to have enough time.

But you know, despite these setbacks the sun sure seems to shine brighter these days. I was talking on the phone with my buddy Brandon,* lamenting the decision to leave my job when he told me: "It's not like you're going to look back ten years from now and say 'I wish I still had that job with the WCC.' If anything you would be upset that you didn't go on your trip to Nepal."

And he is so right. Even as I'm scrambling to cancel credit cards and get a new driver's license I can't help but smile. I'm going to Nepal! Tomorrow!

*Brandon is graciously driving Krissy and I to the airport tomorrow. Thanks bud!

SCREAMIN' deal

Went to town to get the final items needed from my list. One of which was passport sized photos. Earlier, I had joked about going to a cheesy photo booth for mine. Figured that I should do it professionally instead, so I had forgotten about it. Then today, Kevin had texted me about a place in town that charged $20 for four photos. Seemed a tad bit steep so I went back to my original joke idea. $3 for eight photos! Tragically enough I had to visit the local mall (yuck) on a Saturday (eek) and make a scene while women, bored husbands, and small children alike patiently waited for their turns. This is the end result. Oddly enough, and it might be a sign, I could not figure out how to get the header, "Dumb and dumber" off the printed version. Touche.

Photobooth 1: Krissy 0

Prep time

Yesterday I got horribly distracted. Finished up school for the quarter and everything began to sink in. We fly out of Vancouver, BC in four days. I am pretty sure that everything I need is splayed out on my living room floor right now. The place is a disaster. I'm thinking that Kevin is probably doing the same.

For the last week or so, Kevin has been packing up all his belongings that he wont be taking and storing them away for a little while. I'm lucky enough to be able to leave my things at home...but even still I feel a little basket-case like. Looking at this pile, I can't help but think, "this is everything I need for 2 months." Doesn't seem like quite enough, but you can't take everything when you plan on hiking for the better part of a trip. (I included a photo of my pack list. It is amusing, to say the least)

Straight off, I don't know exactly what we are getting ourselves into. Last fall, I decided I had enough of life and booked a plane ticket. I'm calling it my quarter-life crisis. Mid-life crisis would mean I'd only live to 50 so that was clearly not an option. Nepal had been calling me for years and I figured that traveling to the other side of the world would be the answer to all my problems. Luckily enough, Kevin felt the same and booked identical tickets to mine. I can't even begin to explain how thankful I am to have a travel buddy.

Trip itinerary (so far) goes:

Vancouver, BC -> Beijing, China -> Dehli, India -> Kathmandu, Nepal

This will take the better part of two days.

Then we will be spending the next two days at the Kathmandu Guest House in Thamel, Kathmandu. A friendly shop owner in Seattle recommended this hotel.

From there we will be figuring out a climbing trip or heading out to the Annapurna Circuit. All depends on what is possible weather wise and travel wise when we get there.