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.