Himalaya 09 - the Details
The details are few. If there is one thing that I've learned about planning a trip abroad it's this- PLAN and PACK as LITTLE AS POSSIBLE. 
What happens, in fact what the whole purpose of going is for, is that the adventure makes itself up, as it goes, moment by moment. Any unnecessary planning, and I mean if it's not ABSOLUTELY necessary, will do one of two things: 1) not happen because the life of the journey has it's own natural unfolding process that can't be calculated; 2) happen because it was planned and controlled which means I got in the way of letting moments unfold which is incidentally my primary inspiration in going abroad to begin with to let it be.
Now that doesn't mean that I don't prepare. I step onto the plane with as qualified a tool kit as possible. I get to know the place I'm going before I go-and I prepare accordingly. I just don't get stuck in my opinions of what it should be like when I get there. I bring my rain coat and a map. I get my visas and vaccinations. I just don't have a timetable, route map or even a prejuidice about what will happen. I learn the weather, the political climate, the landscape, the layout, the costs, the safety, the people, the opportuntities. I fill my bag (my figurative bag, that is) with as much as possible. I educate myself not only on where I am going, but more importantly- WHO? is going! I get to know my internal weather, landscape, political climate, etc. Important stuff. Then? Well, then I go, and see what happens.
Where I am going
Well, great, no plans, but you must have a plane ticket; a plan on where you are going.
I plan to fly into Kathmandu, Nepal- a small, predominantly Buddhist country wedged between India and Chinese controlled Tibet. It is in the heart of the Himalaya, home to some of the world's highest mountains, including Everest. From Nepal, I could see myself moving any number of directions in that region (from most likely to least likely ): South into Northern India and Bangladesh maybe even South India and Sri Lanka. East into SE Asia (Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia). West to Central Asia (all the ...stan countries: Uzbek, Paki, Turkmeni, Afgani, Tajiki). North into Tibet/China. Truthfully, after about day 3, it's completely uncertain. It's quantum physics-nothing but probability curves.
What I'll Do
Yeah, great man, you're gonna find yourself, or lose yourself or whatever, but in time and space what do you actually do?
I'll meet people, move, see things, hike-hike ALOT. 
I'll stay in hostels and guesthomes. I'll trek through the Himalaya, climb to Everest base camp, circumvent Annapurna. 
I'll meet people just like me and people who appear nothing like me and just open up to all of them. I'll live simply. I'll learn: sometimes intentionally, mostly incidentally. I'll write home to my mom. I'll miss my sister. I'll get a terrible stomach virus at some point within the first month or so that will knock me out for 72 hours. I'll walk alot and talk alot and listen alot and look alot. I'll move alot or stay for a while. I'll help other people and be helped by other people. I'll deal with frustrating and challenging situations that will demand patience, surrender, compassion and ingenuity and I'll be presented with mind-blowing experiences that offer moments of beauty, stillness, love and bliss. I'll sleep on mostly uncomfortable bedding and I'll be comfortable. I'll eat uninspiring food and I'll be satisfied. I'll have barely any possessions and I'll be content. I'll meet a variety of strangers and see how I can appreciate, even love them. See it's hard to take the objective stuff without implying the subjective experience. I mean that's the whole point of going. it's not What will I do, it's How will I be doing it.
How Long?
Um okay, but how long will you be gone?
I know that it's bizarre, perhaps unbelievable, but I really don't know. Any time line I could put on this is completely arbitrary. Maybe I go and don't like it- see ya in a few months. Maybe I'm inspired and something comes up and I've got an opportunity to go here and then there and it all feels so wonderful- well, catch ya in a couple of years. Maybe I fall in love, maybe I go off the deep end and become a monk, maybe I get hooked on some service project and begin my career building irrigation canals. I know that this level of uncertainty freaks most people out, or maybe it inspires them because it freaks them out, maybe I'm full of it but I think I am going in a large part to embrace the uncertainty. But, at the moment, I really don't know. The best I could predict (again, quantum probabilities, with some historical and personal data to suggest a likely outcome) is about a year.
Cost
How can you afford this
Finally, a purely empirical solution: no fluff, no existential philosophy here- just math. I save well. I live simply here (at home) which allows me, even on a yoga salary, to save some coin. Also, I travel to third world countries where the average houshold (the whole family) lives on just dollars a day. I can get by on an average of $10/day without any supplemental income. One year = roughly $4k (plus another $1k incidentals-visas, insurance, etc). This time I've used frequent flyer miles to get me there and once I arrive I expect to find full meals that cost less than a buck, hotel rooms for a couple of bucks, a bed or some floor space in an Ashram or someone's home for free. Honestly, it's much less a matter of "affording it". Just about anyone reading this could "afford" in dollars and cents terms a trip like this. The difference is that I've made a choice to have very little at home and to be comfortable with the conditions I'll live in abroad.
The Return
Right, well you'll come back someday, right? What then?
Well, the me who comes back is never fully the me who began the trip. I stated on another entry: the experience changes the experiencer. However, some parts of me are timeless. Certain qualities are inherently me and don't shift regardless of the seismic activity. So I honestly do know what I'll do, cause I don't know who I'll be. Nonetheless, I can make some predictions based on history and probabilities. READY? Here is perhaps the leasty inspiring part of it all. I'm about to break the romantic picture that may have been painted or confirm the absurd one. Based on the best information I've got, I'll probably come home and experience some serious depression. I mean think about it. What do you do after that? Living in caves, climbing mountains, exploring jungles, meeting new people, seeing new things, living an adventure, a new adventure daily. You can't stay FOREVER. How do you re-engage after that. What does a home-life look like that could be fulfilling or satisfying? How does $35k/year and a used Chrystler quench? It's ok. I know this going into it. I fully expect that when I come home I'll feel fairly empty, depressed, lost. not because the adventure's over but because I won't have an answer to the question: NOW WHAT? It's ok. I'm ok with that. I'll survive and grow from that. If that's the case. I'm trying to find a metaphor to help here (something like a butterfly, or an eagle or a ship) that expresses how insane I think it would be to not go because I'm afraid: afraid of the freedom or afraid of what happens when it's all over. Anyways, that's my story.
What's all of this WHO is going business?
Yeah, I get a little abstract and out there sometimes. It comes down to this. I'm me. Certain parts of me seem to be permanent fixtures, others are transmutable. I'm not fully schooled on which are which yet- I've got many more lessons on this curriculum. Travel helps shed light on that me. More immediately, however, the parts of me that ARE going on this trip (whether I like them or not) are best if understood. For example, I have a penchant for risk, for taking things to the edge: good to know, a good piece of myself to be on the lookout for in order to keep myself safe. I thrive, in life, on depth of experience and interaction: well that's good information to have when making arrangements, for example I know that tours, and sights and museums are of much less value to me than being open to new people and ideas, exploring new situations. I tend to be ok with (even enjoy) minimalism: therefore I can save myself the trouble of packing alot and embrace winging it. I have an internal computer that calculates everything: important to keep in perspective when I find myself bartering over a nickel with some poor Nepalese farmer. You see knowing myself - WHO is going - is essential in planning the trip, both its logistics and its purpose. It is imperative to keep in consciousness when I'm on the trip. The WHO, for better or worse, is everything!
