My love for Nepal, Solo Travel, & Adventure!!!

Words cannot describe the love I felt for Nepal and my solo travel experience but my actions can…it’s no coincidence I have been off the grid (aka not blogging) for the past month. Other than the last few days in Sri Lanka, where I spontaneously stayed with a Buddhist guru to learn more about the art of meditation, Nepal is the first country I have ever traveled alone. I first knew I needed to travel alone during a trip I took to Israel in June of 2016 with some of my closest Israeli friends. I took a solo day trip to Jerusalem, I was peacefully sitting on the edge of a building overlooking the city and in that moment I knew in my heart I had to travel alone. I felt drawn to it; ready to go within and accept whatever I found. Although I was looking forward to this journey, I had no idea just how much I would enjoy traveling alone. Its the first time in my life that I have gone completely with “my flow.” Getting to a new place, feeling it out, meeting new people, and deciding in the moment what experience to embrace. Practicing the art of listening to my gut. When someone asked me, “do you want to travel with me for the next couple days?” or the weather suddenly changed creating a new possibility, for example, hiking up a hill to get a better view, going to a temple or boating, I was able to go within and ask myself, does this flow? A very simple question we tend to over complicate with obligations, societal pressures, & norms.There is a lot of power in realizing something isn’t vibing for you and saying, “thank you but this isn’t flowing for me, I’m going to keep going on my way.”

I met some incredible people in Nepal both locals and travelers. It felt like someone was always looking out for me, whether it was the Nepali boy in Kathmandu who showed me and my new friends around the city and gave me his SIM card to borrow for the month, or my Belgium friend who gave me her raincoat for my 13 day trek, or the UK boy who let me borrow socks & rain “trousers.” Ironically traveling alone opens you up to find community wherever you go. Everyone seems to know that we only have this moment, and because of this the people you meet along the way are their authentic selves from the beginning, open and vulnerable. I saw this in countless relationships, some of which I only knew for hours. We shared our stories, gave each other the gift of presence, sometimes shared a meal or our belongings and then went on our separate ways. Being able to share joy in something that will inevitably end is a beautiful thing. For those who know me well, I have always tried to be present in every moment. Unfortunately when you get into a daily routine, it can be easy to forget the impermanence of the moment. For some reason you start to believe there will always be tomorrow. I want to live my life in a way where I bring my authentic self and presence into every moment.