Blog

Trip Report: From Pokhara to Jomsom

Before I came to Nepal, I imagined the country to be full of rugged mountains, the Himalayas visible at every turn. I envisioned small villages built out of rocks and cement, with tin roofs, set to the backdrop of a…

The Six-Week Mark

Is six weeks in a country enough time to start talking about tips n’ tricks? Things I miss from home? The things I don’t? No? I’ll start anyway! The list will likely shrink and expand, change and change again as…

Dichotomies and other musings

Nepal is alluring and depressing. Chaotic and peaceful. Inspiring and exhausting. Rich in history and poor in development. Its people are kind in demeanor and yet cold. This country is everything and nothing I thought it would be.  So far,…

My first days in Kathmandu

Welp. Apparently I’ve been partying too hard in Nepal because this morning I woke up sick. JK. I haven’t been partying – the air here is horribly polluted and I bet that has a large part of why my throat…

Ramblings while in Hong Kong

In 2015, I was offered a job to teach English in Japan. During my time in college, I’d been studying to become certified in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and I was convinced no other path awaited me…

Purging the extra weight

Well, I did it. I packed my life into a 65-liter backpack plus a 20-liter carry-on.  And I’m sitting here staring at it, thinking, but do I have enough stuff? Obviously, yes, and I can always buy more. But that’s…

Give Your Fear A Hug

In fifty-five days, I board a plane bound for Kathmandu, Nepal (well, Seattle –> LA –> Hong-Kong –> Kathmandu, but that’s beside the point). Never before have my thoughts been so consumed with the future, not in this sense anyway.…

An Ode to my Little Nook

The first time I laid eyes on what would become my future home, I knew I needed to live there. Nestled on a quiet hill across the street from Minto Brown Park, this renovated basement apartment, which I now refer…