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 I continue traveling, but it’s fun to look back on my first few days here to where I’m at now – so full of wonder, of excitement, and practically bursting at the seams with gratitude. I was walking down the street the other night on my way back to my apartment after watching Shivaratri celebrations (If you wanna know what that is, hop over to my Instagram page) just chomping on a chunk of sugarcane and beaming like an idiot. In that moment, I felt so stinking happy. And just ten days ago, I was having a major identity crisis.

I don’t want to be that person who gives advice as if I know what the heck I’m talking about (I don’t!), but man, if you feel stuck or uninspired in your current life – do something drastic and change it. You won’t regret it. It will always be worth it, even when things feel really hard. Taking leaps can be so scary but what’s worse, taking a risk or staying stuck in a loop? You’re not a hamster on a wheel. Life is too short to accept what isn’t making you happy. 

Okay. Hopping off my soap box now so that we can get back to the original plan for this blog. 

Here is a (long) list of what I’ve learned + experienced so far since I moved to Nepal:

• A load of laundry costs about 400-500 Nepali Rupees ($3 USD). Also for 400 rupees, I can buy two meals or a week’s worth of vegetables. Dealer’s choice.
• Jeans don’t need to be washed that often (spot washing works wonders) and shirts can be worn three times in a row. Last pair of dirty undies? Turn them inside out.
• Also, jeans suck; don’t bring them.
• I really, really hate cockroaches.
• You need very little to be happy (this sounds like an eyeroll but it really is true).
• I either walk very fast or people here walk very slow; still trying to decide which is which (it’s me, I’m the problem).
• People don’t care how they look here. Floral skirt and striped shirt? Bring it on. Does it look like Pippi Longstocking’s suitcase barfed all over me? Sure does! Do I care tho? No. No I do not and there is a wonderful freedom in that. 
• I miss my people and my doggo and rowing and cereal, specifically frosted mini wheats, but not much else (YET) from America.
• Time is currency to spend wisely.
• I sure do miss consistently good WIFI.
• My American privilege has never been so obvious before, and I’ve never had to confront it on a daily basis like I do here.
• Earplugs will save your life at night (barking dogs will never not drive me crazy).
• I will never not be excited about seeing a monkey on the side of the road.
• People aren’t always genuine, a lot of the time they just want your money, and it can be hard to discern who is real and who’s a scammer.
• On the other hand, people are excited to share their culture with me, like the time I played tug of war on the Tibetan New Year.
• Traveling solo can be painfully lonely + incredibly empowering, it just depends on the day.
• Language barriers are frustrating, hilarious and fun because it makes you think outside the box.
• Being comfortable with the uncomfortable is the quickest way to adapt to being/living in a foreign country.
• Pack a change of underwear and socks in your carry on. Nothing makes you feel more human after a long flight or during a long layover than a fresh pair of drawers.
• Watch where you’re going or you’ll fall off the sidewalk and almost get hit by a motorcycle (psh, no, that didn’t happen to me…).
• Road rage doesn’t seem to be a thing here? The honking is constant, but it’s to announce that the car/bike is by or behind you.
• Also – what are traffic lanes? They exist but more as a guideline than an actual rule.
• Rules here are also more like guidelines (did anyone read the last two bullet points in Captain Barbosa’s voice?).
• If you’re scared to cross the road, attach yourself to a local, they’ll show you the ropes.
• You can light a massive bonfire on the side of the road in the name of Lord Shiva and it’s fine.
• I was a dork in America and I’m still a dork here.
• Always carry toilet paper with you.
• This experience is nothing and everything I thought it would be.

Plus a ton more that I won’t bother to add.

It will be fun to look at this list in six months and compare it to how I’m feeling at that point. 

I know I’ve been saying this for a while now, but I finally, finally feel settled here. My energy has completely shifted – ever since I got food poisoning, actually. This might sound woo-woo, but I wonder if getting sick was my body’s way of purging all the stored up stress and negative energy and fear I’d been enveloped in since I arrived here. Because since those miserable twelve hours, I feel lighter, more at ease, more like myself. And yes, some of that has to do with settling in, making friends, and all the things that time will do for you. But I think my body knew it was time to make space for better, more positive energy and there’s only so much room in there!

I worry a lot about what this all will look like when it’s over, if/when I come back because I ran out of money, what and where I’ll come back to. But if I sit here and fret over what will happen a year from now, I’ll miss what’s happening in front of me, and what’s in front of me is real, it’s here, it’s now. The future doesn’t exist yet. Last year around this time, I was in Guatemala and had no idea that a year later, I’d be vibing in Nepal. Life comes at you fast and changes fast too, not so much in the day to day, but in stretches of time that has you whirling around all of a sudden and thinking, whoa, I didn’t expect that.

I remember the moment I decided I was going to do this. I was in my little nook with my partner, making food, and I turned to him and I said, “I think I’m going to do it. I think I’m going to move to Nepal.” This was last July. That moment will stick in my mind forever. So will that fateful day in April, when my dear friend Jenny told me she’d take Magnus so I could go and travel. Little snippets of memory that I’ll hold close because they were moments that aligned at the precise time they were supposed to and allowed this path to take shape.

I wish I had something fancy to close this blog out with. I’m happy to be here. My life feels very fake and more real than ever. That is all. Thanks for reading!