By sheldonwongg
“Oh, you’re going to Nepal? That’s … different.”
That most common response I receive when I tell people that I’ll be spending four months in Nepal (Other than where it’s located on the globe) is what I would even gain from going halfway around the world to study a subject that doesn’t even directly relate to my major. I’ve always found this question to be a little preemptive and perhaps a little ignorant. Travelling has always been a source of knowledge and inspiration for me. Whether it was a day trip to a neighboring state, or a month long trek across the world, being somewhere new was always welcomed. In fact, it become somewhat of an addiction. I craved the long bus rides and getting lost in a new city, connecting with new people. It was clear to me that anytime we set forth on a journey that is out of our comfort zones and beyond the realm of our perspectives, we give ourselves room to grow as a human being. Experiencing the world through my own eyes, ears, and touch is one of life’s greatest teachers.
Many of my more practical relatives and friends often ask me about why I spend money to travel instead of saving it for long term investments like a house, a car, or retirement. I can barely decide what I want to eat for lunch tomorrow, let alone a mortgage. And saving money for a retirement that I’m not certain to achieve seems like overkill to me. In John Avedon’s, “In Exile From the Land of Snows”, he simply states that, “If in this present atmosphere, in which everything depends on money and power, and there is not much concern about the real value of love, if we human beings now lose the values of justice, of compassion, of honestly, then in the future we will face more difficulty; more suffering will come (411).” The pressures of achieving a conventionally successfully life often arises in my thoughts, yet when I am travelling, I am brought back to compassion and love for the world. Material objects become unimportant as I am reminded of the greater forces in life driving me.
Living in an entirely new country for four months is completely different from any type of travel I’ve ever done. In many ways, I am forced to look at how I currently live my life and reexamine how it will operate in the context of living in Nepal for an extended period of time. Already, I am discovering what it means to take from the Earth and (literally) carry it on my back. In many ways, I have quickly learned the lesson of less is more. Most importantly, this trip is different because it feels like a pause on life. A break from the stresses of everyday life, thoughts about the future, and intrusive internal thoughts. It feels like a lesson in happiness and I’m so excited to learn.
“Even if we do not succeed in this life, that is all right; but at least we have tried to build a better human society on the basis of love.”