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16 May

On The Ground In Nepal…The Aftermath

  It’s 6am.  From my tent I hear birds and the familiar sound of the Bhote Khosi river flowing by our camp.  I’m back at Sukute Beach, a whitewater resort camp I’ve been a part of for almost 2 decades now, along with my old partner Mahendra.  For the first time, I’ve come for a reason […]

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14 Dec

The Last Mile

             6:47am.  I can’t hear anything but my own breathing and the soft crunch-slide of my skins against the groomed corduroy snow.   My breath crystallizes in the cold morning air – with every step I’m climbing through a veil of moonlit fog.   I’ve been skinning up Baldy for the past hour.  The stars and moon […]

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2 Dec

Expedition Day 105: Are We There Yet?

  I’ve been on the road for 105 days and it definitely shows…I don’t want to see another plate of dal bhat for quite awhile…my bike’s been through the ringer (thankfully, my Royal Enfield is built like a brick house)…I’m really starting to miss home…and my clothes probably need to be burned.  All that said, […]

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13 Nov

Expedition Day 79: The Great Game

  Kathmandu – just the name itself evokes something exotic for most people.  It’s been my home away from home for the past 32 years.   At the moment, my relief at having survived one of the most dangerous stretches of road in the world – the Prithvi highway connecting Pokhara to Kathmandu – is […]

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7 Nov

Expedition Day 65: Apple Crumble and Entrepreneurs

  Anyone who knows me knows I have a special place in my heart for the city of Pokhara. When I first came here 30 years ago, it was an idyllic rural town on the shores of Fewa Lake – a few storefronts, lots of paddy fields, and a bustling campsite by the lake, full of […]

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29 Oct

Expedition Day 57: Annapurna

I’m sitting in the Moondance Restaurant Lakeside, Pokhara, getting ready to hit the trail but watching the weather on BBC world news.   Cyclone Hudhub made landfall on India’s east coast and is expected to hit here within 36 hours.   I decide to cool my heels until it passes.  The Himalaya are accustomed to torrential monsoon downpours, […]

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14 Oct

Expedition Day 47: On Faith and Camels…

  The Bedouin have a great saying about faith and personal responsibility: “Trust in God…but don’t forget to tie up your camel!”  I think that about sums up my modus operandi when going on an expedition of any kind. Success usually means striking a balance between thorough preparation, spur-of-the-moment problem-solving, and a certain belief that […]

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9 Oct

Expedition Day 38: All You Need Is Love…and a Waste Management System

  I’m sitting cross-legged in a small Ashram with about 20 other people – mainly Westerners.  We’re awaiting the arrival of Swami G – the spiritual leader of this small Ashram – to lead a meditation class and Dharma.   The room is warm with the cloying scent of incense thick in the air.  Even though […]

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