Stephanie's Update: March 2010

Another journey to the beautiful country of Nepal is underway!

©Stephanie Graham: Khumbu Valley, Nepal 2006

The time is almost here to begin training for another trek in Nepal! This will be my third journey to the Khumbu Valley and I am looking forward to this particular trip more than ever!

I remember reading a book about how to achieve your goals, at the very serious age of 11, and from that point on, began to write down a list of 100 lifetime goals each year and I continue this practice to this very day.

The goal to see Mt. Everest with my own eyes showed up on my list sometime in my early 20's. I kept writing it down each year trusting that one day I would either meet that goal or it would fade and lack the importance to carry through.

Each year Everest "made the finals list" and a decade later I was landing in Nepal, hanging out at the hotel with the guide and other trekkers, and walking the streets of Kathmandu. Even before we took the twin otter engine flight from Kathmandu to the little village of Lukla, I felt as if I had been in Nepal a week or more.

©Stephanie Graham: Boudhanath Stupa; Kathmandu, Nepal 2006

The experience is rich, textrous and overwhelming. From the Nag Champa and cedar the vendors burn in the early morning to bring prosperity to their door, to the women selling hand made purses from India, to having lunch at the famous Rum Doodle...it's a match made in heaven for the most adventurous and curious person.

©Stephanie Graham: Rum Doodle; Kathmandu, Nepal 2006

My first days on the trail my feet never seemed to touch the ground. I was happier than I can ever remember and the trip was like a dream.

My second trip to the Khumbu was just as life changing and rewarding but a very different trip altogether, while working on the Magic Yeti Children's Library Project with Liesl Clark and Peter Athans.

Now four years after my first trek in Nepal, and with a great deal of life experience sandwiched in between, I am excited to do it all over again and reveal in the majestic presence of the Himalayas and the people who live there!

©Stephanie Graham: Khumbu Valley, Nepal 2006

Stay tuned for tips on training and packing for trekking in the Himalayas!

Happy trails!

Stephanie

©Stephanie Graham 2010