I will bring home prayer flags
I will bring home spices and teas
I will bring home cashmere blankets
Objects full of memories that I can give to my family.
What I will bring home with me that will last a lifetime is every moment, memory, emotion, taste, and a new way of looking at life
Every time I travel I bring home a new way of life because every new place I travel to I gather information making me a citizen of the world instead of one small village (Morgan Freeman)
This trip I had an intention, a reason to travel.
My reason was to find acceptance and a deeper knowledge about myself that only another culture could offer.
I needed to be immersed in a culture that would ultimately in some way or another acknowledge my brown skin and accept me even though I am American.
When I came on this trip it was a mystery yet there seemed to be set plans for us
Explore Bangkok
Go to Pokhara
Go to the monastery
Trek
The day we began our travels no plans were set
When we got to Pokhara we found out that we were trekking in two days and not going to the monastery. Mentally I was unprepared and I was terrified. I had no idea what was going to happen, how we would all do at high elevation, and if we would all make it.
I took with me flexibility
Thrown in the deep end I needed to trust myself. Every day of the trek I learned about my physical limits and especially my mental limits.
I took with me trust
Every day I stored away a new story.
I took with me adventure
Each day I had a goal that I wanted to fulfill, each day my goals grew harder. Every time I completed my daily goal a part of me felt at peace.
I took with me stamina
My overall goal was to reach Tilicho lake. Before we left I had no doubt in my mind that my last and final goal was to conquer the lake, no doubt in my mind that we would make it. It pushed my physical limits more than anything has.
I took with me courage.
At the top, at Tilicho lake my heart was full. Many times, on the trip I felt my heart full of happiness with just being; being in the moment, being with my friends, being with the culture
I took with me happiness in being in the present moment
What I will bring home with me that will last a lifetime is not only every moment, memory, emotion, taste, and a new way of looking at life, but small bits and pieces of knowledge about myself and about traveling that I hope to share with every person I meet.
Every place we as a Spring Street group go traveling impacts the culture, the people, the environment, and me in the most phenomenal ways.
Sol – Class of 2019