Nepal 2019 - My First Solo Hiking Experience - Ideation

 

The first seeds of this impending journey were planted post a treacherous and arduous summit of Bali Pass in Sep'19. Couple of us barely survived the snowstorm which hit us but it also opened up a huge sense of adventure within me. It's quite hard to explain but when you overcome some of the most difficult challenges, Mother nature throws at you, you feel more powerful than you can ever imagine yourselves to be.

Next stop, Nepal!!

How did that happen so quickly? Well, the idea was brewing in my head for the last few months. After reading multiple books on the thrills and agony of trekking in Nepal (Annapurna & Ascent of Everest, the most read ones), I had to take a stand on going ahead with at least a plan in my head.

Working in an IT organisation in India, you can conceive a lot of ideas/plans, however, the final say will always depend on your boss who cannot fathom you not warming your seat for more than 10 days. Also, it doesn't help that their sense of adventure is limited to going to the top floor in a mall in an elevator and grab the worst kind of junk food one can hog on. So, of course the discussion on leaves for a month was futile. The work-life balance was never worse for me and I learnt the hard way, promotions and pay hikes meant absolute zilch if you are not enjoying what you are doing or pursuing what makes you happy. I was contemplating and/or planning a move away from the corporate hustle for the last few years and after a discussion with my ever so supportive wife, I finally decided to quit the "corporate splendour"(sic) and focus on "my life"!

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