Reflections - Are you happy on your own?

I sat watching the waves crash for hours sipping hot chocolates, beers and coffees. It felt very peaceful. After a year of not traveling, here I was finally on my own, doing nothing and feeling content. I was happy!

It has been 2 years of uncertainty, no clarity of what the future would be post pandemic and watching the world suffer immensely while many lost their loved ones.

In retrospect, many of us still have a lot to be grateful for – simply being alive and having all your loved ones around was just more than what you could have asked for.

We underestimate what life offers more often than not. We also place a lot of pressure on others around us to keep us happy, keep us content and keep us going when happiness is an internal job – it is our own responsibility.

How many of us can shout out a yes if someone asks you if you are happy? How many of us can travel alone, sit still alone, watch a sunset or waves crashing and feel content?

Why is it that many of us need more people, circumstances and “chaos” around to create that safe, happy place for us? And when that doesn’t happen, how many of us complain that life is unfair and unjust?

A question that I get asked often is how and why do I mostly travel alone and enjoy? It has taken years, many days and nights of feeling lonely for me personally to realize that the world will always be unfair and will not always play right by you, your ideals, your values and expectations. Let it be work, passions, hobbies, relationships or friends & family – they all let you down at a point. It is life. Realization and the acceptance of this is the only way to live a fulfilling life.

Something we are not taught or trained is to be happy on our own. Learning to be the best self in every situation, giving your best and letting the nature take its course is not something human beings find comfort in. The more uncertain the world around us become, this brings a lot of unhappiness, dissatisfaction, sadness and anger into our lives.

If I have learnt something over the last few years, it is to know that pain and sadness in whichever sense is temporary. The more we learn to find happiness in our own self, simply our existence will lead you to be the best self and content all your life.

So next time, don’t hesitate to go on that trip alone, climb that mountain alone, take a course you like alone, just be alone and find that happiness that exists within you. Be happy with yourself first. Find happiness in solitude. Find the happiness in simple things – a sun rise, a sun set, a smile, great weather, a good meal, the workout you got in, a hug, a kiss, a kind word – feeling grateful should be a daily task – in fact the first task in your day.

Just stay away from anything or anyone who takes that happiness and uniqueness away from you.

You’d realize there is a lot more energy you can share with others when you find that light in you. It is not lonely. It is nothing but powerful and it can change the world.

Life is also too short! Make it worth! Live a life which is a story worth writing about.

xoxo

CHAPTER 2 – Why Annapurna Circuit??

Annapurna Circuit is one of the most beautiful treks you could do in Central Nepal. The geography is slightly different to that of any trek in Himalayan Range. This is a trek that mostly everyone does anti clock wise due to quick altitude gains you would experience if you are doing otherwise which is not safer and recommended.

During this trek, you sight the beauties of Annapurna I to IV, Manaslu, Tilicho Peak, Dhaulagiri, Machchapuchchre and Pisang Peak – all in the range of 6000m – 8000m. The view everyday are beyond breathtaking in every possible sense.

The absolute breathtaking views during the trek

Given that the full trek is anywhere between 160km – 230km depending on where you begin and end, you also come across multitude of cultures and villages throughout your journey making it one of the best long treks you could take up. The Tibetan culture that you could experience in the Manang Valley as well as in parts of lower Mustang is beyond admirable.

There is never a day with a bad scenery. Each day has something new to offer

Trek starts in Besisahar and throughout mostly goes in parallel to Marsyangdi river for the most part of the trek.  Most trekkers do take the high trail from Upper Pisang via Gyaru and Ngawal to Manang as the view are extremely breathtaking and it helps with the altitude through better acclimatization as well. Also, some of the best-preserved Tibetan villages in their original state is something you could experience as well.

City of Besisahar

Preserved Tibetan Villages

And finally, this was a solo trek! It was going to be just me for 15 days! I was extremely anxious and knew I will have no one to share anything with except myself. There were many days, I tried not to think too much of the detail or what could go wrong. I remember during the Everest Base Camp trek, around 8^th day, we all cried. No one knew why we were crying – it was different reasons for different individuals. But we all did. It was more of a distraction from the fatigue – if I am to look at it from a different perspective now.

So it is all ready now. All that is left is a bag to be packed and a flight to board.

Next up - CHAPTER 3: Landed in Kathmandu - Prep days are fun!

Note: Some of the pictures are extracted from google as I did not have a good camera to capture all of it to preserve the natural beauty

Solo journey – Annapurna Circuit – Kathmandu to Mukthinath through Thorang La Pass (5416m/17769 ft)

CHAPTER 1 - How it all began

Since 2016, I have committed to one long duration hike every year. Even though I wish I had time to climb more, budgets as well as the number of off days on a full-time job limits me to do one significant hike a year. 2016 was Everest Base Camp (5300m). 2017 was Kinabalu (4,095 m) and completed the World’s Highest Via Ferrata – Low’s Peak. 2018 was a flop because all plans to do Kilimanjaro was washed down the drains as my visa was “in process” mode for over 8 months and was rejected with no reason – that was entering Tanzania. I had to settle to a 2 day Volcano hike and a long Indonesian backpacking trip.

Importance of the height – If you are an amateur hiker, you know how important the mountain height is to you. The higher you can climb and the strenuous the climb is the deciding factor for me in terms of the abnormal sense of achievement that lies at the end of the road. I would at some point love to learn some technical climbing, get myself trained to climb higher but when that would happen at this point remain uncertain. Until then, my aim is to focus on what I can do.

Solo or group – This is a tricky question! It all depends on your personality and the type of the mountain. Being an introvert, most of the time I enjoy trekking on my own. Even on a group trek with known individuals, most of the time, we tend to get on our own zone and trek at our own speed. It is meditation for me! On the other hand, during a longer trek, the mental exhaustion towards later part is much higher than physical fatigue where you wish there were people around to share it with. That being said, I prefer if the people I hike are known to me than being total strangers. There is an element of familiarity that helps you push at times – at least in my experience.

Selection of the tour guide/Porter/Trekking Company – I cannot explain how this could impact the success of your trek as well as your mental status during/after the trek. (spoiler alert: I had a really terrible ending to the relationship I had with the trekking guide who was on this trek unfortunately). Trekking guide could really be one of the individuals who can keep your moral high on a trek spanning a few days. Not only they would be the ones to show the right way but also could help you with the accommodation selection along the way, help you order food, push you for the summit mentally, etc.

So 2019, I looked up potential possibilities and decided that I would take up the Annapurna circuit trek. The complete trek would take you 21 days (which I didn’t have the liberty to do) but the highlight of this trek was that after the highest point which is Thorang La pass, your trek moves to a completely different geography (Manang Valley to Mastang Valley) within a day that you almost cannot believe it’s true. 

Map of Annapurna Circuit Trek

I chose Sep to start the hike, therefore, knew after Mukthinath (post highest point crossing), there are less chances of actually trekking due to the high number of landslides that kept occurring due to a prolonged monsoon. I kept that part of the plan open to do the trek as long as I could and decide on the go. But reaching Thorang La Pass ( 5416m ) was non negotiable for me.

Thorang La Pass Summit

Beauty of mountains and culture combination 

I had 2 months left for training when I left. From a 6 day CrossFit training to doing none in the last one year due to work priorities (I still think this is an excuse I keep telling myself), I had a bit of work to do. Started off with cardio as that is definitely key to shedding off some extra pounds which comes really handy on a mountain! It wasn’t great but well it was better than nothing.

Coming up.. CHAPTER 2 - Why Annapurna Circuit