Nepal

Three days from a casual conversation over beer to wandering the narrow alleys of Kathmandu - sometimes the best journeys begin without a plan. What started as spontaneous wandering became something that changed me forever. A $10-a-day guide became a trusted friend. A chance meeting with a nursing student on a crowded bus led to adoption by her family, who welcomed this stranger into their rural village home for a week. Ancient ceremonies where thousands gathered in devotion, solo treks through the Annapurna mountains where I practiced medicine in remote villages, and seven days of silent meditation where Buddha was born. In Nepal, I learned that getting lost is often how you find what you didn't know you were looking for. (Read the full story)