Opportunity is Everywhere

TRAVEL UPDATE:
I am in the town of Namche Bazaar, located at almost 11,000 feet in the Himalayas. Today, I saw Mt. Everest for the first time... yet even more amazing are the people, valleys, rivers, and mountains that immediately surround this place. If there was a chairlift and more snow, I might consider this heaven :) We took a rest day here to acclimatize before heading out on the rest of our trek/ski expedition in these AMAZING mountains! Some picture highlights below at the bottom of this post, but first some thoughts from my travel to Nepal:

OPPORTUNITY IS EVERYWHERE

Opportunity is everywhere, and yet, Kathmandu is a mess. Age old politics, stubbornness, and  greed lay at the center of this city's inability to be a mecca for inhabitants and tourists alike.

Raj is 23, speaks incredible English in addition to two dialects of  Nepali, and is struggling to make a living selling Hashish on the streets. Truth be told, he was a brilliant salesman. He almost  convinced me (who is vehemently opposed to smoking anything) to buy some. He tried to sell me this incredible vision of 'Heaven' which involved a "view of Everest, a beer, and just one smoke of hash" as he kissed his fingers to the sky. He has skills, but in this city, he is limited by past precedences and numerous other barriers. He moved to Kathmandu from his home village in the mountains to go to school and learn English. He excelled at that, but now, he is struggling to get by.

Reflecting on this while sitting in the so-called 'Garden of Dreams' (coincidentally behind a locked gate) I realized that Kathmandu never had a dream to be anything, so it just exists. Kathmandu and its rulers never created the vision for a clean city, smart city or travel destination. They never tried to create a hub for adventure sports and its related industries nor did they build a religious or spiritual destination. And most importantly, they never tried to create a city that would benefit the wonderful people of Nepal.

Kathmandu could have been so much more. Clean, prosperous, educated and desirable... Instead traffic moves in a perpetual state of impending accidents, with kids, cows and pedestrians trying to find their way across unorganized streets. Electric wires hang precipitously on the sides of  buildings waiting to ensnare a poor victim, the air quality is worse than LA, the buildings look as if a 3.0 earthquake would flatten this place, and I won't even attempt to paint a picture of the human waste and garbage situation...

I'm sure there are factors beyond my understanding that led to things the way they are, but I can't help but think that short-term thinking got in the way of quality of life and prosperity of millions of  inhabitants. And for me, the hardest part of this to digest is that the people of Kathmandu are, by any comparison, some of the kindest, calmest, and most patient people I have met. And that is what is so hard to stomach... that these WONDERFUL people are exposed to such unhealthy conditions.

I think the same goes for us as individuals. There is opportunity for quality of life and prosperity if we take the time to envision it. Never settle, demand more, and go for it.

Side note:
I'm pleased to hear about Next Generation Nepal, Room to Read, and Little Princes (to name a few) that are trying to improve the lives of children here, but I can't help but wonder, what happens to healthy and educated children in a place like this? How can we help and ensure that the next generation, which is healthier and more educated than any before it, to start envisioning and seizing opportunities?

Authors note: I hesitated to post this blog entry as it could be interpreted as critical in nature. I have the utmost respect for the people of Nepal and wish them all a bright, healthy, and prosperous future. In fact, I wish this for all citizens of this planet. As I continue my travels, I consistently pose myself the question: "How can we spread health and wealth from the most fortunate areas to the least?" While piece-by-piece contributions like schools, hospitals, food donations, etc. are important, it is my belief that without a vision for a brighter future that is for the people and by the people, I don't think positive long-lasting change is possible. Based on my research, co-investment models seems to be the most effective - especially from the planning side. Perhaps we don't need more people, funds and organizations investing here, we just need them to do it more effectively under a more unified vision. Your thoughts?

The Same But Different

It's midnight and I really don't want coffee, but I'm halfway around the world from the headquarters of Starbucks and the experience is too surreal to pass up...

Especially given the political instability of this part of the world.

So give me a hot beverage, an over-sized almond croissant, and a cliche moment of inspiration while I write this blog post.

I know airports are in their own league from a cultural standpoint, but so far, this place rocks. More people speak English here than anywhere I experienced in Europe, and the service has been exemplary. My seat change for the next leg of my flight from middle to window took 30 seconds and was done with a smile. The man at Starbucks just provided me my best Starbucks experience to date, and my flight here was more pleasant than any flight I've EVER had... Including those times I had a free upgrade to first class... And did I mention I had a middle seat on the 6hr leg from Geneva to Bahrain?

In a terminal of about 200, I am clearly the only American. And in a part of the world that so many Americans are biased against, I can't help but marvel how warmly I've been received.

Obviously Starbucks is almost identical here, but that is not what I'm referencing in the title of this post. Through the haze of media coverage and inaccurate perceptions, the people here, at their very core, are the same. It's the superficial things - the things that shouldn't matter - that are different. We're all visitors on this planet and we need to take care of it and its inhabitants. If not for our community, than for our global brothers and sisters.

If not you, who? If not now, when?

Build Community, Provide Value

Things are different here... and I really like it.

There is a blaring difference in culture and approach when compared to the cafes, restaurants and hotels that I visit in America. The most notable difference is the sense of community. People know each other here. Businesses aren't merely an exchange of cash for goods and services, but rather serve as gathering places. They seem to fulfill important 'needs', rather then trying to create new material 'wants'.

The alpine hut system in the Alps is especially intriguing. These huts, and there must be thousands of them spanning every country with even one peak of this incredible mountain range, are all independently operated with only a few baseline commonalities/rules:

• Meals must consist of 4 courses: soup/appetizer, vegetables, protein main course, and dessert, while meeting certain calorie limits
• Rooms and beds... no private rooms here. Instead, sleeping porches from 4-20 people offer single mattresses, a blanket, and pillow. Personal space doesn't really exist, neither do sex-specific rooms. 
• Almost all have a full bar: Beer, wine, and spirits (yes, drinking games do exists here) with plenty of room to congregate in the dining area and on porches
• Electricity and fresh water is sparse
• Huts are in delicate environments, and as such, each tries to preserve the environment as best it can
• Every hut I have seen thus far is located in an incredible location, usually above treeline, and offers spectacular views.

Perhaps more importantly, these huts offer safety and warmth in otherwise inhospitable terrain allowing for save traverses of these mountains, as well as proximity to incredible peaks for incredible access to some of the world's best summer climbing and winter skiing. Take the Margherita hut on the border of Switzerland and Italy, located at nearly 15,000 feet it is within easy striking distance of Europe's second tallest peak, Dufourspitze.

Best of all, for everything you get, these huts are cheap. The (American) business man inside of me had a sinful thought that you could easily charge double, plus drastically reduce costs by creating economies of scale through making meals and supplies the same across huts. In short, these huts could make a killing... but that is not what they are here for.

These huts were initially built to provide climbers and travelers sanctuary in one the most beautiful and famous mountain ranges in the world. In order to serve their communities, these huts did their best to reflect the local culture. And in doing so, these huts began to offer something much more valuable: They became gathering places. Climbers and skiers met each other, shared stories, became friends, and most importantly, shared valuable safety information about routes, snow stability, and navigation so that all could have a safer and more enjoyable time in the mountains.

This led to an incredible long-term side affect (at least form an economic perspcetive): Adventure tourism flourishes in the Alps. People from around the world travel here, hire guides, buy goods, and spend lots of money because of the incredibly developed alpine climbing skiing and ski mountaineering industries. Without these huts to safely house all these travelers, the adventure industry would maybe be 1/10th of what it is. To a degree, these huts lie at the core of the adventure and skiing industries here.

And yet, the huts do not appear to capitalize on this by offering more luxrious offerings, raising prices, or economizing/scaling. Instead they do the opposite. They keep prices low to support the local population and continue serve as a community gathering place. And instead of building fancier beds to charge more, they instead invest in more sustainable and environmentally-friendly technologies. No flush toilets exists, solar panels are popular, and architecture/engineering that naturally cools or warms depending on the season and weather is becoming the new standard (look at the Monte Rosa hut as an example).

And the huts are just one instance... Bakeries here use local ingredients and stay true to local/customary food. Taxis in Zermatt are all electric and the drivers promote ride-sharing to reduce costs for consumers (and the electric busses are totally free). Bars don't have cover charges, free wifi is available on almost every block (and even some of these mountains huts), and hotel operators (usually the owner) are eager to share tips, suggestions, and even arrange for cheaper accommodation and other facilities.

Business here (if you can even call them businesses) exist to support their people, community, and environment. And that is something worth supporting.

I think a worthwhile question, and once I am certainly contemplating as I figure out my future, is "How will I/you build community and provide value?"

Here are my favorite pictures of (and from) these incredible huts:

The Present Is a Gift

When skiing in the European Alps, one has no choice but to be fully focussed on the task at hand. In addition to standard ski gear, a harness, beacon, shovel, probe, crampons, ski crampons, ice axe, ropes, ice screws and basic crevasse rescue equipment were also a part of our daily "ensemble". The mountains here were bigger and more dramatic then I ever imagined, and seeing them for the first time while on a 6 day backcountry ski tour on the fabled Haute Route from Chamonix (France) to Zermatt (Switzerland) was an absolute treat. This was our itinerary:

Day 1: Argentière, France, over the Col du Chardonnet and the Fenêtre du Saleina to the Trient Hut.
Day 2: Champex-Lac via the Val d'Arpette. Bus or taxi to Verbier and the Mont Fort Hut.
Day 3: Over the Rosablanche to the Prafleuri Hut.
Day 4: Around Dixence reservoir and up to the Dix Hut.
Day 5: Over the Pigne d'Arolla to the Vignettes Hut.
Day 6: A long day to Zermatt over the Col de l'Evêque, Col du Mont Brulé and Col de Valpelline, then a long descent under the shoulder of the Matterhorn and Dent d'Herens.

The typical day started at around 5am with a quick breakfast at the staffed mountain huts we would stay in every night. We would gear up as quickly as possible then set out for a combination of skinning up with skis on, climbing steeper cols with skis on our backs, skiing down whenever possible, and enjoying the INCREDIBLE scenery. Check out some of my favorite pictures:


As amazing as the trip was, the trip was made even better because of the incredible people I met along the way. This was easily one one of my favorite experiences ever. And through it, I quickly learned that the best way to make the most of the experience, whether it was the climbing, skiing, eating and/or socializing, you had to be 100% in the present moment.

It was easy disconnecting from cell phones, emails and anything else requiring electricity... but the harder part was focussing on the present. Inevitably, there was discussion, and sometimes concern, about the weather, snow stability, amount of climbing the next day, and so on. Even thinking farther ahead to the next stage of my adventure in Nepal was at times distracting me from the present. But the moment I was able to bring my focus to the people and task at hand, my enjoyment ski rocketed.

Safe and sound in Zermatt, I am preparing for the next 5 days in Europe before heading to Nepal. I will be heading back into the backcountry for some more skiing, climbing, and acclimatizing before meeting my parents and an old family friend in Geneva.

I think it will be easy for me to stay in the present. Should you be struggling to focus on the now, I recommend a little adventure to bring your full attention to the present :)