Ruby Red Hiking Shoes

It doesn’t matter how matter old I am, I still feel the same childlike enthusiasm for traveling. Being in Nepal was a bit like being Dorothy in Oz. Dorothy had her ruby red slippers.  
 
I had my ruby red hiking shoes. They were magical.
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I clicked my heels and woke up in old mountain village, hiking up trails, trudging along busy streets in Kathmandu, and balancing across swinging bridges.
I clicked my heels and descended into a cave to discover a hidden underground waterfall.
I clicked my heels and found myself watching cows graze through the center of a Tibetan refugee camp.
I clicked my heels and rode on an Asian elephant named Serkali across a Chitwan jungle preserve. We found a mama rhino and her baby.
I clicked my heels and flew alongside the Himalayas just to glimpse Mt. Everest.
 
Our group did not have a yellow brick road to follow. Instead, we circled a famous, well-traveled hippie trail – twice. The journey from Kathmandu to Bandipur to Pokhara to Chitwan and back to Kathmandu was everything new I ever hoped to find in a trip.
 
It is safe to say that not only was I Dorothy (sans braids), but I actually managed to channel every character (except Toto) in the famous story in just under fourteen days. There were even quite a few flying monkeys darting about.
 
While there was no tornado, I did experience pre-monsoon season that they say came early. Wind, rain, and hail like I’ve never experienced. There were no munchkins to send me off, but for weeks leading up to the trip, my dear friends encouraged me to follow through with my plans. Judy, Irena, Allyson, and Jeni- thank you. I skipped, tripped, walked, and hiked my way through Nepal because of you.
 
Scarecrow: I sang if I only had a brain as I charged back up five steep flights of steps to a rooftop restaurant to find my cell phone right where I had left it an hour earlier. This was within first 24 hours of landing. Ten days later I dropped and shattered the screen on the oldest bricks in the oldest section of Kathmandu.
 
Tin Man: I reverently and silently cried, locked in the moment, as I witnessed Hindu funeral ceremonies by the fiver.

Cowardly Lion: I hiked up a mountain trail one day, but I stopped just shy of the top because I was truly deeply and correctly afraid that I wouldn’t be able to make my legs carry me down later.
 
I can safely add Glenda the Good Witch to my repertoire. I just left a mini-shopping spree in the duty-free shops of Doha, Qatar. I was all smiles, giggles, and bubbles as I strode past Tiffany’s and Dolce & Gabana on my way to La Durée and Harrod’s Tea Room for divine raspberry sorbet. Just like Glenda, I felt the need to accessorize and chose new tote bag from my favorite store.
 
I was often Elphaba because nothing was gonna bring me down… except maybe a little critter under my bed playing with a piece of plastic.
In the Chitwan jungle.
At 2:00 am.
That made me sit up.
And stay awake.
And call my husband who only laughed.
 
Did I meet a wizard in Nepal? I discovered that wisdom doesn’t have to come from just one person. The wizards I encountered carried a common theme, one of purpose, hard work, and camels. It was our tour guide who told me a story about camels. It was perfectly timed but deserves its own post. More on that later.
 
I met a badass Australian woman named Holly, who simply decided one day that she wanted to trek the Himalayas. She traveled alone from Brisbane and completed base camp Mount Everest trek- up and back in about 12 days. Badass.
 
I met Ram, the owner of the travel group who guided us around Nepal. Ram has already reached the summit Mount Everest once, and he will go again this summer. He told me that when he was a child, he dreamed about the top of the mountains surrounding his home. It took him twenty years, but he realized his dream. He is now an entrepreneur who turned his passion into an excellent tour company. Find him on YouTube. Really.
 
If you didn’t know already, GSW has excellent wizards, but Keeton and Kailash, a dynamic duo of math and art, created an incredible experience for GSW students. I am very grateful that they arranged for me to work with educators in Nepal. This unique collaboration yielded the establishment of important relationships with other schools. Well done.
 
Just as Dorothy looked over the field of flowers and glimpsed the palace of Oz for the first time, I sat on a hilltop in Pokhara waiting for daybreak. Seeing the Himalayan mountains for the first time forced me to recognize the power of a single image. If I fix my eyes only one what is obvious in front of me, like the pretty green hills, I already think I know what I am going to see. I actually miss everything else God is offering me. It doesn’t happen much, but I was without words that morning.  I still am. 
 
Each day that I spoke to my kids back home, I said,
I am calling from your tomorrow. Don’t worry- it is going to be a great day.
 
As my two weeks came to an end, I peacefully clicked the heels of those ruby red hiking shoes three times and repeated,
There’s no place like home.
There’s no place like home.
There’s no place like home.
 
On this incredible trip to Oz, I learned:
My tomorrow is GOOD. In Nepal or in Americus.
I stand on His promise.
I hold onto it firmly.
I have a future I can ever imagine for myself.
 
I may wake up tired and a bit confused to find myself in my own bed in Americus.
Without bells in the background.
Without monkeys scampering across rooftops.
Without a MoMo to eat.
 
But that’s ok too.
I was just in my tomorrow.
I know today will be a beautiful day.

Here’s a shout out to Brooke’s because those hiking shoes turned out to be the single best travel purchase that I’ve ever made. They were magical, but they only worked because I made a step of yes while wearing them. I asked what it would take for me to be able to trek up to the base camp of Mt. Everest. All my wizards said that I could do it. I just need to run about five miles a day for a year to train. 

Well, anything is possible.