Paragliding in the Himalayas was definitely the highlight of last year for me. My cheap travel insurance didn't cover 'adventure sports', so I didn't tell anyone about this till after I'd done it though. On the day I'd booked my session it nearly didn't happen due to low cloud, but luckily for me the skies cleared enough for us to take off in the late morning. By then I was panicking about getting back to meet my travel companions for lunch. There was no way for me to contact anybody, with none of our mobile phones working in Nepal and before I set off we'd joked about what kind of funeral I'd like if I didn't make it! If I didn't make it to our lunch spot they'd be thinking the worst, and trying to work out how to arrange a Tibetan sky burial!! So I chattered nervously to the instructor as we were driven to the top of the mountain and he assured me that he'd get me back to my friends in time for lunch. I didn't have time to worry about the flying.
And in typical Nepalese style, the minute I landed beside the lake in Pokhara I found a motor bike waiting to whizz me back to town and my friends. My first motor bike ride was nearly (but not quite) as good as the flying. We arrived outside the lunch place about 5 minutes late, and my friends were too engrossed in reading the menu to even notice my arrival. Needless to say, I soon got their attention as I shreiked at them to take a photo.
Yesterday I was missing shopping for treats for the body - toiletries and lovely smelling things, and looking around my bedroom I noticed how many bottles and jars I had of unfinished toiletries. So now I'm going to try and work my way through what I already have. Maybe I'll line them up on a shelf like my own little shop.
As I started checking what was there I picked up one of those mini travel bottles of shampoo and automatically took it to my travel bag. And that's when it hit me - I have no idea when I will be able to travel anywhere again. While I've been missing my weekly travel for work I hadn't really thought about travelling further. My multi journey international travel insurance was a bit of a waste of money then!
I'm lucky though. I have many many photographs from my trips over the last few years to help me relive those places. But if you don't have photos, or you haven't been able to, or wanted to travel, there are plenty of ways we can escape from our sofas these days. A quick search online will reveal endless videos, blogs, and websites about travel in virtually every part of the world, not to mention the hundreds of channels on our televisions.
And then there are books. Probably my favourite way to virtually travel somewhere, as books allow us the opportunity to exercise our minds, and let our imaginations roam freely. Where will you travel today? I'm off to do a bit more shopping in Kathmandu after work. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=168462727892322
Lots of inspiration here - https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/lists/10-books-by-adventurous-women-travelers/
Safe travels, even if it's only all the way to your biscuit tin!
See you tomorrow. Every day's an adventure.
Mairi
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