Donations!

I received my first substantial donation today! I am so excited and appreciative that people are taking an interest in my quest to go abroad. This Thanksgiving I am so thankful for the people who are supportive and understand what an important cause this is to me. The donation has inspired me to put more effort into this project, and take advantage of the long weekend to coordinate some awesome fundraising events! I'm sincerely touched with the responses I've received from friends and family. Thank you again for considering supporting and donating to my cause, more posts will follow with more information on Tibet and my efforts to go aboard. If you are interested in donating to my cause, you can click the donate button or message me. Thank you again!

Home Videos

I have had a hard time finding time to squeeze in time to plan my trip between school and work. I am coming close to the end of the semester and all of the work is catching up with me! Hopefully I will survive. However, the news of my trip is catching on to my outer friends and family, and I was so fortunate to be invited over to my neighbors to view home videos of their trip to Tibet nine years ago.

Gary and Suzanne lived in Nepal for awhile. Gary is a retired pilot, and flew a plane to Kathmandu for Yeti Airlines to use for Mt. Everest tour. They were the reason we went on our trip to Nepal, and we were able to fly with Gary on one of the Everest tours.

Their home videos gave me a lot of insight into what Tibet would be like when I volunteer. The people of Tibet are gorgeous, and wear bright beautiful clothing. Suzanne was quick to point out the lavish clothing and remark that there are no dry cleaners in Tibet, so it was a mystery how the silk clothing stayed clean, or if they were really dirty.

There were a lot of beautiful temples, palaces, and shrines. Tibet looks cold. Very cold. Suzanne said one night she was crying as the sun was setting. At first I was touched that the beauty moved her to tears, but she corrected me and said she was crying because she knew if the sun went down it only meant that it would be getting colder and colder. They went in March, I'm leaving at the end of January... I better invest in some good longjohns!

Another interesting story Gary and Suzanne told me was about the roads from Nepal to Tibet. On the way to Tibet, you can't see Mt. Everest because it is in back of two other peaks, but on the way back to Nepal the glory of Everest is in full view. If you pursuade your driver you can take a twenty minute detour to base camp, although you can't officially go to the actual base camp, unless you're Gary and you walk a half mile to base camp only to be told on your way back that it is a restricted area and costs $60,000 to be there. Fortunately he didn't have to pay the fee.

The roads are made of dirt, and there are often mudslides and huge boulders that block the road. If the road is blocked, you simply get out of the car with your things and trek to the other side of the blockage. You trade cars or buses with the people stuck on the other side... apparently this works and is done all the time. I just thought that was kind of interesting. Gary had some great shots of road workers knocking boulders off the mountainside.

The videos made me more excited than ever to go on this trip, and I know this is what I should be doing. I am especially thankful to have great neighbors who do amazing things and are willing to share. Truly feel so appreciative.

Starting Off

First off, I can't take credit for any of this, because this was entirely my mom's idea. She was sitting in our kitchen during a hot summer day in June and declared that it was time she left the country for awhile. If anyone knows my mom this does not come as a surprise, because she has been traveling outside the country most of her life. She is a retired flight attendant. My mom worked for Pan American Airlines and United Airlines for more years than I've been alive. Traveling is our family's culture, and from a young age I was a tag along on her many adventures. So sitting on the kitchen counter talking about the next big trip was any regular day for us, yet my mom said that she wanted to do something with purpose and proposed the idea of volunteering abroad. As she talked about the different places to go and what kind of work there was to do, I insisted on going with her.

We settled on volunteering in Tibet, and other regions of the Himalayas in Nepal and India. My mom had lived in India at one time, and her and I had the opportunity to travel to Nepal when I was in high school. Something about the culture in the Himalayan region spoke to us, and we both agreed that was where we were in most need.

I am currently an English major at Dixie State College in St. George, Utah. I graduate this coming December, and the plan is to leave on my volunteer trek in mid January. My English degree will certify me to teach English while volunteering abroad to children. I am anxiously awaiting this adventure, and look forward to using my degree to help children in rural communities.

Now as graduation is approaching for myself, so is this the task of taking on this volunteering experience. I have my blog and website to create awareness and interest in my trip. I'm also using these tools as a way of documenting my experiences and also sharing them with anyone who is interested. The experience is also counting for college credit. There is just one hang up: traveling is expensive! And volunteering in rural places is even more expensive. This is where I need help. I feel fortunate that I can serve abroad, and I want to share my experiences, but if I can't raise enough money I won't be able to go. I am a full time student, and only work part time, so needless to say I lack the funds for this trip. I believe it is for a good cause one that will be life changing for myself, and also the people I will meet along the way. I want to raise enough funds to go on this journey abroad. Maybe you can help?

I set up a paypal account that anyone can donate to, or you can contact me. I would rather receive donations toward volunteering abroad than graduation gifts and/or Christmas presents. I want to give what I have to the people of the Himalayas.