The group left KTM at 5am and got into Lukla (2,800m) safe and sound. It is 10:30am. The views of the mountains are surreal!! Absolutely AMAZING!!! It feels great to be here!
We will stay overnight in Lukla to acclimatize and then start hiking in the morning.
There are 2 groups: A and B. Group B is the German group and for some reason, I ended up with them! They thought I also spoke German since I was so international. Nicht za jezik, but oh well - it's a fun group! The German guys are VERY happy to have me in the group ;)) Brigitta is my tent-mate, she is 60 yrs old. (so the guys welcomed me with a big grin on their faces ;))
Brigitta is a stud, though. She's done many adventure sport races around the world - 100 milers and so on.
I call her my 'shadow' or a 'walking nightmare' (in a good way) and I will explain why.
Brigitta was an investment banker in Germany all her life and never got married or had a family. She retired 5 yrs ago. She now travels and also teaches gymnastics at a nearby highschool back at home. Nothing bad about that if you choose not to have family.
Anyway, she asked me what I do and if I had a family (husband + kids).. and I said: i-banking and no, no family.. she immediately replied: well, of course, you are an i-banker, no personal life, that's how it is. hahaha It was kind of funny to me (and, it doesn't necessarily has to be that way, but that is the stereotype we fit in).
So, there I was, looking at her and thinking - that could be me in 30yrs!!
And right then, I started screaming inside of myself, yelling:
But, I want children and I want to have a functional family!!!!!!! :))
SO, there we were... hiking, thinking about life, careers, wishes and wants, and how to make it all work! It is a long hike up to the Everest, which will give us plenty of time to reflect and think about things! :)) So I hope :))
Anyway, back to our group. There's an amazing mix of people from all kinds of backgrounds. Women mostly with medical backgrounds (nurses), one marketing girl, and some part-timers, one teacher and 2 i-bankers. Men - doctors, lawyers, consultants, and one IT guy. All in all, a bunch of fascinating people!!! It is wonderful conversing with them as most everybody has traveled and experienced something out of the ordinary (marching through Siberia, Mongolia, marathons on every continent - just name them and somebody has done it).
What is most impressive is that most all them have families and children and wives/husbands back at home!! There's, of course, a handful of single people (and Brigitta;)
Well, I just wanted to check in and say Happy Friday/Saturday to everybody!! :))
Salut! This is my interactive travelogue for '09! As most of you know, I will spend the next few months traveling around the World, visiting my friends & family, visiting countries I've never been to, learning about new cultures; languages, running marathons, hiking mountains, relaxing, re-energizing, and re-connecting with the World!
Iako ti volis da analiziras sebe i radis na sebi stalno, pa se na tren i zabrines, ja sam 100% ubedjen da neces imati istu sudbinu kao Brigitta. Ti si i suvise pozitivna i kvalitetna, da bi ostala sama. Pogotovo je bitno da ti zelis sve to, a koliko sam mogao da vidim, ono sto zelis, ti i ostvaris. Uzivaj u penjanju, i opusteno. :))))
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