Free Bird

Siblings are often the only people in your life that can truly understand your history. Even with personal differences and regardless of the quality of your relationship, one can’t deny the shared history that binds you.

I have two older sisters and one older brother. I have always, even to this day, admired and looked up to my siblings for different reasons.

Two days ago, my sister Kim joined me in Nepal.

She has been through so much in her life and there was a time when we didn’t think we would ever travel together again. She expressed that for the past few years, she has felt so disconnected from the person she knew herself to be in an effort to keep herself safe. It was a huge deal for her to get on a plane for 17 hours with unexpected delays and zero sleep, all for 6 days with her baby sister. She arrived seemingly unaffected by the jet lag boasting an enthusiastic smile and readiness to start our journey together. We spent the first day of her arrival retracing my steps so she could experience all that I had seen in Kathmandu. We had planned the next day to fly to Pokhara to experience a different part of Nepal. We arrived at the airport early but were warned in the previous days that the flights to Pokhara had not been running due to smoke. Check-in was seamless, however once at the gate, I asked, “So is it running?” “Maybe..maybe not.” the man answered. This was the way. Protesting was futile.

After two hours of waiting we asked for an update by the man who served us coffee. He pointed to another man sitting across from us and said “He is also waiting, just look to him to know what is happening”. He was a well-put-together man in his 40s and was from Nepal. When I approached him, he expressed that he is returning to his home to Pokhara and proposed that if the flights didn’t run we should share a ride that would take us about 10 hours due to road construction. The flight was officially cancelled and it took him no time to arrange a car for us all. He shared that he is a musician and when I asked what bars he played in he smiled and shared that he doesn’t play in bars, he tours. We would soon learn this man was a well-known musician in Nepal. The driver was aware of this and was thrilled to be driving him.

Along the way, we discussed music and his journey of being a well-known musician in Nepal since he was a teenager and how his fans have grown up with him. He played some of his videos for us. His music was beautiful, a mix of jazz, traditional Nepalese and pop. We could not have asked for a better rideshare as he gave us a full commentary of the towns we passed and arranged stops that he thought we would enjoy.

We ordered a thali (a variety of dishes in one dish) at a cafe overlooking the hills and stopped at a beautiful bridge overlooking the Ganges.

This man was also deeply spiritual and we shared our mutual understanding and experiences with both Buddhist and Hindu perspectives and practices. We arrived at our hotel in Pokhara at 8 pm, tired and dusty, yet content with our choice to push through and opt to drive. It’s been two days for my sister and yet we have already covered so much ground. She still has not complained about lack of sleep and is adjusting with an openness and curiosity that the locals are drawn to.

When we were kids, after our father passed away tragically and life became chaotic, we stuck together like glue. I followed her everywhere. We travelled a lot during those early years and even though she was so young she paved our paths with adventure. I would always follow her and agree to whatever plan filled her busy, curious mind. Her sidekick. When she was 12 and I was 5, in our hometown of Ucluelet, she found creative ways to keep us entertained. “Tanya let’s tie your tricycle onto my bike and go down that dirt hill” “ok” At 14 and me 7 in Costa Rica “Tanya let’s jump off those cliffs into the water” “ok” At 16 and me 9, “Tanya hop of the back this scooter let’s go explore jamaica” “ok” As she spoke about feeling so far away from the person she knew herself to be, I quickly reminded her that adventure and fearlessness is her baseline.

I had suggested on our first day of Pokhara that we find an adventure for old time’s sake. “Kim let’s jump off the mountain and paraglide over the valleys of Nepal” Pause. “Ok” she replied.
The jeep picked us up at the hotel. It was a 40-minute drive with another couple from Nepal and the crew packed in the very back.

Once parked, we walked further up the mountain to a large sloped landing where the crew began to organize the equipment and brief us on the process. I was more afraid of getting the process wrong than I was of jumping off the mountainside.

“Walk” “Walk” “Runnnnn….” My birkenstocks kicked up dust as I skidded off the mountainside.

And off we flew into the open sky, the wind sucking us in and granting us elevation. The eagles and vultures soared around us, above us and below us. In those moments in nature, one recognizes who is really in charge. “The eagles fly the same way as us” I said. He corrected me, “We fly like the eagles, they are our teachers” “Fair”, I replied.

When we landed I found my sister and sat beside her. There was a confident clarity, a knowing of sorts, about her. it came with a sense of contentment I had not seen in her for some time. I turned to her “This is who you are and who you have always been”.

Fearlessness is not something one has to develop, it’s our natural state. Outdated beliefs about past experiences or catastrophic predictions about the future make us forget this.

If there is anything I can impart to you, dear readers, it would be that. When we hide from or avoid what we fear, whether it be about jumping off mountains, making big changes, taking risks, or being concerned of disappointing ourselves or others, we block our true essence and the magic of life that is our birthright.

I’m going to sign off now and enjoy my time with my lovely sister and find more ways to touch the sky.

“For I must be traveling on, now ‘Cause there’s too many places I’ve got to see”

-Lynyrd Skynyrd