Travel Day

Time to go.
I shove any last minute thoughts of chickening out to the back of my brain and hop in a cab,
my duffel bag and backpack on my shoulder.
Did I bring everything I'll need?
Did I forget anything?
Too late now.
My flights go smoothly. No delays.
Austin to Dallas.
Dallas to Dubai.
Dubai to Dehli, India.
Now the fun starts.
The lady at American Airlines in Austin only checked my bag through to Dehli.
I have a 14 hour layover here.
The only problem is I don't have an Indian Visa.
I can't enter the country.
Apparently baggage claim is considered IN the country.
Welcome to India.
I've been flying for 24 hours and I'm fried.
What to do?
Luckily this guy that works for Emirates Airlines (the plane I just got off of)
gets on his radio and figures out that HE can get my bag and check it into my next flight.
He just needs my passport.
Oh God.
The last bit of security i have.
I offer him a photocopy but he says he needs the actual passport.
As he disappears down the hall, I contemplate spending the night here in this weird section of the Dehli
airport.
Unable to go on to Kathmandu because I don't have my passport.
Not in India but in purgatory.

Everest Calling

I got the e-mail last week, asking if anyone wanted to join the Love Hope Strength gang on their
5 year anniversary trek to base camp at Mt. Everest.
Strangely enough my calendar was open.
I had wanted to go on this trip but it was beyond my reach, financially speaking.
Someone dropped out and now I could go for a third of the price.
Compelling.
It would mean lots and lots of scrambling to get together all the gear,
plane flights etc.
I thought about how I would feel if I didn't go.
Once I did that, the expense (still considerable) and the effort paled in comparison to the feeling of missing out on such an Odyssey.
Some of my partners in crime would include Brett Dennen, Cy Curnin, G Love and Robin from the Gin Blossoms.
We will play a big concert in Kathmandu at the end of the trip.
One of my best friends from college was going as well.
How could I say no?
Let the games begin.
The list of stuff I needed was three pages long.
What the hell are pile pants?
The first order of business was to get a good pair of hiking boots.
My old pair had literally come apart on a hike in Marfa Texas.
There's a metaphor in there somewhere.
I went to one of my many visits to REI.
I was told if I got a boot that fit too snug my toenails would turn black and fall off as I descended the mountain.
After trying on many different pairs, I settled on a pair that set me back a mere $100.
The irony is a friggin pair of good hiking socks at REI costs $20 so I almost spent more on the socks than the shoes.
I went on a 4 mile hike.
Then a 5 mile one.
Then a 6 mile one.
Each time, it was easily the best part of my day.
Why didn't I do this more often?
Walking slows down your brain, makes you relax and you can appreciate all the interesting things that are all around us.
The last walk I took, I walked down the street and heard some band rehearsing in a garage.
It was an instrumental but the music was tight as a drum and full of tension.
These guys were good.
Some guy rode by on his ten speed.
"Austin Texas, where there's a shitty band on every block".
Everyone's entitled to their opinion, I suppose.
I liked to end my walks at the Draught House and reward myself with a pint of Ale.
I'm going to celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow and then on Friday I'm off.
I will update this blog as much as I can while hiking several miles a day on the other side of the world.
Love Hope Strength does good work.
You can check them out here: http://lovehopestrength.org/
This is for a worthy cause so if you want to help defray my expense you can paypal me at: mzuniga@me.com
Namaste,
MILES