I have the wanders

So far for the next  year I have just one trip on my docket...a big one,  Nepal and Bhutan. I am pretty excited.  It is with a group which is a good change for me (I hope). I meet them in Kathmandu somewhere. It is a 10 day trip in Nepal complete with yoga, meditation and 5 days of trekking. Plus a 5 day excursion to Bhutan.

While this is a dream trip, I have started to think beyond to my next stage in life. Usually a "next trip" is enough to keep my "what's next" drive at bay for a while, but apparently no longer. I've been thinking about getting back on the road more long term. This is really for a combination of reasons, so I'll name just a few. I am ready to make a very large change in my life, a basic overhaul, including selling the majority of things I have accumulated while living a pretty classic post college existence (based on my peer group, which I have to admit is not that many people).  This existence consists of working a full time job, renting an apartment, and accumulating things I don't need in between miscellaneous travel. Well I guess that's not really classic, travel for the larger population (here) seems to be more of an anomaly, with pockets of people who do it here and there. I've reached a point in my life where, while I am grateful for all of the wonderful opportunities I have had and the very comfortable life I have developed, I seem to have grown out of it. This leaves me feeling stagnant and longing for a shift. It's not that I want more or that I am searching for one thing, it is that I feel like I want something different. It's an interesting place to be, sitting in the loving warmth of gratitude but at the same time wanting change. It's hard to reconcile in my head to be quite honest. I know many would say just be grateful for what you have, and I am, but that does not mean blindly living my life never making any changes just because something is "good" in the classical sense of the college, work, house, family, kids formula. While that formula can be very appealing, I also feel there is another way for me personally right now. Another way I can contribute to my own core alignment, my peace of heart and mind, and perhaps if I am really lucky someone else's too. I know it's idealistic but I stopped dreaming a while ago and I am itching to start back up again.

This is going to sound absolutely crazy to anyone who knows me, but I feel like I've never really struck out on my own. I mean in travel yes of course, but not in the rest of my life. Sure I do fun things and am always trying new things, but I've only lived three other places in my life and for fairly short periods of time. I've only had a few jobs, my main one being with family. And I just feel like I need to step out from under the umbrella and play in the rain.

I know that the road to total life transition is daunting and very bumpy but I am looking forward to figuring out what it means for me over the next six months or so. Maybe it isn't as big of a change as I am envisioning or maybe it is. Either way I am open to it and want to embrace whatever it ends up meaning for me.

So while I am enjoying my training for the Himalayas and simultaneously thinking about the next step I'll have to remember to take that extra breath in and enjoy each present moment.