Journey to Serenity

If you ever get the chance to devote 30 days to assessment of where you are in life, how you got there andthe chance to explore how you’d like your life journey to proceed, take it. Thirty days gives one the chance to go without agenda, without plan.  One can enjoy the journey so much more, acheive more, if given the time to take it slowly.   So many of us plan so much into our off time.  We think of vacation as a collection of activities and learning experiences that while experiential aren’t really self-fulfilling.  I think that’s why golf has become one of the foremost travel activities.  While some just want to experience the competition among friends or the vistas of a new venue, many players also enjoy the quiet comraderie, the introspection and contemplation golf subliminally affords.

Most of us plan time away from work so as to ‘maximize’ every moment and in the process lose the essence of relaxed recharging.  Reservations, tee times, spa appointments, strict itineraries all go to making sure we are entertained every moment…missing nothing but really missing everything.  The planning itself is seriously stressful.  We tend to cram so much into so little time because we want to make the most out of a vacation.  How many times have you heard, ‘I had to come back to work from my vacation so I could rest?’

I am self-admittedly, the traditional shining example of this behavior.  While working in Singapore, a colleague at Nicklaus, Mike Grant, and I decided to make a trip to Nepal to trek.  Imagine walking without golf club in hand!  We found out that Nepal was also home to some of the finest white water rafting in the world.  An elephant safari was yet another opportunity to explore the nether regions of this nether region and perhaps see a tiger in the wild.  An experience I have later come to understand is as frequest as a hole-in-one.  We decided we had five whole days so why not do it all?

Off we went landing in Katmandu late one evening where we stayed at the Yak and Yeti Hotel.  Before dawn the next morning we were met by the tour operator and our driver for this truly action packed American expedition.  These poor guys would have charge of two of the least likely explorers of things natural.  Now we could find our way around any nightime jungle in pretty much any major metropolitan area in the world, but the unconquered wild was another thing.  So we piled into the back of the jeep and set off for a five hour drive to the first stop, white water rafting.  We were put into the river and spent the next three hours winding down to the first stop, where we jumped back into the jeep and continued on.

Six hours later we arrived at the safari camp just in time for a quick bite, no silver service here, and bunked down for the night.  Up again well before dawn, we mounted the elephant, sat in a basket behind the Nepalese driver, and proceeded into the jungle.  First we came upon some deer (they’re not call deer there) and later a bunch of peacocks, and the occasional monkey.  Then we spotted a pair of rhino about 300 yards out.  As we meandered toward them they drifted off.  This happened a couple more times until we spotted a rhino alone in the distance.  This time it allowed us to get really close which seemed odd until we realized it was a female with calf alongside.  Mama was none too happy with the intrusion so decided to charge us from about fifty yards.  The elephant is an extremely agile creature given its immense girth and so up it went on its haunchestrumpeting like crazy with us clinging to the basket for dear life.  The elephant worked its way around a sapling keeping the tree between us and the rhino the driver furiously trying to bring it under control.  I really didn’t know which to fear more, the rhino or being rolled over by our transportation.  Ultimately the rhino was satisfied we were no threat, lost interest and went back to her calf.  Thank God we never spotted a tiger!

We returned to camp, helped wash down the elephant in the river and boarded the jeep for another four hour drive to begin the trek.  Sir Edmund Hillary I’m not, so the trek was pretty tame.  We started at 6,000 feet and climbed to 8,500 feet over a couple days.  You golfers have probably faced more seious climbs on coursse in Iowa or Indiana, known for serious topographical change.  We had four porters one of which could make a wok sing.  We hiked through a couple of villages and on the second day we came down the mountain boarded the jeep and traveled eleven hours more or less to the point of beginning.  We caught the flight back to Singapore the next morning.

So we managed to cram so much into so little time that we got a fleeting taste of several things that might have been satisfying taken alone but in concert became a blur of stimulation.  This in a land known for spirituality, oneness with nature, serenity.

Well India has been different for sure.  I’ve spent most evenings alone in my apartment having room service, watching old movies…I cannot believe there is an Anaconda 2…one was bad enough, and arguing with ATT over data charges (more about that later).  Frankly, these evenings have been among the best.  Boredom can be so nice.

The work piece of this trip is getting more interesting by the day as I learn more about golf development in the world’s second most populated country.  And Will and Kate can move over.  I attended an Indian wedding last night that hosted more than 2,000 people, a cross between Hollywood and Ali Baba.  Check the next posting for more on the wedding.

Thanks for checking in.