FAQ

Here are some answers to questions that I’ve had from several folks over the last year:

1.     Which place has been your favorite?

I've loved most of the places I stayed in.  But within that general sense of delight, there’s a short list of places where I could happily live out the rest of my days: 

 Karakol, Kyrgyzstan

 Ushuaia, Argentina

 Wanaka, New Zealand

 Christchurch, New Zealand

There are also a couple of places I really love and would happily stay for a good long while but couldn’t live permanently, for one reason or another:  North Clare/Galway, Ireland (no mountains). Almaty, Kazakhstan (air quality issues). Tyengboche, Nepal (pretty inaccessible). Bergen, Norway (OMG SO EXPENSIVE--or should I say, unaffjordable).

2.     Which place has been your least favorite?

I don’t regret going to any of the places I went.  I found every single place fascinating, and I enjoyed my time in each location.  Having said that, I don’t need to while away too many more hours of my life in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, or Dushanbe, Tajikistan—though when I someday get back to that Pamir Highway hiking trip (the one my illness prevented my doing back in September) I will certainly go back to both of those places.   

3.     Best hike?

In no particular order:  Ala-Kul (Kyrgyzstan), Fitz Roy (Argentina), Buarbreen Glacier (Norway) 

3.     Did you write anything?

Well, I finished a book of poems.  I wrote a lecture and a conference paper.  I edited an enormous essay collection. 

4.     Are you going to write a travel book?

Sounds like a lot of work.  Or more precisely, sounds like the perfect way to transform this adventurous life into a deliverable.

5.     Have you counted your steps?/ Have you used a pedometer?/ How many miles have you hiked?

I didn’t track my steps because I didn’t want to gamify my efforts to just be present in these places.  I do know that I put in about 2000 miles between Turkey and Nepal because I calculated after the fact, but I haven't kept track after leaving Nepal.

6.     Hardest place to be a vegetarian?

Tajikistan, because of the uncooked vegetables.

7. Best food?

  I had outstanding food pretty much everywhere. 

8.  Worst food? 

Burritos in New Zealand. Ketchup is not salsa, amigos.    

      9. Best travel tip?

      When you know that you will arrive at a foreign airport, jetlagged and in a place where maybe you don’t speak the language or even read the alphabet, splurge on a prebooked hired car to get you from the airport. (I usually use Booking.com for this.) In most places it’s not that much of a splurge—in nearly all of my destinations, the cost was between $5 and $15; only Istanbul came in high, at $37, and having a driver standing there with a sign with my name on it is totally worth it in that madhouse of an arrivals lounge.  By the time you're ready to go back to the airport, you know the city well enough to figure out the best way back to the airport, but on arrival?  I'll take the bougie driver option, thanks. 

     10.  Have you been lonely?

I don’t know how people managed this fellowship before the smartphone. I've kept in pretty constant, even daily, contact with my family--mostly by video.  I've had wifi in most of my lodging (excluding time on treks), and T-Mobile’s mobile/data coverage is worldwide (it’s not necessarily lightning fast but I did have free data in every single country I went to).

11. Have you ever felt unsafe?

No.  Most places, I felt warmly welcomed, and people were kind.  The one place I felt less than easy was Tajikistan.  The people there were not unkind, but neither were they welcoming.  They regarded me with a mixture of bald curiosity and suspicion, and I was conspicuous everywhere because of my tall fair aspect and my nontraditional clothes.  No one spoke English.  But I wouldn't say that I felt unsafe there--went on a run every evening as usual, explored the mountains on my own.  Just really, really felt like an obvious outsider, like the country wasn't especially happy I was there.

12. What did you pack?

3 pairs of pants (climbing tech pants, water resistant/weather pants, zip-off hiking pants); 7 T-shirts; UV-blocking shirt; baselayer; fleece jacket; running shorts; wind-resistant shell; anorak; heavy gloves; light gloves; turtle fur; 3 buffs; sun hat; swimsuit; bandana; 4 pairs of shoes (hiking, running, daily sneakers, flipflops); crampons; hiking poles; drybag; toiletries; first aid kit; pharmacy kit; sewing kit; multitool; mylar blanket; Steripen; Lifestraw; headlamp; computer; spare phone; power converters; 3 nalgene 1L bottles (and a small bottle of baking soda to keep them clean).

12. Most essential gear?

Aside from sun-protective clothes (that ubiquitous bucket hat and plaid shirt!), I'd say it was my Steripen, which kept the water drinkable worldwide. 

Also, these poles, which are lightweight and tough and also fold down to fit in a backpack.  

13.  How does it feel to be ending this year of travel?

There are photos of Utah landscapes and samples of Utah rocks in museums from London to Kazakhstan to Singapore.  Utah is so crazy beautiful, so varied in its terrain, so sublime in mountains and deserts, that people come from everywhere to hang out in my backyard!  I'm thrilled to get back into my own, intimately known, spaces again.

And yet, I'm also sad to stop drifting.  I've had to keep reminding myself that although I'm headed home, it's not as if I'm no longer allowed to travel.  There is much world left to see, many mountains left to climb.  I've got a list.  Let me just get my laundry done and weed my yard and I'll be ready to go again.

[A little nap on my backpacks in transit from Argentina to Chile]