As I have shared in the past, traveling across the world presents some special and very unique challenges when weight limits are less than 40 pounds.  In fact, I am fascinated by the fact that much of what we carry is often redundant to our experience.  In years past, I have taken both too much and too little.  Getting just the right balance takes some practice.

Traveling minimally and well requires practice.  Most of that practice can happen at home in a bedroom, packing and repacking clothing, gear, and etc.  The thing is, however, we often make the same choices over and over again often refusing to limit the numbers of shirts, pants, or skirts we take along for the ride.  My daughter says, “I need choices!”  Exactly!  Yet having too many choices can lead us to a more stressful experience once the travel has begun!

The trick is to take exactly what you need and not one thing more.  Literally not one thing more.

I start with the best bag for travel.  The one that I settled on is the EBAG.  The site I use is www.ebags.com and it includes just about everything you need to pack efficiently.  Similarly, I have used the web site One Bag to hone my packing skills.  Combing these two sites and the information included, I have been able to pack well for a three week trip using one bag.

The bag I use is the TLS Motherlode Weekender (yea, I know).  Here is what this bag has that others do not…or at least, do not do as well:  an outside front pocket for easy access to papers, journals, pens, etc.  An inner sleeve for a laptop or other large electronic device.  Top pocket for essentials.  A single open space used for packing all clothing and etc. The other nice feature is that the backpack straps completely disappear in a inner pocket, making the bag easy to toss on the top of a bus or van when you have to make sure that your bag doesn’t get hung up on someone else’s luggage.

 

 

Notice how the interior has a mesh pocket on top and straps with a central fabric divider….I’ve never used the divider, and it lays flat for packing.

The key, however, to packing well is packing cubes.  These lightweight, zippered containers make getting all of what you need IN the bag.

Using this method of packing cubes, the right bag, and the one bag approach to packing, you CAN get what you need in a bag that is easy to carry anywhere, anytime.

Can you see I’m already excited to get on the plane and head to Bhutan?  I begin my packing process months in advance, knowing what weather I will encounter and getting any items I need to make the trip easy for me.  As trip leader, that makes a huge difference in both my experience and the experience of my fellow travelers.  Making sure I have what is necessary positively impacts everyone’s trip.

For the longest time I have wanted to bicycle around Kyoto and this year the plan is set.  Bicycling in Kyoto is one of the easiest ways to see the sights in the city and do it in such a way that you can be at street level everywhere.  Traveling by bicycle, in any city, is a way to actually see more and experience more than by walking or bus.  Here’s my reasoning; on a bicycle you can cover more ground than by walking AND since you are traveling a a reasonable speed, you have the chance to see what you are passing.  By bus, the city flies by from street to street and it’s hard to be a part of knowing the city well.

In Kyoto, our plan is to ride to each of the sights on the plan by bike.  Our first ride will be from the bike rental shop on the Kamo-gawa River to Gingakuji Temple.  The park around the temple is wonderful and this trip gets our first step into traditional Japanese culture.

Our second excursion will take us around the city proper and to a series of locations including Nijo Castle, the home of the Shoguns, then on to the Hirano Shrine and along the road to the famous Kinkakuji Temple.  From Kinkaku-ji we head to the wonderful Ryoanji temple and rock garden.  These sites are among the most visited in the city and are worth the time spent.  Along the way we will stop for snacks and make a leisurely day of being in this remarkable city,.

Of course, to participate in this adventure, you will need to be comfortable on a bicycle, be familiar with riding near traffic, and be careful to watch each other as we ride through the city.  Keep in mind that modest dress is required for the visiting some of these sites. (More on that later)

I grew up in the film era.  By film, I mean film photography.  Sure, movies were (and some still are) constructed using film, however, my experience comes from shooting 35 and 120 MM black and white film.  While I have maintained my interest in and development of film, I was seduced by the dark side: digital photography for a while.  OK, so yea, digital photography is NOT some kind of short cut to photography; however, the lessons I learned in film photography are not necessarily inherent in digital photography…..with cameras that adjust for any light source or environmental conditions, the shot is all about the snapshot….with no concern for the number of shots left or cost, digital photography can expand into a near video shoot of still scenes.  Even the iPhone has a software feature that takes stills photos and gives them a slight video feel.

Beginning a few years I ago, I decided to re-establish my film photography.  I shot film in Japan in 2008 during a trip to the country and found the process really enjoyable.  I left behind the strong desire to “see” my instantaneous image and instead relied on my knowledge and instinct to grab the shot I wanted.  More recently, I committed to the Hasselblad and 120MM photography.  My partner gave me a Hasselblad 500 C/M as a wedding gift in 1997 and I am forever grateful for Katie opening the door to medium format photography.  The Hasselblad really forces me to slow my photographic process waaay down…I spend time using a light meter, framing the shot, and clicking off one of 12 stills on a single roll.

The other less talked about but equally important part of working with a medium format film camera is the weight of the beast.  With a 50MM lens attached to the camera, the Hasselblad weighs in at almost 6 pounds.  Add to that a bag to carry film, film backs, and an extra lens and BOOM serious weight considerations!  Just holding the camera is a real trick; on a recent trip, I noticed about 5 out of 60 shots completely out of focus….probably because of shaking during the shoot.

One of the more interesting parts of modern film photography is that IF you want to share images with folks electronically, you have to scan those images.  I’m lucky in that I have a place to develop my film for free; however, getting that film into digital form takes real effort.  A flatbed scanner is the cheapest solution, AND the time commitment is huge; in my case, roughly 3-5 minutes per scan!  Commercial scanning is available and runs roughly $20 per roll (with development)! Yikees!

Enough drivel for today; on to the show!  Included here are a few images from last summer’s trip to Japan and Bhutan.  I am still processing film and scanning images…these photos give you a glimpse into both the process and the place.

For those interested, all of these images were shot on Ilford HP5 in 120MM format with the Hasselblad 500 C/M, 80mm lens.

 

 

 

Beginning with two travel opportunities next year, our History Department is developing an Asian Studies curriculum and travel based on studies in History, Language, and Science.  Our small group of intrepid scholars are working on a plan and, in particular, integrating curriculum with travel.

Beginning with the program started by the History department in 2006, the Language, History, and Science departments are gearing up for an elaborate program in China that involves curricular components with international travel.  With the trips to Japan and Bhutan, my goal was to design a program that involved learning culture, history, and language.  So, in the History department we integrated information in classes and in study outside of the classroom including parents and students in a rich learning environment.

Ying Ding, Mandarin teacher at our school, is following the model and expanding on it by including a wide variety of experiences and interactions with students and business leaders in China.  Beginning next year, this program will be in place and include students in the Mandarin program.

All of these ideas have helped focus and guide the international travel we are doing in the History department.  As a result, we are reframing international travel as a study program rather than as a trip to another country.  The difference is an important one.  Rather than touring in the traditional sense, we building a set of knowledge for students and parents about the places we visit and the people we encounter.  Our goal is more than seeing sites; it’s about engaging in dialogue and conversation.

So, in the upcoming travel to Japan and Bhutan, we will engage in the best of travel; meeting, talking, laughing, playing, all of the pieces of interaction that make an experience something worth being a part of.  That idea, in a nutshell, is the plan.

I have a whole series of posts dedicated to my thread on the nature of mind.  Those posts will have to wait a while, as I work on my planning for international travel in 2018.  My original plan was to travel to Bhutan and Japan this summer with a small group of students.  Sadly, a couple of folks had to drop out making the travel almost impossible and prohibitively expensive.  As a result, we rearranged our plans for a summer 2018 trip.

Planning a trip to Asia takes a lot of time and a decent amount of pre-planning.  The time commitment includes finding places to stay, monitoring plane flights, and creating a daily plan for the trip.  Namgay at Illuminating Tours has been my go to trip expert in Bhutan and he and I work on a plan for travel that students will enjoy.  For Japan, all of the work comes from my own research and searches for the best possible experience for middle and high school students.

Planning a trip with students can be a daunting task.  Many of us use tours companies like EF or ACIS, or other groups to simplify the process.  While those companies offer great options, I am more interested in creating experiences that involve students getting to know a place.  That is one reason why when we travel to Japan, we stay in one location, getting to know a neighborhood, families who live there, and making daily decisions about what we want to do on that day.

This shift from packaged tours with large groups of people to small groups making adhoc decisions has been wonderful and stressful.  For example, being in a place and finding that the one place you planned to go to on that day is closed.   That approach is one of the risks of traveling with students internationally without a very specific itinerary in place.

My approach to planning, then, involves putting together an idea of what we can do and letting students and parents know that some of the things we planned may change.  For example, on a recent trip to Kyoto, the weather was so hot that we chose to avoid a long hike through the Arashiyama area and instead stayed closer to town.

When it comes down to it, I create international travel based on a couple of driving principles: can I offer students an experience that is unique and exceptional, and will that experience linger past the few days after we return home.  Simply put, I have made a lasting impact on the hearts and minds of the people who travel with me to Asia?

In 2018, we return to Kyoto and the home stay in the machiya district not far from Gion.  We will stay in the Juichi-an and Aotake-an residences.  In addition, I’ve scheduled a couple of bicycle tours of Kyoto which will allow us to see a bit more of the city.

Also, for this upcoming trip, the Bhutan piece will include a trip to Mongar and Lhuntse.  I want students to meet with weavers and connect with the folks who make their living from textiles.  This ancient practice transcends culture and time, extending back into the distant past.  Arguably, textile production was among the first types of production developed after intensive agriculture.  In many ways, intensive agriculture and textile production went hand in hand as communities developed.  In Bhutan, such production is spread across the country and some of the silk textiles made in Bhutan are produced in Lhuntse.  For some detailed information, check out: Lhuntse.

I will continue to update the plan for travel to Asia in the coming weeks.  The entire plan will be finalized by April.  More to come soon….

 

 

 

Action is being truly observant of your own thoughts, good or bad, looking into the true nature of whatever thoughts may arise, neither tracing the past nor inviting the future, neither allowing any clinging to experiences of joy, nor being overcome by sad situations.  In doing so, you try to reach and remain in the state of great equilibrium, where all good and bad, peace and distress, are devoid of true identity.  Dudjom Rinpoche as quoted in Sogyal Rinpoche,  The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (167-168)

To understand the following tale, I recommend that you, good reader, give me a bit of leeway as you glance over these awkward sentences.  In trying to express my thoughts, feelings, and ideas, I ask for forgiveness if I veer far from the rational, logical mind of Western thought.  You see, the moment I got off of the plane in Paro in March 2010, I recognized the “state of great equilibrium” that exists in Bhutan.  At the time, I was simply not aware enough to understand what was happening.  Stepping onto the tarmac from the rear door of the Druk Air plane, I was overcome with a feeling or experience I never had before.  As I have said before in other posts, something is here, in Bhutan, that I have not found elsewhere.  Walking across the tarmac into the terminal building, a sense of wonder engulfed me.  I was, quite honestly, in awe.

The experience of those first few moments washed over me and, at the time, I had no previous experience to put those few moments into context.  I was overwhelmed.  AS you can tell, I am still attached, in a way, to the experience itself.  And, if you read the quotation above, you noticed that Dudjom Rinpoche said specifically NOT to attach to those feelings or thoughts.

The thing is, it’s hard not to be attached to these experiences.  It’s a kind of bliss in the moment.  What I think is going on in Bhutan is the deep connection to Vajrayana practices and a whole country focused around many of the principles of that practice.  Carl Jung wrote about a “collective unconscious” that humans shared certain archetypes or experiences.  While I am no expert in Jungian psychology, that notion came up when I had the chance to think about my experiences in Bhutan after that first trip.  Is it possible that, in Bhutan, a kind of collective unconscious permeates the place and is held by the people in the country?  Is it possible for someone to tap into such a set of thoughts and emotions (Jung would probably say they were not even thoughts)?

As I ponder the notion that being on the tarmac in Bhutan in March 2010, that I spontaneously experienced some contact with Bhutanese collective unconscious is laughable on its face.  If I presented such an argument to folks in some academic institution, I’d be quickly hurried out of the building!

And yet, there is was.  A moment in time etched in my psyche.

The thing is, if that moment simply faded away, I wouldn’t be writing these words today.  Because, and here’s the thing, over the course of that trip and each of the other trips I have taken, the pattern is repeated regardless of whether or not I visit the same places or become more familiar with the people and cultural structures of the communities we visit.  You would think it would get old; right?  I mean, visiting places again and again might wear down that uniqueness of sense of wonder.  That change has not happened.

OK, so what am I saying here: that Bhutan offers an example of that “state of equilibrium” on a national scale.  That the attempt to extend and establish GNH (Gross National Happiness), for all its successes and failures, emphasizes exactly the kind of idea that Dudjom Rinpoche was talking about; balance.  I have even heard people express this idea to me directly: “Life is hard sometimes, and sometimes I have to get a ride or drive hours for work.  But that is part of life.  I send money home to family and take care of my children, and we all work on being happy even with the hard life we have.”  I wrote this quote down soon after this person said it to me….the idea that life is tough and we can find the “silver lining” or “happiness” even in the face of difficult circumstances.  And yes, that sentiment is not unique to Bhutan or people in Bhutan and I’ve heard phrases like that all my life.  So, what’s the difference?  That thought is actually how some people I have met live.  Based on my anecdotal evidence, something in the society and culture is based on that deep truth.

Am I too deep in it right now? Hmmm.  Maybe so.  I guess what I’m doing is grappling with experiences and their ultimate meaning.  Since I’m the one writing about all of this doo-dah, you’ll just have to either read along with these tortured thoughts….or not.

It’s a warm, early June day.  The sky is crystal clear in Bumthang with white, billowy clouds dotting the expansive space over our heads as we walk along a dirt road headed to Kurje Lhakhang.  The dust rises from underneath our feet as we trod a dirt road following the Chamkar Chu river.  We started this short trek just a mile before, walking toward the east, headed toward a suspension bridge above the river.  The mood is lively as a couple of students run down the road, seeing the bridge in front of them, eager to be the first to cross.

A slight breeze crosses our path as we walk and the heat starts to build.  Beads of sweat appear on my brow and I wish I had worn a short sleeve shirt; why did I choose the polyester collared shirt on this day?  As I walk, I take pictures of houses, landscapes, students, flowers, and the river.  I pull up the rear (my spot on these recent hikes) and arrive at the bridge with most folks already across.  I step onto the swinging expanse as the breeze is hitting its height, the bridge slowly swinging side to side over the rushing river below.  Covered in prayer flags, the wind whips these small cloth tiles.  I pause at the middle and look forward and back; students are already walking down the dirt road on the other side toward the temple grounds.

Below the bridge toward the Kurje temple grounds, standing on a large rock in the river, is a woman, washing and cleaning clothes.  With a bucket mixed with soap and water, she puts one piece at a time in the bucket, scrubs the clothes with her hands, and then rinses in the river.  Once the washing is complete, she lays the clothes flat on the stone in the hot sun…about ten garments stretch across these rocks, drying in the mid-day sunlight.

I make it onto the dirt road just below a hill leading high up into the mountains surrounding the valley.  At the end of the road (maybe 100 yards or so) is a small parking area near the metal gate separating the road from the temple.  The gate, no more than 5 feet high opens into the grounds with a guard and monk standing close by.  We cross through the gate and emerge in front of the first building of Kurje Lhakang.  To the right, a cliff face rises about 30 feet or so above the ground level and its rocky face is covered in moss and vines.   As we walk around the building toward the stairs leading into the main shrine rooms of the temple, you can tell that the temple covers the cliff face, sealing off the outside world with an inner world of shrine rooms and caves.

This building, constructed in the distant past (about 1200 years ago), seals off a series of caves in the wall of the cliff.  It is this building and the shrine room associated with it that is our goal.

The stairs leading up to the temple zig zag between two distinct temples….on the right is the temple surrounding the cave, and the left a sign clearly says “Guru Rimpoche Footprint”.  We climb up the stairs and head to the temple on the right.  After two flights of steps, we walk to a landing with a doorway that enters into a darkened hall.

To the left, at our feet, is an opening in the wall about three feet tall and maybe two feet wide.  The floor inside this small opening is dirt and curves around a column inside the wall.  Namgay, our guide, asks if we want to crawl through the small opening and through a tight cave.  After passing through, we will receive a kind of blessing from the Guru and receive a ritual purification.  We all agree to pass through.  One by one we get down on hands and knees….the dirt is a light brown color, kind of a tan, and the dirt is a fine powder.  Some if us laugh at the experience, some of us take it very seriously.  We crawl on hands and knees through the opening….me, at over 6 feet, struggle to wriggle through the tiny space…..once inside the doorway, the cave makes a sharp left turn….I can feel dirt, sand, and rock on the floor of the cave and the cool feeling of the rock wall as it rubs my shoulder on the right….I bend my body down, almost flat on the floor, to make the turn….as soon as I come around, I can see the light of the exit, just a couple of feet away….it’s remarkable how dark the cave is when the light is so close!  I wiggle my way up and out of the opening…not so graceful, but feeling a sense of accomplishment.

From there we head up another flight of stairs and into the shrine room of the meditation cave for Padmasambhava.  As I part the curtain that separates the shrine from the outside world, a glass encased series of sculptures, statues, and offerings sit behind the glass….just behind those statues you can see the rock wall, very dimly lit in this room.  I cross in front of the alter that sits in front of the glass enclosed cave, and see, on the far side of the room, the cave Padmasambhava meditated in.  I am struck by how small the space really is, and imagine that Padmasambhava was about 5’ 5” tall, or so….the cave has a distinct floor and ceiling.  At the time he arrived here, the cave sat maybe 20 feet above the valley floor…..I am imagine he climbed up to this spot, capable of seeing the valley in front of him, across a grassy field, probably with a few animals grazing in the distance.  In the winter, this cave must have been a chilly place to sit, as Bumthang sits relatively high in elevation and receives a decent amount of snow during the winter.  Similarly, this cave would have been visible from across the valley as he sat in calm abiding.  Certainly people who lived here would have known of his presence and more than likely brought him offerings of food and clothing for his stay.

With all of these thoughts in mind, I find a place to sit in the far corner of the room.  Near me is a local resident of Bumthang, sitting under a exterior window near the lama’s seat, chanting a mantra and moving beads in his hands.   He is fully clothed, from head to toe, with only his head and hands showing.  He glances gently my way.  I immediately reach a state of stillness and begin a short meditation, legs crossed, sitting on polished wooden floor boards hewn and hand cut.  Over the years these boards have been polished with an animal fur pad that attaches to your feet, the pads sitting next to the entrance of the room.  The stillness permeates the space and the quiet chanting completely fills the silence in the room.

A moment later (maybe two), students file in, silently, and find a spot to sit.  Across from us sits Namgay….as we rest, silently for a few moments, he talks about the importance of this place.  He tells the story of Padmasambhava and his travels to Bhutan.  We all listen carefully and I can tell the students are very attentive with a kind of heightened awareness.  These moments happen consistently in these sacred places, and I am so impressed by the respectful nature of the students as they listen intently.

Soon enough, we rise and slowly leave the room….

(You can find more information about Kurjey here.)

Bringing back an experience, ideas, and understanding from a place like Bhutan requires, I think, more than just a casual tour.  While we can all be affected and transformed by short term or limited experiences, there is something to be said for visiting a place repeatedly.  As I have mentioned before, people have asked me, again and again, why I choose to travel to the same places year after year?  Why do I return (with students and on my own) to Bhutan?

Let me start with a description of the philosophical underpinnings of my approach to travel and then talk more specifically about Bhutan.  When I first started taking international trips with students, my goal was to offer students an experience that was deep rather than broad.  So, for example, in traveling to China, I wanted students to spend more time in a few places rather than go many places in a short time.  That approach, depth over breadth, is the same approach I use in classes.  That learning more about a little is fundamentally better that learning a little about a lot.  This approach runs contrary to the whole idea that knowledge is about knowing more….the more you know, the more intelligent you are, the more conversant you are in the world, and that the knowledge you have makes for great conversation and promotes intellectualism both in academic settings and in the world.

The thing is, more knowledge does not mean more understanding of the world or better interactions with people and communities. (We can debate this point, if you like.)  Similarly, traveling to a place in the world and learning about the people, culture, and history and establishing a relationship in that place offers the traveler something more than a sightseeing tour.  The question you might be asking is, how do you choose such a place?  What do you look for or what are you, as the traveler, hoping to reveal in yourself?

In travel for me and for my students, I was looking for a complete experience with the fewest number of distractions.  For example, my travels in China were wonderful and we enjoyed visiting the people and places.  At the same time, students were captivated by shopping in some of the largest cities in the world.  Nothing wrong with finding a bargain or grabbing a trinket for folks at home (or yourself) and, I found that the focus for some folks was on getting some material object as a token of travel.

In a place like Bhutan, the experience is the token.  While anyone can find something to buy in Bhutan, what I designed was an experience that focused on people and place.  Materialism, so far, is not the single motivating factor in Bhutanese society, IMHO.  As a result, student experiences are based more closely on cultural interactions.  Those kinds of experiences, I argue, help bring about internal reflection….that being in Bhutan allows for some powerful insights on what we do and who we are.  Meeting Bhutanese families really has reshaped student (and my) understanding of the world.   Of course this process can happen in other places and among people in many parts of the world.  Bhutan, for me, is a place that offers that unique experience.

So what is IT about Bhutan.  First and foremost, the fact that this country is the last of the Vajrayana kingdoms in existence makes the place, people, and society something unique in the world. Further, the fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, created and expressed the idea of GNH, Gross National Happiness, in 1972.  His idea was to create an economy that honored Bhutanese culture and Buddhist philosophy.  The combination of these two aspects of Bhutanese society offer visitors and glimpse into an alternative way of seeing the world and our place in it.

The combination of Buddhism and GNH makes for the kinds of interactions with folks in Bhutan that are memorable.  Maybe the experiences I (and students) have had and the impact of those experiences is based on the very structure of Bhutanese society.  That, of course, brings us back to Padmasambhava.  If we can attribute some of the structural systems in Bhutan to Padmasambhava, then his influence has shaped my experiences some 1200 years later.

Finally, a number of students have traveled to Bhutan with me more than once.  Some have been profoundly affected by the people and place.  Other students are planning return trips on their own.  From my perspective, those students are representative of the impact Bhutan has on one’s life.

Now, if you are parsing my writing, you will realize that I made a circular argument….that’s not by accident.  I come back to Padmasambhava because I see some of what he (and his students) accomplished in Bhutan and elsewhere as a fundamental piece of why Bhutan represents a unique place in the world.

My next post will open the conversation about my perspective on Bhutan amounting to a kind of hagiography: a representation that makes Bhutan seem to be better than it really is…is Bhutan real?