Wow finally something interesting to write about. I am honestly feeling refreshed so this will be a more narrative blog. Yesterday, we embarked on our first overnight to prepare for the 10 day trek in the near future. I was excited and nervous at the same time, and preparing my bag for this trip was giving my anxiety (not really). I forgot a few things, but now I know what to bring. We walked for a fat minute to our hiking area and if I am going to be completely honest, it was extremely rough. The amount of up and downhills I went and stubbing my toe going down was countless. There was this one time a few years back where my friend and I wanted to go cliff diving in this deep forest and got lost in it for 5 hours while hiking and swimming through rivers in flip flops. I remember that day vividly due to how scared I was and tired I was. Though this hike was a guided hike, it was definitely more tiring than what I experienced prior. The level of difficulty of the hike was unmatched. Trekking along the largest mountain region is truly a challenge. It was only an overnight trek and coming back to the Hanifl center I felt like Tony Stark in the beginning of Endgame. I literally hugged Vishal the moment I got back because of how much I missed the Hanifl center and clean surroundings.

The hike itself was tricky because the teachers wanted us to find a camping site. In my opinion, I wish we got more guidance because we could not find a plausible camping site. We kept hiking and honestly the view was surreal. It felt like I was in Breath of the Wild, but in real life. Walking by I even saw some cannabis plants (I don’t do drugs)! Luckily, we found a villager (it was like a real life NPC in a video game) that offered his plot of land for all 15 of us to stay. There was this field he had where we set up camp by excavating the field and laying our tent down. I am currently watching Vinland Saga and it felt like the anime. My group, Wall St, delegated roles which worked out well. The sunset was surreal as well and in that exact moment I felt so free like never before. It was the first time in my life where I felt so connected to nature and the fruit of finally reaching our destination was a feeling of accomplishment I’ve never felt before. Seeing the vast mountains and villages across the horizon felt like a movie. I had my hands above my sweaty head and could not help but stare into space in awe. We cooked our own food using these dinky stoves, but our pasta was 5 star worthy. Towards the end of the day we looked at the stars for a while and saw the big dipper. It was a bit sad to see the sky was a big foggy, but it was the best scene of stars I’ve seen in years. We finally slept in the tents amongst 3 people and we learned the hard way that before setting up our tents that we should definitely move the rocks beneath us. I literally had a rock on my tail bone area so I woke up with a bruised hip because I sleep on my side. We also made the mistake of picking a slant in elevation so we kept sliding down. Now the biggest question of the day was definitely the pooping situation. Luckily I did not have to poop that day, but my friends did and I was truly not a fan of this. Anyways, I’d rather not talk about that due to PTSD. The next day we had oatmeal and left. We hiked fast pace and got back to Hanifl within 4-5 hours but it was rough due to going strictly uphill. I started losing pace due to being extremely hungry, but now I know what my weakness is. I am excited about camping, but I am not excited about walking for hours, sleeping in the tents, and pooping. I really hope to reflect during my 10 day trek. I am excited and scared as we speak. It scares me knowing that I do not have much to work with to improve myself for this journey. I thought I trained a decent amount from the beginning of January, but it seems like I am far from being a complete unit. I am also excited to be days without technology because there are some annoying people back from home that will not leave me alone, so now I have a proper excuse to ghost them. Throughout my time here in India I’ve learned to love the new and simple things in life that the Hanifl center has offered me, but I cannot help but miss the things from back home. I realized how privileged I was with what I believed to be simple necessities in life, but now I have to work for it here. Whether it’s purifying water, easy access to food, nice sleeping conditions. In a way this journey will be about survival with the dangerous routes as well as being conservative with supplies such as water and food. Not being able to properly shower for over a week will be rough and a challenge. I know when I go back home I will be more grateful for the things I am used to. Even showering at the Hanifl center can be tricky due to the bipolar nature of the hot and cold water. It burns me every 3 minutes.