TRAVEL MEMOIRS

Finding Comfort in Kathmandu

A birthday party helped me get over my homesickness

Flower vendor on the streets of Kathmandu- Darren Weir

“SURPRISE!” Well, we didn’t jump out and yell — we didn’t want to scare her.

We were in Kathmandu to surprise my friend’s mom for her birthday. We were on the other side of the world from our homes in Toronto and it felt like a million miles away.

I was six months into a two-year travel adventure — chasing summer. I’d already done some traveling in Canada, California and Hawaii. I cycled through Vietnam from Saigon to Hanoi. I ate Pad Thai on Khao San Road in Bangkok. And I roamed the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

By the time I arrived in India, I’d already hit my stride, settling into my new nomadic lifestyle. I was used to working since I was a teenager but I shed those responsibilities like a downfill coat on a hot summer day. I left everything behind and had no home to go back to.

Street in Old Delhi; busy traffic in New Delhi — Darren Weir

India wasn’t easy, at least not at first. It wasn’t just the overwhelming crush of people. It was the noise, the traffic, the searing heat, the pungent cooking smells. I spent a few days settling into this…