On February 20th, 2023, my dad died. What follows is the extended obituary and memorial service details that can also be found here. But first, I want to share my experience of my dad’s death from the other side of the world in Bardia National Park, southern Nepal.
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I admit it; I’m a planner. I’ve always said that half the fun of travel for me is researching far flung destinations, poring over a guidebook (or these days blogs and vlogs) looking for off the beaten path gems. This trip has been a total anomaly in that I did almost zero research in advance. It’s not surprising as our plates were a bit full before we left: moving out of our home of 18 years, selling most of our possessions, transitioning to a nomad lifestyle. Still, it was not entirely comfortable for me to travel halfway around the world without any plans. But 20+ hours on a plane is a lot of time to read your Lonely Planet, which results in a long list of “must see” places to visit.
The thing about planning, though, is that sometimes the destinations live up to your expectations, sometimes they don’t; and every so often, you get lucky and they blow your mind. And that was the case with Hampi. A perfect mix of history, culture, and nature; Hampi was a real standout of our time in India.
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In Nepal we were told more than once that there are 33 million gods in Hinduism. Multiply that by at least 1 million shrines and temples per god and you end up with exactly ZERO that include any signage or interpretation for English speakers (an informational kiosk would be nice). This is fine when the shrine is literally a stone bump in the street (like the one pictured to the right, also anonymous). But what about when it’s life-sized gods cut straight out of a stone mountain?
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Lower the Bar for More Fun 