“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.”
- Jack Kerouac
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| "The Greatest adventure is what lies ahead.” - J.R.R. Tolkien |
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| Guadalupe Peak - 8,571' |
It's been almost seven years since I cooked up this trip, and five years since the COVID plandemic stole it out from under me in the eleventh hour back in March of 2020. As much of a disappointment as that was, I was at a pivotal point in my professional career that would ultimately put me in a position to be financially able retire at age 62, or whenever I deem myself ready thereafter. I was co-leader of a team that was knee-deep in a painstaking process of championing the introduction of a private LTE and 5G cellular service offering. This offering would transform IBM's fledgling wireless business from one that was viewed by many as an overpriced hardware and services reseller and follower-of-trends, to one of a visionary early adopter and market leader in a new and complex communications environment. I believe that when I'm retired, that initiative will have been the highlight of my IBM career and I can take my exit knowing I left a mark.
On the personal front, I was looking to purchase a larger parcel of land on which I would eventually build a new homestead. Neither the land nor the job would have been tremendously impacted by the weeks I would have been away for my original 2020 itinerary, but looking back on how things transpired, I realize that focusing on my new career turn and acquiring/developing my new property certainly provided a much-needed distraction from the sting of losing the trip. As such, I had almost put the trip out of my mind completely by 2023. Then something happened. I don't recall precisely what the catalyst was, but in mid 2024 I found myself settled into the my barndominium on my functioning homestead, while sitting at four years into a five-year retirement plan.
The prospect of retirement in the next few years was enough to make my head spin as I contemplated just what I would do with myself, and what I had done with myself in the past. I've planned and executed some pretty cool adventures during my adult life and I have some amazing memories. Still, in the back of my mind, it occurred to me that I still had one more in me, and I'm the kind of guy who would rather regret the things he did over the things he didn't do. So just for grins, I reached out to the fixer in Nepal with whom I had worked in 2019 to see if such a trip was still even possible. Not only had he recovered from plandemic-induced financial devastation, he was back in the business of tying up loose ends for crazy riders with crazier dreams, like me. He said that he had another small group of clients looking to make a similar trip to Everest Base Camp in April of 2025 and asked if that aligned with my schedule. It occurred to me that I actually had no schedule so yeah, it aligned! I was cautiously optimistic and began quietly planning what you've been reading about since this blog started in November.
Today kicks off a rigorous 32-hours of flight time and layovers to get to Nepal. I fly from DFW tonight and after stops in Paris and Sri Lanka, should be in Kathmandu Thursday morning, roughly eleven hours ahead of the central time zone. I'll check-in during the trip where I can and as technology allows. I will also be updating from the road whenever possible. Stay tuned. It could get interesting.
I can be reached at and reply from ktm_scott@inreach.garmin.com if you want to say hi. If you want to follow along as I ride, click here, or on the Where is Shrug Now link at the top of the right column. A new browser tab may open, and/or you may get a redirect alert. If so, it's legit. I'll try to switch my GPS tracker on during my flights. If that works, you'll see my motorcycle icon ripping across the Atlantic at 500+ MPH.