Hello, my dear dear friends and family, 

A funny thing happens when I am on vacation. I feel relaxed, and excited, and open, and as a result, many activities or things to purchase look more appealing than they would in the harsh light of reality.  I try things on, and become a new person, for a brief moment, as part of this grand escape from my daily life.

Take jewelry, for example.  Have you ever been on vacation, and purchased a piece, say a ring in the shape of the inside of a watch, only to get on the plane or the train and ask yourself, what the f* did I just buy?  Best friend Joanne, world traveler and ex-pat, dubbed this the “Barcelona Effect.”  You’re looking at the Gaudi buildings, and paintings, and amazed at the weird architecture, and well, you want a piece of that to come home with you.  And at some point between museum visits, the street vendors selling the weirdest jewelry that you’ve been ignoring for the past two days all of a sudden sound appealing.

When other best friend Andrea and I showed up to Madrid with the ugliest but most Barcelona rings you’ve ever seen, it took us about 4 hours and 3 sideways looks from Joanne to take them off.

The Barcelona Effect can also help us overcome some of our more rational and/or American fears.  Take my hiking/mountain climbing ability, for example. A mountain I would never have climbed, never would have even attempted, for fear of severe bodily injury - all of a sudden looked climbable. For a minute at least. But once I started, no turning back.

Here’s what the “trail” to Tapovan looked like in one of the less technical parts.  I did not attempt any photos while trying not to slide off the mountain.

And, so, by the power of the Barcelona Effect, we made it up to 14,640 feet, at Tapovan, at the base of Shivaling and Meru.

And up there, I was struck by the impermanence of me, compared to the glaciers, and the mountains, and the terrain.  We may never pass this way again.

And, assuming I make it back down again, perhaps staying away is not the worst idea.  Certainly a safe one. 

Always, 

XIMXIA

PS - the Mom prayers worked, and we cried today as we left each other at the airport in Amsterdam. 

THANKS FOR READING!