Why do we crave the outdoors? What drives us to feel the sun on our face and the rocks under our feet? Is it to be free from the day to day routine? Is it because we need a break, or what people call a “reboot” from technology?

Not that long ago technology, as we know it now, didn’t exist. I remember when my husband suggested I get a cell phone. I was appalled! “Why?” I asked him. No one needs to get me that bad, and if they ever do they can leave a message. Remember that? We would come home after a long day and see the red blinking light on our answering machine? Press “play” and random voices would fill the room with messages we missed. Now it’s a funny electronic beep that commands immediate attention. I find time spent outdoors, say, the Gokyo lake trekking helping me to go back to those days when I wasn’t tethered to a phone.

Pictured here is my beautiful friend May, whom I met by chance on a spontaneous nationwide women's rock climbing meetup in Alabama with the Ladies Climbing Coalition. When May learned that I was undertaking the Everest Base Camp tours with Driftwood Adventures, she eagerly jumped at the opportunity to join us. Her presence brought such a radiant, bright, and peaceful energy to our group. I'm so grateful for the sisterly bond that we developed as roommates over the course of our 17-day trek.

What's special about this photo is that May is seated by the beautiful bay window in the home of our sherpa, Tshering, and if you research the adventure trek groups in Nepal, you'll soon understand how uncommon it is for the tourists to be able to stay at the home of their sherpa, let alone spend the day at their local village school, receive cooking lessons in their kitchen, or sit around the dinner table with their local friends and family from the village and dance together - more on all of this soon.

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Go For Outdoor Adventure Treks & Soothe Your Soul

Open Doors and Open Hearts By Joanna Read

Photographer | Adventure Trekking Tour Operator | Yogi