Week One

By Rachel Hudgens

I’m half way around the world and all I have with me are the clothes on my back, my retainer, my passport and some cash. That’s right, I lost my luggage. The issue was that my flight from Chicago was delayed causing the connecting flight in Abu Dhabi to be sort of a nail-biter. Luckily I made my flight, the tradeoff was that my bag didn’t.

I landed in Nepal around 9 pm. After getting my visa I went to the baggage carrousel anxiously waiting to see my purple and gray backpack to come circling my way. I was waiting with two of my travel buddies when we heard our names being called over the intercom. The three of us wandered over to the information booth and were promptly informed that our bags were still in Abu Dhabi. We were told that we should have our bags by 5 pm the next day and we headed to our hotel in Katmandu.

The next day our bags had not arrived. The three of us had no other choice but to do some shopping for essentials. I ended the day with three shirts, two pairs of pants and basic toiletries. Four days passed before we were reunited with our bags. That being said we were on a farm learning about permaculture. We didn’t have to dress to impress.

There was a sudden relief when I got my bag but as I spent more time with it, I felt as though it weighed me down. I don’t want to say my luggage complicated my trip but there was something simplistic and nice about only really having what you need. It just goes to show that what you need is different than what you may want or have.