“Maybe some women aren’t meant to be tamed, maybe they’re supposed to run wild until they find someone, just as wild, to run with.”
You know that scene in a movie where the girl runs into some guys arms in the airport and they just stand there, holding each other, as if the thousands of rushed travelers around them seem to melt away? Yeah, you know that scene, and yesterday, I was that lucky girl. This very real movie-like moment took place at the Kathmandu airport when Kevin and his bicycle arrived in Nepal to join me.
Now who is this “Kevin” you may ask? He is an outdoorsman through and through. A fisherman, a hunter, a minimalist, an adventurist, a firefighter, a country boy… The kind of guy who doesn’t mind sleeping in a tent every night to say the least. He is also an extremely kind hearted, hardworking, and sort of shy guy in his mid-twenties who I happened to live with, then fall in love with, last year while living in Bend, Oregon. As I had already planned to leave, and he needed to stay back in the States to work, I left him with a tearful goodbye in June 2013, not sure when, or even if, I would see him again.
Months down the road (after a bit of drama for which I will spare you the details) we both realized we still loved each other, and as he was finished his season as a wildland firefighter and had no other pressing obligations, there was nothing holding us back from trying out this cycling lifestyle together. So he bought his ticket, packed up his bike, and flew out to Kathmandu (he actually first did a month of fly fishing and cycling on his own in New Zealand) to join me as we cycle West.
After months of waiting I couldn’t be more ready to start the rest of my adventure with him. Though I have thoroughly enjoyed having the last nine months solo (and a whole year solo in South America previously), I am now more than ready to share my adventures, tent, and life with Kevin as we explore the world together. And travel as a couple is an adventure in itself, an adventure I am keen to embark on.
(Sorry for the “real time” interruption, the rest of the Western Nepal adventure will continue tomorrow).