#ThrillSeekers
While we’ve had some great adventures on this trip, Nepal really opened the door to another world of extreme experiences and our kids (and Naunie) were totally here for them! We started with whitewater rafting on the Trishuli River. Though only level one and two rapids this time of year, there were definitely a couple of spots where we almost lost someone overboard or swamped the whole raft! Sophia really enjoyed this, Paul and Ava, who were in the front, less so. This was also Naunie and Papa’s first white water rafting trip EVER and both really enjoyed it.
In Pokhara, the kids (and Naunie) surprised us by all being up for paragliding. While this would have been a pretty expensive endeavor back in the states, in Nepal the cost for 30 mins of flight time (and a video/photo package w/GoPro) was only $40/person! After a pretty hairy drive to the top of Sarangkot, quickly becoming known as one of the best paragliding locations in the world, we received brief instruction of how to takeoff, fly, and land with our instructors. I wasn’t quite sure everyone would be up for running off the slide of the mountain, but everybody did it and loved the whole experience!
To be in the air, soaring above birds and the land and lake below, really was incredible. Having skydived multiple times before, I have to say this was so much more fun, with a lot more time in the air, enjoying the scenery and freedom to fly above the world below. I am still so impressed with how well our kids overcame the bits of fear and apprehension they had to just go for it. They couldn’t stop smiling afterwards.
As for my mom, I cannot tell you how big of a deal this was for her. She has been afraid of heights her whole life. Honestly, she would go into a cold sweat if we were on a high balcony together. I think her fear was always based on the danger and risks associated with heights. However, she’s since come to saying that she could just as easily drop dead at home as she could doing something like this and so she would much rather live life to the fullest than play it “safe”.
The final experience we had in our sites was Bungee Jumping. Again, the prices are a fraction of what they would be in the US. This time Paul was the only one up for joining Ben and me. He had been inspired by a youtuber named Dude Perfect, who has a video of himself bungee jumping. Paul kept repeating his bungee quote: “5 seconds of fear or a lifetime of regret”.
Despite Paul’s enthusiasm, I really wasn’t sure he’d make it off the platform, especially because he really wanted to be the first to jump and ended up being last in line, because they went from heaviest to lightest. Still, he totally did it! I was so impressed. He was at a loss for words right afterwards, but then kept processing it all day long. In his words, “the fall wasn’t that bad, but standing on the platform before was a lot worse than I thought it would be. I think I like paragliding much better.”
One of the best parts of this trip is being with our kids as they tackle new experiences, some relatively benign like a new food, and others a bit more extreme, like paragliding or bungee jumping. I recognize just how crazy this whole trip is and how crazy we may seem to allow our kids to do some of these things alongside us. We never want them to do anything they don’t want to do, but we also never want them to be fearful of the world around them or of embracing new experiences.
With concentrated time together, we have the chance to really talk with them about all that they are seeing and doing, to encourage them to push out of their own comfort zones (in healthy ways), and to reflect on their feelings about new experiences, places, and people. Turns out, in the process, we are raising a bunch of thrill seekers.
