Art By Tali Landsman

One of the requirements for foreigners wishing to hike in Sikkim, is to provide a medical certificate signed by a doctor, that they are fit to hike in high altitudes. The government of Sikkim is strict about this permit requirement, because family members of people who had previously died while hiking in high altitude, have sued them for damages. It is sad that people sue for "wrongful death," do not realize that nobody is to blame if someone's body could not handle the high altitude. They never win anything, and their legal actions just complicate the traveling experience for future adventure seekers to the area. We tried to tell our expedition organizer to Sikkim, that we would be very willing to sign personal releases absolving everyone, and taking FULL responsibility for our health and for anything that might happen to us on the hike. We agreed to take personal liability for any risk... But we were told that the government of Sikkim is not flexible about thi...

I have an increasing desire to evaluate and let go of worldly possessions that I no longer use. In our house in New Zealand before we came back to the USA, we just sold our trailer which we used to use very frequently while renovating our house and landscaping the garden. But after construction was complete, it became just another item sitting in our driveway that needs to be serviced but was never used. We sold a few other items that we hardly use, and felt wonderful converting into cash, all those items that just took storage space and were never used. Plus it was so nice to see how much pleasure it brought to those who bought them, and actually had a need for those items. Recently I came to realize that my excellent van, which I used to use to do art shows across the USA, was just sitting in our driveway, unused and forgotten. When I used to do art shows, this van was a wonderful tool. I bought it new and customized it at the dealership to fit my art career needs. After...

We all have ideas held in our own minds, of who we believe we are. One may think that she is an Italian-American women, funny, edgy, and smart.... While another may think that she is an African-American women, sexy, talented and cool.... Yet another may think of himself as an Australian man, light skinned and with a childhood full of holes and painful memories.... All of this may be true in a very narrow sense of the truth, but if you habitually lapse into perceiving yourself in this way, you will not be able to escape the limitations that seeing who you are in such a narrow way impose upon you. The way we think of ourselves and who we think we are, habitually program into our minds a set of ideas and behaviors that all ultimately ends up limiting us and blocking our views of our True Self. Allow me to illustrate what I mean... Recently while driving in my car, I heard a program on National Public Radio, about how DNA research has become a tool, used in murder and crime cas...

After traveling the world often and for many years, we have accumulated a large amount of luggage. We have a nice collection of backpacks and duffel bags on wheels, garment bags for city trips and hydrating packs for daily outdoor expeditions. I have bicycle bags and cycling backpacks which are smaller and designed specifically for women, and are just the right size to carry only a few provisions, a wallet, a jacket and keys. None of our luggage is flowery, nicely coordinated or pretty, and most of it is worn and battered from overuse, but we have more than we need for every kind of trip... Or so we thought. So..... when Samdrup, our private hiking tour organizer to Bhutan told us that he wanted us to bring our gear packed in waterproof duffel bags that have no wheels and were designed with many exterior loopholes in order to tie them comfortably to the Yaks..... We had to admit that we did not own such bags.... Samdrup emailed to us a list of gear that we need to bring with ...

Japan It took us over two days to get from Sendai to our home in the Far North of New Zealand. The Shinkansen Express train from Sendai to Tokyo was fast, clean and very comfortable. We switched at the Tokyo Station to the Narita Airport Express, and our flight left Tokyo right on time. At the airport, a friendly lady promoting tourism to Japan asked us to take a survey about where, on what, and how much money we had spent during our trip to Japan. Jules gave a lower estimate than I did.... I wondered which one of us was right... At the airport, I stocked up on yummy Onigiri (Rice Balls) for our long flights and layovers. I drank the delicious iced green tea, and iced brown rice twig tea, knowing that from now on, they would not be so readily available to me....no more vending machines with delicious iced tea at every parking lot, every street corner and every country road. We said a fond farewell to Japan. We had such a wonderful time, and I KNOW that we will be ...

The train from Sendai to Matsushima took about thirty minutes, and we disembarked on a train platform overlooking Matsushima bay. Matsushima is the closest we got on this trip to the epicenter of the 2011 earthquake and the subsequent Tsunami. Remnants of the widespread destruction are still very visible in some places. We came to Matsushima to visit the famous Zen Temple of Zuiganji. It is the last Zen temple on our Spiritual pilgrimage in Japan. We knew that the main hall of the temple is undergoing major renovations that will last until the year 2018, but we were told that much of the temple ground...