Green Lights to Nepal. Another End to a Minnesota Summer
- Hannah Long
- Oct 4
- 8 min read
I’m writing a blog post, which means I’m on my way back out into the world. It never feels real until I land. This airtime is a weird in-between space where I’m not home but also not across the world yet. I have a lot of time in the sky ahead of me (33 hours to be exact) to get from Minneapolis to Nepal, where I will spend the next two weeks straight trekking through the Himalayas.
This in-between time, these 33 hours of transport, gives me a lot of time to reflect. I’ve been home for almost four months. When I arrived in Minnesota back in June, I, once again, didn’t have a plan for how long I’ll be home or where I’ll go next. I just knew I had three priorities: 1. See my family and friends 2. Work on my Solo Travel Coaching Business as much as possible and 3. Get back out there. I can proudly say that I stuck to my priorities and now, four months later, I’m all caught up with my people at home, I’ve launched my business, it’s been gaining momentum, and I put a lot of hours into my little side jobs so that I can continue this mission to solo backpack the planet.
I am reminded over and over again why I have the best community in the world back in Minnesota. My mom gave me a room, cooked for me throughout the summer, my sister took me in from time to time at her apartment, my best friends Autumn and Nate just bought a house and they literally built a bedroom for me in their basement so that I could work as much as possible and save my earnings for my future travels instead of rent. My friend Danny is storing my dad’s old jeep on his farm again, my grandparents and aunties/uncles support me in whatever ways they can, my friends from home and old neighbors threw me both a welcome home party and a going away party. Big love on the way in and on the way out. I couldn’t be more grateful for these people. This journey of backpacking the world is turning out to be a very long one, it might take a lifetime, so these pit stops at home are absolutely necessary and every time I am completely blown away by how much support I get. I know this path I’m taking in life isn’t a common one, I don’t even know how to navigate it from time to time. There’s no rule book for this. Sometimes I don’t know how to trust myself on this strange and beautiful route but when I remember that you all trust that what I’m doing is right… it keeps me going. Someday I know it will all come around back to you guys. I owe SO much of my adventures and the confidence to actually execute them to you.
The past month has been a complete scramble if I’m being honest. My friend Niall, that I got connected to while I was teaching in Thailand but didn’t get the chance to meet in person until two years later (it’s a cool story, if you want to check it out click here), reached out to me to see if I’d like to join him and his friend to hike along the Annapurna circuit in Nepal in early October. Two weeks straight of trekking in the Himalayas. Niall had it all organized, he’d been to Nepal before and had the connections to make this happen for us. At this point I knew I wanted to go back to New Zealand but also wanted to throw in another country that I hadn’t been to yet on the way there. This was the perfect opportunity to do that.
I had a problem though: my mom has been engaged to her fiancée (one of my favorite humans) Randy, for over two years and I couldn’t miss their special day. They had planned on having their wedding sometime this fall, nothing big, just close family. But life kept happening and they kept pushing it back. I told them about my Nepal plans and asked if it’s possible for them to have their wedding before my departure date. They were on board, excited to get married sooner than expected, but there were a lot of hoops to jump through with the church and logistics of it all.
On top of this, civil unrest erupted in Kathmandu in early September. The “Gen Z protests” broke out, parliament burned down and many young people were killed in the streets. Flights to Nepal were shut down for a couple of days. These protests, how they formed, and what followed is actually very interesting. If you want to learn more I recommend this article:
It may not seem like it sometimes, but I promise safety is very important to me when planning my trips. I do extensive research on countries that may come with risk and I will never go anywhere where a safety issue could outweigh the fun of the adventure. The ironic thing is, the most unsafe place I’ve been to is the United States. This summer proved that more than ever. I don’t mean to bring any negativity into this post, but I want to be real with my readers. After coming home with fresh eyes from being away for so long I could actually feel how divided we’ve become as a country, and it terrified me. Various violent events happening throughout the summer, some so close to home… it absolutely baffled me that I felt more secure thousands of miles across the world. Things are changing fast. But, I have hope for us, and I saw it in many forms while being home this summer.
In my very humble opinion, as someone who has seen just a percentage of the world beyond our borders, I believe it’s so important (now more than ever) to keep our eyes open, hold our morals high and stay unafraid to question anything coming from the top. Take it from me: the world is a beautiful place, people are kind out there, and there is a lot to learn from those who have different walks of life than our own.
Back to Nepal. So after a few weeks of civil unrest the prime minister and president stepped down. They elected an interim PM and life resumed close to normal. In a way, the protests were successful. But tourists were never the problem. Tourism plays a part in Nepal’s GDP. I have a few friends that I’ve met overseas who have connections to people on the ground in Nepal. They reassured me that I’ll be just fine. So I took that as a green light, or at least a yellow light… We were still waiting on a wedding date.
Things were not moving along with the church. My mom, Randy and I lost hope for a bit and I accepted that Nepal might not happen for me right now. I couldn’t miss their special day. I told Niall I probably won’t be joining him. Then, unexpectedly, my mom got an email that everything had been processed, the priest expedited it all, and there was an opening at the church that following Tuesday. My departure date for Nepal was planned to be the Friday that follows. I booked the plane ticket, packed my bags and we put together a wedding in less than a week.
Mom and Randy’s wedding was a beautiful evening and a long time coming. Randy came into our lives at our lowest point; when my mom was so sick and didn’t have more than a few months of life expectancy. I know that Randy played the biggest role in getting her healthy enough to get a transplant. Alison, my mom and I wouldn’t be where we are now without him. I’m honored to call him my step dad. I still can’t believe it all came together in perfect timing!
It was a summer of driving all around the twin cities for my little jobs (tutoring, nannying, teaching yoga, gardening and solo female travel coaching), taking my dog Molly on mini adventures, singing karaoke at our hometown bar, spending time up at the lake, having sleepovers with my sister, making dinners with my mom, being Autumn and Nate’s adopted child, visiting my best friend Myah in her new home of Denver, and all the other shenanigans that come with a MN summer.
I’ve completely accepted this pattern of traveling for long-term and then coming back home for a bit. I remember having an absolute meltdown in India in 2023 when I realized how deep in love I’ve fallen with travel. I no longer could live without it, but how could I ever choose this life over my home? How could I pick one? Well, it turns out I don’t have to pick one. I can actually have both. It’s not always easy, I do still feel that I miss out on a lot of things, but I’ve managed to live both lives, for now.
This run is a little bit different, I won’t be going to a million different and “new” counties this time. The plan is to Nepal, Thailand for a pit stop, and back to New Zealand. A big reason for this is that my Solo Travel Coaching business is one of my top priorities for now. I’m gaining momentum with it and just as I always do, I’m flowing with it. I can’t express the passion and excitement I have for this project I’m growing. I want to help as many women as possible see the world and I have big goals for the coming years.
I can use my one year working holiday visa for New Zealand anytime before I’m 31, but I wanted to do it now so that I can be there while my people are still there and I still have my roots in Raglan. I’m basically taking my Minnesota summer and transferring it to a New Zealand summer, picking up side jobs and enjoying life all while working on my small business. And hopefully getting better at surfing while I’m at it.
It’s like this season of travel is almost a “break” to my normal unknown-country-to-country. But I’m still traveling, immersing myself in communities of backpackers, and seeing new parts of the world, while giving myself the space and time to grow something I’m passionate about. The adventures never end, they just take different forms and timelines. My travel bucket list keeps growing and I don’t see it ever ending.
I’m sitting in the airport in Chicago, backpack resting against my legs, thinking about how normal and absolutely bizarre this all feels at the same time. I’m going to NEPAL. I still have that same excitement I couldn’t contain on my very first leg of solo backpacking the world in 2023 when 25 year old Hannah flew to Portugal on her own. I could’ve never guessed it would continue in this direction. Sometimes I can’t believe this is even my life. It feels massive, exciting and scary at times but also so simple and peaceful. I find a certain type of calmness in this chaos of coming and going.
Some of you have been following my blog since the very beginning. Some are new and I’m so excited to bring you along my adventures to follow. I want to thank every person that reads what I write. I’m making a lot of content on social media to promote my business but this blog, right here… in my writing, is where my heart is. I can’t wait to update you about the Annapurna circuit in a couple of weeks. I have a feeling this is going to be a big one.
Until I’m off the mountains!
Hannah
I am excited to hear about your adventures Hannah! Safe travels! Love you so much!