nostalgic days in nepal
the last few weeks have been filled with so much happiness, love and nostalgia. we have been travelling through nepal with my parents, and for those who don’t know, I spent three years of my childhood growing up here. we lived about 12 hours west of kathmandu, in a small village set in the hills, called tansen.
it was an incredibly unstable time to be living in nepal, as it was during the the maoist uprisings, but still in my mind it is some of the best moments of my childhood. we rode our mountain bikes everywhere, climbed the mulberry trees at school daily, went trekking in the himalayas, played heaps of card games and I ate friend chicken momo’s as frequently as possible. while I’m sure my parents remember the difficult moments a lot easier then I do with my ‘childhood fantasy lens’, we still all agree that it was some of the most character building and memorable times as individuals and a family.
so it’s been incredibly special to be back here with them. I actually don’t even have words to describe how lovely it’s been exploring our past memories together and seeing how things have developed over the past 16 years since we left. the only thing that would have made it even better then it was, would have been if my older sister and little brother could have been here too (miss you guys).
I think there is probably still a lot to unpack and process from our time back home, so for now I’m just going to leave you with some thoughts from one morning journalling in tansen.
returning home
it feels so surreal being back here
like everything is the same but also just slightly different
my body still knows its way around, its like muscle memory
and my memories are leading me home
tansen has always been home
and on some level it always will be
the memories it holds
values it taught me
fun it had!
it’s always going to be close to my heart
but I didn’t ever think it would feel like this…
like coming back to oneself
coming back to the kid I used to be at six to nine
and its been so much more powerful and overwhelming then I could have expected
the smells of the guesthouse are like we never left
the school stands like nothing has changed
and our house still has the sticker which I left behind in the windowsill over 16 years ago
all these things I’d forgotten
are drifting back into view, stronger then ever
and I cannot be more grateful to mum and dad for the faith that bought us here
that made this home
I would not be who I am today without tansen
it’s what makes me, well me
it’s what made me value my family, my health, my community, my sense of adventure, my calling and that home is where you create it to be
so I am incredibly grateful for that time spent here
for the friendships made
lessons learnt
and crazy experiences we had as a family
I love this country nepal
and especially this place tansen more then words will ever be able to describe
I’ll always hold it close to my heart
and it will forever be apart of mine
// 16/10/23big love always, mads
