Big kid moment, every one should have these, are moments we take for ourselves to indulge in things we love. It is us doing something special, extraordinary and exhilarating. Doing something a kid would do on a whim, because that is what kids do. As adults, with our hectic schedules, working hard to provide for our families, we sometimes forget that we were once kids, carefree in taking chances and enjoying ourselves. I have come to realise that these big kid moments are just as important as working hard to provide. It is not being selfish. On the contrary I think these #bigkidmoments are just as important. For, if we do not take care of our own well being, we suffer, who then takes care of our families?
#bigkidmoments are life inspiring, confidence boosting, and an overall feel good drug. It can be anything, for example achieving a head stand, touching a spider or sky diving.
This series of articles will feature people talking about their big kid moments. Describing their motivation, their preparation or lack of, and finally how they felt after having done their #bigkidmoments.
Nora, is our next #bigkidmoment feature.
I first met Nora when I worked in Kuala Lumpur. We were in the same company and Nora was our CFO. She left earlier, out of the oil & gas business and back into financial services.
At the end of September 2016, Nora trekked up to Annapurna Base Camp on her own except for a guide and porter. This was indeed her #bigkidmoment.
In her own right, Nora was a successful career person, a mother of three smart kids. She loves her job, making the best of what she has and very determined as a person. Outside her workplace, she loves the outdoor most and live a rather active lifestyle.
Her big year is coming and she was determined to embark on something special, it had to be special and an epic adventure. She did not want to do the usual running a marathon or cycling, she was looking for an adventure. With her active, fitness centric lifestyle and her adventurous streak, it was not a surprise that Nora has friends who hikes and have gone to remote and beautiful places. These friends in their recounting of their adventures made her dream to trek to these remote places and embark on her own adventure. She got hold of the trekking agent based in Nepal and with him, she started making plans for her adventure.
Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) is situated close to the majestic peaks of Annapurna I (8091 m), Annapurna South (7219 m), Machapuchhre (6993 m) and Hiunchuli (6441 m). It is also the final base camp with lodges and facilities for climbers before their ascent to the peaks. Beyond ABC, climbers who wish to summit will have to rough out the cold nights in tents.
As part of the preparation she knew she had to be fit. To start with Nora has always had the habit of working out and keeping fit. She runs and cycles. She also does hikes up Gasing Hills, a favourite spot for hiking and climbing in Klang Valley. I have run there and its a wonderful trail run especially in the mornings. The sun rise if you happen to catch it is spectacular.
As a rehearsal to her ABC trek, Nora summited Mount Kinabalu for the second time, on Merdeka Day. Momentous and meaningful I suppose for a Malaysian. What was amazing was that she trained on her own, no coach to prod her or give her training advice. Although I would think that a coach will certainly make it easier, as I think that everybody needs a coach, even a coach. By her own accounts, she has always been tough on herself setting high targets and have always had the integrity and tenacity to meet and even surpass those targets.Post Kinabalu climb, she felt ready to embark on her next adventure.
Flying the flag on Mount Kinabalu on Merdeka Day
When she confirmed her ABC itinerary, she was given two options : to fly or take a bus ride to Pokhara. Nora had chosen the 7 hour bus ride from Kathmandu to Pokhara simply because she wanted to see the country. It was quite a ride and she was thankful she had done it. Whilst walking around Lake Phewa, she got a glimpse of the Fishtail aka the sacred Machapuchhre, with that brief sighting, she was even more excited to begin her trek.
She began her trek in Nayapul, a village some 90 minutes to the west of Pokhara. Each day Nora would trek between 4 and 6 hours and gaining between 600-1200m in altitude.
the route
She would cross ravines and valleys on suspension rope bridges and traverse white water over rickety bridges of wooden planks. Looking at the pictures of these bridges, I can imagine how nervy but exciting crossing them can be. I imagine it to be similar to, when you are at ‘L’ shape as you stick your butt out of the helicopter before you rappel down to the ground.
rickety bridge, dare you cross it?
A more sturdy suspension bridge
This is not the Tree top walk at Macritchie
Each night after an exhausting day of trekking, she would camp in villages. Villages with unusual names like Tikhedhunga, Ghorepani, Tadapani, Chhomrong, Dovan, Machhapuchre, Bamboo and Jhinu Danda illicit images of Kipling, and James Hilton of Shangrila and Lost Horizons, of days when the Brits, as masters of India played the Great Game with Russia, who coveted the Himalayas and the Indus in the late 18th and early 19th century.
On the trail with Annapurna 1 in sight
The sacred Machapuchhre as seen from Chule
At Camp with guide and porter
Speaking to her when I met her after her trip, I asked her about the conditions of the toilets up on the roof of the world. She told me that they certainly were not 5 star facilities, they were mostly simply holes in the ground. According to a report by World Toilet Organization, around one billion people in our world today face the indignity of defecating in the open. Diarrhoeal diseases – a direct consequence of poor sanitation – kill more children every year than AIDS, malaria and measles combined. Something to think about.
The rooftop of the world gives a person the opportunity to escape from technology, but Axiata via NCell was there to make her feel at home. Wifi is available on purchase basis so you choose whether to connect or to disconnect. Nora chose to disconnect, to detox although she saw others who remain connected. In some dining rooms at the guest houses friendly trekkers took the opportunities to socialize. She recounted a scene in Deurali, where she saw a man who couldn’t escape from his work and was conducting business as if he never left his office in Paris. She thought, what was the point of having walked this far, to this wondrous place, only to remain shackled to work through the internet? Not for her, she after all wanted to find herself in the solitude that is the Himalayas.
Many people fear being alone or loneliness, Nora wrote:
“It’s kind of a surprise that I never felt lonely when I was out there”. “Each day I set out to walk for 5-6 hours. No map, no distance known – just walk. Most of these hours, it was just me myself and I. My young guide had the gift of appearing magically when I needed him.”
This afforded her the space she sought to think and be comfortable with being on her own. Allowing Nora to find what she set out for.
Trekkers are largely the happiest people when they are trekking. All around, she saw smiles and happy faces. It’s not that trekking is not demanding, but all of them looked unusually happy being in the moment, regardless of whether they ascending or descending the mean and endless steps. Seeing many waterfalls on her trek, she visualised the endocrine system releasing serotonins and endorphins through the body like water cascading down the rocks, cleansing and lifting the trekkers’ moods.
Speaking about how she felt about her adventure, she said:
“I will find my happy moments again – when I can. Even now, I can do mind travel to places at ABC and felt that it is so uplifting to return, even only for a brief moment in memory.”
Having made the trek, Nora felt she had achieved her dreams of doing something special. She did find words to say
“I felt fulfilled mostly, peace deep within and I knew I can do things and I am fit enough physically and mentally. As Edmund Hillary said “Its not the Mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”
She would certainly do it again. And if you asked her “should I do it?” She would say
“Yes definitely – but be prepared. Don’t underestimate the challenge. To enjoy it more, come open minded, don’t set any expectation”. It all started with a dream and her determination saw her fulfil that dream.
I’ve been there! Have you?
A sense of achievement with Fishtail in the background
Her parting words as she ponder on her plans to trek the Khumbu region …
“We must live our life, live our dreams. Our dreams keep us alive and remember to make life as great as you can make it to be.”
Inspired yet?
My takeaways are:
- Preparation is essential.
- Being alone does not equate to being lonely
- Big kid moment inspires and boosts confidence
photo credits – Nora Tahir. Taken with Olympus OMDII M10
Running may be the vehicle but the trails of Nepal provide the highway, a highway to a new experience, to something magical and to something special.
It occurred to me only this week she is following in enormous and consequential literary footsteps.
It occurred to me only this week she is following in enormous and consequential literary footsteps.