Nepal Adventure Update: A Visitor From The U.N.

I recently got some exciting news from Ingo Schnabel (pictured here), founder of the Himalaya Rescue Dog Squad Nepal. While I'll be with Ingo and the others in Pokhara and Shayauli Bazaar, the squad will be visited by Adrian DeCastro, PhD., Special Adviser & Counselor at the United Nations. Dr. DeCastro and some of his colleagues and potential donors are very interested in the HRDSN's work and want to see things firsthand in Nepal. This could mean a LOT to the squad, including the potential for funding infrastructure and equipment they desperately need. So, I'll really look forward to meeting Dr. DeCastro and learning more about this unfolding aspect of the HRDSN story.

Oh, and I finally booked a flight ... and then another flight ... and another. 23 hours and 17 minutes of flying time and 14 hours, 48 minutes of waiting in between those flights, and I'll be in Nepal. Phoenix to LAX to Hong Kong (for a mighty long layover) to Kathmandu. And after a few days in Kathmandu, another short flight to Pokhara.

And I won't have to do all of that flying and waiting by myself. Nope, I got me a travel buddy! Turns out, my friend, Marian, from college, who I haven't seen in 20 years, is a spontaneous, adventurous lady herself. And she has decided to go with me to Nepal for the first couple of weeks. Yay! It'll be quite a reunion, sitting next to each other on the plane--planeS--for so many hours. Hmm, I hope we can stand each other by the time we reach our destination. 

Finally (for now), some big thank yous go out to the latest backers of my project:

**Kim Manley Ort, author of the blog, Squidtastic
**Malcolm Foster
**Wellness consultant, Anne Buhlig
**Clayton Kessler, author of TracksAndTrails
**Search & Rescue volunteer and volunteer National Park Ranger, Sueanne
**Search & Rescue volunteer, Liz Rutledge
**Search & Rescue K9 handler, Cindy
**Barbara Speelman
**Freelance travel-writer and editor, Stacey Wittig
**Marian Krueger, my travel buddy
**Beth Polidoro
**Rosa Fuentes
**Jacki Lenners Mieler from the Flagstaff Visitor Center
**Paul Andrews from Decisions For Heroes
**SAR volunteer, Randy Marlatt
**Kathy McGraw from the blog, California Real Estate & Life
**Marjorie Joy
**Just Hike
**SAR volunteer, Elise Wilson
**Meghan Pheley
**Jodi Cullen from Team in Training
**and Michelle, author of Giving Thanks For Horses

I so appreciate your pledges and support. 13 days to go, and the fundraising portion of this adventure will be over. (A new backer reward has been added to the fundraiser: a new Garmin Legend H handheld GPS. For a $200 pledge, someone will receive the GPS, a signed copy of the book once it's published, a CD slideshow--which will actually be a DVD, but I can no longer change the description on the Kickstarter site--and a 5x7 print photo from Nepal.)