Trekking to Everest Base Camp was one of the greatest experiences of my entire life. And it was also one of the most difficult challenges I have ever embarked on. The 13 days spent up in the mountains were full of laughter, tears, and perseverance. I kept a journal to document my experiences up on the mountain, and realized that every daily journal entry could easily be boiled down to one daily lesson.
The following article is an abbreviated summary of the 13 lessons I learned from trekking 13 days to Everest Base Camp — as well as summaries of my random musings, descriptions of the wonderful people I encountered along the way, and the perspective changes that shifted within me.
Without further ado, let’s dive in!
13 Lessons learned from 13 days of trekking to Everest Base Camp
Day 1: Courage
We departed Kathmandu at 3:30am to drive to the airport that flies 10-person planes to Lukla, the starting location for Base Camp treks. Lukla’s airport is chillingly referred to as “the most dangerous in the world”, given the technicality required to land planes there.
The notion of flying in a glorified tin-can as it weaves between mountains and lands on an imperceptible strip of runway TERRIFIED ME. It was the only part of the trek that had me reconsidering the trek in the first place.
The Lukla airport closes frequently. Pilots need excellent vision to navigate their planes to the runway. Unfortunately for us, the airport shut the first day.
All of a sudden, reality smacked me. “If I don’t get on one of these planes, even though they scare the heck out of me, this adventure might not happen.
Suddenly, the thing I wanted to achieve outweighed my fear. That is today’s lesson: courage.
We arrived at the airport the next morning and threw our names on the departure list. I snagged a seat on the first flight out, but everyone else in my group had to wait for the second flight. So fitting that I had to tackle my biggest fear alone.
I waved goodbye, boarded the plane, and took off. And it was incredible.
Soaring through the mountains was breathtaking. I couldn’t help but think that if I had been too afraid to get on the plane, I would have missed it.
The air is so much crisper and fresh in the mountains. Prayer flags ripple among the trees like tethered butterflies and spinning prayer wheels chime in the distance. I settled into a small lodge cafe and sipped delicious apple tea while I waited for the rest of the group.
I already know I love Nepal.
Day 2: Bastare
Today’s lesson is bastare, which means ‘to go slowly’. We learned that most people are evacuated from the trek because they ascend the mountain too quickly without giving their bodies time to adjust. Like Icarus, who flew too close to the sun with his wax wings.
This lesson taught me that we have a better chance of getting where we need to go in life when we travel slowly and intentionally. Back home, I am often destination-focused. Sometimes I forget to stop and appreciate the journey. By traveling bastare today, we were able to enjoy all of the little moments we may have otherwise missed: like our 20 minute photoshoot crossing the Hillary bridge, or the time we spent enjoying a fried rice lunch and tart lemon-ginger-honey tea surrounded by mountains.
We go slowly so we can enjoy the journey. And we trust that we will make it where we are meant to be in time.
On this trek, I will appreciate the beauty of every prayer flag, take the time to spin every prayer wheel, and enjoy each and every sip of ginger lemon honey tea. I will take the time to learn the stories of the other travelers and guides on the trek. I will go gently and, in doing so I will try to trick time into allowing me more memories.
Day 3: Perspective
Today’s lesson is perspective. It was an acclimatization day today, so we hiked from Namche to a national park with a 360 degree view of the largest mountains in the world. We watched helicopters fly in the valley below, but they looked like tiny specks amongst the mountainous backdrop.
Our guide told us that many of the surrounding mountains probably had climbers standing on or near the summit. No onlooker from our vantage point would have any realization or care that some climber just achieved one of the most incredible feats of their life. And the climber way up on the summit is oblivious to the bustling of daily life in the towns and villages from so high up in the clouds.
It is humbling to feel small and insignificant compared to these mountains. Maybe you don’t need to be the best at a sport, or achieve fame, or climb the tallest mountain, or become the CEO of your corporate ladder. Maybe we are enough exactly as we are. And maybe our goal should be to make the most of the time we are given.
For me, I think that means continuing to travel and try new things. And it also means staying grounded and rooted with the friends, family, and the home I am so very thankful for.
Everyone I met on this trek has a unique story of what brought them to the mountains. While we cannot fully understand the life story of everyone we meet, we can appreciate that everyone is paving their own path and has their own perspective of the world.
I know that friendships are so important because they are little families that you build. And I think we built a great little family on this trek.
Day 4: Overconfidence
Today’s lesson is overconfidence. A true suckerpunch of humility.
I completed the first three days of this trek with a WOOHOO attitude of “that’s right! these mountains can kiss my a**””. And you know what happened? They kicked in instead. Hard.
When you get cocky, you get sloppy and reckless. You do dumb sh*t, like forgetting to rinse your toothbrush with purified water (food poisoning, part 1), or you feel bold enough to eat the spicy Korean noodles at dinner – despite the warnings that maybe that wouldn’t be a great idea (food poisoning, part 2). Both of those instances sent me to the toilet at 2am — right before a seven hour hike.
By the time we arrived in Phortse, I could barely keep my head up. I played a few hilarious games of Uno where I would play a card and fall soundly asleep until my next turn. (Don’t even get me started on how incapable my fatigued brain was at processing the Reverse-Uno card)
Here’s the tea:
Altitude does not care if you are fit, or young, or even an experienced climber. Nature just has this incredible power to whack-a-mole you if you get too cocky. My 2am spicy-ramen journey will not ever let me forget that lesson! From this point forward, I’m going to quit being overconfident and remember that the mountains and the altitude are in control here. Sit down, be humble.
Day 5: Excess
Today’s lesson is excess. We arrived in Phortse – a historic climbing town. As we climb further from Namche, the towns get sparser.
There was a small toddler born and raised in the lodge we stayed in. She was the biggest ball of energy and happiness I have ever seen. I couldn’t help but think about what a different life she has living so remotely in the mountain villages. No TV, no computer, hardly any neighbors. I compare that to my childhood in America. Thanks to Amazon.com and growing up near a major metropolitan city, everything I could possibly want was often at my fingertips.
In contrast, items in the mountain villages need to be carried by foot on a three day walk from Lukla. It limits you to consider only things you need, or things that hold a particular value to you.
I’m not going to share everything I left there. But one HUGE burden I decided to leave at the top of the mountain was ANY insecurities I had about my body. I used to be self-conscious about my larger thighs and broad shoulders, but guess what? They just propelled me up a mountain to 18,000 feet! That’s POWERFUL. And I’m lucky and thankful to have the body that I do.
This gave me a newfound appreciation for being more intentional with the items I surround myself with. To fill my life with things that truly matter – instead of worrying about how a lack of materialism might fare on social media. I haven’t checked my phone or the internet one single time l on this trip, and it’s been liberating.
Hiking through in the snow was magical. Not a noise to be heard aside from our footsteps and the jingle of yak bells in the distance. I love the Khumbu region with all of my heart. The days are getting harder, but the snow has recharged me for sure.
As a hilarious side note, we guy with severe food poisoning in a lodge who, after describing his bowel ailments in great detail, then promptly announced that he was going out to pick and eat some wild berries. *Facepalm*. See day four’s lesson.
Day 6: Adaptability
Today was another rest day, so we stayed an additional night in Dingboche to adjust to the altitude. When we went in for breakfast, we heard news that one of the boys from another group was airlifted out of Dingboche due to altitude-related ailments. He is stable now in Kathmandu, thank goodness..
Altitude is scary, and no joke. 15 people minimum are airlifted out of the park by helicopter per day due to altitude. You truly have to be honest with yourself – and brave enough to know when to quit.
But the altitude has also taught me how incredibly resilient the human body is.
I guess that’s today’s lesson: adaptability.
The days are getting harder. We trek in silent lines, head to bed fatigued, and run out of breath brushing our teeth. We wake up in the middle of the night with dry mouth so bad that our tongues feel like sandpaper. And yet, when we wake up in the morning, it is as though we have reset back to full power and we are ready to tackle another day. Every day, we get stronger.
Our bodies go through many changes in life – moving to a new city, starting a new job or relationship, or… simply adjusting to altitude. It’s amazing how well the body can bounce back. From heartbreak or pain. From injury or loss. In moments of desperation, you have to recognize that things will get better and trust that the body will do the rest.
We just bunkered down in a bakery that showed a movie on mountain climbing. Tomorrow is another long day to Lobuche, our final sleep before pushing to base camp. I’ll definitely need rest for that. And some Dal Bhat of course – because “Dal Bhat power, 24 hour”.
Day 7: Pacing
Today’s lesson is pacing. Our hike today was absolutely BRUTAL. Being over 16,000 feet up really drains the sh*t out of you. My heart races even when I’m sitting down with my eyes closed.
We walked silently in a line today. No one really spoke. Spirits were low, until we realized that one of our party members had a bunched up pair of underwear in their leggings. We laughed for nearly 20 minutes straight. It picked up the mood, but we were all out of breath by the end.
The most humbling moment of the trip occurred at the top of this 40 minute climb. At the top sat hundreds of cairns and prayer flags dedicated to those who lost their lives climbing Everest. Seeing their faces smiling in pictures, unaware that they would never return home from the mountain was somber. No one spoke a word here. We laid down stones and cairns out of respect.
There are AMS warnings everywhere now. Which brings me back to the lesson of the day: pacing.
The only way to minimize altitude symptoms, is to pace yourself. I go in front of the small crew and keep the tempo going. My ultimate goal is to never get my heart rate up. If I feel like I can’t take slow, deep breaths, then I’m going too fast and I slow down.
It doesn’t matter how many people pass us, what matters is that we feel like we are in control. This is true in life as well. It is so easy to compare our pace to the pace of others. Instead, we should focus on our own journey, no matter how fast or slow others are going. There is room for everyone to make it where they need to go in time.
Day 8: Release
Today was the day we reached Everest Base Camp!
1 hour into the, I had a headache that felt as though someone was giving me an icepick lobotomy. It’s dead quiet in the mountains now. You can hear the glaciers cracking and the rocks crumbling into the valleys. Luckily, with the quiet and need to focus on something other than the pain, it was a great time to think.
The day before the summit, we all decided to think of things that we wanted to leave at the base camp – anxieties, insecurities, negative thoughts, sour relationships, etc. So for the whole day, we thought about what we would leave behind in the Himalayas. The only way to reintroduce what we left behind back into our lives is to make this trek all over again.
And that’s the lesson for today: release.
After 8 extremely long days of trekking. After laughter and exhaustion and breathtaking sites, all 8 of us made it together.
It is so incredible to think how far we came. How much I’d learned about myself, and how much I had changed. I found a lot of incredible things in these mountains, and left so much behind. I am sad to have to leave the mountains so soon. I’ll treasure this experience with our wonderful guides, porters, and fellow trekkers forever.
Day 9: Jam Jam
Today’s lesson is Jam Jam, which means “let’s go” in Nepali. We’ve been saying this phrase pretty much the entire time we’ve been out here. Especially when our energy levels are low. Jam jam became a sort of personal mantra for pushing to base camp. Finishing a major trek like this is almost entirely mental, mind over matter. As are most obstacles in life. You need that inner fire to push you forward.
You’re not always going to have a coach in your life. At some point, you need to become your own coach. Your motivation must come from within. You need to be the voice inside your head getting you to where you need to go.
But with that comes the responsibility of knowing when you need to ‘bench yourself’.
This morning, we had the option to take a four hour trek to kala patthar. I am still getting over my cough and knew deep down that the hike would not be good for me. Ultimately, I decided not to go, and instead opted for a full night’s rest. I awoke feeling rejuvenated, less sick, and fully ready to enjoy the 9 hours of trekking ahead. The ultimate ‘jam jam’.
As we descended back towards the tree line, we threw another stone onto the monument to thank it for giving us safety in our travels. Tomorrow we head back to Namche (and a shower!). I’m writing this from a lovely garden ledge looking out over the Himalayas. What a perfect evening. The descent is too fast. I wish I had more time here.
Day 10: Nepali Flat
Aaaaand we’re back in my new favorite place: Namche. We started at 7am with breakfast and hiked seven hours back to where we almost started. It seems like we were just here yesterday. But it has actually been an entire week.
We passed through the Tengboche monastery and watched two monks create a mandala out of pigment. The designs apparently take 6-8 hours to create, and then are immediately destroyed – because nothing is permanent. The inside of the monastery was lined with intricate red and gold designs and converted from floor to ceiling in murals.
The day ended the same as the last time we were in Namche – with 300 games of Jenga until 10pm when we finally crashed.
Which brings me to today’s lesson – Nepali flat.
‘Nepali Flat’ is an ironic way to describe the terrain of the Khumbu region. There are so many GIANT uphills and GIANT downhills in the Himalayas, but there is never true ‘FLAT’. Instead, they have ‘Nepali Flat’: small, wiggly bumps along the way. Our crew would jump for joy whenever we heard our day would consist mainly of Nepali flat – no steep inclines or slippery declines! Just mini ups and downs.
Life is full of giant highs and lows – and those are often the parts that we remember. But a majority of life is just Nepali flat – riding the wave of mini ups and downs that carry us forward. On the trek, we over-indexed on our appreciation of the “flat”. I need to be more grateful for the times in life that are flat and uneventful. Sometimes the ‘boring’ moments have the most profound impact on our memories.
Day 11: Moments
Happy Halloween! But sad last day of trekking.
Today, we had our very last 8 hour hike from Namche all the way back to Lukla. I am sad for this journey to end, but so grateful to have experienced it
We had a full dinner tonight with all of our guides and porters as a sort of final celebration. We’ll say our goodbyes tomorrow. I’m going to truly miss them all, and I’m so happy I was able to meet them on this adventure.
Which brings me to today’s lesson – moments.
Since we started the trek, a common phrase we’ve adapted is “MOMENT PATROL”. This means having your camera at the ready to capture the candid moments of others on the trip. But an important part of being on moment patrol is also capturing the rough moments. The times where sh*t got hard. Only capturing the good moments tells half the story.
There are some great pictures of me slumped on a rock. These moments are just as real as the good ones full of laughing and smiling. It’s important to document the whole journey – to treasure the good moments, and to be able to look back at them and smile. And to remember the painful moments and how much you grew as you overcome those challenges. It’s a balance. You need both to grow.
I need to moment patrol my life more diligently. To slow down and capture some wonderful things I take for granted sometimes: watching movies with dad, or walks to the library with mom, or long phone calls with friends. I might not be able to physically capture these moments in a picture, per say, but I can definitely do a better job at writing them down or even taking more time to appreciate them.
Day 12: Partings
Today was our last day up in the mountains. We woke up at 7am for a final breakfast together before heading off to the airport. I cried.
The flight back down was so fast. Only 13 minutes in the air then another 6-hour bus ride back to Kathmandu, This time it flew by. I listened to music for the first time in two weeks and ate sour cream and onion Pringles.
When we arrived in Kathmandu, we decided to go out for one final family dinner together. Dal Baht and MoMo like we had never tasted before. There was even live dancing and music all night – and they even brought POPCORN.
We had one final meal, final laughs, final stories with our stomachs and hearts full. I woke up at 7am for one final goodby to them as their bus picked them up for the airport.
I guess that’s the lesson for today – partings.
I’ve never been fond of goodbyes – they are too final. And things that are final make me feel trapped and upset. I much prefer “see you later” because I firmly believe that the people that make a lasting impression on your life will always find their way back into it. I have a sneaky feeling that we will all meet again someday.
Sure, going home will be hard, and saying “goodbye for now” was even harder. But without allowing myself to be vulnerable to those moments of sadness, I never would have met such wonderful friends and people.
Day 13: The Wheel of Time
Well this is it. My last hour in wonderful Nepal. I am grabbing a quick breakfast before meeting the taxi in the hotel.
Every adventure must come to an end eventually. That’s the final lesson: The wheel of time.
We saw the wheel of time mandala up and down the mountain. At its core, it represents that nothing is permanent, and that existence is cyclical. Everything in life is like a wheel. It starts and ends. But when one thing ends, another begins.
I never even expected this trip to be part of my life, but the universe put it in front of me and I leapt at the opportunity. There are so many places to explore and people to meet. But in order to do so, the wheel of time must spin full circle to close out this wonderful chapter in my life.
Making it to Base Camp is one thing, but fully finishing the journey is something more. To stand at the starting point in Lukla again was so wild. We watched as other trekkers took their first steps of the journey. They have no clue what lies ahead for them. The pain and the exhaustion, the games of Uno in the teahouse, the cups of ginger lemon honey tea, and the nature pees above the tree line.
Our journey in Nepal may have come full circle, but the lessons we learned and the friendships we made are forever – planted at the center of our adventure like seeds. And as the wheel of time keeps turning and I go through more changes in my life, I’ll be able to keep expanding my small little piece of the universe.
Final Reflections
The most important lesson I learned on my trek is that moments are precious and need to be appreciated. I have no way of knowing when something like this will happen again – when the stars will align and allow me to take time off of work to fly halfway around the world to base camp. It might happen again, but it will not be the same experience twice.
It’s important to remain present and appreciate life every day. Appreciate friendships, appreciate family, appreciate health, appreciate love and sadness and excitement. Allow yourself to accept feelings and moments of loneliness and anxiety. Don’t try to bury them. Every moment is a learning opportunity, and every opportunity is fleeting.
I’ll forever remember the people I met here, and I’ll remember each and every lesson this trip taught me. The surreal draw of the mountains. The generosity of the people. The adventure and the struggle.
I love Nepal with all my heart, and I cannot wait to return someday.
That’s all, folks!
Trekking to Everest Base Camp was one of the greatest experiences of my entire life. If you are willing and able to, I highly recommend adding this adventure to your bucket list.
Have you trekked to Everest Base Camp? Drop a comment below with some of the lessons that you learned!
For more information, check out my other posts on Everest Base Camp:
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