The Meetup

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in

Part 1 of many about my adventure to Nepal with Approach Intl.

Andy was flying in from Bozeman, and I was joining him in Seattle. It was a four hour drive up from The Dalles, so I was able to get in a bit of last minute time with my family before leaving them for two weeks. This will be the longest Jess and I have spent apart in our nearly 10 years of marriage. I’m glad and blessed that we don’t have to be separated from each other often. Occasionally in my last job, I’d be gone for a few days, but I was typically 6 hours away by car, so it wasn’t that far. It was a bit harder leaving them this time. Our life circumstances are different and I find myself wanting more time with my little family.

We were delayed in traffic for a bit, so we opted to just drop me off at the departure entrance of Sea-Tac rather than parking a having a bit more time to say goodbye. It’s bittersweet to cut goodbyes short. Jessica’s eyes were teared up, which means mine were close in pursuit. I find it wonderful that our emotions are so tied over this past decade, I love that woman more than word can express and am deeply grateful for her support in this expedition.

When we pulled up to the terminal, it hit me. We’ve been planning this for months, dreaming big and now the moment had come. I’m doing something more adventurous than ever before. Andy and I, we’re not just going to Nepal, we’ve done that before. This time we are building something, an organization to help people love where they live, to provide them the support they need to build up their business, to grow and support their communities.

I was able to quickly drop off my checked bag and head into the terminal. I’m carrying a light documentary kit with me, so I was expecting issues at security checkpoint. Ironically, my gear bag went through just fine. It was my day bag that was flagged. I’d been looking for my Leatherman since we moved into our house, the TSA found it for me. So it was placed in the donation bin as I had no intention of trying to mail it back home, call Jess back to the airport, or check my day bag. A bummer, but oh well…

Inside the terminal, I made my way to the international gates, where Andy was just a few minutes ahead of me getting there. Andy is like a brother to me, we’ve gone on many adventures, pushed ourselves to pure exhaustion and have been there for each other for these past several years. It was great to see him, ready for this adventure to begin. He grabbed a bite to eat and we let it all sink in.

Next stop, Dubai, after a 14+ hour flight…