It’s only the Himalayas and other Tales of Miscalculation from an Overconfident Backpacker is a book by S. Bedford, a Canadian author. This laugh-out-loud travel memoir exposes backpacking’s uncomfortable side:
Sue, a disenchanted waitress, embarks upon a year-long quest around the world with her friend, Sara—who’s exasperatingly perfect. expecting a whimsical jaunt of self-discovery, sue instead encounters an absurd series of misadventures that render her embarrassed, terrified, and queasy (and in a lot of trouble with Philippine Airlines).
Whether she’s fleeing from ravenous lions, dancing amid smoking skulls, trekking Annapurna underprepared, or (accidentally) drugging an Englishman, Sue’s quick-witted, self-deprecating narrative might just inspire you to take your own chaotic adventure.
Read our interview with sue to learn more about her adventures in travel, and her newest book!
The Expeditioner explains your backpacking journey as “not exactly Eat, Pray, Love.” how does It’s only the Himalayas differ?
You mean in addition to the uncomfortable sex and uncontrollable vomiting? Eat, Pray, love focuses on the rosier elements of travel whereas It’s only the Himalayas is a gritty comedy about a neurotic everygirl (yours truly) attempting to handle the world—and the outrageous ways in which the world fights back.
Furthermore, Eat, Pray, love is a happily-ever-after story: Liz Gilbert is distraught after her divorce and seeks happiness abroad, which she eventually discovers when she satisfies a new man.
In contrast, I set out wishing to “find myself” in that ambiguous yet alluring sense only to discover that there is no clandestine wisdom waiting for me within a Tibetan monastery or beneath an African dune.
Rather, wherever I go, there I am—but maybe being that person isn’t so bad, after all. Crap, did I just spoil the ending?
What was the weirdest moment during your year abroad?
While questing for a unique cultural experience, we found ourselves in a Dayak longhouse in remote Borneo during a funeral ceremony.
Custom dictates that the skulls of the deceased’s relatives are exhumed for the celebration; those that haven’t properly decomposed yet are substituted with coconuts with faces drawn on them.
Through an unusual twist of fate (and by that I mean the family looking for entertainment), I was invited to dance in the ceremony. unable to remember the traditional steps, however, I ended up doing something that closer resembled the time Warp.
Part of It’s only the Himalayas’s charm is the self-deprecating humour and your honesty regarding your foibles, insecurities and mistakes—not to mention your, ah, misadventures in promiscuity. Was it challenging to be this open with the audience?
There are many travel blogs and Instagram accounts which portray backpacking as stunning and glamorous, and backpackers as these sage wanderers who can scale a mountain at dawn without scuffing their Toms.
I wanted to show the world that:
1) You don’t have to be some polyglot anthropologist who can twist open a coconut with your bare hands to travel; en
2) Life on the road ain’t always pretty.
When writing the book, I struggled with how frank I should be, and eventually decided to be totally honest and try not to think about my pals and family reading it. on that note, I censored my parents’ copy with liquid paper and a box cutter.
What was the biggest cultural difference you encountered during your travels?
When I was in Lhasa, I witnessed Tibetan Buddhists making the pilgrimage to and around Barkhor Square.
Most people just walked, but some carried out the ritualistic mode of locomotion by reaching skywards, then moving on their bellies… the whole way there.
Depending where they came from, it could be a months-long journey. between that and the monasteries where monks devote their lives from childhood to piety is a religious commitment I never encountered back in Canada.
The new York Times summarizes your book as “A Canadian waitress who swears like a fishwife goes to Boracay.” hoe voel je je daarover?
Well, first I had to look up what a fishwife was. In all seriousness, being discussed in the Times is a enormous honour—I want that phrase needlepointed on a pillow or something. surely somebody on Etsy does that?
What advice do you have for people considering their own round-the-world trip?
Ga.
Whatever sacrifices you need to make (living on ramen noodles and fruit cups while you save up, for example) are worth it.
The year I spent backpacking was veruit de grootste tijd van mijn leven; De wereld is complexer en ongelooflijker dan ik ooit had kunnen doorgronden.
Het gaf me ook een waardering voor het niet-lineair leven, het concentreren van mijn doelen op vluchtige maar ongelooflijke momenten in plaats van de permanente en meetbare prestaties die meestal worden gewaardeerd door de westerse wereld.
Details van boek- en auteur:
Het zijn alleen de Himalaya en andere verhalen over misrekeningen van een overmoedige backpacker is verkrijgbaar bij uitgever Brindle & Glass bij Barnes & Noble in de VS, Indigo in Canada, Waterstones in het VK, en Amazon en het boek Depository wereldwijd.
Maak contact met S. Bedford:
Website, Instagram, Twitter en Facebook
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