Namaste New Nepal!

Namaste and Yo to my fellow dragons!   I’m Mark Bauhaus and totally excited to join this journey!!   Caroline (wife) and I serendipitously noticed a post about this trip a few weeks ago and spontaneously applied.   We don’t normally do this but it felt meant to be somehow.  Woo hoo off we go.  Both our daughters were Dragons (Andes/Amazon ’11 and Nicaragua ’12) as were many friends we referred.  We’ve always wanted to join the dragons fray – the spirit of exploration, stretching boundaries, and reaching out open-armed people-to-people with an intense curiosity & appreciation… it’s a spirit to build upon always, I think.

I’m from silicon valley, a dad of two ‘dragon’ girls now in their 20’s, and an avid outdoor person.  My undergrad was a custom degree that set the tone of my life in interdisciplinary environmental systems analysis and business management.  My 30+ year career was in internet software/hardware management that took me to managing people in over 40 countries.  Lately I’ve shifted to the “intersection of purpose and profit”, by helping startups grow with combined social / environmental / financial missions and via teaching/mentoring college students on the same.  I also work on carbon drawdown and global energy imbalance initiatives to help address/prevent runaway climate change.   I hike, bike, run, and ski… so I love the outdoors and the beauty of the Himalayas too.

This journey to Nepal will be one of rediscovery since I fell in love with Nepal on our last/first visit 31 years ago during a month-long immersion around Kathmandu and Pokhara/Annapurna areas.   I’m looking forward to meeting Nepali people and culture in a new way & new era, with an open mind to what’s changed in 3 decades as well as what’s timeless.   I have vivid memories of the beauty of Nepali smiles, light humor, passionate discussions, and the incomparable mountains.  I also have vivid memories of the developing country challenges and strains on family/social/religious traditions of the world descending upon Nepal in the 80’s.  Most likely I also have new lenses to receive Nepal after several decades of life experience.

With light heart and open mind, I have great anticipation to freshly see and engage Nepal with you all shortly!   (PS Pic is from Andes; need a new one from Nepal).