Your Big Year, Every Travelers Dream!
~Shilpa Bhandari
Nepal
In 2018, through Your Big Year, I received an opportunity to travel to 12 states of the United States. I have always loved travelling. So, during Your Big Year, being able to hop on a car /plane /bus /subway everyday and travel to see and experience amazing local lives and places within the United States with my fellow travellers was one of the most profound experiences I have ever had.
Everyday of Your Big Year, every adventure, and interaction was a dream come true. However, Your Big Year was not just about travelling and seeing places. There was much more to it. Your Big Year was about stepping out of our comfort zone, travelling with a group of strangers (who later turned to be great friends) for a month, and learning to find beauty in differences we had. It was about seeing different places like Birmingham through the eyes of people who have grown up seeing the revolution happening there. It was about people in Tulsa who loved their cities so much that they built a museum for an artist long lost in history. It was about experiencing how the city of Nashville loves music so much that aspiring singers, whom we danced to, sing at bars there without even being paid just because they love what they are doing. It was all about discovering people, places and stories.
As I am originally from Nepal, Your Big Year meant more to me because it helped me understand the American culture and society and changed my perspective towards life, people and the world. It showed me the beauty and diversity in every state of the United States.
When I decided to participate in Your Big Year, I had already been in the U.S for a year. However, in full honesty, I was struggling with a huge culture shock. Everything from the food to language to work and study culture in the U.S is different than in Nepal. I had a hard time figuring out how I can fit in a society so different than the society I was aware of for 18 years of my life. The beauty of travelling miles to see places is that it reduces the distance between people. Travelling all around the U.S, talking with people here, living with them and hearing their stories made me realize that at the end of the day, all of us are similar. Whether it is Everest in Nepal or Grand Canyon in the U.S, nature thrills, everyone. Whether you are visiting old palaces in Nepal or wandering through natural history museums in the U.S, both experiences expand your imagination and knowledge of the world. Your Big Year helped me get out of culture shock.
One of my biggest takeaways from Your Big Year was that travelling always expands your mind in one way or another.
When I think about Your Big Year after 2 years, I still feel like it did not happen to me. It was too good to be true. With little known about what to expect, I hopped on that journey, and at the end, I got two beautiful things: lifelong friendships and unforgettable memories. I am grateful to my fellow travellers: Jacquelyn, Aulii and Sam for sharing a month of their life with me while creating lifelong memories.
I am amazed by how hard Rachel, our tour manager, worked to make sure everything went smoothly and am more than grateful to her. The trip would not have been the same without her effort. I am blown by Andrew’s work and am thankful to him for capturing all our wonderful memories with his heavy cameras. I am grateful to Hellem for always encouraging me to pursue new experiences in life and to Sudha di for connecting me with International Connector, sharing her Your Big Year experience with me and for paving the path for me to pursue it. I am thankful to my family for supporting me throughout my journey. Most importantly, I am grateful to Marti not only because she is an amazing woman who inspires me a lot, but also because Your Big Year would never exist had not she thought about it during her thesis and brought together the resources and sponsors to make it possible.
Want to connect with Shilpa?
Facebook: facebook.com/shilpa.bhandari.92
Instagram: instagram.com/77_parasian/
Email: parasianshilpa@gmail.com