INTRODUCTION NEWMARKET, ONTARIO, CANADA

"You're going where?"

"Why would you do that?"

"Aren't you afraid of getting shot?"

"Where the hell is that?"

"You'll get sick, won't you?"

These were some of the reactions when we told people where we were going on our trip. It was, of course, nice to think that our family and friends were concerned about our health and safety. But, after a short while, the reactions became tiresome, to a point. We found that we were always trying to justify not only why we were going to travel to Nepal, Bhutan, India and Tibet, but why we were travelling at all.

It's a difficult thing, this justification for travelling. I've done it before, in conversation with many of you and in previous travel blogs. Each time, I say more or less the same thing, and, while my words make perfect sense to me, they often don't to others.

So, for this trip, I'm trying a different tactic. I use the phrase below not to be nasty or condescending ( traits that I'm sometimes accused of being ) , but to be truthful and honest. And, of course, I know deep down that family and friends are not really asking me to justify travelling at all: they just don't know how to react when I tell them "I'm going to Bhutan" when they ask me "what's new?"

So, the answer to the above questions is simple.

"If you have to ask, you'll never understand."

Let the adventure begin.