Backpacking, adventure seeking, wanderlust pursuing, traveling, call it a n y t h i n g but a holiday. This is something I have learned in the many hostels of Asia.

“I am a student of the world, ya know, not all classrooms have four walls,” a notable long-bearded, meditating traveler once told me. At first, I laughed at the roundabout ways people avoided saying the “h” word. Yet here I am coming to the conclusion that he made a good point. Traveling around India and Nepal with my best friends the past couple months has been anything but a mindless beach vacation. You simply can’t help yourself from having your beliefs challenged and your ignorance exposed when backpacking halfway around the world.

I decided to keep an illustrated travel journal to remember these moments, the good and the bad. This journal has allowed me to document my personal and private experiences while at once sharing them.