When a plan comes together

Lok Down Under

One of our favourite stories from Epic Private Journeys 20th year. (That was 2023). The sublime and often simple joys of travel. The power of human connection across cultures and time zones.
The generosity of our clients. It all came together with an idea from Brad, who has done umpteen treks through the Himalayas with a local (Nepal) legend of the industry, Lok Magan. Over the years, Lok and Brad have forged a great friendship, based on respect and trust and no shortage of humour. The Nepalese people have a wonderful, positive outlook on life.

Briefly, Lok and his wife Dhan’s daughter, Ranjita moved to Canberra, Australia’s capital in early 2018, to study to be a nurse at the University of Canberra. With plans towards a family catch up in 2020, of course we know what happened to the world then. The pandemic, as it did for so many families separated around the world, crushed the possibility of a reunion, with lock downs and travel bans, work dried up, while at the back end, airfares rose prohibitively. It seemed everything had been tipped on its head.
As Brad returned to Nepal eventually with his first clients and Lok thankfully started guiding Epic treks again, the old team picked up where they left off. Chatting for a couple of weeks over an Everest base camp trek, Lok mentioned one day he and Dhan hadn’t seen Ranjita for 5 years. On returning to Australia, Brad put out a call and the response from clients all over the world was overwhelming. Within no time, Brad was able to call Lok and Dhan and book them on flights to Australia in the spring. There to greet them after 5 and a half years at Sydney airport was their darling daughter.

A month in Australia, family bonds cemented again, it was a really heart warming reunion to be a part of. Thanks to everyone who pitched in to make it possible. These are the things we reckon that travel is all about.
The little story here.

#travel stories

Photography:Brad Horn + Simon Reeve