People say Travel is fun, well not always in my case. Not because I hate to travel but because being an occasional traveler, I always wanted to avoid long distance travel and stick to short distance one. So, when my manager Milan informed me about my selection for 2 months visit to US, I was jumping with joy outside but at the same time, the thought about long hours of flight was killing me inside. Amidst all these mixed emotions and preparations, finally, the day came. My flight from Kathmandu to Boston was scheduled on December 29th and it took me about 34 hours to reach my destination. I reached Boston Logan Int’l airport on December 30th, it was a cold Friday evening and there, Sanjeev and Swosti came to receive me and we headed towards their apartment.

Since it was winter time, Boston, City of Champions, was covered with snow but I was excited to see the white surroundings around me. Luckily, I was there during the New Year time, so I got chance to visit Boston Downtown on New Year’s Eve with Bipul, Rosina, Sagar, Anita and Manish and see amazing fireworks. January 3rd, Monday was my first day at Deerwalk Lexington Office. Everybody welcomed me with nice gesture and I was very pleased to be introduced with each of them. The next few days were quite busy for me as I was slowly adapting to the working environment and culture in the office. Calls with clients and Nepal team were one of the important daily tasks in US office that I could see.  After office and at weekends, I would take my time for shopping and go around different places and eateries in the town. I was really amazed by the facilities and advanced technologies used everywhere I go. One winter morning, as soon as I woke up and glanced outside of my room’s window, I could see the sky showering the town with snow and that was my first ever experience of snowfall.

The following week on January 9th, I went to Chicago to visit the onshore team. Barbara, Bill’s lovely wife came to receive me at Chicago Ohare Int’l Airport. Chicago lies in the state of Illinois and is best known as the Windy City. I was really thrilled to see tall buildings that stood still in Downtown and busy roads with people rushing towards their destination. It is a busy city indeed. My excitement knew no boundaries when I met our onshore team members in person, esp. Bryan who guided me through each and every corner of the office and introduced me to team members. We had team meeting and some training sessions as well. Luckily, I was able to attend Holiday Party on my last day in office where I got chance to have conversation with some senior-level executives and they were all in praises of Deerwalk team. I felt really glad to hear that and was proud to be a team member of this wonderful team. I was staying at Bill’s house and we used to have lots of conversation in dinner time with his family. Though the trip was short, I was able to wander around Downtown and visit the famous Cloud Gate, commonly known as Chicago Bean at Millennium Park. My plan to view the entire Chicago city from Willis Tower got ruined due to bad weather but overall, I must say that my trip to Chicago was really fruitful. I returned back to Boston on Jan 14th. I spent my rest days of the month going to office, visiting new places like Harvard Square, enjoying Basketball game between Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic at TD Garden. Thanks to Dave for providing game tickets.

February, the month of love was here and I was already missing my family back in Nepal. Despite of this, I was set to visit some exotic places in US, Las Vegas being one of them. Las Vegas, City of Lights, which lies in Nevada state is known primarily for its casinos, shopping, fine dining, entertainment, and nightlife. Really, it is a gorgeous city. During my stay, I went to Hoover Dam that lies on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. In the night, I visited few renowned Casinos in the strip like Bellagio, Caesars Palace, The Venetian and Flamingo. Each casino had its unique architecture and attraction. The Venetian had its architecture based off that of the romantic city of Venice with amazing artificial sky. I did not miss the chance to watch water fountains of Bellagio which was a major attraction. I also managed to ride the famous 550-foot-tall High Roller from where you could view the entire Las Vegas city that was so bright.

My next destination was LA LA Land. Los Angeles, City of Stars, which lies in California state is a beautiful city. There, I managed to visit popular places like Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills and Walk of Fame.  Since Los Angeles is also a home to famous Hollywood stars, I could see fashionable people everywhere. I also went hiking to Backbone trail at Santa Monica Mountains with some friends. The place was surrounded by hills and this reminded me of my hometown due to similar landscape. My first ever beach experience got fulfilled at Santa Monica Beach. To walk near the sea bed was a new feeling for me.  I enjoyed a lot during my stay in LA.

The last few weeks in Boston were really great. I went to Pats Peak in New Hampshire for tubing and New England Aquarium in Boston Downtown that reminded me of Finding Dory. We had a ladies get together at Muna’s place where we had so much fun. I was very overwhelmed when I got invitation for dinner at Mukta, Smriti, Namita and Rebecca’s place respectively and we had a great time there. I learned a lot about the western culture and lifestyle in my 2 month’s trip, some of these I am surely going to implement in my personal life as well as professional life. I returned to Nepal on March 2nd.

My hometown welcomed me back with lots of air pollution, people were already calling it “Dhulomandu”, but hopefully, we will get a clean Kathmandu soon once all the ongoing government projects get accomplished. I would like to thank Rudra and Muna, Bill and Barbara, Sanjeev and Swosti, Abanish and Richa, Mukta, Smriti, Namita and Rebecca and their families who showered me with warm hospitality during my stay. Special thanks to Bipul and Rosina, Sagar and Anita, and Manish for their love, care and support and for guiding me to so many new places in the town. Also, thanks to all friends who helped me in the trip. I am back to Nepal with lots of memories from US that will last forever. Thank you Deerwalk for providing me this opportunity and finally, I can say that Travel is fun if you want to make it, no matter how near or far you go.