Well here I am and it's been over 16 months since I made any real money. How do I do it? Living economically is a big part, I haven't had to cut out anything that I really want to do and I have a good quality of life. A key part is not having any big expenses that tie me to the US, also eliminating international plane tickets has saved a lot.
Over the past 3 months I've started earning a minimal income through paragliding (instruction, tandems and parahawking).
The instruction was interesting and a lot of fun. Two friends I knew from my previous life as a wildland firefighter came to Nepal the end of Feburary to learn with me. It was a great dynamic as they were both eager and humble to learn and I was cautious but excited to teach them. Dan Clatt and John Freemont are both Alaskan Smokejumpers, which means they are familar with being in air and picking out a suitable LZ but only knew how to go down. Paragliders are very different than parachutes and we were attentivee to address the differences but the guys were quick natural pilots and when let loose for their first real thermaling attempts Dan managed 1 hour 40 minutes and John 1:30. Though they have a interesting/"macho" job neither pretended they knew everything and thus learned well. The final test question was 1)Who's responsible? 2)Why do people have accidents paraglding? 3)How are you going to stay safe? By the end of December they both returned to their lives and families in the US. I'm excited to see how they both progress in the future.
For me I stayed on in Pokhara and was able to do some commercial tandems for Frontiers, one of 3 companies here in Pokhara. Adam Hill is a friend who brought commercial paragliding to Nepal over 11 years ago, he was my first contact when I came here 5 years and has supported and encouraged me since then.
I've also gotten the incredibly unique opportunity to work with Scott Mason, who has pioneered Parahawking, the art of Paraglding with trained birds. Scott's worked hard for 7 years to get to this point and because of our friendship I've been able to jump in at just the right moment and reap the rewards of his and his teams hard work. This year the dream is becoming a reality and we are progressing to new levels every week.
Check out the Parahawking site and specifically our Parahawking blog for the latest news. Your not going to believe it, I don't and I'm doing it!
One of the passengers has posted a youtube video showing some in flight action. Thanks Anto, it was great flying with you and Kay, glad you did it.
So what's the money equation? well basically I'm barely making enough to cover living expenses and when you factor in new equipment it doesn't add up, but as a way to keep this lifestyle going and do what I love then it works and I'm loving it!
