Logistics are in place with our gracious hosts the Bhutan Olympic Committee, our 4-person Film Team is finalizing gear, TEDxThimphu is set for November 14, and we have a full contingent of guest Trekkers who will be joining us for “the inquiry” on the first leg of our journey through the northwest—including Emmy Award winning Imogen Heap. ‘The Lovely Hunger’ has been our driving force for this massive project—let the foolishness begin!

Both the Expedition Team and the Film Team will be heading out the last week in October. En route and via our 4 flight traveling extravaganza into Paro, Bhutan we’ll do a stop over in Kathmandu, Nepal for a few days. Hanging at a clubhouse sponsored by the American Alpine Club and run by The Mountain Fund—we’ll have just enough time to take in a bit of the excellent frenzy of that city and chill at the Kopan monastery, while letting all our gear catch up with us.

On November 1 in a once-a-day-weather-permitting, Druk Air flight we’ll head east along the southern edge of the Himalaya range before dropping into Bhutan—literally (it is a notorious landing). This passionate dream turned into 14 months of creation while my team of one grew to 10+ phenomenally talented people with a clear vision and driving inquiry. As Jobs can attest, being unrelentingly hungry gets results. Its refreshing to gather a bright crowd and head off to such a beautiful and remote part of the world. I couldn’t be more pleased with the possibilities of sharing our journey with you all.

Expedition Bhutan and our subsequent film is a marriage of high adventure and cultural inquiry. While the Bhutanese speakers at TEDxThimphu will be preparing and presenting on “What Matters”, we’ll take that inquiry into remote parts of Bhutan on a shared adventure with the geography and people of Bhutan. Shared with each other, with the camera, our 9 guest trekkers, and shared with you via satellite fed blog posts from the field.

In addition to last minute gear prep we are in the final stages of partnering with the companies that will be hosting our posts. We’ll get you their info prior to our departure so you can join us in Bhutan.

I’d like to toss in another thanks to James Fitzgerald, Candra Canning, Sonam Tshering and The Bhutan Olympic Committee, Yangki Tshering of Glimpses of Bhutan, Kinlei Wangchuk at Cafe Bhutan, and the hugely bright  and hungry collective of our Film and Expedition Teams. Big power comes in a small group with unrelenting tenacity and a passionate collective vision. You’ve all rocked it huge!

I’ll check back in a week with info on where we’ll be blogging while in Bhutan…

Stay tuned….

Terri

So while we’ve continued to refine relations with the country, we’ve been moving rapidly through our own planning process right here in the US—as our departure is looming. The progress we’ve made as a collective team is nothing short of phenomenal. As a result we’ve generated an experience, we’ll be sharing with you all, that is deeply layered and that defines unique.

Our film team is in place (I’ll introduce them in total in another post), we have an almost full house of guests who will be joining us on the first leg of our journey—all intriguing and remarkable folks. We’re psyched to have Imogen Heap, who will be scoring music for our film,  joining us on our first trek as well. We are also supporting the first TEDxThimphu on November 14th, as an extension of our discussion on Happiness and part-way through our journey. Our route is (finally) approved and logistics are falling into place. Expedition Bhutan is slated for Nov. 4 – December 7th. Its ON and its HUGE!

The team is on fire, sprinting to our departure date, end of October, but I’ll be back at you soon with more intro’s and info.

Stay tuned!

Terri

We’d like to hear about your relationship with this topic! Join us to share, as well as learn more about Expedition Bhutan at a prestigious and time-honored Festival.

Peruse our partner support page with options and details to support and join our Team in Bhutan. For more information on Expedition Bhutan go to www.expeditionbhutan.com and join us on Facebook.

Back at you soon!

Terri

Wow, I’ve been remiss in sharing as I’ve been ensconced in securing multiple areas surrounding our Expedition. The metaphor we’ve enjoyed using on Team conference calls is the proverbial pushing of the ball—uphill. For months we’ve been diligently rolling the ball upward via countless emails, phone calls, relationships developed, details gathered. As it climbs it gathers information needed for our journey. A couple weeks ago the ball hit the top of the huge hill and is now finding momentum rolling down the other side—the journey upward well worth the effort. Nice.

One key exercise has been the learning and refining of our diplomatic relations with our contacts in Bhutan. They are gracious and generous people but as with any different culture we are learning the subtle language of how they communicate and interact (versus our hyper-speed American ways). This has been incredibly enriching as well as gotten us about 90% to finalizing our Expedition route. As I’ve said may times prior, one doesn’t just throw on your backpack, go to Bhutan and do what one pleases. There are guidelines to work within and we are learning the nuances of that process.

Ben Henretig, artist and film maker

After many conversations with a lot of super cool, incredibly talented people, we have partnered with a phenomenal artist and film maker who will lead up the film team for our Expedition. Wow. When I first spoke with Ben Henretig, it was as if we had already had a conversation about my visions for this Expedition. Perfect alignment. Passions in sync and he instantly got what we are up to. Ben is Creative Director & Founder of Micro-Documentaries, creating documentaries to bring about positive change. He’s a graduate of Stanford Film and Media Studies and an integral player in various communities that truly make a difference for young professionals and college students. We’re honored to be working with Ben to offer you a beautiful and provoking film. See Ben’s full bio on our  Team page. Welcome Ben!We are also finalizing negotiations with BOC to partner with them in creating a staged running event in Bhutan  in 2012 – stay tuned runner/traveler fans! This one will be amazing.

For more information on how you can join our team in Bhutan, peruse our invitation to you by checking out the Join Us page on our site.

Lots more happening!! Back at you soon!

Terri

PS! AS I WRITE THIS Tony is finishing up a swim across Lake Tahoe! Woohoo!

One of the things I am continually an excellently reminded of is that not every nations culture embodies the blind, frenetic, passionate, results driven work habits—of Americans. So it is important for us to calmly wait—especially when respecting working relationships—when what we really want is to keep driving forward at our crazy pace. An excellent reminder.

That said, we are currently:

• Continuing to finalize our film team
• Working on changing up our website text to more finely tune our objectives as they have evolved (very exciting stuff)
• Continue to create partnerships with individuals and companies who are in alignment with what we are up to
• Waiting patiently for info from our contacts in Bhutan so we can forge ahead with plans
• Finalizing negotiations with BOC to partner with them in creating an event for them in Bhutan  in 2012

I would like to once again, thank this awesome team. What a bunch of talented, forward thinking people—I’m honored to be working with you all. We are indeed collectively creating an incredible, memorable experience and we haven’t even stepped foot in Bhutan yet!

Peruse our partner support page with options and details to support and join our Team in Bhutan. For more information on Expedition Bhutan to towww.expeditionbhutan.com and join us on Facebook.

Back at you soon!

Terri

To partner with our expedition—see info below including new start dates for joining our Team in Bhutan. For more information on Expedition Bhutan go to www.expeditionbhutan.com and join us on Facebook.

______________

You’re invited! Support Expedition  Bhutan and  Join  our  Team  on  an  Unprecedented  Journey…

There has never been and likely will never again be, a journey like Expedition Bhutan. As we adventure on foot, mountain bike and raft, through the heart and soul of this unique country of Bhutan, we’ll reflect light on their concept of Gross National Happiness via the following questions:

• What is it?
• What are its implications for the people of Bhutan?
• What, if any, are its implications for the rest of us at a time when the world so desperately seeks peace, satisfaction and Happiness?

As a small 4-person expedition team we hope to serve as stewards of Bhutan, its people, culture, and concepts. And as a launching point to our ultimate film of this project, we’re excited to start the “sharing” with a few special others like yourself.  If you not only get what we are up to, but would like to be a special part of the vision of this extra-ordinary project we hope you’ll partner with us by supporting or joining our team for a novel discovery of something much larger than ourselves.

Peruse our partner support page with options and details to support and join our Team in Bhutan. Please contact Terri at tschneider@expeditionbhutan.com if you have any further questions on joining the expedition.

Terri

You’re invited! Support Expedition  Bhutan and  Join  our  Team  on  an  Unprecedented  Journey…

There has never been and likely will never again be, a journey like Expedition Bhutan. As we adventure on foot, mountain bike and raft, through the heart and soul of this unique country of Bhutan, we’ll reflect light on their concept of Gross National Happiness via the following questions:

• What is it?
• What are its implications for the people of Bhutan?
• What, if any, are its implications for the rest of us at a time when the world so desperately seeks peace, satisfaction and Happiness?

As a small 4-person expedition team we hope to serve as stewards of Bhutan, its people, culture, and concepts. And as a launching point to our ultimate film of this project, we’re excited to start the “sharing” with a few special others like yourself.  If you not only get what we are up to, but would like to be a special part of the vision of this extra-ordinary project we hope you’ll partner with us by supporting or joining our team for a novel discovery of something much larger than ourselves.

Peruse our partner support page with options and details to support and join our Team in Bhutan. Please contact Terri at tschneider@expeditionbhutan.com if you have any further questions on joining the expedition.

Expedition Bhutan at Steinbeck Festival, 2011:

We also want to give you a heads up that our team will be doing a panel discussion at the upcoming Steinbeck Festival in Salinas. I’ll give you more info as we get closer to the event, but here is the gist:

Saturday, August 6, from 5:00-5:45 pm

You Against Yourself: Extreme Sports and the Foe, with author and ultra endurance athlete Terri Schneider in a panel discussion with her teammates for Expedition Bhutan, planned for fall 2011. To raise the bar from you against the clock or other humans—its you against yourself in extreme elements. National Steinbeck Center, One Main Street, Salinas, CA 93901

Back at you soon!

Terri

Like any intriguing and epic project, our cast of characters for Expedition Bhutan has changed up and grown, at once. And we’re not done expanding as of yet.

Melina Lillios will be joining on the front end of our Expedition to support the folks who will be joining our expedition as support! Thanks Melina – your expertise and help in country is invaluable.

James Fitzgerald, with Bhutan Ventures, has been working with Expedition Bhutan since before it was Expedition Bhutan. In fact he is the reason that I was able to germinate this seed of an idea to begin with! James does business in Bhutan and introduced me to the dignitaries there that we are partnering with for this project. James remains invaluable to our vision and mission.

High Gear, Cafe Bhutan and the Bhutan Olympic Committee are also partners of our project and this list is growing daily.

We’ve brought on a new team mate for the expedition—David Kelly will be joining us for this unique adventure of a lifetime. I’ve known David through all the nooks and crannies of our lives with depth enough that I’m fairly certain we knew each other in a past life .  Its as endearing as it can be disconcerting that he often answers my questions before I speak (though this can come in handy when in a risky predicament). David is as adaptable and adventurous as he is intelligent, which makes him one of the coolest people, to do cool things, in cool places with. And as a human who is as comfortable in the silence as he is verbally pondering the between the lines intricacies of ‘why’, at high philosophical decibels, I’m psyched to be perusing the massive elevation gains and losses of Bhutan with him.

With big fits and starts we are still formulating our film team and will keep you posted on that as well as the final on our route. There is much more to share but I will be brief today with the promise of more to come.

Send your friends to our Facebook page to Like us, stay in touch on what you are up to in adventure and we’ll do the same.  I’ll be back at you soon with more details.

For more detailed info go to www.expeditionbhutan.com!

Terri

Terri's Planning Hunt

I am a planner and one of the most curious people I know. So the act of collecting newinformation about all kinds of topics and places that I find fascinating, repeatedly satisfies my inquisitive nature. Thus far and without an end in sight, Expedition Bhutan planning has offered me a steady curiosity fix—a big dose of planning high. And at this point in the game there is no end in sight. Oh yeah….

Because I’ve been asked by some what is actually required to do a trip of the sort we are planning and because some of you might might be planning your own big project, I thought I’d share a bit about what our Team has been up to to put this expedition together.

To accomplish(ed) all of the below thus far my team has conference calls about every 10 days and in addition I am in contact with individual teammates as needed.

• Multiple calls to invite and solidify the team. We are in CA, CO, NV and DC.
• Multiple team calls to formulate our mission.
• Website writing and creation.
• Initiate Facebook wall.
• Ongoing research about all aspects of the country in general via print, internet and other humans.
• Ongoing research about Gross National Happiness via print, internet and other humans.
• Multiple and ongoing emails and calls with our US liaison to to Bhutan.
• Multiple and ongoing emails with our contact at Bhutan Olympic Committee.
• Create gear list for trip. (hike, camp, bike, raft, media)
• Create sponsor proposal, send out, follow up. Follow up again. Send out more. Repeat.
• Partner with internet site to host our expedition real time (still working on).
• Hours of research and multiple meetings of route planning: perusing maps, geography, festivals, integration of additional meetings and activities into physical route.
• Propose Route Plan A to Bhutan for approval.
• Work with in-country expedition team on logistics.
• Research the event that Bhutan Olympic Committee wants us to host for them in Bhutan in 2012. (much more on that later)
• Interview for and acquire film making team (film, sound, creative).
• Work with film team on story boarding and overall media logistics.
• Ongoing planning for gear and execution of uploading our trip real time.
• Acquire PR person to promote pre-expedition to generate more interest.
• Write regular blog posts to let people know what we are up to because we and they are psyched!!!!

I hope this list was helpful for you in planning your next big project. If I forgot anything let me know and I’ll put it on my to-do list…

Back at you soon,

Terri