Shellie and I have been very lucky to have worked with some great people in the Himalayas. We especially love our favie guide, Tsering, and indeed we love working with her entire family – we’ve run trips with her younger sister Kalsang and her lovely father Tenzin. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. 

Behind the scenes we also work with a much bigger team too, the folks from Makalu Adventures. It takes a lot of nice people to deliver on our tours. Makalu Adventures is owned and managed by my friend Mohan Lamsal. I first met Mohan when running photo tours in Asia, when a friend of mine suggested I might like to try visiting Nepal. Makalu are mostly experienced at running trekking trips, peak climbs and the occasional cycling tour. 

Photo tours were a new thing for Mohan so he came along for the first trip to better understand what it is that I do. Photographers aren’t so keen on trekking, so right from the start we found ourselves challenged with access to the beautiful mountains of Nepal, while trying to maintain a certain level of comfort. Mohan has helped us to develop the “Slow Travel” experience, both for photographers and for Be Your Best travellers.

Over the years we found more ways to soften the edges of “trekking guesthouses”, to make the journeys a little smoother and less rigorous, and to celebrate new jeep trails that allow access to scenery that was previously only possible by trekking. In recent years we’ve even added some heli services to some trips, with stunning results.

Over a decade since we first started working together the combination of Mohan’s “local knowledge” and my appreciation for “slow travel” remains the magic ingredient to our Nepal adventures. No two journeys are ever the same (and the unexpected is never far away when travelling in the Himalayas) but the foundation for each trip remains solid. Having a team on the ground I can rely on is absolutely the most important part of leading a tour.

In 2024 we’re doing something new. Again. Makalu and Be Your Best are teaming up officially to sell the trips, not just run them. We’re sharing the challenge of reaching out to travellers and inviting them to join us, both in Nepal and Bhutan. We already share a love for this region, and share the execution of the tours. Now we’re sharing the really hard bit… getting the word out and finding a handful of gentle souls to sign up for the tours.

We have three adventures planned over the next 18 months. A slow travel trip in Bhutan for November 2024, then “Slow Walking In Nepal” for March 2025, immediately followed by a research trip to Pikey Peak to follow in the footsteps of Sir Edmund Hillary. Full details are on the tours page.