Our travels to Bhutan encourage us to think critically about what happiness means in the Bhutanese context, and ask what we can learn about notions of “happiness” as contributors to our own quality of life. Our journey into this remote Himalayan kingdom gives us rare access to vast and ancient landscapes, challenging us to reevaluate commonly held notions of our role in the human and natural environment.

Program Highlights

• Meet with Tibetan Buddhist monks, nuns, and scholars to understand different paths to happiness in the Himalayan context
• Hike up to Paro Taktsang, the sacred cliffside monastery also known as the “Tiger’s Nest” and visit other remote monasteries and sacred sites
• Work alongside environmentalists to better understand the unique interplay of spirituality and sustainability

Since the arrival of television in 1999 and a cascade of global influences, Bhutan has experienced a steady increase in foreign tourism which challenges long-held insular traditions. How can we understand the pressures and adaptations of Bhutanese culture in the face of a globalizing world and the demands for tourism access to this Himalayan kingdom? In our questioning and exploration of Bhutan, we hope to find a better understanding of the worldviews and assumptions that shape our lives and happiness back home.

We learn how Buddhism, as the state religion, has had deep social impacts, particularly on the creation of unique government policies on conservation, preservation, and sustainable development. We delve deeply into Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, histories, and folk tales to understand the drastically different ways of viewing our existence and interactions on this planet. We seek to understand how these embodied philosophies impact people’s daily choices. Through listening to both local villagers and professional academics, we gain insights to perspectives on the environment, our role in conservation, and the concept of earth as an interdependent organism.

Our travels start in the capital of Thimpu, the most bustling population center in what remains a largely rural and sparsely populated landscape. Here we visit sacred Buddhist monuments containing over 125,000 relics, stroll through farmer’s markets trading traditional crafts and produce, and meet with local experts in conservation, religion, and politics. Thimpu is a vibrant homebase for our first days in Bhutan as it serves as the cultural and political center of the kingdom.

From Thimpu, we drive through the high passes to Punakha noticing how the roads naturally meander around around the mountains rather than tunneling through them which is a result of the Bhutanese belief that the landscapes are inhibited by spirits who deserve to exist undisturbed by human development. Here we visit the sacred meditation caves along the Dochula Pass and volunteer with a community project working to plant tree saplings in the mountainside. We’ll hike to a mountain monastery crossing over Bhutan’s longest suspension bridge.

Our final days take us on a series of short day hikes to Buddhist monasteries where we sit in meditation with the local monks and nuns. Our time ends with a group retreat to reflect on our many experiences over our short but rich time traveling through this enchanted and complex Himalayan kingdom.