Have you ever returned home from a trip a wondering, “Where did the time go?” or “Wow! That week went fast!” My most recent trip to Nepal has made me a believer in time travel – or more like time going by at warp speed. My last visit to the country was in 2003, when I was volunteering in a government school as an English teacher that 85 Broads had funded the construction of. A lot had changed in 7 years in this rural country – demonstrating the power of motivation and the willingness to change.

My return to Nepal was in conjunction with “Call of the Wild’s”:[callwild.com] trek to the Everest Region. Prior to the client’s arrival, I traveled to the village of Bhareni, a 2 hour drive to the west of Kathmandu where the 85 Broads funded school was located. This K – 12 school of 1200 students is located in an area known to supply sand, cement, and other building supplies to the growing city of Kathmandu. Many of my students in 2003 shoveled sand from the river into dump trucks before and after school. Now, in 2010, I no longer saw small sand and gravel pits, but instead saw factories with loading docks and machinery to supply the everlasting line of dump trucks.

Upon arrival at the school, I saw that the library that had opened while I was teaching in 2003 had been relocated to accommodate for its doubling in number of books. A librarian had also been put on staff to support the library. The school’s headmaster was proud to show me the computer room, with new HP computers, where the schools computer resource instructor taught students how to use Microsoft Office Programs and the Internet. This room could have been transplanted from almost any western nation’s classroom – minus the fact there was no overhead lighting.

My host father had connected me with my host brother, away working in Qatar, by ringing him on his mobile while I was there. I had also found my host brother on Facebook 30 days earlier while trying to organize the trip. In 2003, this village had 1 phone line. Everyone in town lined up when they needed to make a phone call, paying by the minute based upon where you were calling to the booth operator. Today, everyone I saw in Nepal had a mobile phone glued to their ear – no different than here in the USA. In fact, they have mobile phone service throughout the Himalayas along the main trekking routes. Even in the California Sierra Mountains our phone service disappears around 9,000 feet.

In seven years, Nepal had hit the fast forward button, and I was truly awestruck at how fast and efficient they had adopted technology. I had traveled through other parts of Asia during 2003 – 2004 and it made me wonder if I went back to Angkor Wat in Cambodia would everyone be walking around the ancient ruins with mobile phones, texting one another?

I brought home many lessons learned while in Nepal. The one I have shared with many people is not to underestimate those hungry and ready for change. With a little direction and lot of enthusiasm, anything is possible – even time travel.