I hope that my journey through Ladakh and Madhya Pradesh showed a window into two dramatically different regions of India. From the frozen Himalayan mountains to the forests and farmlands of central India, each place demonstrated how humans and nature are deeply interconnected. These experiences highlight the importance of observation, patience, and curiosity. Whether searching for snow leopards in remote valleys or learning about daily life in busy villages, every moment showed that understanding the world requires attention to detail and openness to new perspectives.
I feel like I came out of this trip with a new appreciation for a slower life. I wasn’t rushing around (except when there was a snow leopard sighting nearby!). Instead, I had long stretches of time in my own head, where I was slowly and gently absorbing what it meant to truly live in the vicinity of such wild nature. In the high mountains of Ladakh, the landscape demands patience. Hours of scanning empty cliffs for a glimpse of a snow leopard teach you to be still, to accept uncertainty, and to appreciate small details like a shifting shadow, a faint track in the snow, the way light moves across stone.
