Tibetan family in US sold everything to travel the world
Seattle based engineer Tenzin Thinley, his wife and their two children started their journey on February 2014. After travelling for 16 months in 13 countries, they are currently in Bulgaria.
What triggered this family to do so?
In a recent interview with meyul.com, Tenzin Thinley says, “At the beginning of 2013 I was sort of cozy. I was 44 yrs old and going on almost 18 yrs working as an engineer with King County. I found myself in quite a comfortable situation. But deep within there was a great deal of unhappiness and confusion. I remember indulging in self pity, being angry all the time, quarreling with my co-workers, being tardy and causing propaganda against others.
One day, I got a call about my son, my wife said that he was segregated in school from participation in PE due to his autism. I immediately felt a deep pain, I was mad as hell and I felt very vulnerable. Then it clicked to me, I must make a change to solve my worry about my son.”
Couple of additional factors led the family to reach this big decision finally. “ I was able to find a potential path toward inner peace. I began to read about travel. I learned that it was sometimes less costly to travel than to live in America. I began to realize the viciousness of the societal traps. I began to find courage to take on the challenge of creating a happy future for my family. I also learned about the concept of observing ego and mindfulness. I found that the answers were all within our own nature as human beings.
So I talked it over with my wife and children, we all decided together to sell all and travel.”
The family has no fixed plan how long their travel will be but will continue as long as they feel that is what they want to do. “It could be years or it can stop soon” says Thinley, who went to US from Kalimpong in 1990. While studying at North Point College in Darjeeling, he happened to be roommates with the present Sikyong Lobsang Sangay for a while. Thinley’s wife is from Dolanji Tibetan Settlement. The two met during the Kalachakra 2002 in Bodh Gaya.
As the family continues to go through the experience of a lifetime, Thinley wants to share this to the people: “I would estimate there are only a handful of people who are actually traveling long term as a family out of almost 8 billion people on our planet. I don’t think there are any other Asian families traveling long term. We hope that this will encourage more to evaluate where they are spending their resources and time and see that travel is possible as a family and can actually be a rewarding way of life.”
VIDEO OF THE FAMILY IN ISTANBUL, TURKEY
Read the full interview by Tenzin Dolker @ meyul.com
Follow the family’s journey @ their blog Tibetannomads.com