Daniel Meyer, a rising junior and geography major at James Madison University, spoke to our members virtually via Zoom on July 23, 2026 about his month-long study abroad program in Nepal this past summer. The group of 15 students and two professors split their time between the capital, Kathmandu, and the Tsum Valley near the border with Tibet. Daniel opened by noting that Nepal defied his expectation of a single, uniform culture. Within Kathmandu alone he encountered a mix of Hindu and Buddhist traditions, visiting the Buddha Stupa and the Swayambhu temple, both major pilgrimage sites, and observing how neighborhoods differed sharply in layout and architecture depending on which community had settled them.
After a week in the capital, the group traveled roughly ten hours by bus and jeep, then hiked about 60 miles into the Tsum Valley, staying in villages such as Chumling. Daniel described a rugged landscape of narrow terrain, cliffside roads without guardrails, and cantilever bridges bolted directly into rock. Villagers farmed small plots of barley, buckwheat, potatoes, and spinach largely for subsistence rather than sale, since importing food from the south is difficult given the terrain. He explained a local set of customs called the Shagia, which prohibits hunting, killing animals, and even honey extraction in order to preserve harmony with the environment, meaning any meat eaten by the group had to be carried in.
Daniel also touched on a road-building project moving slowly through the valley, noting tension between officials in Kathmandu and residents concerned about noise, dust, and disruption to religious sites, even though many villagers supported the eventual benefits of vehicle access. He answered audience questions on water quality, which required filtering due to local pathogens despite tasting fine, and on temperature, which ran in the 80s and humid in Kathmandu and varied more widely in the mountains. The talk closed with reflections on his broader travels through JMU's geography study abroad offerings and childhood interests in world geography that first sparked his passion for the field.