Mentally Prepare. Depending on your level of comfort with the outdoors, you may need to prepare yourself for life in the mountains. Luckily, I am a lover of the outdoors and very comfortable with the mountain life, including camping, bugs, dirt, baby wipe showers, and going to the toilet outdoors! However, for some who are more comfortable with the four seasons than a campsite, you may need to prepare yourself for what is to come. All accommodation on our trek to Everest Base Camp is in small tea houses, run by the local Sherpa people. You will have a bed to sleep in (albeit not the most comfortable bed in the world, but a bed to say the least), in a twin-shared room. There are options for showers lower down on the trail, if you decide to use them, however, many people keep clean by using baby wipes and a bowl of warm water each day. The toilet situations can be difficult at times, as in the tea houses they are generally not Western-style toilets, rather just a hole in the ground instead of a toilet bowl. You will also need to be prepared to use the great outdoors at times when you are on the trail with no tea house nearby. You do need to prepare yourself for these things, as you do not want to arrive on the mountain and have higher expectations and be disappointed. (more…)