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INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — While wandering along a rugged, scarcely-used trail in Western Nepal, Toni Neubauer stopped to ask for directions.
The adventure traveler was leading a small group through the mountainous terrain of the Himalayas, passing through temperate forests and alpine meadows when they came upon a Nepalese village man. His hands and face showed road maps of wrinkles from days spent working in the high-altitude sun. Neubauer stopped him to inquire where the next village was, whether the trail increased much in elevation and if there any tea shops along the way.
“He looked at me and said, ‘Why are you asking all these questions? If you don't keep walking, you will never get there,'” Neubauer recalled. “I think that is so true in life — we suffer from cognitive gridlock and if we don't keep pushing forward, we won't get anywhere.”
Neubauer — a soft-spoken woman with a humble and insightful disposition — pauses, and her expression turns wistful, as if she is mentally transporting herself back to this road-less-traveled.
“Sometimes in life, the people you meet are what you would least expect, but they can be tremendous teachers for life,” she says, bringing her gaze back to the present moment.
Neubauer began taking close friends on treks through the highlands of Nepal in the 1980s in search of culture, history and enlightenment. She was fluent in five languages and knew most European customs like the back of her hand, but she wanted to expand her worldliness in the remote regions of this sovereign state in Southern Asia.
“When you're on a trek, you're in a situation where you bond very closely with your friends because you've survived something that's, in a way, the hardest thing you've ever done,” Neubauer said. “It also teaches you who you are as a person and I wanted to keep that feeling with me – I wanted to come back to a place where I could share that feeling with others.”
With a background in cross-cultural education and leadership, Neubauer envisioned an undertaking where she could combine her passion for travel with her enthusiasm for teaching, and in 1988, Myths and Mountains was born.
“When I started Myths and Mountains, I discovered that this is everything I had done all my life — it was an experiential, educational school that people called a travel company,” Neubauer said.
At the time, Neubauer was living in Philadelphia and was focused on building a luxury travel company where excursions were designed exclusively for the group or individual traveler's needs and were meant to increase knowledge, respect and understanding of this interconnected world.
As Neubauer concentrated on launching Myths and Mountains, the philanthropist simultaneously embarked on another endeavor in which she combined her love of travel with her passion for teaching and her innate humanitarianism.
Having trekked through some of the most remote and impoverished regions of Nepal, Neubauer recognized the myriad of inadequacies the third-world country was facing.
While many foreign agencies had attempted charitable deeds in the past by building schools, hospitals and clean water systems, Neubauer noticed many of these undertakings fell by the wayside due to a lack of local nourishment.
After soliciting advice from a Nepali trekking guide and friend, Neubauer discovered a community library resource center would be most beneficial at increasing literacy and educational outreach, and would provide a catalyst for development in these small, rural areas.
“From the beginning, the concept had to be sustainability,” Neubauer said. “We asked the villagers to write a proposal and to put in some of their own money to make this happen because we knew if they didn't own it, it wouldn't be theirs and we wanted them to have ownership so they would make it self-sustainable.”
The organization became known as Rural Education and Development, or READ Nepal, and by 1996, the nonprofit had assembled 10 library centers in rural villages with most of the groundwork being done by the local Nepalese people.
Neubauer continued to oversee the nonprofit as founder and board member, but knew she needed to find an executive director to regulate the growing foundation.
Upon visiting a friend in Incline Village in 1994, Neubauer fell in love and quickly relocated her life and business to the mountain town while concurrently establishing READ Nepal's headquarters in San Francisco where she handed over the nonprofit to an executive director and team of individuals who are committed to seeing READ reach its overseas potential.
In 2006, READ Nepal received The Access to Learning award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in recognition of the innovative efforts made abroad through the implementation of educational resources and information centers.
“The Access to Learning Award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was a major catalyst for our organization,” said READ executive director, Tina Sciabica. “It ultimately propelled us into two new countries and gave our devoted and hardworking Nepal staff the recognition they deserved for building a successful model for rural development.”
Since the award in 2006, READ Nepal extended efforts to Bhutan and India, redirecting its title to READ Global. To date, READ Global has established 57 community centers with a goal to create 30 new libraries throughout the next five years. They have also received two additional grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for their positive global impact on rural community development.
Throughout that time, Myths and Mountains continued to expand and succeed with itineraries extending to Bhutan, Tibet and other parts of Asia, as well as South American, South Africa and Antarctica.
In recent years, the travel company has received numerous awards including Best Outfitters on Earth in 2008 by National Geographic Adventure Magazine, Trips of a Lifetime Award from Outside Magazine, and Most Exciting New Adventure Trips from USA Today. Myths and Mountains is also recognized as a Condé Nast specialty travel company.
“To start this and see it grow into one of the top adventure travel companies in world is tremendous and has been very exciting,” Neubauer said. “I love what I do and I learn something new every day and my hope is to see this our efforts continue to grow.”
The adventure traveler was leading a small group through the mountainous terrain of the Himalayas, passing through temperate forests and alpine meadows when they came upon a Nepalese village man. His hands and face showed road maps of wrinkles from days spent working in the high-altitude sun. Neubauer stopped him to inquire where the next village was, whether the trail increased much in elevation and if there any tea shops along the way.
“He looked at me and said, ‘Why are you asking all these questions? If you don't keep walking, you will never get there,'” Neubauer recalled. “I think that is so true in life — we suffer from cognitive gridlock and if we don't keep pushing forward, we won't get anywhere.”
Neubauer — a soft-spoken woman with a humble and insightful disposition — pauses, and her expression turns wistful, as if she is mentally transporting herself back to this road-less-traveled.
“Sometimes in life, the people you meet are what you would least expect, but they can be tremendous teachers for life,” she says, bringing her gaze back to the present moment.
Neubauer began taking close friends on treks through the highlands of Nepal in the 1980s in search of culture, history and enlightenment. She was fluent in five languages and knew most European customs like the back of her hand, but she wanted to expand her worldliness in the remote regions of this sovereign state in Southern Asia.
“When you're on a trek, you're in a situation where you bond very closely with your friends because you've survived something that's, in a way, the hardest thing you've ever done,” Neubauer said. “It also teaches you who you are as a person and I wanted to keep that feeling with me – I wanted to come back to a place where I could share that feeling with others.”
With a background in cross-cultural education and leadership, Neubauer envisioned an undertaking where she could combine her passion for travel with her enthusiasm for teaching, and in 1988, Myths and Mountains was born.
“When I started Myths and Mountains, I discovered that this is everything I had done all my life — it was an experiential, educational school that people called a travel company,” Neubauer said.
At the time, Neubauer was living in Philadelphia and was focused on building a luxury travel company where excursions were designed exclusively for the group or individual traveler's needs and were meant to increase knowledge, respect and understanding of this interconnected world.
As Neubauer concentrated on launching Myths and Mountains, the philanthropist simultaneously embarked on another endeavor in which she combined her love of travel with her passion for teaching and her innate humanitarianism.
Having trekked through some of the most remote and impoverished regions of Nepal, Neubauer recognized the myriad of inadequacies the third-world country was facing.
While many foreign agencies had attempted charitable deeds in the past by building schools, hospitals and clean water systems, Neubauer noticed many of these undertakings fell by the wayside due to a lack of local nourishment.
After soliciting advice from a Nepali trekking guide and friend, Neubauer discovered a community library resource center would be most beneficial at increasing literacy and educational outreach, and would provide a catalyst for development in these small, rural areas.
“From the beginning, the concept had to be sustainability,” Neubauer said. “We asked the villagers to write a proposal and to put in some of their own money to make this happen because we knew if they didn't own it, it wouldn't be theirs and we wanted them to have ownership so they would make it self-sustainable.”
The organization became known as Rural Education and Development, or READ Nepal, and by 1996, the nonprofit had assembled 10 library centers in rural villages with most of the groundwork being done by the local Nepalese people.
Neubauer continued to oversee the nonprofit as founder and board member, but knew she needed to find an executive director to regulate the growing foundation.
Upon visiting a friend in Incline Village in 1994, Neubauer fell in love and quickly relocated her life and business to the mountain town while concurrently establishing READ Nepal's headquarters in San Francisco where she handed over the nonprofit to an executive director and team of individuals who are committed to seeing READ reach its overseas potential.
In 2006, READ Nepal received The Access to Learning award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in recognition of the innovative efforts made abroad through the implementation of educational resources and information centers.
“The Access to Learning Award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was a major catalyst for our organization,” said READ executive director, Tina Sciabica. “It ultimately propelled us into two new countries and gave our devoted and hardworking Nepal staff the recognition they deserved for building a successful model for rural development.”
Since the award in 2006, READ Nepal extended efforts to Bhutan and India, redirecting its title to READ Global. To date, READ Global has established 57 community centers with a goal to create 30 new libraries throughout the next five years. They have also received two additional grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for their positive global impact on rural community development.
Throughout that time, Myths and Mountains continued to expand and succeed with itineraries extending to Bhutan, Tibet and other parts of Asia, as well as South American, South Africa and Antarctica.
In recent years, the travel company has received numerous awards including Best Outfitters on Earth in 2008 by National Geographic Adventure Magazine, Trips of a Lifetime Award from Outside Magazine, and Most Exciting New Adventure Trips from USA Today. Myths and Mountains is also recognized as a Condé Nast specialty travel company.
“To start this and see it grow into one of the top adventure travel companies in world is tremendous and has been very exciting,” Neubauer said. “I love what I do and I learn something new every day and my hope is to see this our efforts continue to grow.”
