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Living With Mongolian Nomads | Best Job Ever


less than 1m read
·Nov 11, 2024

[Music] I'm in Mongolia to discover what it means to be a modern-day nomad. Wrestling is traditional in Mongolia. You know, was it physically difficult? Yes. Was I scared? Yes. Did I lose? I was slaughtered.

What made it special was, at the end of that whole day, I had this man speaking to me in Mongolian and sharing his philosophies of life. You need to be able to ride on horseback to be a nomad. Children learn to do this, literally, in many cases, before they even learn to walk.

I've never been on a horse in my life. There were no instructions; it was get on your horses and go. In that moment, it felt like there was no separation between myself, the horse, the Earth, the land, the culture. It all blended into one, and I will remember that for the rest of my life.

Mongolian life is extremely difficult, but you don't hear a lot of complaining. I don't even think they would define it in those terms as hard or difficult. It was just life.

Could I survive as a nomad for more than a month? Pull definitely not. Come on. But just a glimpse into their experience will help to dissolve the wall between ourself and others. We can walk away feeling that this Mongolian wrestler, this Mongolian herdsman, or nomad is just like us.

Marty and I set out on an expedition to make the first print and interactive maps of Patagonia National Park to give people an on-the-ground perspective of what it's like to stand in the park itself.

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