In early December, a Canadian trail runner named Tina Lewis was two months into her extended trip to India when she ran into legal trouble due to her backcountry GPS communication device.

On December 6, Lewis, 51, arrived at Dabolim International Airport in the state of Goa, to fly to the nearby city of Kochi. She was traveling with a Garmin inReach Mini, a popular GPS and satellite messaging device often used by backpackers and climbers.

“It had been an amazing trip, the trip of a lifetime,” Lewis told ���ϳԹ���.

But when Lewis removed her InReach from her carry-on bag and placed it onto a scanning tray, she said a security officer approached her and asked her questions about the device. Lewis said armed guards then removed her from the line.

Lewis missed her flight. For the next four hours she was detained and interrogated about the InReach. Although her eventual fine was just $11, Lewis said she spent more than $2,000 to pay legal fees and bail.

“They treated me like a frickin’ fugitive,” she said.

���ϳԹ��� reached out to India’s Central Industrial Security Force public relations office, as well as the Goa airport division, but neither agency provided comment. ���ܳٲ��������also reached out to the Indian embassy in Washington D.C. but did not receive a comment.

Lewis had unknowingly violated an Indian law that requires individuals to obtain a license before owning or using a personal satellite communication device. Lewis spent the next six days attempting to get her passport back from authorities. She had to appear in court on three consecutive days, and she eventually hired lawyers to avoid jail time.

India’s laws prohibiting individuals from owning satellite devices : Unless registered and licensed by the government, satellite communicators are illegal. The Garmin website lists India as one of 14 countries that may “regulate or prohibit the use or possession of a satellite communicator” or are otherwise embargoed by the United States. The other nations on the list are Afghanistan, Ukrainian Crimea, Cuba, Georgia, Iran, North Korea, Myanmar, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, Vietnam, China, and Russia.

But the roots of the law are tied to an obscure rule from India’s past. The ban on satellite communication originated with the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885 and the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1933. According to , an international medical and security evacuation service, these older laws were reinforced after the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008, when an Islamist militia used satellite communicators to coordinate bombings and shootings that killed nearly 200 people.

Lewis argues that the GPS device was an integral part of her travel kit. She spent much of her vacation traveling alone, and the device provided an added layer of safety. “I was just using the device to stay in touch with my family, to let them know where I was,” she said. Before her arrest, she had used her inReach twice, both when in regions with little to no cell reception.

Lewis with the running website iRunFar, and she wrote about the ordeal on social media. She said that other travelers reached out to her online—many of those who contacted her were unaware of India’s ban on personal satellite devices, she said.

She isn’t the only traveler to run afoul of the law. On December 9, just three days after Lewis’ arrest, a with a Garmin was detained at another Goa state airport. The following day, an American named with a satellite phone in Dehradun. A month prior, at Chennai airport for the same reason.

A competitive trail runner and experienced climber, Lewis said she has previously traveled solo to West Africa, Cuba, Nepal, and China. She said it never occurred to her to leave her inReach behind. “I think it’s just so ingrained in my lifestyle to always have it,” she said. “Hiking technical terrain, scrambling, rock climbing, mountaineering. I always bring a Garmin, especially when traveling alone.”

After publishing her story online, Lewis said some commenters scolded her for not researching the laws before traveling.

“I brought my Garmin to every other country I’ve been to,” she said. “I didn’t think to research that, when our phones and our watches all have GPS now.”

Direct satellite communication features are increasingly standard in modern smartphones. The newest versions of Apple’s iPhones have satellite communication capabilities. iPhones allow users to send messages to emergency services, share location, and stay in touch with emergency contacts, all while off the grid, with no cellular or Wi-Fi coverage, via satellite connection.

Lewis called the law “ridiculous.”

“It needs to be challenged, and they need to update it,” she said.

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Any number of concerns are on our radar as we plan our next trip, from serious issues like how destinations are working to mitigate tourists’ environmental impact to inconveniences like months-long passport wait times. In this column, our travel expert addresses your questions about how to navigate the world.

I’m going to Mexico City and have heard that the food scene is incredible. But a friend of mine just went there and got a parasite, and she thinks it came from a meal at a food truck. I’m an adventurous eater, but I want to avoid getting sick. How can I protect myself when I’m traveling and eating out all the time? —A Queasy Foodie

Whether you’re having carnitas from a roadside taco stand��in Mexico��or dumplings from a teahouse in Nepal, experiencing local food culture is one of the joys of travel, as it sounds like you well know. But contracting a foodborne illness far from home can be traumatic, dulling even the most adventurous palates and even scaring travelers from returning to a destination.

When Anne Driscoll told friends that she and her family would be visiting Punta Mita, Mexico, she received unanimous advice: be wary of what you eat and drink. At least a half��dozen friends who had already traveled to the small Pacific-coast surf town had experienced gastro disasters. Forewarned, she took every precaution, from increasing her normal probiotic doses before the��trip to avoiding fresh produce while there and only drinking bottled water throughout her stay. However, the��entire family still got��extremely ill. “It was catastrophic,” she says. “I was violently expelling the contents of my stomach through both ends.”

Driscoll was the first to fall ill. She thinks a hamburger she ate at the resort restaurant might have been the culprit. She��assumed it would be harmless if cooked well-done. Her husband and two teenage daughters relaxed their guard��the final day of vacation and had ice in their drinks. The ice potentially could have caused the 24 hours of intestinal agony that, unfortunately, overlapped with their flights home to New Mexico. “They used up all the barf bags on the plane, and my youngest got sick in four different places throughout the Dallas airport,” she says. Driscoll has no plans to return to Mexico anytime soon. “I know it’s not logical, but the experience was so bad that I can’t imagine going back and risking it again,” she says.

Each year one in six Americans comes��down with food-related illnesses caused by bacteria, viruses, or parasites. Some countries, like Mexico, have a reputation for felling travelers with gastrointestinal bugs (who hasn’t heard of Montezuma’s revenge?). Developing countries, especially ones with humid climates where bacteria breed more easily, tend to be dicier, says Dr. Kyle Staller, director of the Gastrointestinal Motility Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “But you can get sick from contaminated water or an improperly handled burger patty anywhere in the world, including the U.S.,” he adds.

Causes of GI Distress

Food-related illnesses are caused by , including salmonella,��E. coli, norovirus, and giardia. They often fester on raw or undercooked meat, raw vegetables, food stored at unsafe temperatures, or food prepared in an unsanitary manner or with contaminated water.

“Don’t drink the water” is a common travel precaution, especially when visiting third-world countries. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 180 countries, including popular vacation spots like Mexico, Thailand, and Belize, have tap water considered unsafe for consumption. Even if it is potable, drinking water��in a far-flung locale can still cause GI distress, cautions Dr. Lynne Ahn, an integrative gastroenterologist in Boston. “Everyone’s gut biome is unique,” she explains. “If the mineral or salt content of the water in a destination is different from what you’re used to at home, you could experience discomfort or worse.”

Traveler’s diarrhea is a common illness, affecting between 30 percent and 70 percent of people on the road, according to the CDC. Depending on the bacteria, parasite, or virus, you could end up suffering a few hours or even a week, and experience vomiting, stomach cramps, body aches, and a fever. People who have irritable bowel syndrome or a compromised immune system are often at greater risk of more serious side effects,��says Staller.

Best Practices

No one wants to spend vacation sitting on or hovering over a toilet. A good rule of thumb is to drink filtered or bottled water (although try to avoid single-use plastics, opting instead for glass bottles or cans) when traveling to a destination with questionable water quality. Ahn also recommends making sure all beverages arrive sealed, and wiping off the container before taking a sip. Even small quantities of dirty water can have serious repercussions, so it’s smart to avoid ice and use filtered or bottled water to brush your teeth, she says.

If you really want to play it safe, stick to familiar foods, says Kendra Weekley, a gastrointestinal specialist at the Cleveland Clinic. Different diets create different gut flora, which is why locals in Kerala, India, are able to handle a fiery curry but that same dish, even if the ingredients are uncontaminated, may leave an��American traveler with an upset stomach. In high-risk gastro-disaster destinations like India and Nepal, travelers may find it’s wise to carry��a stash of snacks like protein bars and instant oatmeal, especially if they’re undertaking an adventure like trekking or mountaineering.

Unfortunately for healthy eaters and vegetarians, fresh, unprocessed, and highly nutritious foods like vegetables and fruits will most likely get you sick in a country without rigorous sanitation standards, says Staller, who advises avoiding lettuce as well as produce that doesn’t have peelable skin. And like at home, travelers should be wary of raw and undercooked seafood and meat, he adds.

If you’ve been justifying an extra glass of cabernet or vodka and soda, thinking it can help ward off germs, think again. While some studies have suggested that drinking alcohol with a meal can reduce the chance of food poisoning, due to increased acidic content in the stomach, Staller says alcohol cannot kill foodborne pathogens and will most likely just leave you dehydrated.

Where You Can Safely Eat

It may sound like you have to live off packaged snacks, but avoiding gastro issues doesn’t necessarily mean sacrificing culinary pleasures. Food is one of the best vehicles to explore a culture and can typically be enjoyed without incident if you take proper precautions, says Staller.

In general, eating from street-food vendors is riskier than dining at a restaurant. That’s because in many developing countries, hawker carts and food trucks aren’t held to the same food-safety standards. If you do choose to eat street food, however, try to catch��a glimpse of the preparation area. Does the kitchen look clean? Are food handlers wearing gloves? Are raw meat and raw vegetables being��handled separately to prevent cross��contamination?

A long line is often a sign of good quality, says Staller. This tenet applies to restaurants, too. “When there’s a high degree of turnover with diners, ingredients are being used versus sitting in a refrigerator that might have an unreliable power supply,” he says. Foods left out for long periods, especially in humid environments, are more likely to put the eater at risk of developing food poisoning. Which is why experts always suggest skipping the buffet.

Ed and Christy Rossi learned this lesson the hard way on a trip to Marrakech, Morocco. The weeklong conference they attended provided a daily lunch buffet, with dishes heated by warming trays and salads kept fresh with misters. But it wasn’t long before��the couple succumbed to vomiting and bloody diarrhea. “I thought we were dying,” recalls Ed. Upon returning home to Colorado,��they immediately went to their doctor for antibiotics and discovered they’d contracted shigella, a gastro superbug. The experience hasn’t prevented them from returning to Morocco, but they’ve sworn off buffets in general.

Avoiding fresh fruits and vegetables extends to condiments, something even cautious eaters may overlook, says Staller. A bowl of salsa looks inviting when you’re noshing nachos, but anything made from raw vegetables or fruits can be trouble. And it doesn’t hurt to wipe off the opening of that bottle of hot sauce or ketchup before use.

Preventative Measures

Some evidence suggests that taking probiotics two weeks prior to travel, and while traveling, can reduce the rate of traveler’s diarrhea, says Weekley��of the Cleveland Clinic. However, different strains of “good” bacteria affect people differently, so find what works for you and take an effective dose (ask your doctor or pharmacist). Side effects can include bloating or gas. If the thought of getting sick is causing you stress, probiotic pills are a low-risk, potentially high-reward precaution, she says.

But also: travel anxiety can often unsettle your stomach before you even reach your destination.��Says Weekley, “If your mind is stressing over packing and getting to the airport, your gut will feel it.”��Breathing techniques and free meditation apps like Breethe or Headspace can help calm your nervous system ahead of travel or while on the plane.

And be sure to stay hydrated on the flight. “People don’t want to get up to use the bathroom and end up dehydrated and constipated,” says Weekley. If you’re prone to getting backed up from flying or an atypical diet, she suggests traveling with soluble fiber supplements or a stool softener like MiraLax.

Staller regularly works in developing countries and says he has a tendency��to suffer from GI problems. His go-to? That tried-and-true recommendation: Barbie-pink Pepto Bismol. A of students traveling to Mexico showed that those who took two tablets of Pepto Bismol��four times a day were 60 percent less likely to experience traveler’s diarrhea. Staller says that’s his regimen the minute he hits the ground and throughout a trip. He notes, though, that Pepto Bismol’s active ingredient, bismuth subsalicylate, can cause alarming but harmless symptoms such as black stools or a black tongue.

What to Do if You Get Sick

If you contract a foodborne illness, symptoms such as stomach cramps, chills, vomiting, and diarrhea typically start within hours but can also occur several days after ingesting��tainted food or drink. When you’re ill, your body tends��to lose a lot of liquid, so staying hydrated is crucial. “It’s often dehydration that makes you feel more sick,” says Staller. He recommends traveling with oral rehydration salts, which are absorbed more effectively by the body than water alone. “It’s like the equivalent of an IV,” he says.

Traveler’s diarrhea is largely resistant to antibiotics, he says, so your best plan is to be close to a bathroom, stay hydrated, and ride it out. If you have severe symptoms, like a fever or blood in your stool, seek out medical care.

If you’re an omnivore and an intrepid traveler, chances are you’ll be hit with a gastro catastrophe at some point in your journeys. Often disaster strikes when you let your guard down or simply don’t trust your gut. I tend to have a stomach of steel. The��two times I have gotten food poisoning I questioned what I was consuming yet��proceeded anyway to be polite to my hosts. All it took was the smallest sip of a lassi that had been sitting out in the sun in Varanasi, India, and a tiny bite of goat stew in the Omo Valley of Ethiopia to cause me 24 hours of anguish. Lesson learned: table manners don’t always apply on the road.

Have a question of your own? Drop us a line at Traveladvice@outsideinc.com.��

���ϳԹ��� correspondent Jen Murphy became an omnivore after an eight-year stint working at Food and Wine magazine. She’s since eaten everything from guinea pig to grasshoppers to fried cod sperm sacs and has remarkably only been hit with two major gastro disasters in all of her world travels.��

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At 1 A.M. on October 4, 2022, Ankush Sharma woke for tea. He was high on India’s Draupadi Ka Danda II, an 18,600-foot peak in the Gangotri range of the , near the Chinese border. The mountain, often called DKD2, is surrounded by intimidating 6,000-meter giants like Thalay Sagar, Shivling, and Meru—the latter home to the Shark’s Fin, a wall of granite that was first climbed in 2011 by Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and Renan Ozturk and chronicled in the popular 2015 documentary Meru. DKD2, while 3,200 feet shorter and far less severe in comparison, is still glaciated and crevassed, and it harbors some of the same deadly hazards as the range’s fabled peaks.

Sharma, then 23, was on a 28-day advanced mountaineering course run by the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM), one of India’s top climbing schools. Around him the other students were waking up, too. It was summit day. ���ϳԹ��� it was breezy and snowing lightly—“slittering” some of the students called it.

, a 28 year-old from Mumbai with short brown hair, slept for an extra hour instead of getting up for tea. Lalwani once had a busy marketing job with little free time, but he quit after discovering hiking in 2015. The outdoors changed the course of his life. Another 28-year-old, Deep Thakkar, a part-time fund manager who wore a close-cropped beard and glasses, wanted to climb iconic mountains, like Nepal’s Ama Dablam, so he moved from the coastal Indian city of Gujarat north to the mountains in the state of Himachal Pradesh to train. DKD2 would be his first 5,000-meter peak.

By 3:30 A.M. the sky was clear. From Camp 1 at 15,800 feet, seven instructors led 34 students, three porters, and one nursing assistant who worked for NIM out into darkness. A solo climber unaffiliated with the group who planned to ski off the top set out after them. He was the only other person on the mountain. It was NIM’s first trip to the summit since the pre-monsoon climbing season in the spring. When the group reached their first landmark, Rambo Rock, at about 16,800 feet, they clipped into a fixed line—the first of many that day—and used ice axes and crampons to navigate the brief rocky section. Lalwani was in the middle of the long, tightly packed row, their headlamp beams bobbing up and down upon the snow as they right and weaved upward, carefully skirting small cracks in the glacier. Soon the sky started to brighten with the first hints of morning. Those at the front of the pack broke trail through snow. As they ascended the final stretch, they passed just uphill of a deep, narrow crevasse.

Yes! This is going to happen, Thakkar thought when the summit came into view. A few instructors and strong students had nearly reached it already and were fixing ropes that would make the final 500 feet easier for the others still en route. All 46 climbers were together on the slope, and almost everyone was attached to the fixed line with a carabiner, waiting to move up. They wore standard-issue orange helmets, and jackets in reds and blues with a NIM patch on the chest.

As they climbed, a small amount of snow slid down from above. “Hey, it was a mini avalanche,” Lalwani said. Though it wasn’t enough to knock anyone off their feet, the slide alarmed Lalwani. He calmed himself with the knowledge that NIM had been taking climbers to DKD2 since 1981; he’d never heard of an accident.

Just after 8:30 A.M., Sharma reached the summit snowfield at the end of the fixed line, unclipped himself, and walked toward one of his instructors who was already on the top. Behind him, a crack shot silently across the slope and released a large slab avalanche. Everything below the fracture line began to move as the entire slope broke into chunks of snow and ice that flowed like water. A few hundred feet below, Thakkar watched in horror. There was no time to react. The slide toppled climbers, gaining momentum as it churned downhill. The man uphill from Lalwani fell on top of him. Lalwani plunged his ice ax into the snow, hoping to arrest their movement, but they were swept down the mountain. As they slid, he tried to keep his head above the mass of snow, but he felt like he was drowning.

Sharma, nearing the summit, glanced over his shoulder. The��fixed rope was gone. His friends had all vanished. And yet he’d heard nothing: no screams, no commotion. “Everything happened in the blink of an eye,” he says. “And everything happened in silence.”

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If you’ve been to a yoga festival, you know the hum that takes place. Everywhere you look, there’s activity. Attendees are unrolling their mats on the grass, lecturers are offering insights, vendors are sharing artisanal wares, and food trucks are dishing out their creations. As the sun goes down, the live music becomes louder and the learning shifts to dancing. It’s an unparalleled experience.

In recent years, yoga festivals have evolved to appeal to those of all experience levels and interests. Some focus on traditional practices while others are more new age-y and “glittery.” Whether you’re just starting yoga or are years into your practice, there is a festival that will vibe with you.

Although each yoga festival has its own distinct personality, they all share the common threads of connection, presence, and celebration. The following list explores 11 annual yoga festivals along with some of the history and highlights of each.

11 Yoga Festivals You Need to Know About

1. Bend Yoga Festival

Bend, Oregon | June 8-11, 2023

Explore the majesty of the Cascade Mountains at . Situated in the beautiful mountain town of Bend, Oregon, this festival features a focused mix of world-class presenters, wellness sessions, and outdoor adventures.

This year, the Bend Yoga Festival moves to Riverbend Park, offering direct access to the flowing Deschutes River, stunning mountain views, and more than 15,000 square feet of lawn. During the festival, attendees can explore nearby natural attractions, such as the lava caves and . Join a guided hike to the top of Smith Rock, followed by a yoga practice and local brew tasting, or take to the river in an open paddle class.

Throughout the weekend, you can join international and locally loved presenters including and for afternoon yoga sessions at participating local yoga studios, all within walking distance of the main venue. You can also schedule your own yoga photo shoot with acclaimed photographer . Lodging isn’t included, so you’ll want to find a stay at a local Airbnb, campsite, or hotel.

2. Telluride Yoga Fest

Telluride, Colorado | June 22-25, 2023

For a fully immersive yoga experience, the is not to be missed. The four-day event offers more than 100 classes, including yoga, meditation, music, hiking, wellness talks, and social gatherings. The event takes place amid the intimate setting of a small village nestled at the base of the Telluride Mountains, surrounded by rugged peaks, mountain air, and crisp blue skies.

Start your day with a mountain-top meditation, hike the fan-favorite Jud Wiebe memorial trail, practice standup paddleboard (SUP) yoga on Elk Lake, or simply sleep-in. With its new campus in Mountain Village,�� connected to the historic Town of Telluride via a free gondola, the festival provides a unique gathering that’s entirely removed from the hubbub of everyday life. The festival has hosted some of the most well-seasoned yoga teachers, including , , , , and .

Telluride offers a selection of hotels, condos, and private residences that cater to every budget.

3. LoveShinePlay

Asheville, North Carolina | July 20-23, 2023

The , formerly known as the Asheville Yoga Festival, is a four-day event held in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. The festival offers an expansive schedule that includes more than 70 styles of offerings, including Bhakti and anatomy, Kundalini and Yin, and everything in between.

Asheville is considered the wellness capital of the South, and the festival takes advantage of its surroundings, allowing attendees to expand their knowledge and practice in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Throughout the weekend, attendees can experience lectures on practical astrology, Ayurvedic yoga classes, “yin yoga and story time,” plus classes and concerts from and .

Classes are dispersed around Asheville in hotels, community centers, and outdoor stages, all walkable from the marketplace. The central hub for the festival, the marketplace features 60-plus hand-selected vendors offering high-quality wellness products. You’ll also find food trucks, free community events, and outdoor spaces to rest.

LoveShinePlay started in 2016 as the Asheville Yoga Festival and has since grown to include partnerships with Lululemon and Yoloha. In 2024, the festival will expand and offer a similar incarnation in Charleston.

4. OM Festival

Manchester, Vermont | July 26-30, 2023

Dance, flow, and play your way to wellness at the annual , a summerfest held on 150-plus mountainside acres overlooking the Battenkill River. Also known as the Vermont Yoga Festival, it offers five days of yoga, meditation, dance, and flow arts classes where festival-goers can flow, play, and groove.

The OM Festival combines natural beauty and historic charm. Classes take place in a 200-year-old barn on the expansive private grounds and in the perfectly coiffed meditation garden. At night, the festival comes alive with music and embodiment celebrations, including kirtan, bhakti yoga, and ecstatic dance DJs.

Most guests stay on-site, either at , the hub of the festival, or camp in a private field or alongside the river (river camp sites are limited and sell out quickly). Those staying at the inn can expect romantic, antique-y rooms, mountain views, and farm-fresh dining.

5. Soul Circus

Elmore, UK | August 17-20, 2023

somehow manages to be both healthy and hedonistic. And somehow it works. Spearheaded by the charismatic founders, Roman and Ella Wroath, Soul Circus is a holistic yoga, arts, and music festival set in the rural countryside of Cotswold, United Kingdom. The combination of yoga asana, wellness workshops, and live music is undeniably more glittery wellness rave than traditional yoga festival. With its world-renowned DJs and afterparties that last until 2 am, Soul Circus wants to help you tune in and let loose.

By day, stretch out in yoga tents dotted along the countryside or join sought-after yoga instructors and wellness practitioners in any of the 300-plus wellness sessions, including cacao ceremonies, astral projection, lucid dreaming, and ecstatic dance. It’s a chance to indulge your woo-woo side.

As the light fades, the festival takes on an entirely different vibe. DJs set the skies alight with exhilarating music and dance. Those who need a reset after a marathon dance session can settle into a wood-fired hot tub or sauna at the on-site Soul Spa, which also offers daytime holistic therapy sessions.

Soul Circus is an undoubtedly energetic and unique yoga experience.

6. Dirty South Yoga Festival

Atlanta, Georgia | August 25-27, 2023

The , held at the end of August, is a homegrown celebration that’s all about promoting community and mindfulness in a way that embraces the “rough around the edges” energy of the South.

Founded in 2013 by a group of Atlanta-based yoga teachers, Dirty South Yoga arose from a need for authentic connection in the wellness community. The group cites the Zen Buddhist Monk Thich Nhat Hanh and his famous saying “No mud, no lotus” as a foundational inspiration and will be the first to admit they’re not prim and proper. They regularly practice falling and try to show up to themselves, their practice, and each other as best they can.

The festival takes place at The Loudermilk Conference Center in downtown Atlanta, where participants can revel in an entire weekend of workshops, classes, and activities. Founder has said she knows what it’s like to long for connection in the yoga world, and with Dirty South Yoga, she hopes to provide a place of support, guidance, and friendship. It’s yoga, real and raw.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CoYRp9NPMgR/

7. Mammoth Yoga Festival

Mammoth Lakes, California | September 14-17, 2023

is a getaway for those seeking adventure, growth, and connection in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. Every September, it offers “yoga and meditation for every body, every age, and every ability,” making it accessible to all who wish to make the pilgrimage.

Whether you’re a curious beginner or a yoga teacher seeking to expand your understanding of how to share the practice, Mammoth Festival shares an array of classes to help you develop your practice. Anyone can attend early morning sessions on creative yoga sequencing, the power of cueing, and decolonizing yoga. And every night, the Vendor Village Market lights up with performances from mystically-minded musicians, which included , , and in recent years.

Weekend asana and meditation classes from teachers such as and will help you settle a restless spirit and immerse yourself in the present. Also, presentations from yoga and health institutions such as Mammoth Hospital and the work trade and job opportunity website, , allow instructors to diversify their teaching tools beyond advanced asana. The festival is recognized as an approved Continuing Education Provider by the National Academy of Sports Medicine, making it an excellent opportunity for yoga and fitness professionals to gain needed continuing education credits.

8. Lamu Yoga Festival

Lamu Island, Kenya | October 25-29, 2023

From sunrise yoga sessions on pristine beaches to moonlit meditations beneath the stars, emphasizes total, undisturbed bliss. This celebration of yoga, culture, and tranquility happens in the coastal region of Kenya and immerses in a world of serenity, culture, and mindful exploration.

Yoga, breathwork, and meditation are taught at a dozen unique venues and studios. Discover the allure of Lamu Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with its charming architecture and captivating history. With no cars in sight and donkeys and boats instead dotting the landscape, the scene creates a true escape from the everyday. Experience the local culture and traditions through an awe-inspiring opening ceremony on the beach, a traditional Kenyan dinner, a scenic sailing trip, and a mesmerizing bonfire to close your journey.

9. International Yoga Festival

Banks of Ganges River, India | March 2024

A week-long celebration of yoga and meditation, the in Rishikesh, India, attracts thousands of people from around the world to the birthplace of yoga. Nestled among the Himalayas on the banks of the holy River Ganga, the festival takes place at Parmarth Niketan Ashram, one of the largest interfaith yoga institutions in India. It’s a tranquil environment where participants can connect with themselves and their spiritual practice.

The aim of the International Yoga Festival is to “expand global consciousness and bring healing back to the planet, one person at a time.” In support of that, it hosts some of the greatest teachers from both eastern and western lineages of yoga, making it an ideal pilgrimage for dedicated students looking to connect with the origins of the practice.

The extensive schedule includes a mind-boggling array of activities, from early morning kundalini sadhana to evening kirtan and everything in between, including asana classes and talks. It regularly draws more than 2000 participants from 80 countries, offering a unique opportunity to come together and share in the transformative power of yoga. The festival’s emphasis on the origins of the practice is a testament to yoga’s enduring spirit, influence, and ability to unite people in the pursuit of growth and well-being.

10. Sedona Yoga Festival

Sedona, Arizona | April 2024

Many believe that certain locations on the planet experience a higher vibrational energy than others. With its seven vortices, or energy centers, Sedona is one of those places. The , now in its tenth year, draws on this enigmatic energy to foster community and spiritual growth.

Billed as a “consciousness evolution conference,” the festival boasts an impressive roster of speakers and rich coursework and continues to be a pioneer of large-scale mindful events in the United States. Workshops and immersions take place amid Sedona’s mystical landscape and world-class performing arts facilities and offer opportunities to explore all eight limbs of yoga.

Attendees can gather in the mornings for a communal ceremony before dispersing into lectures or desert excursions. There are more than 100 sessions to choose from, including yoga practices amid the red rocks. Evenings feature keynote addresses from top-tier spiritual minds, lectures, sacred chanting sessions, and live entertainment.

11. BaliSpirit

Ubud, Bali | May 2024

If practicing yoga in Bali is your dream, the in Ubud may be the ultimate destination. Held annually at the , this three-day “spirit festival” encompasses yoga, dance, martial arts, breathwork, personal development, and more, making it a catalyst for transformation.

A magnet for conscious travelers and spiritual seekers, BaliSpirit has grown considerably since it was founded in 2008, bringing economic growth and evolution to the town of Ubud. Held in a traditional Balinese open-air venue surrounded by wildlife and flanked by a sacred river, the fest offers a unique opportunity for attendees to connect with themselves, others, and the surroundings.

The holistic approach of the festival is reflected in its more than 150 workshops representing different styles of yoga (including Hatha, Yin, Anusara, and Ashtanga) as well as other types of movement (Capoeira, Qi Gong, Silat, Poi, Laughter, and hula hooping). Each night ends with a musical lineup of global performers, creating an intimate concert experience leading to deeper connections and sacred celebration.

About Our Contributor

Sierra is a writer, yogi, and music lover living in the Pacific Northwest. She’s been practicing yoga for nearly a decade & got certified to teach in 2018. She writes and teaches all about connection: connection to the body, to nature, and to the universal love that holds us together. She’s also the author of , a moon magic journal and witchy workbook.

For free yoga and witchy wisdom, find Sierra at , on Instagram , and on .

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doesn’t remember the name of the documentary he saw in late 2019 about Uttarayan, an annual kite festival in western India. But he vividly recalls being awed by the YouTube video playing on his laptop screen. “The shape of the kites, the lines of thread, all these beautiful things flying in the sky—it really intrigued me,” says Coedel, who lives in Paris. Three weeks later, in January of 2020, the photographer flew to the state of Gujarat and then traveled around the region to witness the celebration himself. During the weeklong Uttarayan, people parade brightly colored kites through the streets of Ahmedabad and Vadodara and Mumbai from dawn to dusk, reveling in the end of winter and anticipating the spring harvest season. As Coedel snapped pictures and spoke with locals, he was moved by the sight of Hindus and Muslims of all ages eating and playing together. “At the beginning, I just wanted to make images that were compositionally appealing, because I didn’t know much about the culture before I arrived,” he says. “It evolved into not only creating images that capture the abstract shapes of the kites, but also documenting this magical time that people were enjoying.” The trip took place just months before the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, and he hopes to return this winter to photograph the festival again. “When I look at these pictures, I can’t help thinking that some of these children’s lives must have completely changed,” Coedel says.

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Willi Unsoeld was not yet an American climbing legend when he first saw the Himalayan peak called Nanda Devi. Known to locals as the mountain of the bliss-giving goddess, it rises to 25,645 feet, forbiddingly guarded by a ring of lesser peaks in the northeastern corner of India, near the border with Nepal. Reaching the foot of Nanda Devi involves a steep journey up the gorge of the Rishi Ganga River and then a trip through treacherous terrain at 14,000 feet. Unsoeld couldn’t see those obstacles as he gazed at the summit from far away, but for the rest of his life he would recall his thought at that moment: “I was so struck by its beauty that I realized I needed to get married to have a daughter that I hoped would be beautiful enough to name after Nanda Devi.” The year was 1949. Unsoeld was a 22-year-old college student, traipsing through India on the first of what would be many lengthy explorations abroad.

By 1974, the daughter he’d dreamed of that day, the second-oldest of four children, was a 20-year-old with plenty of international travel under her own belt. She’d been named after the mountain, and she decided she was going to go climb it.

Nanda Devi Unsoeld was all that her father had hoped she’d be, a dreamy and vibrant girl who went by Devi. That year, on her way back from Nepal to her parents’ home in Olympia, Washington, she and her younger brother, Krag, had stopped in Milton, Massachusetts, to visit the mountaineer Ad Carter, an Unsoeld family friend.

Carter had been on the British-American expedition that put the first climbers atop Nanda Devi, in 1936. He taught foreign languages at Milton Academy, an exclusive private school outside Boston, and he often took students on climbing trips in the nearby White Mountains of New Hampshire, where he and his wife, Ann, had a second home in Jefferson. It was there, on a November night in 1974, after a day of climbing with some Milton students, that Devi and Krag talked Carter into planning what would become the joint Indo-American Nanda Devi Expedition of 1976. The three pored over a new photograph of Nanda Devi’s north face. Ultimately, they decided that taking on this side of the mountain, which no one had tried yet, would be a grand way to mark the 40th anniversary of its first ascent. The siblings would be part of the climbing team, which they wanted their father to co-lead with Carter.

Willi said yes without hesitation. As Krag recalls, he and Devi envisioned “a family-based pilgrimage to a holy place,” but Carter, he says, “wanted to make sure that we had a ‘real’ expedition,” with substantial experience, which would require recruiting fresh blood. He invited a handful of Americans who had recently undertaken a successful climb of another difficult Himalayan peak, 26,795-foot Dhaulagiri, to join them.

In late September of 1975, at the Unsoeld home in Olympia, Willi met with 26-year-old John Roskelley, another very accomplished American alpinist, putting plans in motion. They were of different minds about leadership and climbing, and women, too—namely, whether they belonged on major expeditions with men. Roskelley tried to convince Willi not to invite a female climber named Marty Hoey to join the group. He believed that the presence of women could complicate things; he worried that emotions could get out of hand when the two sexes were put together in high-stakes, high-altitude situations.

It didn’t help that Hoey had been dating Peter Lev, another veteran of the Dhaulagiri expedition who they wanted on the team; Roskelley hated the idea of a couple’s quarrels bleeding into the team’s daily demands. He also assumed the climb would be a traditional, equipment-heavy effort, relying on multiple camps and fixed ropes, while Willi and Lev seemed intent on an alpine-style ascent, lighter on ropes and happening fast.

As they wrangled over the climb’s fundamentals, Devi herself burst in, glowing with sweat. She’d just biked seven miles home from a soccer game. Roskelley would later recall his first impression in his 1987 book, , saying that Devi “swept in like a small tornado after an obviously brutal game of soccer.”

In public speaking engagements for the next few years, Willi would sometimes describe this moment, too, including an extra detail about some of the first words out of Devi’s mouth that evening: “You’re Roskelley,” she said. “I understand you have trouble with women.”

“And old John had a little trouble getting over that one,” Willi would add with a laugh.

Roskelley knew that Devi was the instigator of this expedition—Louis Reichardt, his summit partner on Dhaulagiri and another recruit for the upcoming climb, had explained as much—but not until meeting her did he realize how much influence she exerted over those in her orbit. Devi had a captivating smile and a warm, inviting personality. She also had a calm, confident way of articulating her ideas that Roskelley found convincing, despite his sense that many of her opinions were based on emotions rather than experience.

That day in Olympia, Roskelley began to understand the optimism of this young woman, whose opinions would go on to dominate the expedition. He also got used to the idea of Hoey joining the team. Later that night, he phoned Hoey to assure her that, despite what she might have heard, she was welcome and wanted.

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From high on the side of Mount Everest, Bishnu Gurung could hear the steady drone of helicopters landing in Base Camp, nearly 6,000 vertical feet below. The 52-year-old guide couldn’t tell if the flights were rescuing sick climbers or possibly shuttling in more people from COVID��hot spots like Kathmandu. Either way, it wasn’t good.��He looked down and could see his client ratcheting��painstakingly up the Lhotse Face. Bishnu edged his crampons against the slope as he moved slowly into Camp III��and dropped his load of supplies. After 30 years of working on Everest, the mountain had become almost like a second home. Although he couldn’t see Base Camp, he had heard rumors from other guides and climbers��that the coronavirus was raging across the nylon metropolis.��

His client was a Nepali climber named Gobinda Prasad Devkota. Bishnu was impressed with the speed and dexterity he’d shown��on this initial acclimatization trip, despite having lost the use of one leg to polio as a child. Gobinda had planned this climb for six years. Unable to raise funds, he finally mortgaged his family property in Kathmandu to pay for the expedition. After a rest, the pair turned around from their high point and descended toward��Base Camp. As they entered the Khumbu Icefall, the route became increasingly congested with guides and clients all sharing a single fixed rope. Traffic jams formed on either side of creaking aluminum ladders that were lashed together to span the gaping crevasses. Crowds in the Icefall are always dangerous, as they slow progress and increase exposure to unpredictable falling frozen debris��or avalanches. This year��the��threat was amplified by the risk that other climbers could be infectious. As he passed others, Bishnu tried to pull his neck gaiter up over his nose like a mask, but his sunglasses quickly fogged in the cold mountain air. As soon as they pulled into Base Camp, Bishnu found his phone and called his wife.��

A month earlier, Bishnu sat with her in the crowded two-bedroom apartment that they share��with their 25-year-old son in Kathmandu’s Baluwatar neighborhood. He didn’t know what he was going to do. His last expedition to Everest, in 2019, had been a bust: his client fled the country without paying his summit bonus or tips, even though the expedition was��successful. Then��COVID canceled the 2020 climbing season.��Bishnu’s funds quickly ran dry. He borrowed what he could from friends to cover food and rent. When a local outfitter, Himalayan Ecstasy, called, he jumped at the chance to work. The company specialized in budget expeditions, so��the wages offered were relatively low,��yet��Bishnu still stood to make over twice Nepal’s average annual per��capita income in just two hard months. It would be enough to carry his family through the year.��Contract terms were quickly negotiated—$3,800 for the climb and a $2,500 summit bonus. The company provided him with nearly the entire amount, including the bonus, in advance and in cash. He was committed to go all the way to the top. Bishnu immediately paid down his loans, then purchased a new headlamp and a pair of expedition gloves. He knew that going back to Everest during a pandemic was a risk, but risk is nothing new for a climbing guide in Nepal who needs to put food on the table.

Nepal had dodged the worst of the first wave of the coronavirus. As cases dropped steadily in the early months of 2021, . Kathmandu buzzed with traffic. The airport grew mobbed with travelers as the government reduced, and then dropped, all quarantine requirements. The health department launched a nationwide vaccination program and gave priority to frontline workers in the tourism industry. Like many climbing guides, Bishnu stood in the��queue��for hours to receive his first dose of the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine. A record number of climbing permits were issued on 8,000-meter peaks, including Everest, Annapurna, and Dhaulagiri.

In mid-April, while the industry was in overdrive preparing for the most crowded season in Everest history, a new variant of COVID was sweeping India and charging northward toward��Nepal. As Singapore and Hong Kong banned direct flights from India, thousands of migrant workers crossed the open border and flew from Kathmandu instead. Nepal’s former king and queen both tested positive after returning from a religious festival in India��and checked in to the hospital the following day. ��

The��variant plowed through Nepal. In the two weeks following April 11, reported , and the number of . The Pasupathi temple complex in Kathmandu along the sacred Bagmati River to keep up with the increased demand for cremations. Critical COVID patients began dying in ambulances and at home, unable to secure hospital beds, steroids, or medical oxygen. In Kathmandu, the public hospitals set up makeshift beds on sidewalks, at construction sites, and in hallways. At some private hospitals, patients were asked to purchase oxygen on the black market.��

The first cases of COVID at Base Camp were initially dismissed as altitude illness or a��catch-all known as the Khumbu cough. Early on, a few mountain workers and climbers were evacuated to Kathmandu; in subsequent interviews, they said��that they . The tourism department took an aggressive public stance, denying��that the virus had spread��to Everest, then issued a sternly worded gag order forbidding anyone working on the mountain from��“publish[ing] or circulat[ing] any information that would create fear amongst mountaineers and their families without coordinating with government agencies first.” Expedition leaders did what they could to contain the spread and cordoned off their camps with rope barriers and handwritten signs. Those who could afford it used rapid antigen tests and isolated their clients from anyone who arrived from outside.��

Still others, like climbing celebrity Nirmal “Nims” Purja,��flaunted the rules with abandon, hosting a in a crowded dining tent. Elite climbers from multiple teams attended the party, laughing and posting live videos on social media. At the time, few knew that Everest Base Camp was on track to become a major super-spreader event.

On April 26, Kathmandu entered into a second lockdown. Bishnu’s wife could now only leave the tiny apartment for two hours each day to fetch food, supplies, and her diabetes medication.��On May 3, the government banned all nonemergency domestic flights, and two days later the international airport grounded commercial flights. The first wave of Everest clients set foot on the summit the following week.��

As Bishnu spoke with his wife in Base Camp, the dangers on��the mountain seemed to disappear. Four of his close relatives had died from COVID complications during his short rotation to Camp III—a��young nephew, an uncle, an aunt, and her daughter. The last two died at home��together, unable to find oxygen or an ICU bed. The daughter was Bishnu’s age. Bishnu felt trapped. He slumped into his tent. There was no point in returning home: he couldn’t afford a helicopter, and the bodies had already been cremated. The monks, the prayers, and the final rituals would have to wait.��

Instead,��Bishnu prepared for a summit push. He checked and rechecked his gear, including 40 pounds of oxygen in five cylinders, only one of which was for him. Each cylinder was placed gently alongside the others in his backpack; it was��the very thing his family had��died without, the very thing he would��carry��so��someone else could��live.

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The COVID outbreak at Everest Base Camp continues to cause chaos on the world’s highest peak. At least two expeditions have packed up their tents and abandoned their climbs, and China officially canceled the season on the Tibetan side of the mountain.��

The Khumbu��Valley is under lockdown orders. In the once-bustling airport town of Lukla, the local government opened an isolation center to accommodate the growing number of COVID patients descending from Base Camp in helicopters. “We currently accommodate 22 infected people, all of them coming down from trekking and Everest expeditions,” said Mingma Chhiri Sherpa, an official for the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality, which has jurisdiction over the valley.��

A medical professional at Base Camp who wished to remain anonymous said that a concerning number of asymptomatic cases have also been detected. Unfortunately, contact tracing has proven difficult. “We have referred positive cases to descend for a checkup and further testing,” the medical professional said.��“Close contacts are refusing to descend as it’s expensive and results take at least a week. I worry that if we tested everyone, the majority would come out positive.”

On May 10, Basque mountaineer Alex Txikon and his two climbing partners canceled their expedition due to concerns over what Txikon called a “complicated” health situation on the mountain. Today, Lukas Furtenbach, managing director of the Austrian outfitter Furtenbach ���ϳԹ���s,�� that “to climb [beyond] the base camp with these massively increasing corona numbers and risk the lives of our 20 customers, four mountain guides, and 27 Sherpas carelessly��would be irresponsible.” The statement also noted that ascending further would be “too dangerous because there is, of course, much less space in the high altitude camps.”

Despite the growing humanitarian crisis caused by rising COVID numbers that have now placed Nepal ahead of India in terms of and ��per capita, the government is determined to carry on with the season. Director General of the Department of Tourism, Rudra Singh Tamang, told ���ϳԹ���: “There are media reports about COVID cases at��Base Camp, which we don’t believe. We approve only official information, which either liaison officers and expedition team leaders provide. We have also not been informed about any company canceling the expedition.”��

A May 7 press release from the Department of Tourism said: “We would like to request that all concerned do not publish or circulate any information that would create fear amongst mountaineers and their families without coordinating with government agencies first. Only disseminate notices that have been verified by the official authorities.”��

A shipment of rapid COVID tests arrived in Lukla yesterday, and officials are meeting tomorrow to discuss whether or not they should implement widespread testing of expedition members and establish a second isolation center closer to Base Camp.��

Back in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, strict lockdown restrictions have been extended until the end of May. The airport remains closed to all commercial flights. Across the country, 40 percent of all COVID tests are positive. The Ministry of Health and Population has taken over the supply and distribution of medical oxygen, and put rationing measures in place. Despite setting up makeshift treatment centers in empty rooms, sidewalks, and verandas, hospitals still don’t have enough resources to treat all of their critical patients.��

To make matters worse on the world’s highest peak, a cyclone is percolating off the west coast of India that appears likely to send bad weather towards Everest’s crowded slopes. Despite everything, another batch of expedition workers and eager clients are busy preparing to leave Base Camp late tonight to make their way through the notoriously dangerous Khumbu Icefall towards Camp One and, eventually, the summit.��

“We know there is a risk of catching COVID on the mountain,” said local expedition leader Ang Tshiring Lama. “But if we don’t climb, our friends will die of hunger.”

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When Hari Perumal got recruited out of engineering school to work at a German shoe factory, it was the first time he’d been farther than 100 miles from his hometown of Pondicherry, India. He never intended to make footwear, but he appreciated the engineering principles he had to apply to each step of the manufacturing process. “It was eye-opening to see it all come together,” he says. “I really enjoyed it and found my passion.” Perumal eventually moved to the Bay Area to work at a boot factory during the day and pursue his MBA at night. Today, he supervises product development and innovation for Keen and is always striving to find ways to make its products a sustainable reflection of the company’s values, and his own.

Invest in People

“Keen makes a third of its product in factories that we own, and we might get that number up to 40 percent. In the U.S., our factory workers get the same benefits that I do, and we try to stay above the wage rate to attract the best talent. Instead of focusing on cheap labor, we find efficiencies so we can hold down our costs.”

Embrace Some Automation

“Some jobs are overly repetitive or safer for a robot to do, but we can teach an operator to control three robots and to manage the computer program. Offering training for that kind of value-added work improves employees’ lifestyles and wage rates, and helps them to grow as people.”

Detox

“We took the most stringent list of restricted chemicals we could find and went one step further. We’re PFC-free. We only work with tanneries that have zero liquid waste discharge. We’ve eliminated pesticides. We’re dramatically reducing the use of solvent-based cements and have a three-year plan to get rid of cement all together.”

Get Sustainable

“You have to start asking questions in everything you do. How do you heat your water? Can you use solar energy? How much waste are you producing? You have to breed that culture throughout the company, but especially in the supply chain. The energy you save can be humongous.”

Pave a Path

“The outdoor industry is predominantly white. I ended up in this position because my first job out of school was making shoes. Now I travel all over the world. It’s extremely demanding, but I enjoy every bit of it. I want people who are graduating college—especially people of color or of South Asian background—to see that supply-chain management is a great opportunity.”

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Unless you were one of the lucky kids who grew up camping and participating in outdoor sports, breaking into the outdoor world can be an adventure in itself. There’s the gear, the jargon, the less than welcoming outdoor subculture—not to mention the vulnerability that comes with trying something new. But for people who overcome these hurdles, the outdoors often becomes a refuge, a place to gain confidence and strength.

After her family moved from India to Minnesota when she was seven��years old, Ambreen Tariq experienced this trajectory firsthand. Her immigrant parents, eager to try a classic American pastime, took her��and her sister camping in a state park. Sleeping in a tent and cooking over a campfire put Tariq outside her comfort zone, but as someone who had already upended her life to move to a new country, she was used to that. And unlike the daily adventure of going to school—where classmates made fun of her accent and wrinkled their noses at the Indian food in her lunch box—camping was an empowering adventure��and one that launched a lifelong love of the outdoors. That passion eventually led Tariq to create an online community called Brown People Camping. Through Brown People Camping’s , Tariq shares her own stories about��the natural world��in hopes of encouraging others��from historically underrepresented communities to try camping, hiking, and outdoor sports.

Now��Tariq is sharing her story with a younger crowd. Her first children’s book, , tells the tale��of a young immigrant girl who goes camping with her family after a particularly tough day at school. Although the book is fictionalized, “Fatima’s story is my story,” Tariq says. Each detail is based on a true story, from Fatima’s insistence that her parents bring bacon to eat with their roti for breakfast��to her mother using skills from her rural Indian upbringing to get the campfire started. Fatima’s endearingly nerdy glasses and bright yellow jacket are based on an old photo of Tariq and brought to life by , whose illustrations��capture the loneliness, joy, and pride that Fatima feels.

After spending a night outdoors and overcoming her fear of a seemingly enormous spider, Fatima leaves the campground feeling like a superhero. As a shy, awkward kid who felt most at home in nature, I totally related to Fatima’s self-consciousness at school and her self-confidence while camping. That’s part of the beauty of Fatima’s story—it gives children from all backgrounds a protagonist they can relate to. Yet the book is particularly meaningful to groups whose experiences have been largely left out of the outdoor-adventure and nature-writing canons—specifically, immigrants and people of color.

This is intentional. Tariq sees the book as an extension of the advocacy she does through Brown People Camping, and she hopes it will inspire more families of color to feel safe and welcome outdoors. When I asked her what’s changed since she was Fatima’s age and went camping for the first time, she said that she no longer accepts the idea that the outdoors is only for white people��or��extreme athletes. “As a child, you look around and take everything in and accept it for the way it’s presented to you,” she said. “So I saw that everyone in the outdoors was white, and I accepted that. Now, being a grown woman, I refuse to accept something just because it’s status quo. It’s startling to me that the outdoors still looks the way it did to me as a little immigrant girl.”

Tariq also hopes that Fatima’s Great Outdoors will help readers expand their definition of adventure. “Being an immigrant takes an adventurous spirit,” she says. “To move a world away, to a country with a new language and so many new things, really takes an adventurous soul. I wanted people who have so much respect for adventurers to see immigrants in that light.”

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