I Followed My Bhutanese Guide for 4 Hours Today. His Life Philosophy Impressed Me. | by Aldric Chen | The Startup | Jun, 2025

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Aldric Chen

Sonam, my Bhutanese hike guide.
Sonam, the happy man. Image contributed by the author.

Sonam is beyond impressive.

He could speak at least 4 languages. He mentioned Bhutanese, Tibetan, English, Nepali, and others. I lost count.

And this guy, at 43, is a brilliant hike guide. He could climb a mountain without huffing and puffing. Sonam [just] keeps going and going and going.

Above all else, he has that smile on his face [the entire time] that convinced me of one thing.

He is genuinely happy.

Yes. Genuinely.

His relationship with work

How he thinks about work reflects a man of career maturity.

Sonam is confident of his hiking and tour-guiding skills. This alone sets him apart. Many local Bhutanese guides are either superior hike guides or tour guides.

Sonam combines the best of both.

Of course, he took many years to get to where he is today. And when he does, he pulls the plug.

No, he did not fire his boss the way we will conduct ourselves in the developed world. He parted ways with his employer amicably and became…

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