Preparing for an epic adventure can seem daunting. Having a distraction, like maybe a duck, to keep your stress levels lower is really nice. A duck? Yes, a duck.

World meet JD, Jackson the Duck. He is the 1st prize trophy that I won with my teammates Sharon and J. We had a friends reunion party and our lovely friend Jodi organized some hilarious and challenging games. I came up with the idea of taking the duck with me to Nepal but needed a name. Coincidentally Jodi’s son Jackson just started college at Oregon State where the mascot is a DUCK! Perfect!

As you can imagine the looks I am getting while walking around with JD in tow. I bet they are saying “What the Duck?!?”