Kindness One: In Bhutan, happiness isn’t a concept, it’s a way of life

It is not how much we have but how much we enjoy that makes happiness.

-- Charles Spurgeon

Circumnavigating the globe from Los Angeles in a 1978 yellow motorcycle with a sidecar is not for the faint of heart. Some may say it’s only for madmen. My journey, which began Aug. 10 in L.A., brought me to incredible India, where I was thrilled to be.

India was good to me, but then it was time to begin the next leg of the journey, dubbed the Kindness One. On this trip, I have no food, no shelter and really no plan except to be carried to the wave of human kindness.

My next stop was Bhutan, the once-isolated kingdom in south-central Asia.

Bhutan has created the Gross National Happiness Index, in which the success of the country is based on the happiness in people’s souls, not the amounts of money in their pockets. I was taken in by this magical kingdom. When the people tell you that it’s the Land of Happiness they mean it.

I’m astonished by how beautiful the people are. And by beautiful I am not referring only to the external. I am referring to the internal worlds of the Bhutanese. They are joyous. They are hopeful. They are peaceful. They are happy.

My time in Bhutan is the pinnacle of my trip so far. The joy was infectious. I haven’t experienced this anywhere else in my travels. It’s a place of epic beauty. Viva Bhutan!