PORT ANGELES — Land planner Dale Holiday is packing for the business trip of a lifetime.
On Friday, she will leave for a monthlong trip to Bhutan, an Asian nation nestled in the mountainous Himalayan region between northern India and Tibet.
Her trip is a rare opportunity to glimpse life in the reclusive nation, which severely restricts tourism and influence from the outside world, and which considers happiness to be its gross national product.
Although she hopes to get in some touring and birding, Holiday has been invited to visit the country by its Department of Urban Development.
The government is seeking to modernize without harming its environment or way of life.
“The country is on the cusp right now,” Holiday said. “They want the world to know they are there, but they don’t want the ruin that can come with that.”
She will spend a month as a volunteer, meeting with government officials and offering her expertise as a land planner.
A month in Bhutan
“I consider it an honor and privilege to be asked to assist the Bhutanese as they strive to move toward modernizing elements of their way of life, while retaining their cultural identity and natural environment,” she said.
Holiday, who is married to Port Angeles City Councilman Max Mania, is a land use planner and critical areas reviewer for Clallam County.
She has a doctorate in environmental planning from the University of Washington’s School of Urban Design and Planning, and serves on the boards of the North Olympic Land Trust and the Olympic Peninsula Visitors Bureau.
She is using vacation time and a leave of absence for the trip.
Holiday learned that Bhutan was seeking outside advice when she saw a small ad in the land planner trade magazine, Planning.
The government was looking for planners from other nations who could help them move into the 21st century in a manner that was consistent with their core values.
Earth Day every day
For Bhutan, every day is Earth Day.
Holiday said the largely Buddhist nation reveres the environment and the natural world, and values happiness above success.
According to Lyonpo Jigmi Y. Thinley, prime minister and president of the Centre for Bhutan Studies, the concept of Gross National Happiness is based on the premise that “true development of human society takes place when material and spiritual development occur side by side to complement and reinforce each other.”
Mahayana Buddhism is the state religion of Bhutan, and Buddhists make up the majority of the population.
The state religion is supported financially by the government, which subsidizes monasteries, shrines and the incomes of monks and nuns.
Develop infrastructure
Holiday said the country is seeking to develop its infrastructure to accommodate increased international commerce, including building roads and airports.
The Bhutanese call their country “Druk Yul,” which means “Land of the Thunder Dragon,” Holiday said.
The landscape is not particularly friendly to development, with deep valleys, steep slopes and the northern region containing Himalayan peaks soaring to 24,00 feet.
It is roughly one-quarter the size of Washington state, but contains only one-tenth the population.
“Bhutan is literally on the other side of the world from the North Olympic Peninsula, with major cultural differences,” Holiday said.
“But we also share similarities — rural landscapes, critical areas and a struggling economy, with a desire for economic development while wanting to protect natural resources.
“My work there will no doubt provide me with new perspectives and problem-solving strategies that may be implemented in our community,” she said.
Holiday expects to conduct community design and planning reviews, plan small residential areas in the capital city of Thimpu and give advice on environmental issues such as recycling.
“I would also like to be an ambassador [on the trip],” she said. “I tend to get along with cultures that are not American. I don’t think it’s going to be a big cultural stretch.”
Although Holiday has traveled in Europe, this will be her first Asian experience.
Well-wishers have given her lots of advice, from what to wear and how to act to “treat your drinking water,” but there’s one area in which Holiday feels confident.
“I didn’t have to be advised to be a sponge and soak up as much as possible,” she said. “I’m a lifelong learner.
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Features Editor Marcie Miller can be reached at 360-417-3550 or marcie.miller@peninsuladaily news.com.
