Caitlin McKimmy

M.T.S. in Buddhist Studies, Harvard Divinity School
B.A. in Religion and Neuroscience, Carleton College

When Caitlin was trekking through North India, researching Ladakhi conceptions of sacred landscape, she found the word “Dragons” spelled out in stones at the crest of a high mountain pass. It had been left by a previous Where There Be Dragons group — it was a sign! She applied for a position and has since worked as a Dragons instructor in both North India and Nepal.

Caitlin graduated from Harvard Divinity School with a Master’s degree in Buddhist Studies in the spring of 2014 — academically, she is fascinated by the way in which human interactions with nature are understood in terms religion and mythology, and has worked with the Tibetan community in exile to understand their conception of “Buddhist Ecology.” She is always trying deepen her understanding of the intersections between pilgrimage, tourism, and development.

Throughout her life Caitlin has lived, worked, and studied in North Africa, South Asia, and South America. She lived in a Buddhist monastery in central India, worked as a trekking guide in Bolivia, taught English to orphans in Northeast Tibet, begged a Chilean Admiral for passage to Antarctica, interviewed Sri Lankan forest hermits about love, and learned how to farm snails on a Patagonian island. She has also worked as a Counselor in Training Director at a ranch camp in California, leading teens on backpacking and whitewater rafting adventures. She is a Wilderness First Responder, and speaks Spanish, Tibetan, and Hindi.

Caitlin believes that, through the upheaval and movement of conscientious travel, something inexpressibly rich can be unearthed. Her appreciation for the beauty, absurdity, and complexity of this planet is boundless. It is a gift for her to share these joys with her students.