To be Guided or Not to Be Guided

 I am still trying to organize my trek to Nepal and one of the questions that I have worked myself into a tizzy about whether to go guided or unguided. I wouldn't have minded a guided group but it is seeming increasingly unlikely that I will be able to join a group. So, looks like its just going to be me and a guide. being with a guide has its obvious pros--don't have to worry about the route, logistics, etc, and I can focus on enjoying the mountains. I have been to Nepal before but I am not an experienced enough trekker to be able to do it unguided without confidence. However, being an introvert, the first question that came to my mind is what do I talk to him about for 8 plus hours a day for seven days? With a group, I could have relied on the more chatty members to engage with the guide for a bulk of the time. And walking alone in the mountains has its own charm. However, the law has changed in Nepal, so the routes along which you can go unguided are few and far between. And, I earn in pounds now, and while I am not a high earner by any stretch of imagination, I would probably be comfortably rich in Nepal. My right to wanderlust or to find myself doesn't come before the right of people in one of the poorest countries in the world to earn a livelihood. So, at the end of the day, its an easy decision. A guided trek it is.