My Doppelganger?

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Several years ago I was training canyon guides in Costa Rica. During one of several canyon descents I met a travel writer who was working on a story. Early in the day he told me that I reminded him of someone, but he couldn’t think of the guy’s name. Several more times during the day he said the same thing, but still couldn’t remember the name. A few weeks later I received an email from the writer encouraging me to check out the article he wrote. In the article he said he descended a canyon in Costa Rica with an instructor who could have been Philip Seymour Hoffman’s twin brother.

Having no clue who Philip Seymour Hoffman was, I had to search on the internet. Hmmm. I don’t think I look anything like that guy.

Philip Seymour Hoffman died on February 2, 2014 as a result of drug abuse. I was in Nepal at the time. Sitting at a table in the Rum Doodle Restaurant I noticed everyone at another table staring at me. Staring at me and pointing. Staring at me and whispering. Staring. I checked my hair. Did I spill something on my shirt? Something stuck in my teeth. There was nothing behind me except a wall. Why were they staring?

As I got up to leave, two people from that table came over and asked me if I had only faked my death.

There have been many other occasions … “Do you know who you look like? Well, I know he’s dead now, but you really look like him.”