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African Overlanding Part 2
“A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” – John Steinbeck Somewhere in Namibia This overland camping thing has turned out differently, and also exactly how I expected. Since leaving Etosha national park, our giant truck carried the 15 of us south to the town of Swakopmund, Namibia. Swakopmund is on the western coastline of Namibia. The town is described as ‘german looking’ as its development was expedited by German expats looking for a Namibian beach house. I personally don’t think it looks German, but it also doesn’t look Namibian. It’s desert dry and arid, but with added surprises like newly…
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Overlanding Part 1: Botswana to Namibia
“I like animals. I like natural history. The travel bit is not the important bit. The travel bit is what you have to do in order to go and look at animals.” – David Attenborough What is Overlanding? The next chapter of my nomadic life involves a new way to travel – overland camping. For weeks, I’ve been throwing around this term like using it makes me that next level of travel professional. I’ve started telling my friends – ‘why yes, after the next stop I’ll be overlanding across Africa for a few weeks’. Sometimes I use it as a noun, often a verb, once in a while as a…
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Victoria Falls
Catching Up I’m very behind in blogging. You don’t have to tell me. I already know. Since my last post I have spent over a month traveling across the African continent, from Tanzania to Namibia and further still. I’m not even physically in Africa anymore. I’ve left the continent. That’s how behind I am. I’ve been busy. That’s my only excuse. I’ve been jumping in gorges, canoeing in rivers, climbing dunes, and hiking waterfalls. But let’s be real here, those things didn’t take up entire days. I’ve had down time. More often than not I was drinking a beer with someone, taking a nap, reading a book, and embracing my often…
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Safaris in the Serengeti and Beaches in Zanzibar
“I like animals. I like natural history. The travel bit is not the important bit. The travel bit is what you have to do in order to go and look at animals.” – David Attenborough Tanzania Continues My original plan was to write one giant blog post about Tanzania, and all of the uniquely fascinating places I visited here – Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and the island of Zanzibar. This idea was great for a lot of reasons, the most important one being that I traveled with the same fun loving group of people through many of these places. This idea, however, also doesn’t work for a lot…
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Tanzania: Kil a Man (Jaro)
“Every mountain top is within reach if you just keep climbing.” ― Barry Finlay, Kilimanjaro and Beyond African Arrival Tanzania. Kilimanjaro. The Serengeti. Safari. I’ve come to Africa for all of these things. After a long flight starting in Budapest, with a few hour stopover in Dubai, I also arrived tired, worn out on European touristing, ready for a new landscape, and (finally) a large group of friends to share it all with. I was getting fed up of traveling alone and self-entertaining. Bring on the massive travel group and pre-planned daily itineraries. Over the course of the next two days, nine other eager world travelers arrived to meet me. We…
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Slavic Beginnings
“I met a lot of people in Europe. I even encountered myself.” – James Baldwin Exploring My Roots After leaving Prague in early August I headed to where it all began (for my DNA): Poland. I have a Polish grandmother. My grandfather used to refer to her as his Polish Princess. So while I was aware of my Polish genetics, it wasn’t until I was older that I realized the cabbage rolls and poppyseed coffee cakes she made were recipes straight from the motherland. It never occurred to me that these things had any kind of history or heritage attached to them. Then, a few years ago while at lunch…
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Sangria to Schnitzel: Transversing Europe
First Things First I’m in love with Prague. The city and I only just recently met. But certain places don’t require weeks or months to get to know. Prague has an energy, an aura, a chemistry that can’t be denied. It was exciting and new, while familiar and comfortable all at the same time. I’m sure it has faults and imperfects that I’m ignoring or have yet to see, but I simply don’t care. Sigh. We will come back to this. First thing’s first. Before heading to Prague, I made one little stopover after leaving my parents in Portugal. Madrid. This was a last minute add. When I left South…
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Slavic Beginnings
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Portugal (with Parents)
You can handle just about anything that comes at you out on the road with a believable grin, common sense and whiskey. – Bill Murray Summer Vacation I’m back! Back to blogging, back to traveling, and back to treating unemployment like the job I know it can be. Since I last wrote to you all, I spent three weeks in the US. In true vagabond style I spread that time between DC, LA, Minnesota, and back to DC again. Coast to coast. Why do I have so many friends and family in so many places? Why does the US have to be such a huge country?? These questions may never be…
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Slavic Beginnings
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Ending in the Atacama
“It is always sad to leave a place to which one knows one will never return. Such are the melancolies du voyage: perhaps they are one of the most rewarding things about traveling.” – Gustave Flaubert Chile: Interesting Facts I spent my last week in South America in a giant desert. The driest in the world just so happens to be in Northern Chile. The Atacama. Google it. I’ll start by addressing the obvious question. Of all the places to visit in South America, why end my trip in the Atacama? I visited Santiago a few years ago and it was here that I learned about the geographically schizophrenic country of Chile. …
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Machu Picchu: Hiking my way through the Salkantay
“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”– Greg Anderson The Backdrop It’s time for the apex, the highlight, the grand finale of a trip to Peru. Especially for what has turned into a mont of full blown TREKKING for me. Machu Picchu. I always planned to stop at this most famous of Peruvian sites. And I always knew I wasn’t going to be one of those tourists taking the train from Cusco for a day trip. No, I was hiking there. The only question was which route to take. As my travels wear on, my itinerary is getting more…
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Around Peru in 7 Days: Arequipa, Puno, and Rainbow Mtn
