the plan

Until recently, my naivety led me to believe I could travel entirely overland from country to county during this journey. I planned to start in Morocco, generally following the west coast down to South Africa, then up the opposite coast to Egypt. I was never deluded that it would be easy, considering the brutal shape of transportation down there, but I assumed I could draw a solid (if zig-zagging) line from point A to B, hiring drivers, jumping on trains, buses, or in desperation, camels (No camel jokes please, who knows just HOW desperate things will actually get).

A few days ago, I sat down with photoshop, a map of the continent, and the Foreign Affairs Canada travel warning website open. I drew fake borders in red indicating which areas I absolutely have to avoid unless I want to get kidnapped or end up in the middle of a civil war. As this map has demonstrated in its uniquely mocking way, the areas I need to avoid account for more than half of the continent. This wouldn't be a problem if those areas didn't cut several solid swaths across my now impossible route.

Thankfully, I also have good news to share. As fate would have it, there is now a very good chance that I will have a travel partner for the majority of the trip. Her name is Lesley. We met at a lunch not even two months ago and have really hit it off. Turns out that dropping everything to travel Africa is a ludicrous idea that we've both had on our list for a long time. For now all I will say is she's fucking amazing.

As the plan continues to take shape, I get a growing sense of how truly amazing, exciting and terrifying this journey is going to be. Shit is getting real. We fly into Madrid, Spain the first week of January. From there we meet up with Jake, another old soul I'm lucky to know, in the Mediterranean sea-side town of Denia. Denia is a little piece of paradise Jake picked out for himself as a new home base, just because he can. It may have something to do with the weather, or perhaps the tendency of Swedish university girls to vacation in the region. Check out his adventures here.

I plan to spend a week in Spain, learning about Siestas and Cervezas, before the 3 of us get on a boat in Algericas and cross over to Tangier, Morocco, a place my travel guide describes with phrases such as 'gritty charm', 'the inspiration for a generation of beat writers' and a 'host for every power who ever dreamed of conquering the Mediterranean.' From Tangier we're off to Fes, the cultural capital of the country, before making a quick stop in Meknes, the Versailles of Morocco and on to the actual Capital, Rabat. Moving west we'll hit Casablanca, then Marrakesh. The latter gets my adrenaline going, and here's why:

"The name Marrakesh conjures up images of medieval bazaars, labyrinths filled with exotic smells and the cries of hawkers, sunlit squares hidden from the outside world and a musical accompaniment to a way of life little changed in centuries. Marrakesh is all that and more."

This point will likely see Jake returning home, with Lesley and I embarking on a fairly brisk dash south through the Sahara desert, following the coast into Mauritania, and specifically Zouerat. This is the starting point of the longest (and unfortunately) slowest train in the world. Only time will tell whether I have the guts to ride for free in the back of one of the open top wagons carrying whatever black-soot like material they mine there. Halfway thru the trip I plan to get off and head toward Chinguetti, the 7th holiest city of Islam. By road we'll head to the coast again, spending some time in Nouakchott, the capital.

I expect little to see or do in Mauritania, so we'll make our way to St-Louis, Senegal, before making it all the way to Dahkar, the capital. A day trip to Kaolack and it's off to Banjul, the capital of The Gambia. Regrettably, travelling any further south at this point is too dangerous, so the compass will shift east into the heart of the continent: Bamako (Mali), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Naimey (Niger), Benin, Togo, and Ghana. This is where I have currently hit a road block, as Nigeria and Northern Niger are too dangerous to travel through. For the past few days I have been attempting to secure sea-travel into Cameroon, a futile endeavor so far. It's looking like our only option here will be to fly all the way into Namibia, which may be pricey.

The planning continues...

Inaugural Post

I still have a hard time believing what my life consists of these days, and I'm absolutely loving the ridiculousness. I highly doubt that I will ever be in a position like this again, 'the dream job', which, for those of you that don't know, consists of living off severance for the next little while. Recognizing that, I'm making the most of every day, which has led to a perpetual state of partying. My liver hates me.

Africa prep is well underway. I'm slowly accumulating gear, and every few days pick up my travel book to hammer out, country by country, my route. At this point I expect to be on the road for 5 or 6 months starting in January, covering 30 countries (give or take). Without a doubt, I'm in for an amazing adventure that I'm extremely privileged to have as an opportunity. In an interesting new development, I may have a travel companion for at least part of the trip (in addition to Jake). More on this as things happen.

And now, off to the next party...