On February 14th, 2002, I boarded an airplane bound for Europe and a 2 month holiday. I returned home 16 months later - after globetrotting through 52 countries and 5 continents...Sometimes things don't always go as planned!
If you've ever wanted to sneak a peek inside someone's journal, here's your chance. I have not omitted a single page or edited anything with this book. It remains unchanged since the day I finished it, in Hanoi, Vietnam.
This journal is stock-full of interesting stuff, including, but not limited to:
Global attitudes towards Americans, Racism in South Africa, Funeral homes on every street corner in South Africa, looking down a 3000 foot sheer cliff face, the perseverance of human spirit inside a Capetown ghetto, adjusting to India's poverty, a personal Letter to family about politics, poverty, and responsibility, thoughts on terrorism, the start of the Iraq War, why Buddhism is cool, getting mugged in Johannesburg, Cambodia's Angkor Wat, a day in the life, and the interesting odds and ends at the back of the journal
If you've ever wanted to sneak a peek inside someone's journal, here's your chance. I have not omitted a single page or edited anything with this book. It remains unchanged since the day I finished it, in Hanoi, Vietnam.
This journal is stock-full of interesting stuff, including, but not limited to:
Global attitudes towards Americans, Racism in South Africa, Funeral homes on every street corner in South Africa, looking down a 3000 foot sheer cliff face, the perseverance of human spirit inside a Capetown ghetto, adjusting to India's poverty, a personal Letter to family about politics, poverty, and responsibility, thoughts on terrorism, the start of the Iraq War, why Buddhism is cool, getting mugged in Johannesburg, Cambodia's Angkor Wat, a day in the life, and the interesting odds and ends at the back of the journal
This book is bound in leather and has a wooden front and back cover. I purchased it in Bulawayo, Malawi. If you look closely you can see a total of 4 faces. Two of them are profiles, one is looking directly ahead, and the fourth appears to be an alien with a grapefruit eye!
The inside cover has an inscription written, upon my request, by the man who sold me this journal. It says "This day is the day which I sold one of my work books. I am very happy, I wish you lucky with a book, enjoy and have a good fun. Fill in with what are you seeing in this world"
I kept a calendar in my journals and recorded where I was in the world on each and every day.
I kept track of interesting events that happened on my trip in my journal's first few pages, which served two purposes: To remember to write about it in depth later on (if I didn't have the time at the moment), and to catalog what I felt to be special moments. For example, when you go on a 10 day cruise through the caribbean, everything can seem special about it. But when you're on a trip for over a year, many things that would normally be special, such as just knowing you're in, say, Zimbabwe, can become routine and 'normal'. Everything becomes relative to the situation we're in.
As I entered a new country, I'd make a note of it in my journal in some very identifiable way. On the left page you'll see notes regarding what sort of work I'd possibly like to pursue upon returning to the United States. I narrowed this list down and ultimately decided that working as a Foreign Service Officer with the US State Department sounds best... I'm still working on achieving this dream!
I attended an African National Congress rally(the main political party of South Africa, and that of Nelson Mandela) near Capetown, South Africa for the chance to see and hear one of my greatest heroes, Nelson Mandela. This picture is of the current president of South Africa, and as he worked the 'rope line' we 'high fived' as he passed.
Unfortunately the friends I had come to the rally with had to catch an airplane so we left early. Nelson Mandela spoke about an hour later. This was probably my one and only chance to ever hear Mr. Mandela speak!
Unfortunately the friends I had come to the rally with had to catch an airplane so we left early. Nelson Mandela spoke about an hour later. This was probably my one and only chance to ever hear Mr. Mandela speak!
A Day Trip up Table Mountain, a grand plateau that rises 3000 feet from sea level and looms over the city of Capetown in dramatic fashion. What a site!
The article on the left-hand side of the page is a clipping from a Zimbabwean newspaper run by the opposition party.
Impossible to verify the truth of this article (or others like it), but Mugabe is one of the world's worst current dictators, and stories like these are not out of the realm of possibility.
Impossible to verify the truth of this article (or others like it), but Mugabe is one of the world's worst current dictators, and stories like these are not out of the realm of possibility.
These are 'field notes' from Christmas day, 2002, in a Capetown Township.
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