Africa
Pay Attention Before You Decide What a Place Is
A place becomes smaller the moment I arrive certain about it. Certain that I know what the neighborhood will feel like. Certain…
Topic
Travel
Africa
Twenty Hours on an Iron-Ore Train in Mauritania
The ski goggles were the first clue that this wasn’t going to be a comfortable train ride. My host in Nouakchott helped…
Africa
The Water That Wasn’t There
The bus from Agadir to Dakhla took twenty-one hours. I sat near the front, watching the landscape through the windshield and talking…
Africa
Getting Lost in Fes
Fes does not unfold politely. It arrives as alleys, voices, scooters, donkeys, cedar, leather, bread and the persistent suspicion that you have…
Africa
I Used to Think Freedom Meant Leaving
For a long time, I confused freedom with distance. The farther I could get from home, the freer I felt. A one-way…
Africa
A Few Blue Days in Chefchaouen
Chefchaouen was the sort of place that made it difficult to walk in a straight line. I would turn down one blue…
Explore
I Found My Career by Leaving Home
When I finished studying economics and business, I had no clear idea what I wanted to do for a living. I did…
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Ten Words Beat a Perfect Accent
I have traveled through 61 countries and have yet to become fluent during the ride from the airport. I have become very…
Africa
I Kept Going Back to the Same Café in Merzouga
I reached Merzouga after a long drive south through Morocco. I spent a few days near the edge of the Sahara, walking…
Africa
Back in Africa, Paying Attention Again
A week into my fourth trip to Africa, I was sitting in Chefchaouen trying to work out why being back felt so…