Full name: Phil Paoletta
I was born a Phillip. I made the change to Phill in 7th grade. I really thought that second “L” was subversive. I dropped it at a later, unknown time (probably 8th grade).
Titles: Retired professor of camel drawing, hotelier, tour leader, amateur birder, wannabe guidebook author
Favorite Fruit: mango
Least favorite animal: pelican
Formerly a middle school teacher in Washington, DC, I am now a semi-nomad based in West Africa.
I originally traveled to Ghana on a study abroad in college because I liked highlife music. Once I got there, I found other things — groundnut stew, Twi, orange-headed lizards — that I also liked. In 2010, I quit my teaching job to return to Ghana and to visit other countries in the region. In many ways, that trip never ended.
These days, I am one part of The Sleeping Camel hotel and restaurant in Bamako, Mali. When I’m not in Bamako, I am riding scooters around the region (join me on a trip) and collaborating with former tourist guides in Timbuktu to send unique pieces of mail from a place that many people believe is fictional (yes, you too can send a postcard from Timbuktu).
As of April 2023, my family and I are experimenting with life in Senegal. Here is a post explaining that. And here is a post talking about this blog’s second life.
Other — very dated — things: I used to make music, like this, and art, like this. Not so dated: I have come to enjoy birds. Kapoks are my favorite trees. I enjoy dabbling in West African languages. I am newly (late 2024) obsessed with postcards (here is my account on Postcrossing), stamps, post offices, and mail in general.
In 2015, I got married and in 2016, I became a father. And then again in 2020.
If you enjoy the site, you can join my email list, which I update less frequently then the blog but possibly with more juicy content that I wouldn’t dare share in public.
You can find me on instagram at @philinthe_ .