by phil | Jul 24, 2018 | thoughts
A lot of people have asked me if we chose our travel dates in order to avoid Mali’s presidential election scheduled for July 29th. The answer is no. I am not worried about my personal safety nor am I worried about widespread violence, at least not in Bamako.Some...
by phil | Jan 14, 2017 | thoughts
2016 was not a great year for the planet. Personally, however, I have no complaints about it, mainly owing to the birth of our son. This year may be almost as eventful. At the start of last year, I had the following on my agenda: ✓ Keep working on side projects. That...
by phil | May 2, 2013 | thoughts, W. Africa
As the words were coming out, I knew I was making a mistake. I knew because I had made the same mistake before, in front of the same friend whose eyes were now widening. “Hεrε sira?” (did you pass the night in peace?). Under most circumstances, this is an...
by phil | Jun 28, 2012 | thoughts
Helping to prepare Christmas dinner in Abidjan with a camel shaved into my head God willing, this blog will turn two years old tomorrow, June 29th. It started as many travel blogs do — as a public journal for a trip of definite length. After two years, the trip...
by phil | Feb 26, 2012 | thoughts
The wall decorations in my gf’s childhood room in the village of Fana, Mali A directionless post has been a long time coming. And now, with my brain T’ed off on 3 Malian teas (think diabetes), I will write one. 1. It will be numbered, though. I developed a...
by phil | Nov 16, 2011 | thoughts
I’m flying to Ghana today. More regular posting will resume next week. In the meantime, I want to share a few worthwhile projects from others. The Wise Routes Project My friend Claire and her boyfriend, Brandon, just rode their bikes from Vancouver to San...
