Following Omar into the Sahara

In February of 2004 I took a trip to Morocco to fulfill a promise that had been a long time in coming. Ever since reading Paul Bowles’ 1949 classic “The Sheltering Sky” I had longed to visit the Sahara and North Africa. The wish began at 19 and was fulfilled as turned 30. It was riveting and overwhelming.

Omar, the Berber guide, and I spent five days camping in the desert. In that time I sought refuge from a sand storm with a nomad family in their enormous tent. I had my tent torn to pieces in a rain storm one night. I trekked through high, sandy winds for a couple of days. Omar and I spent a lot of time talking when he’d prepare meals or while we’d pitched tents or packed up. I don’t think the experience would have been anywhere near as rich without his insights and friendship.

Sick and disappointed

I’m up in Bismarck, ND today. I rented a car from Pittsburgh because I’m too sick to take the rigors of Greyhound at the moment. Although I already miss riding the bus. The other reason is that I wanted to see some of the parks, specifically all the Lewis and Clark stuff, that’s around here.

While this sickness is frustrating and disappointing I think the biggest disappointment so far has been the National World War II memorial. After finding myself unexpectedly moved by the Vietnam War memorial I walked over to the WWII memorial. It’s an oval with semi-circles of tall pillars representing the states on either end. The two ends represent the “Atlantic” and Pacific theaters of war. In the middle is a pool with fountains.

Travel Update

I’ve stayed in Knoxville, TN, Asheville, NC, Washington, DC, Portland, ME, Boston, MA and Toronto, ON. Each stop has been really great and full of fun, enriching local moments. I’ve been keeping sporadic updates in a separate area.

After having a good time with James and Brooke in Toronto I’ve weaseled my way into my sister’s place in Pittsburgh. She’s out of town till 11pm so I’m soaking up the Internet access while I recover from some illness and lack of sleep. Plus it’s overcast so I think I deserve a little rest.

Who are these people?

How the hell do these people travel without any money? -Subway employee at bus station in Rochester, NY (or some upstate stop) Who are these people that travel around without any apparent means to support themselves? Again and again I’ve run into people who are stuck between places. They’ve run out of money, they’ve had it stolen or they’re just drifting from town to town looking for work. They represent some kind of vagabond diaspora. It’s particular to bus stations. I’ve never seen it centered around any other transportation. Bus travel seems uniquely generous in what you can cajole yourself into and inexpensive as well.

Read more...

Let it Burn

Michael and Maria take advantage of their remote location to burn large piles of trash from time to time. One a cold, winter night I had the privilege of participating. I was surprised by how high the flames went at times and that nothing else caught fire.

Now the image has become iconic to me. Out with the old, in with the new. As my friend Dave Gallman used to say “Before every act of creation is an act of destruction.” I think about it when I’m contemplating changes in my life.

What's in a day?

It’s hard to believe I’ve only been traveling a little over a week. Knoxville feels like a month ago. Even D.C. feels like a few weeks ago and that was just Tuesday. I have little notion of what day it is anymore. Part of that is the lack of sleep as I try to pack in as much as possible.

I wonder how your mind/body know what a day’s worth of memories is supposed to be. If I keep up this pace will my mind adjust and I’ll have a more natural sense of how much time has passed, or is that feeling of time passing a constant?

Couch Surfing

Couch Surfing helps you find places to stay with folks around the world.

Ideas, some borrowed and some new

Paper lined bathroom walls This was brilliant. I saw it at Beanstreets Cafe in Asheville, NC. People had filled up the walls with writing. The discourse was above and beyond the usual “bj wanted” I see in rest areas and included spirited debate about the merits of Kerry and Bush campaigns.

Attraction oriented metro guides Washington D.C. wins hands down for easiest to use subway. It doesn’t have the flexibility of say Boston’s T or the simplicity of Toronto’s trains but they publish a three page pamphlet that tells you what attractions are at what stop. Someone should come up with their own versions of those guides and get them down in the train stations.

Recently Overheard

Waiting for a bus to Boston in the freaking enormous NYC bus terminal:

Random ranting bus guy: “Charles Manson is the son of butterball Satan. See you can spell the word Roman from his name because they served Satan and killed Jesus.”

Passenger: “What do you mean butterball? What’s turkey got to do with Satan?”

RRBG: “Well I tell you why he’s butterball Satan. One time I was in Mississippi waiting to get a haircut. I was reading a magazine. It was a white man’s magazine. That’s when I saw it. It filled up the whole page. It was a giant butterball turkey. It was Satan.”

Relaxing in small town Maine

Asheville, NC -> Washington D.C. -> Portland, ME

I’ve made it up to Portland, Maine. I’m skipping NYC because I just don’t want the hassle right now. Sleeping through the night on Greyhound has been a semi-acceptable way to cut down on costs finding places to sleep. It gives me the maximum amount of time to spend during the day in each city. Also I lose a day of sleep since I don’t really sleep on the bus and I go straight into the next day.