What started as an awareness raising and ethnographic styled walk through Sierra Leone, this site now details the encounters of a not so academic academic who spends more time occupying Wall Street and squats than a university...
So the grand experiment that was Timmy the political fundraiser is dead! Not that it ever sat so well with me anyway! I had till Wednesday (the 18th) to show progress and be making quota. It didn't work out. It was an amicable split. No drama, nothing too profound. I will say though that I put myself in the most disadvantageous position I possibly could though probably as I spent the morning embroiled in my deteriorating domestic entanglement and running just over a mile at 6 minute pace to get there barely on time - with tears in my eyes for at least the first half a mile!! Can't say I've ever cried and ran before that I can remember. Anyway, so is life - holistic - one thing doesn't wait for the next. No school, no job, and quite likely no girlfriend all in a few days. What can you do.
BUT!! I took a call mid way through the evening shift and already had another job, before I had even lost this one! It's not a lot of hours, 10/week, but it will be a good start to move forward with. It will be as a hiking guide and retail sales for an outdoor store in Brooklyn. It really is so much closer to my heart than fundraising for sure! It takes me so much further back to things like the Sierra Leone trip and such. All the gear I put together, the research, all the time I spend out in the woods bouncing off rocks. It's not enough to sustain myself financially, but it is an income for a quick moment while I figure things out. In a month I will have a license to be a guide and I will have learned a great deal of things that will mean A LOT to me personally. Things that I have really wanted to get further into for long time. It also may open some really interesting doors as well.
My first day was today (Sunday, 22nd) and it was all about training on the gear in the store. But we did talk a bit about Sierra Leone and an idea I'd had while there about doing some trail marking to help the country with tourist trips doing ecotourism and hiking (as well as seeing how things are in another place in the world, a much poorer place than America). The one guy thought it might be a great thing to try to do through the store. Wow, we'll see!! Anyway, I loved it. I'm sure it will bring some different issues in general, but on the whole I will just be learning and talking about the outdoors and spending time there. At least it will be a nice segue to another place in life - either through itself, or on the way to someplace else. Not to mention, its a job. What else you gonna do!
I guess what it really all comes down to is that I am up against a seious dilemma. I came here to spend three months walking through the country learning, and looking for opportunities to help facilitate what people here want. I also wanted to raise awareness of life here in Sierra Leone and Africa in general. The last part I feel I have completely done at least for the people reading this.
As for the first part, I havn't walked anywhere. I havn't even taken my hammock out or set up my stove yet. This was going to be my way of meeting people and learning. If I don't get some of this in I will feel as though I would be coming home defeated, or somehow having not having fulfilled my purpose. As for the identifying opportunities, I have identified more than could possibly be feasible to work on now. So in this sense the trip is a smashing success.
The issue that makes all this a dilemma is that I have realized that there is little I can do from here under these current conditions. I have no funding, I have no resources to pull from, I do not have an established team here, and I do not have functional connectivity here to the information that could help me circumvent most of these issues. I am prepared to walk, not to make a business run and excel. My partners here think I should go back to the US early and set things up there, including funding. I see exactly where they are coming from. I have wanted to stay here and get things here set up. But realistically this could take months of unpredictabilty that I am both not prepared for and not so certain I would last through. The machines "should" come in January, right when I should leave.
So what do I do? The cost of an early trip home is a lot, hundreds of dollars that I would have to put on a credit card. And I still want to get some hiking in. I have to at least get up Mount Bintumani - the tallest mountain in West Africa. I also have the possibility of a grad student from UCONN that has been contemplating coming in mid December to join me on the hike - which at this point would be a very welcomed scenario. I am realizing that this would be a better excursoon with a partner to hike with. But the social scientist in me just liked the methodology of the single hiker walking into a village!! Reality.
So again, what do I do? If I leave early I will feel like I've cut myself and my trip short in some way. Almost like I've given up. But at the other end, I've learned so much, and actually can probably do more in the long run if I head back to the states and make some things happen there that will benefit things here. There also is the frustration deep down inside that I feel this was getting the best of me. Logic can make you feel like you're making a good decision, but the heart and the soul don't lie. What if I'm just trying to find a way out of this scenario right now?
I feel that I have made such a sacrafice to come here, even to the point of accepting in the back of my head that I may not come back. I have given a piece of me to be here to try to help people that say they want help and opportunities. But at the same time they do not seem willing to make simple changes or alterations, nevermind sacrifices, in their daily lives. I don't mean to sound like a martyr, but as David (a Brit expat that works here in a cushy position) came out of nowhere and said to Lindsay and I yesterday that he would NEVER do what we were doing here. Wouldn't even think about it for a second, NOT ONE (his emphasis). Yet I am here doing it, on my own, with just some cash in my pocket. Most people wouldn't do this, and I'm not doing it for myself, but for other people. I guess I'm just frustrated that these "other people" don't seem to appreciate it. I know, different cultures. But don't tell me you want help if you're not willing to partake.
Case in point: I said to myself this morning, I will ask them to get prices on the other bricks in the market and what we could charge for our bricks. I was very adament about the need for this and about the urgency I thought it had. I made a mental note, if they come back they are serious, if they don't then I should start thinking in different directions. It is 9 o'clock at night here, Kaps just got in. I asked him how his day was. He answered about random other things. Then I asked what he'd heard about brick prices. He gave me some blah blah story that didn't add up and kept changing. He'd talked to someone, but then was on the internet. He said something about talking to the machine company. No then it was the brick company he talked to, but he would find out more tomorrow. Oh, so you spoke with someone? So how much did they sell bricks for? Oh, well I blah blah blah... He didn't REALLY call anyone. And Yapo said he would call me later and let me know. I spoke to him at 12, and nothing since. Their entire tone and demeanor has changed since yesterday. Like they realized this was going to be hard. Why should I spend my day fighting with a computer virus, and all the other things life here is for an opotu, when the people here are not willing to change their daily agenda enough to help their helper? If I do all the work, how am I "helping". And if I'm not helping, what am I doing but telling?
So do I stay and see unpredictable projects through? Do I leave and go on my hike? Do I get an earlier flight and hit Mount Bintumani while I wait? No matter what happens I'll feel defeated unless I stay the whole time I'm supposed to. But sometimes it is in defeat that we find our path to victory...
"Rather than advance an inch it is better to retreat a yard... ...when to great forces oppose each other, the victory will go to the one that knows how to yield." - Lao Zi
SO I'M OUT EXPERIMENTING AGAIN, AND YES, I STILL HAVE NO IDEA WHY THIS JUST WANTS TO WRITE IN CAPITALS! BUT MAYBE THAT IS THE WAY EVERYTHING WILL BE FROM SIERRA LEONE - YELLING!! SO YOU ALL CAN HEAR ME FROM ACROSS OCEANS AND MOUNTAINS!! LOL OH YEAH, AND NO PARAGRAPHES EITHER!! ANYWAY, SO I'M HANGING OUT IN MY HAMMOCK SOMEWHERE BETWEEN FISHKILL RIDGE AND MOUNT BEACON. I'VE GOT SOME DECENT PICTURES BUT NOT SURE HOW I WANNA HANDLE THEM FROM THE PHONE HERE. I'M EATING A NICE LUNCH OF COLD CHICKEN SAUSAGES AND CHEESE AND CRACKERS. I NEED SOME VEGGIES HERE BUT LEFT EARLY IN MORNING AND DIDN'T GET ANY ON THE WAY. OTHERWISE, IT'S COLD, 54F (11C) AND GETTING COLDER IT SEEMS, DESPITE WHAT THOSE LIEING METEOROLOGIST WOULD HAVE US BELIEVE!! LOL. THE REAL ISSUE IS THE GEAR. THE WOOL IS GREAT FOR WARMTH AND QUICK DRYING, BUT IT IS NOT WOVEN INTO A DOUBLE LAYERED WICKING FABRIC TO PULL THE MOISTURE AWAY FROM MY SKIN. MEANING, WALKING IN MY COLD SWEAT DOESN'T HELP, NOR WILL WALKING IN MY HOT SWEAT IN SALONE (SL). BUT I'LL TAKE THAT HOT WEATHER OVER THIS COLD STUFF ANY DAY!! THINKIN TO JUMP INTO MY SLEEPING BAG HERE, BREAK OUT MY BOOK, "HOW EUROPE UNDERDEVELOPED AFRICA", AND SEE WHAT COMES OF IT!! I'M THINKIN A NAP!! ;)
So I wanted to get this posted yesterday, but as is life things come up and take your time away... I made yesterday into 'networking' day. I started sending some emails to several communities that support Sierra Leone - Friends of Sierra Leone, and the Sierra Leone Diaspora Network. I wanted to introduce the project and see if I could start generating some feedback about it. I also posted a forum inquiry at thebackpacker.com.
So as per my 'Master List' post I am going to start putting together lists of what things have/need to be done. The best place to start right now is with hiking/living gear as I just went to REI and spent about 2 hours chatting with 'Mark', outdoor extraordinaire... Only person that might talk as much as I do, but this is certainly a good thing given that I am trying to learn as much of the nuances as I can. I'll try to get into list form here and update progress as time passes.
So been perusing a bit in regards to gear this evening (not finding much mental capacity for anything truly productive). At the behest of another request I am taking this 'registry' thing a bit more seriously. It seems that there are some nice people in my life that not only want to support my trip emotionally, but physically as well!! Thanks.. ;)
I'm gonna actually have to use this list and see what I can do with it!! There is also a chart that compares the types of goods versus the how much weight one would be working with.
Gear
Minimalist
Ultralight
Lightweight
Footwear
Running shoes
Light hikers
Hiking boots
Trekking poles
Carbon fiber poles
Carbon fiber poles
Standard poles
Tent stakes
No stakes; rocks
Just 4-6 stakes
Most or all stakes
Stove
Fuel tabs, soda can
Tabs or canister stove
Lightweight stove
Cookpot
Titanium mug
Titanium mug or pot
Lightweight cookset
Utensil
Spork
Spork
Plastic utensils
Water filter
Halogen tablets
Tablets or filter
Filter
Water bottle
Soft bladders
Bladders or bottles
Bottles
I'm hoping I'll get into the minimalist category with some sprinkles from the ultralight stuff. The Vibrams are certainly gonna help me out though!! And their lists were for three days, not three months in Africa!! But I'll make it happen. Also came a cross a site called backpackinglight.com that I will have to spend some time on. Otherwise, good night...
Spent some time in NYC yesterday, walked about four and a half miles in total in the Vibrams. Feet definitely feel it on sidewalk and concrete more so than in the woods and on natural ground. My feet were fatigued in the same spots as in the 16 mile hike of last week, but not nearly as bad.
I must admit that being in the city was something that could be very productive for me. I probably talked to about six people in-depth about the project, and really wish I had cards to give out. This is going to need to become a priority in here this week. People were very receptive to the idea and following it. How much of this is idle pleasantries remains to be seen, but they were nice people, so we'll see. It certainly will be much more interesting to follow once I am in Sierra Leone. One person I spoke to was an elementary school teacher in the South Bronx who teaches in a neighborhood that is predominantly West African. I am hoping to maintain contact with her for sure. But I could see spending time in the city just talking to people, handing out cards and/or flyers, and seeing if I could generate some interest. I think it is certainly a place where I could find a whole lot more interested and sympathetic people than in suburbia.
So I just got back from another trek on the Appalachian Trail. I wasn't sure if I would go today, but am glad I did. I was reminded of why at the first sign of a drop of rain in college I threw on my running shoes and hit the pavement. I love the rain, especially out in the woods. So peacefully enticing.
About a mile or two into the journey yesterday, I came to a very definitive point. There I was completely on my own, walking through the middle of 'nowhere' surrounded only by the beautifully fresh air. My thoughts were running to wherever they wanted to. Life, jobs, women, hobbies, meaning, whatever... And I realized that this is really what Western civilization is missing - time within one's self.
Our days are so full of everything. Families, jobs, dreams, wants, desires, obligations, stresses and worries... But life is only as complicated as we make it, and we in the West have chosen to make ours so incredibly complicated. Not that this is in itself a drawback for our lives, but something that should be recognized and worked with and through. One of the things that I like best about meditation or running is that it clears your mind and body of many worries. But it was amazing that hiking like I did yesterday went even further, it was a whole day, alone with myself, amongst nothing but fresh air, blue sky, and nature's own creation. It is a clean place, there are no memories in a new forest, there is no baggage. Only the things that you take in with you - and fortunately for us, the kind of mental and emotional baggage that we carry with us throughout our daily lives is something we don't have to carry out of that forest.
I just wish that we as a society would take more time to stop and be alone with our selves, alone with who we really are. Not the 'you' that you present to the external world on a daily basis, that we show other people who's opinions we already care way too much about, but the one in the mirror that we need to find the most comfort with - ourselves.
So yesterdays trip was a very good learning lesson on what I will be doing daily and how best to try to handle it. Firstly, the water situation is going to have to be solved properly. I was planning on getting a camelbak bladder that can either go into the backpack or on it somehow. My backpack is not ideal as it is old and doesn't have a compartment made for it. The other thing is that I drink a lot of water, so this is key. I was out for pretty much 7 hours yesterday and I drank over five liters just while I was out, never mind before and after, and I still only peed once while I was out, and that was at about 6 hours into the journey. So in a day like yesterday I would imagine that I drank 7 or 8 liters of water. The plan then is going to have to be to make sure that when I wake up that I start hydrating immediately and that once I stop I do the same. Because the more water you carry the heavier it all is. It is nice though that your pack gets lighter as the day goes!!
The backpack is a bit tricky, it is not ideal. It is old, and was not bought to do what I'm doing but to go around europe from hostel to hostel. It is not going to be good in the rain and was not entirely comfortable. I mean it was ok, and poor people don't go out and buy new things, but my shoulders are a little sore today, but nothing I would get used to though. The bag's straps don't sit at the same angle as my trap muscles do so they dig in a bit. The waste strap is a bit tricky as well, couldn't get in right spot to take more weight off the shoulders without restricting the waste area. But the biggest thing that I really needed was a pocket or two. Everything I have on that pack is in the back, I definitely need something on the waste strap that I could put the phone in, pen and paper, snack, whatever. Everytime I have a thought and want to remember it for writing later it would be nice to be able to note it, and pockets in my shorts seemed to be in the way of walking. That will be a necessity. I definitely will need a compass, I was actually quite happy with my sense of north and south, but it was because I knew the map of the trail and the sun was out. I'm good at that stuff anyway, but Sierra Leone will be a different and less 'known' scenario.
Shoes: I love the Vibrams. But I have to get my feet in better shape to stretch and work like that. The hills took a lot out of them, asking them to flex more and more powerfully than they had. I should have done about ten miles the first day out instead of 16. I also would like to get one of the trekking pairs that has a little bit more grip and a bit of padding. The padding could be a plus, especially with the pack on - but not a necessity while walking, running it could help though. I'd also like to get the new running one the bikila, that has a bit of padding as well. It seemed like my body was used to walking "barefoot" with my natural weight, but once I put on the heavy pack my heel strike got much harder. After about a mile or so I feel like my stride had adjusted to the body/weight dispersment. My feet are really sore on the inside today. The muscles and tendons really. But actually it is mostly the left one which a did hit at one point. I also have a leg length discrepancy that annoys one side or the other at times. So it could be some of all that. I don't have anything even remotely resembling a blister though. They were fabulous in that sense. Actually, the shoes were fabulous in general except for a little slippage in the beginning on steeper grassy hills, but it was fine once I settled in.
I started out in a simple pair of cotton shorts, it really would be nice to just use synthetic moisture management shorts and stuff, but I just don't feel as good when I wear synthetics. We'll see, a pair of running shorts I have would have been great so maybe i'll try them in the future. But the shorts I started in were really quite good, they did get drenched though. I changed into more typical lightweight cotton cargo shorts once I started back. I don't know if it was because when I stopped that I stopped sweating and my thighs dried up, but the chaffing started immediately. I changed shorts after not even a mile to similar ones as what I started in (and have been running in regularly) but they didn't help. I will need to solve this problem as it is debilitating. Inner thighs and 'up' ouch. Body glide is another option, but that is one of those long term debilitating, short term 'solutions'. Your body becomes dependent upon it. Usually I get some chaffing the first few times out running each spring in shorts but my thighs just sort of adapt after a bit. Maybe this would happen? I don't know, this was pretty bad. I must admit I even thought that I might need to consider underwear as I was finishing up - huge concession for me. Then of course my mother gave a brief lecture on that one as well.
One thing I was thinking with the shorts and shirt was to have two pairs one for the morning and one for the afternoon as I did it yesterday. That way the wet one could hang and dry while hiking. If I wore one pair all day they would never dry at night and it was really nice to put a dry pair on after lunch. I wore a 'spouse' beater (more commonly known in a 'gendered' context which I prefer not to use;) I thought this was pretty good. I don't know if it is best, but I was cool enough I suppose. I can't vouch for how good it would be to walk into a village like that though, backpack on, looking gorilla-esque. I still want to try the silk shirts and see how they works.
I also stopped to try to get some stuff out of my pack and it underlined the need for organization. I wasn't trying to be for this day, just looking to add weight, but I will need to develop a system. I am going to basically be living with this thing on my back and need for it to be completely functional. I also saw a father and son that were using hammocks, they didn't have much great to say about them. "Good for a couple days, but not extended trips". Everything I hear though is that I will have to stay off the ground with tropical camping, and that pretty much starts and stops with a hammock. Theirs was interesting, straight tied to three trees it was just a nylon hammock with a mosquito screen on the top.
I'm thinking I will have one, they said they were great weight wise, but then I would take a bed role and light bag so I could sleep on the ground if needed. One thing I took from the book a long way gone, is that surviving in the forests there is incredibly feasible. Ishmael was 12 and he managed with just the clothes on his back, I should be able to as well with my pack and no war to navigate through.
Bugs. Wow, they are annoying. The one thing I can't understand is why it is they just want to fly into your eyes? I don't mind them flying around me, or landing on me, but why must they fly into my eyes? Even blinking isn't sufficient. The problem that I had with this is you can't really enjoy the forest, you are kind of squinting and blinking, its like your face must remain tense and defensive at all times. But it was really only an issue in the forrest, in the clearings it wasn't an issue. I put on a little bit of natural bug spray and it helped some, but I think I sweat it off in about fifteen minutes. It was supposed to be 92 (33C) degrees yesterday, but it seems much nicer and cooler in the forest.
As far as other equipment, I thought about a hat, but think it would be hot, though I did spend a lot of time wiping sweat off my brow. So might be worth looking into, especially if it rains. I think for me it really will be about more pockets and better organization of my thing in a way that is more usable while moving. It is really annoying to have to take off your pack to do or get anything. I'm thinking I might look into the way the army sets up their gear, could be a good benchmark. I also needed business cards, as I met a few people that I could've just handing them a card and maybe they'd check the site instead of just telling it to them - I'd probably forget it. They are one of the target audiences so a good idea. The food was fine, nuts and dried fruit, broccoli and grilled chicken, I wasn't hungry much at all. Not even for lunch or dinner for that matter, but I knew I needed to eat. Fruit will be important, but it sounds like it is readily available in Sierra Leone. My body will need the sugars.
Anyway, I think its time to end this novel for now. I feel like there was more, but you're probably already either asleep or didn't even make it this far anyway!! lol. Enjoy the day...
So... as I sit here icing my feet, which is %@%$@ cold by the way, I can't help but think that 16 miles first day out in Vibrams was a bit ambitious. Maybe a month or so ago when I was out and about everyday wearing them it would have been fine. But as it is my feet just aren't in shape to have a weighted down backpack on and go that far on that kind of terrain. I definitely have some work to do to get my feet in shape to use the vibrams and do the milage I want to in Sierra Leone. I probably should have just gone about ten miles today, I would have been fine. I started feeling a bit sore at about 6 miles in but I was only two miles from the shelter and really wanted to gage my time over a specific distance (plus I always er on the side of ambition!!) I rested my feet for over and hour though, and thought it would be ok. I however exacerbated the scenario when I started having other issues and got ambitious again.
I didn't have any chaffing on the way out, but immediately upon starting back I could feel it, I had changed shorts so stopped and changed back to a similar thing like what I had originally had on. It didn't matter though, and the worst thing about it all is that I specifically stopped at a bike shop in Pawling, to see if they had any body glide. That was my third time in there - and frankly, they suck. All three times I've gone in no one has said hello to me, they have a customer yet don't even acknowledge your presence. the one time I waited and initiated an interaction. I looked around, as if trying to find something specific (which I was - body glide and a compass). I looked under this and under that, not a word. I left, nothing. I've worked in that kind of job, it doesn't take much to simply say hello and say they'll be with you in a minute. Maybe I don't look like I'd be interested in some horrible thing like a sport - especially an endurance one!! lol.
Anyway, sorry for the tirade... back to the AT. So the chaffing was an issue. I also had trouble with my water set up. Granted it was really pretty much there for weight anyway. I had two poland spring 3L jugs (you've seen them if you've been ear me of late), I had them in my bag toward the bottom, but there were books in there and clothes and towels and whatever else I could find to weigh it down. One jug and then the next got a little hole in it. Must of been from the bouncing. I was all but done with the one when it got a hole, but the second was leaking in the bag and on to me. I ended up having to carry it in my hand for miles, it was mostly full. So with about three or four miles to go I chugged a bunch of water, emptied the rest, crushed both bottles, tightened up the bag and decided it was time to run. It seemed like good logic. Get their faster, be uncomfortable for less time, but it was a chaffing disaster. My inner thighs and up are raw, red, and painful. Maybe that is a case in point why most people don't bother with logic!!
In the last couple miles there was the longest hill of the jaunt, I was spent and it hurt to stretch my feet on the up hills so I had to change my form. Even with running maybe a mile and a half or two on the way back I still made it back five minutes slower than going out. I was 2:42 for the first eight miles out and 2:47 back, with about an hour and fifteen minute break for lunch and conversation.
I met some good people, I should have little cards with the website on it, these are the type of people that were interested in what I'm trying to do there. Anyway, as it is, the icing is done - thankfully - and I need to eat something substantial. I'll write a bit more on lessons learned and things needed in a bit - invaluable day...
So I'm getting geared up to head out on the Appalachian Trail for what looks like a 16 mile saunter. Going to go from Route 20 in Pawling to the "Wiley" shelter which is right before the connecticut border. It'll be an 8 mile out and again back. Given my experience with hiking like this though I have a sneaky suspicion I won't be able to walk the whole way. Out and backs just kill me and I usually end up just running back. When I went to Greece and hiked from see level up a 1500m (4500ft) mountain, and then ran the whole way back down and was back by 1pm. I think I am just so used to running that walking feels so slow and my mind just gets itchy!! But I'll be packing up not just a regular backpack. I'm gonna take the pack that I would take to Sierra Leone and pack it full of stuff to weigh it down.
Just finished a big old american breakfast (yes, I'm cheating - first experiment and all), and am packing up kind of a grazing scenario for eating. I've got some nuts and dried fruits, left over grilled chicken, some raw broccoli, and blueberries, but I'm out of rice cakes and raw bars. My local Stop and Shop here doesn't carry either routinely. Poor planning, but I'll survive. Gonna take 6 liters of water with me, A, just in case, and B, it will weigh the backpack down!!
I'm going to send messages to the Facebook/Twitter scenario which will feed onto the Walking Lion site. So anyone with nothing better to do on a saturday (or probably just my mother) can check it. But anyway, its 10am, and getting to be time to be moving. I do want to be out there for the hottest part of the day which should be about 3pm. Actually, I shouldn't be in much of a rush, I must admit I don't 'wander' very well on hikes. Usually just get after it, A to B. I used to have a great hiking companion that would pretty much race up mountains with me!! No more... Now not sure how it will all work out... Giddie Up!!
Funny now that with all of these goals of going to Sierra Leone and trekking through the country that I don't spend much time thinking about physical aspects of the journey. Things like walking 20 miles (32km) a day for a few months come to mind. I am working on my 'training' a bit, I've been running on the Appalachian Trail (AT) regularly, staying relatively 'in-shape'. But there is another huge aspect of it all. Heat and temperature. It is going to be hot and humid there. I will not be inside an air-conditioned room, I will be out walking during the heart of that heat. My body will need to get acclimated. This heat that we've had here in the northeast US is going to be the norm there. It will be well worth it for my body to only be used to it, but comfortable in it. Everything from the sun to standard body temperature. Why is it that 80 (26C) degrees in March feels like a sauna, but 80 degrees on Tuesday felt chilly after a high of 102 (38C) degrees? Our bodies get used to things, we adapt to the sun, to temperature, and to our environment in general. Just as I need to get my legs in shape I need to get my regulatory system in shape. Next time its going to be hot like that, I'm gonna get up straight away, throw a pack on my back and go do 20 miles (32km) on the AT. I was kicking myself when I thought of it Tuesday evening. I need to get some of my stuff together for hiking, camping, communicating and get out there and go. No AC, no icy stuff, lots of hiking, lots of running, lots of being barefoot (or in the vibrams), and definitely lots of sweating... Get used to that life which I will be living...
Hand-in-hand with communications is of course the promotional/marketing aspects of the journey. The cornerstone is of course the website. All information would theoretically flow through there. Obviously though, as information is posted on it, who then reads it?
The plan at this point is largely grassroots, and hopefully will eventually become somewhat exhaustive. For everyone that gets invovled it would be hoped that they would bring their networks in. Obviously these days facebook is an incredible tool, as are things like twitter and other social networking sites. These would all be used to maximize exposure. There is some difficulty with these situations though as I have found that these mediums tend to be more about individuals than about causes or ideals. I always say that facebook is about sports, spouses, babies, and parties - the fun things, the distractions. It's rare to see political messages and the such, but this journey through Sierra Leone is actually going to be a personal journey. It is one person undertaking a challenge in an effort to bring other people closer to not just that individual's challenge, but to the challenges faced everyday be the whole of the people there. Life is about personal contact and personal attachment. The more people that become that much closer to those in need, means more care will be shown.
Every web post will automatically be linked to facebook and twitter. This will basically provide 'teasers' for anyone following the project or affiliated with it that would then bring them to the website. Search engine optimization (SEO) will also be worked on in an effort to have searches not just for "Walking Lion" but for "Sierra Leone" to be high in searches. This however, requires a great deal of things that are not all completely under the influence of any one person. It requires traffic and lots of searches, hence the promotional campaign needed.
So if friends and family will be reached by grass roots and social networking sites, what about people interested in Sierra Leone, charity, and hiking? Again, the website is the medium of information, but we will need to bring them to the site. There are certainly going to be people interested in the country itself - that are either from there or for other reasons affiliated with it that will be targets. For this there are a number of existing websites that would be notified and approached. Getting invovled with the US and European based Sierra Leonean communities will be a key aspect to the project, both in legitimacy and in terms of support. I already have started a list of local communities and websites worth contacting once the project gets further along. The aid community will also be a good avenue to follow. The key is to get linked in to a number of their websites as this both raises the SEO of our site and brings more people into the project.
Another avenue that I thought would be very interesting is to contact local schools and approach grade levels that might be interested in following the journey in an effort to learn about the country, Africa, and/or other places and cultures of the world. I think this would be a huge learning opportunity for children - especially elementary school aged children. I am not sure how this process will work, whether we would need to go through schools or teachers, but it would be a very worthy line of inquiry. If you had several classes of children reading the blog everyday this would raise the awareness and impression numbers tremendously.
The project would also be using social media and other automatic notifiers as press releases for local mainstream media. Of course it would be great if large publications such as the New York Times would follow the journey, perhaps giving interviews throughout or after, but more realistically it would be local papers and Sierra Leoneon focused publications that would be more specifically interested. For example, I live in the Poughkeepsie area of New York. I would send releases to the local newspaper and - though mostly unlikely given its readership - perhaps this paper would follow a 'local' person on this kind of journey. An article or two would be wonderful to bring people to the site. More realistically, it would be publications of altruistic and/or hiking minded people that would be interested in the journey. This will all need to be researched.
Though not exhaustive or even extensive, this is a brief sketch of some options to be followed in terms of marketing, if you have any additional suggestions, by all mean pass them along...
Took a trip to REI yesterday to try to get my head a bit further around the upcoming endevour's equipment. I've spent quite a bit of time hiking and running on trails, and a lot of time camping when I was younger, but never any real overnight backpacking tours like this one. So I've gotta get as much informaiton as possible before I start buying anything. REI is a great place, I've been into EMS and can walk around and look for days it seems without anyone speaking to me, and when I ask them things they rarely have much to offer. Sad, customer service is apparently not a way to maximize profits I guess!! lol. Anyway, I had a list, started asking questions. I'm planning on doing a week or so on the Appalachian Trail in August to get a bit of time out there before I go. I've been spending a lot of time running on the trail, wonderful place. Anyway, this post may be a bit distracted as the world cup is on... Multi-tasking...
Ok, so basically the issue is tropical camping and backpacking. In general I need the lightest weight stuff I can come up with. Obviously I'm going to be carrying it all in a pack on my back for some three months. Problem is that that stuff is more expensive. The other key issue with all of this is my desire to stay as "natural" as possible. By this I mean, natural fibers, natural products, sustainable scenarios, etc. There are two reasons for this, one allergies that I have to most synthetics, and second, principle. If it doesn't happen naturally in naure, I'd like to not to be a part of it. This of course is very difficult to do in our current world. Especially in technical scenarios. Everything is polyester. It all does amazing things, keeps you dry, warm, cool, washes your backside, whatever. But I want real, naturally occuring things, yet it is of course more costly to 'grow' in nature than to produce in a factory.
I have been working with this for a while though so nothing new. I usually wear cotton everything, but cotton doesn't do well in hot, sweaty environments. Wool and Silk. I've been looking at a company called Wintersilks which seems good and responably priced. The wool however seems to be coming from Smartwool and that is a different story - wonderful quality, yet $60 for a T-Shirt. Not sure if that is feasible on a budget that includes food stamps... :-/ We'll see. I'm still looking to approach Smartwool, Wintersilks, and Vibram on sponsorship basis.
Prior to this expected aparrel disapointment though I went through all the gear. I have a backpack that I used to backpack through Europe in 1999, and off and on in other terms since. It would be adequate, but is not set up for a hydration bladder. This is a bit of an issue. I'll have to see if I can rig it up. It is also not a top loading pack, but like a normal school backpack. Easier to get to things I think, We'll see. But I'm going to take it on my AT trips and see how it goes. Hydration will be key. I also don't want to show up in a developing country with new flashy stuff. I'm poor myself (at least by american standards), so A, I can't aford it, and B, I don't want to present myself as someone capable of something I may not be. This will already be hard to do.
Next, I looked at sleeping, both bags and shelter. It's going to get 'down' to 60 degrees Fahrenheit (maybe 16C) at night, so its not going to be like I need much. Of course though everything you see in NY for sale is warmer and they are mostly 'mummy' bags meaning no leg room. But REI apparently has a 'sleeping sack' which is comfortable to 45 degrees (maybe 6-7C). They have a down one which obviously could be good for my interests. I still will entertain blanket options as I sleep year round in flannel and/or down. Its going to be hot and humid there, so not to comfortable at times. The other key to tropical treking seems to be to sleep off the ground. 'To much stuff going on down there' as I was told. Makes sense, especially with the amount of moisture and rain. I was looking for hammocks, but of course they don't stock them in West Hartford, Connecticut where I was. Seems like they will be worth looking further into, but not what I expected (no white netted porch type!!). Seemed like a sleeping bag that you just rope to trees and put a tarp over. Again, we'll see, probably cost $200 - ouch. I'll have to do some more online research.
Cooking stoves... in going to Africa you never know what kind of scenarios you may find for fuel. So the most versatile one takes kerosine, diesel, and one other type of fuel for $130. It was the most versatile and most expensive - but you gotta eat!! Pots and pans, knives and forks.
My next big sticking point was more naturalist induced. Bugs and water. My helper was convinced that I needed deet, I thought he was joking. Hey, let me coat myself in chemicals just for fun and see if it bothers me... nope. I hate to be cynical, but its the only response I can take to what just seems so absurd to me. Same thing with water - no chlorene. Its a chemical that I, A, don't want to ingest, and, B, have always had trouble drinking and swimming in. But this is seen as blasphemy in what has become our artificially natural world. Iodine tablets are fine in "controled areas" such as the US, but apparently tantamount to suicide in other 'less clean' places. There was a UV neutralizer for $100. Lol, no chemicals, we'll see. As for the little critters, I'm thinking I'm going to stick with my brothers advice. When he went to Thailand for the summer he used "All Terrain Herbal Armor" and never got bit (while all the other students with deet regularly lost chunks of flesh!!)
Food however was a better conversation. Not to much ideology that goes into drying food or dehydrating it. There seems to be good harty food to be found in Sierra Leone, but I will certainly need to have some lightweight but dense protein with me. Will probably do some of that before I go and for the AT trials. Food there will be cheep, but I'm anticipating I will not get as much as I'm used to. But how else do you understand a country but to live amidst it and use its own resources, at the levels those living there do...
Over the last week a lot of progress has been made. But it is better probably to start with a brief introduction and what needs to be done. I will not get too detailed about the country's issues in this post, as there will be links to sites that can help with this, but I would like to talk about the project itself.
This idea started during time doing graduate work that involved the country, and then a long period of unemployment that subsequently followed. I have spent many years living abroad and studying the transitioning and developing world (I'm originally American). However, I do not have specific experience living and/or working in the developing world for any extended time period. I believe this to be the main reason why I have not been able to get far with job hunting in the non-profit world that works in developing areas. I also have come to the point where I am no longer interested in sitting around 'waiting' for someone else to 'give' me a job - to recognize my value through their eyes. I know my worth, and I'm wasting time. I'm going to go make things happen, create my own livelihood doing what I have always been driven to do - make a difference.
For over a year I have been looking into going to Sierra Leone under whatever pretense I could manage. I have however not gotten very far via traditional means. On numerous occasions I considered just picking up and moving, sorting it out when I get there as I did when I moved to Prague. That experience changed my life, so to I think would this. Turns out some things in my life made making a move more easy right now and as I was sitting on my parents couch reading The Places in Between by Rory Stewart (about his walk across Afghanistan), and I said, hey why not?!?
I do a great deal of running and hiking, and thought "what better way to get to know people than to simply walk through their country and see all of its corners?" I thought of biking, as whenever I walk I usually just end up running and thought it would be difficult to do to much running with a back pack on. But it is specifically this slowing down that I really think I need to do. Break free of 'modernity' and simply experience life and hardship as they happen, in the time they happen.
From there it became about how. I have been running almost exclusively in the Vibram Five Fingers of late and immediately thought that I could approach them about sponsorship and do the whole trip in them. Two to Three months hiking through a post-conflict country in Africa with nothing but the "barefooting alternative". My mother thought of doing things like they do with marathons, getting individual sponsorships on a per mile basis or the such, and giving all I could to local charities in Sierra Leone. The key to it all was always two-fold, to keep a blog and then write about the trip, and second to identify areas of need/want for future humanitarian effort. Ideas ideas, I've always got them, but funding always remains the key.
But one morning my mother came to me and said, "Tim, I have just graduated with a masters degree at 60, and its made me think. I don't want my gravestone to say 'she lived a good life', I want it to say 'she made a difference'. You have been trying to make a difference for years, yet couldn't find the opportunities as readily as you'd have liked. Well what say we try to do something together, what say we start our own non-profit and work to empower people?" My eyes brightened like you don't usually see first thing in most mornings.
I had looked into several different business options over the last year, but something always stood in the way: partners, financing, ideology, whatever. But here we were, first thing in the morning, with a few years of unused "cookie jar" money and a dream...
