The Art of Non-Conformity: Unconventional Strategies for Life, Work, and Travel

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Image by Lee

Because I prefer to write content that will remain relevant for more than a few days, I don’t usually write about current affairs. We’re also coming out of World Domination Week, with the launch of my manifesto and everything related to that.

But I decided to postpone what I had planned to write about today, and tell you about Zimbabwe instead. In case you weren’t aware of what’s happening over there, here’s the latest news courtesy of the New York Times.

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Image by JH - Click to enlarge

I’m heading out on my next overseas adventure early tomorrow morning. I’m going on an independent journey through the Baltics (Latvia, Estonia, Finland), over to St. Petersburg in Russia, and then on to a couple of other exciting stops that I’ll discuss later.

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Image by this guy on Flickr

I arrived in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after trekking through Jordan and Israel. Flying on Gulf Air, I stopped off in Bahrain for six hours, where I persuaded the immigration guy to let me into the country for a while even though I was in transit. Total cost: $10 for a one-day visa.

Six hours may not count for a country visit by most travelers’ standards, but my rule is to never pass up a country when it comes my way. I can always go back to Bahrain later and see the sheik, meet Michael Jackson, etc.

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Image by Premasagar

It takes a long time to get to Jerusalem from Seattle, especially if you’re planning your trip around the lowest ticket price. There are direct flights to Tel Aviv from New York, but I had a free one-way ticket to Brussels (also via New York), so I went there first. From Brussels, I bought a $300 ticket to Tel Aviv on an airline that I wasn’t sure was in existence, because according to Wikipedia, it goes back and forth between operating and bankruptcy every couple of years.

If you think that sounds a lot like the U.S. airlines, it is–except when the non-U.S. carriers go under, they don’t usually keep flying like the U.S. airlines do. Thankfully, when I went they were doing fine and everything worked out very well.

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Click to enlarge photos.

I went to Benin many times between 2003 and 2005—probably about five visits in total. Each time I went, I got more and more comfortable with French, my second language, and more and more comfortable with Francophone Africa, which is a different cultural experience on its own.

The first visit was the hardest. I traveled from Freetown, Sierra Leone, a former British settlement for freed slaves, and my first African country. Sierra Leone is part of the former British colonial empire in Africa, whereas Benin is part of the French side. The reason this fact is important is because it can be difficult to travel between countries from the different sides, even if they’re relatively close to each other.

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