The Geography of Connection
The Geography of Connection explores travel, connection, and possibility through the places we go, the people we encounter, and the lives we imagine for ourselves.
Through narrative essays, travel notes, and video, I follow both the everyday realities of a journey and the encounters that give it meaning.
My attention often settles on ordinary moments—in marketplaces and kitchens, on trails and city streets, at home and far from it. These encounters open questions about how we relate to one another, where we feel we belong, and what becomes possible when we step beyond the familiar.
In 2027, this work takes me across Africa.
Four years ago, I took my first trip across the Atlantic. Before that, my life revolved around work and raising my family. I didn't realize how much of myself I'd lost along the way.
Thirty-five countries later, I'm preparing to spend a year traveling across Africa. This isn't just about seeing the world. It's about discovering what comes next.
Hear my story here: I’m 53, and leaving the life I know
The Project: Africa 2027
Leaving at the end of December 2026, I will spend a year traveling through West, North, East, and Southern Africa. Africa 2027 brings together the practical realities of extended travel, the relationships and encounters that develop along the way, and the possibilities of undertaking a different kind of life in my 50s.
The journey will combine longer stays with periods of movement. I will live in neighborhoods, volunteer with community and conservation organizations, travel overland, and undertake physical challenges—including climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Through travel notes, narrative essays, and video, I’ll share both the everyday experience of being there and the stories that take longer to understand.
My writing will follow particular places and people, with attention to their histories, communities, and ways of life. I’m interested in ordinary encounters—in homes and marketplaces, volunteer communities and temporary friendships—and how familiarity, connection, and belonging develop over time.
I’ll also examine what I bring to those encounters: my expectations, identities, habits, and assumptions. What do I misunderstand? How does my presence shape an interaction? When do I feel connected, and when do I remain outside?
Some experiences have been planned carefully. Others will emerge only after I arrive. The route provides the structure; what happens within it will shape the work.
Follow the project
Africa 2027 will unfold across several forms: field notes written close to the moment, narrative essays that allow the questions to deepen over time, and videos that document the physical and everyday realities of the project.
My Living Room is the space for immediate observations, unfolding projects, and daily notes before they find a permanent home in the archives.
Stories from the Field holds narrative essays about belonging, identity, and the encounters that give the larger inquiry its meaning.
My Travel Log records the places, routes, and movement of the project.
My YouTube Channel, The Geography of Connection, will offer a more immediate view of the experience—from preparing for Kilimanjaro to the ordinary, difficult, surprising, and occasionally ridiculous moments of spending a year in motion.
The Gambia River Crossing I Haven’t Forgotten
Support the Project
Africa 2027 is the current project of The Geography of Connection — a year of living, traveling, and writing across the continent. It’s independently made and reader-supported. Your contribution pays for the stays, the transportation, the equipment, and the time to turn what I see into stories. Any amount, once or monthly, keeps the work going.