Designing a Place-based Inquiry

What started as a 90 day field inquiry in West Africa has grown into a year-long field project spanning multiple regions of the continent.

The locations were selected to explore how belonging is expressed across different cultural, linguistic, religious, and geographic contexts.

This field project documents the questions, decisions, false starts, and discoveries involved in building my first place-based inquiry. The following notes come from my journal, Designing a Place-based Inquiry, where I document the planning process as it unfolds.

This work is supported by readers who believe careful observation still matters. If you'd like to help sustain the writing and fieldwork behind it, Support the Inquiry.

Tracy Smith 6/24/26 Tracy Smith 6/24/26

I’m being spontaneous.

This isn’t impulsive.

Tracy Smith 6/17/26 Tracy Smith 6/17/26

I need a U-Haul.

I booked the flight.

Tracy Smith 6/10/26 Tracy Smith 6/10/26

I have a detailed spreadsheet.

I open it every few days.

Tracy Smith 6/3/26 Tracy Smith 6/3/26

Parlez-vous français?

More than thirty countries and I’ve always found English.

Tracy Smith 5/27/26 Tracy Smith 5/27/26

My resignation letter.

Last Friday, I told my boss I was leaving.

Tracy Smith 5/20/26 Tracy Smith 5/20/26

Dear Ms. Johnson,

When you’re planning a long-term stay like this, you start to think about what your days are going to entail.

Tracy Smith 5/13/26 Tracy Smith 5/13/26

This isn’t travel.

My family and friends don’t understand what I’ll be doing in Africa.

Tracy Smith 5/6/26 Tracy Smith 5/6/26

You’re leaving when?!

I opened the calendar and saw that November was warm and dry.

Tracy Smith 4/29/26 Tracy Smith 4/29/26

I still have expenses at home.

I woke up the other night, grabbed a pen and paper, and wrote car insurance on it.

Tracy Smith 4/23/26 Tracy Smith 4/23/26

That’s why West Africa.

Last November, I met a woman named Isatou and spent the day with her.

Tracy Smith 4/16/26 Tracy Smith 4/16/26

My question is…

It started with me. I had always tussled with fitting in and belonging.

Tracy Smith 4/8/26 Tracy Smith 4/8/26

I need glasses.

Anyone who wears them knows how critical they are.

Tracy Smith 4/6/26 Tracy Smith 4/6/26

Getting started

A few weeks ago I shared that I am designing a 90-day residency in West Africa and the process itself is worth documenting for anyone considering a place-based inquiry of their own. This is not a trip.