Karibu...While perhaps a bit cliche to name an initial blog post (for kiswahili speakers at least), I say it to you the way it has been said to me everywhere I go in Kenya, welcoming me. Five months into my time in Nairobi, Kenya's people have welcomed me into their homes, farms, offices, communities, teams, friendships, partnerships, and mentorships. All sorts of people. They've welcomed me to seats, rides, beer, a half a charcoal roasted goat, oh! and tea. Yes tea. Lots of it. Tea the way America drinks coffee. Made with half water - half whole milk (or goat milk, or camel milk, or whatever mammal you can get your hands on), Kenya's homegrown world-class tea leaves, and of course a couple healthy spoonfuls of sugar. It's rich and a bit thick but it subtly grows on you. It's warming effect cannot be underestimated. On a chilly morning in Kenya's rolling green highlands. On a damn cold night atop Mt. Kenya. After getting caught in a torrential downpour while on a pikipiki (motorcycle). It's offered to visitors almost as a matter of responsibility. The idea that you've traveled some distance to see me, you must at least be thirsty. And if this innocuous act of visitation seems unworthy of obliging the host to provide hot chai, you're not thinking about the challenges and hazards of traveling.
Sasa (Now) that you've had some tea, let's talk a second about this idea of traveling. It's the namesake of this blog and seemingly a central theme in my life at the moment. Yes I have traveled a long distance to live in Nairobi and have taken some recent trips but it goes beyond this. "Oh you mean the zen thing, like how we're all traveling our own road...?" Well sure that too. But I really meant that travel is at the heart of the enterprise I came here to start and thus is always on my mind. The unmissable opportunity that pried me from a very comfortable and satisfying existence to one that would require significantly more hustling and a much higher degree of risk. But we'll get to that in an upcoming post. For posterity, let me say that the name of the blog comes from a quote I saw posted on facebook that struck a chord in me very early into my time in my adopted home.
As a newcomer around these parts, I nearly constantly find myself on roads I've never before traveled. Some gnarly, mangled roads. Roads that spit out inexperienced drivers and plush, leather-trimmed SUVs like sunflower seeds. Roads that come with often serious consequences. In fact, let's not use the word "travel" - the word is journey (safari in
kiswahili). Travel implies far too much certainty that you'll arrive at
your destination and the time spent doing so will be straightforward
and uneventful. Journey suits our purposes better - it brings the right
elements of uncertainty that accept diversions and delays for
unfathomable traffic, vehicle-swallowing potholes, roads rendered
impassable by treacherous weather, mechanical difficulties of all sorts,
and many other pitfalls as commonplace.
We would do well though to extend our definition of roads and journeys though to include the figurative. The simple tasks that become insurmountable obstacles for reasons that would make a cynic of even our Yes We Can President, or our cousin from Kogelo as he's often known here. Or for no reason at all. Or because it's just the rule, to be followed above all else. These journeys make up the majority of day-to-day life - an expatriate's inheritance.
This blog will be a record of some of the journeys I undertake - as an entrepreneur, a consultant, an expatriate, an outdoorsman, and a human. I will try to focus on both the pitfalls that have/will ensnare me as well as those that I have/will manage to avoid. We'll meet a lot of Kenya's characters along the way, I only hope I to do them justice.
Credit for most of the (good) photos goes to http://worduuup.com/ as well as Benson Njorge for the wildlife shots.
Sasa (Now) that you've had some tea, let's talk a second about this idea of traveling. It's the namesake of this blog and seemingly a central theme in my life at the moment. Yes I have traveled a long distance to live in Nairobi and have taken some recent trips but it goes beyond this. "Oh you mean the zen thing, like how we're all traveling our own road...?" Well sure that too. But I really meant that travel is at the heart of the enterprise I came here to start and thus is always on my mind. The unmissable opportunity that pried me from a very comfortable and satisfying existence to one that would require significantly more hustling and a much higher degree of risk. But we'll get to that in an upcoming post. For posterity, let me say that the name of the blog comes from a quote I saw posted on facebook that struck a chord in me very early into my time in my adopted home.
We would do well though to extend our definition of roads and journeys though to include the figurative. The simple tasks that become insurmountable obstacles for reasons that would make a cynic of even our Yes We Can President, or our cousin from Kogelo as he's often known here. Or for no reason at all. Or because it's just the rule, to be followed above all else. These journeys make up the majority of day-to-day life - an expatriate's inheritance.
This blog will be a record of some of the journeys I undertake - as an entrepreneur, a consultant, an expatriate, an outdoorsman, and a human. I will try to focus on both the pitfalls that have/will ensnare me as well as those that I have/will manage to avoid. We'll meet a lot of Kenya's characters along the way, I only hope I to do them justice.
Credit for most of the (good) photos goes to http://worduuup.com/ as well as Benson Njorge for the wildlife shots.
