Dispatch I

This post was originally published on May 6, 2021 on a previous version of ChipWalter.com.

Dear Good Friends!

Ok. We’re overwhelmed.

I admit it.

But still awfully damned excited.

Our planned journey around the world is coming as surely as winter in the Game of Thrones. (Perhaps that’s a poor analogy.) We plan to depart the end of September. Maybe the world will have calmed down a bit by then. We can hope.

I think most of you have heard of our upcoming adventure, and many of you have been asking for more details. This is a first attempt.

It’s a big place, planet Earth, but we’re determined to do our best to embrace it, one continent and sea and mile of ground at a time, which is to say we will never be traveling by jet while we do it. That idea seemed simple enough five years ago when it first came to mind. Cyn and I would simply finish up a few projects (her art business and Immortality, Inc. and Doppelgänger for me), sell our house and set out on our expedition through parts mostly unknown, at least to us. We’ve wrapped the projects, sold the house, and made our plans. Now it’s time to go!

In many ways, we’ll be making our way around the planet pretty much the way people did 110 years ago, and burning a lot less carbon as we go. But that’s only one reason we don’t plan to use jet power.

We’ve never seen this trip as a vacation, not precisely. We want a journey, a vagabond adventure. We’d rather not to be cramped and manhandled into a flying box that seizes millions at point A to, as quickly as possible, sit them down somewhere far away like a fardel dropped by a forklift. Our goal is to do a better job of taking in the sights, crossing through the land rather than surveying it at 40,000 feet; take the time to turn strangers into fast friends, hear their stories, learn, laugh, eat, listen, explore, watch and be amazed by the mountains, glaciers, seas and cities we’ll blunder through.  I suspect we’ll learn how different we humans are, while also embracing how much we have in common, no matter the language, culture, mores or political postures.  And we’ll do it in a post-pandemic, rapidly changing world.

HOW IS THIS GOING TO WORK?

Many of you have asked if there is a way to keep in touch as we begin trekking. We plan to try. First, there will be these homely emails, chucked your way every now and then, digital versions of those little bottle-bound notes found on faraway beaches. Second, you should be able to see what we’re up to by way of Google Earth’s Project software which allows me to pinpoint our plans and locations in remarkable, visual detail. (This will always be a work in progress and you can see the project as it struggles along right now here : Vagabond Journey.) I’ll also blog from time to time on my website: www.chipwalter.com. (Click the blog section.)  Of course, there will be Facebook and LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, though those will be hit or miss. Lastly, I’ll be writing articles along the way and will keep you up-to-date when those are published. In time, there will also be a book, but that’s for the future. Meanwhile, as we meander from nation to nation, we welcome your insights and guidance. We know so many of you are well-travelled and knowledgeable and hope you’ll share your input and advice. And, no matter where we are, feel free to meet us along the way!

A rough estimate of our trip says we’ll enter and exit roughly 100 countries. That’s a lot, but we plan to take our time, stopping when we find something breathtaking or friendly or different, or when we’re just tuckered out; then move on to the next location. We’re looking for what will be, at least for us, unusual — exciting history, magnificent geography, beautiful rivers, seas and lakes, and every kind of music, food, architecture, art and language. But we’re pretty sure there will also be those days when we’ll be craving a Starbuck’s coffee, a movie theater without English subtitles, a cheeseburger, or a home. But home, for the foreseeable future anyhow, will be wherever we happen to be that day.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO TRAVEL THE WORLD AND MAKE IT A BETTER PLACE TOO?

I’m hoping so. I believe I have found a way for anyone who is interested in following  our excursions to also help the people that they believe need it. It would work like this. You choose an organization you believe in and want to support. Then choose a leg or part of a leg of our journey, maybe an area you’re particularly fond of. Next agree to give a small amount of money for every mile we travel, naming an amount per mile (could be 1¢, 10¢ or $5, whatever). AGAIN, I WANT TO BE VERY CLEAR: THIS MONEY WILL NOT BE GIVEN TO US! The funds will pass through a vetted third party organization that allows YOU to chose the charity you want to support. The money will go directly from you to your chosen charity based on the selected mileage we travel. As I say, I’m working on setting this up. More as we get closer to departure, but Cyn and I feel we are incredibly lucky to make this journey, and would like to find some way to leverage our travel to support worthy causes around the planet. Stay tuned.

WHERE ARE WE GOING?

We began mapping our plans four-and-a-half years ago, but more than a few of those ideas have been flattened, thanks mostly to our ubiquitous fellow traveler, COVID-19. There’s a lesson here: when traveling at the fringes of a pandemic, a flexible nature is useful. So I’ve been forced to wedge new words like “adaptation” and “acceptance” into my personal vocabulary. My mind doesn’t care for them much, but failing to roll with the punches seems an otherwise excellent way to pop an artery. I’ve often lived under the misguided belief that the modern world provides us control. It doesn’t. I’m sure our pending odyssey will make that clearer than ever in the next couple of years.

Our Vagabond Adventure unfolds (or is it unravels) in seven of legs, but could change at any time. Here’s a current summary. To save you from boredom, I am outlining three here and then will outline the others soon and send them by email. Early versions of the itinerary are also available on Google Earth, but probably won’t be completely synced with what these emails describe. All part of the journey.

Leg #1: We depart the end of September this year from Pittsburgh heading in a southerly direction until we make it to Antarctica, 9,027 miles as the crow flies (assuming any crow has wings enough to make the trip). First to Florida by train, then onto Cuba, next through the Panama Canal to Colombia, Peru, and visits to the Andes mountains, into Chile and Argentina, onto Patagonia’s peaks and glaciers and finally to Tiera del Fuego before making it to as much of Antarctica as cruise ships will allow (which isn’t as much as we would like). Sometimes we’ll tackle those miles by train, ferry or cargo ship; sometimes by cruise ship, bus, car or shoe leather. A mule or lama might be involved here and there. Sometimes the digs and trappings will be comfortable, even 5 star. Other times we’ll be sleeping in the Andes Mountains, and trekking on foot as we head to Choquequirao, known as the other Machu Picchu, a city created by the little brother of the Mayan king who built Machu Picchu’s better known palaces. (Fewer tourists in Choquequirao, but tougher to get to.)

Leg #2: From Antarctica we’ll head to Buenos Aires and then Montevideo (either by bus and train or ship, possibly all three) before sailing for 21 days to Portugal, there to double back to Tunisia and Morocco. Camels and deserts appear to be part of that plan, and Roman ruins and places with names like Casablanca and Marrakech. After that we’ll head back north across the Gibraltar Straits up the Atlantic coast of Portugal, turn right through Basque country into northern Spain and Cantabria, then onto France (where Cyndy has ancestors), eventually across the English Channel to southern England before exploring Scotland and the wild Orkney Islands, with its prehistoric ruins (also home to my great-great grandmother, Molly McKid). Next a ferry to Norway with trips across northern Europe (Sweden, Finland), tipping our toes in Russia at St. Petersburg before zig-zagging south through the Balkans, Croatia, Albania and into Greece. We will hop across the Adriatic to Tuscany too because Cyndy is in love with Tuscany (who isn’t), and then to one of our favorite places: Ikaria, a Greek island near Turkey to spend time with good friends, there to take a breath while we watch the sunset over the sapphire blue waters of the Aegean.

Leg #3: From Ikaria we plan to head to the coast of Turkey and up to Istanbul, one of my favorite cities, then swing back to Alexandria, Egypt (home to what was once the greatest library in all the ancient world), continue south to Cairo and up the Nile, at least to Luxor. After that, back down the Nile to Cairo and then by ship or bus into Israel, Tel Aviv and the Holy Land. From there it gets tricky. Back on Leg #1, we had originally planned to take a ship from the southern tip of South America to Cape Town and South Africa, but that was cancelled (COVID). Thus the trip from Montevideo to Portugal in Leg #2. But still South Africa’s grand beauty beckons (I was there 8 years ago when writing a piece for National Geographic and loved it).  It appears right now that the best way to get to Cape Town is to sail from Spain to Cape Town by cargo ship. Once in Cape Town we plan to drive along the southern coast of Africa and then up to Johannesburg, train from there to Mozambique and Maputo before ferrying to Madagascar. We’ll see how it goes. Acceptance and adaptation :-).

More on the other legs in a future email, but generally the plan is to find our way to Petra and then across the Levant to Dubai, embark by ship to Mumbai, make our way south, then make a sharp left across the subcontinent before heading north to Nepal, After that down though southeast Asia, into Australia, New Zealand, back up to southern China, over to Japan and across the Pacific to Alaska, through western Canada and back to the USA.

I’ll leave you with all of that for now. Check out the website mentioned above (though it is under construction). Also peek at the website’s gallery, if you like, to view more pictures of past journeys.

I also have news of fresh projects and books, but I’ll burden you with all that another time :-).

Thanks again to all of you for your always kind thoughts, interest and support. Send guidance and questions. They are always welcome. More soon. In the meantime, I hope each of you remains healthy, safe and sane.

All the very best,

Chip