Travel Memoir to write home about: Two big thumbs up for Julian Smith’s ‘Crossing the Heart of Africa’

June 26th, 2011 | By Joshua | 3 Comments »

I first picked up Crossing the Heart of Africa: An Odyssey of Love and Adventure by Julian Smith not so much for the author’s recent route across a continent in the footsteps of some old explorer, but more for Smith’s journey from the guidebook shelves to the more exclusive “Travel Literature” shelf, that holy mish-mash of memoir, adventure-logue, and other curious bits of travel-related nonfiction.

As a writer who spends way too much of his time fact-checking hotel prices and bus departure times for my four guidebook titles — while my own book-length narrative percolates on the back burner — I sympathize with Smith’s journey from guidebook jockey to storyteller. I understand why, after penning successful Moon guides to Ecuador and the US southwest, he gave it all up to try his hand at a narrative tale. In Crossing the Heart of Africa, he succeeds brilliantly. (more…)

A Rooftop in Pakistan: My latest travel story

November 30th, 2010 | By Joshua | No Comments »

WorldHum.com was one of the best travel sites on the Internet way before it became Travel Channel’s official blog for high-caliber narrative stories. Its editors “focus not only on destinations but on the journey, on travel in the broadest sense of the word … how travel changes us, how it changes the way we see the world and how travel itself changes the world.”

So it’s a huge honor to contribute another story to World Hum’s feature well, a tale from my extended honeymoon and a chapter from my next book:

TRAVEL STORIES: “A Welcome Rooftop in the Heart of Pakistan”

I hope you like it.

Malian-Americana Folk Music Mash-Up: Adam Klein Returns to Mali with a guitar and a cameraman

November 7th, 2010 | By Joshua | No Comments »

[The following article appears in the Fall 2010 print issue of Worldview, the magazine of the National Peace Corps Association (I love getting to write about my friends)]

by Joshua Berman

Adam Klein, a singer-songwriter from Georgia, stood on a flat rooftop in northern Guatemala. His lean, tall figure, bushy hair, and pregnant guitar cast a silhouette against the Milky Way. He sang and played and searched for words. I sat at Adam’s feet with pen and paper, trying to help as he composed a ballad about don Fernando, the ancient foreman on the bridge project where we were working that week.

“O Fernando … on a fateful morning/ there was a heavy sun/ in the peaceful sleepy town/ Without a warning, they rounded up everyone/ and they cut all the people down….”

Adam and I were in Rabinal, (more…)

Go Black Stars! Ghana goes bananas! Tranquilo Traveler digs up World Cup 2006 posts

June 13th, 2010 | By Joshua | No Comments »

As Ghana celebrates its first win in the 2010 World Cup, I thought I’d take a look back. Exactly four years ago, my wife and I were living in Accra, a crusty capital on the coast of West Africa, where we were volunteering with Planned Parenthood. The country was deep in World Cup fever for the national team, the Black Stars, which had advanced farther in the tournament than any other African team had ever done in history. Sutay and I watched soccer on TV every day, all over the country, at work, at home, in restaurants, and once during our travels in the rural north, we watched World Cup football under the stars in the chief’s compound.

Here are a few images and stories from that experience:

VIDEO of Ghana youth going nuts over a goal

Accra: sight-free, soccer-insane city by the seaGame On! Ghana vs. USA today…

Jubilation! Ghana 2 - USA 1! Everybody’s Dancin’…

Back from the Bush: Two Weeks in Northeast Ghana

Rest In Peace Professor Khwaja Masud (1922–2010)

March 19th, 2010 | By Joshua | No Comments »

By far, the most commented-upon entry I have ever posted is “Why We Came to Pakistan: Gordon College, Rawalpindi, and our search for Dr. Stewart.”

The comments section is a remarkable tribute to two respected educators, one of whom is my wife’s great grandfather, and the other is Prof. Masud. The writers are mostly Pakistani expats living around the world, all of them former students of R.R. and Professor Masud.
The family has set up a memorium page here.

Obit by Adil Najam: “Earlier this month (on January 17), Prof. Khawaja Masud - teacher, mathematician, philosopher, activist, progressive, and truly an intellectual’s intellectual - died in Islamabad.”

A few years ago, this family took us in and helped nurse my wife when she got sick. We are ever grateful for this and we send the Professor’s family our strength and love.

Cooking Classes in Thailand: Tranquilo mention on Ephemerratic

September 24th, 2009 | By Joshua | No Comments »

The round-the-worlders over at ephemerratic.com are exploring cooking classes in Chiang Mai in their latest post:

“I’ve taken a cooking class here and there on this trip and never regretted it – the market tour helps me identify mysterious street food, and since you usually make more than one meal’s worth of dishes, it’s a kind-to-the-budget activity. Chiang Mai also seems to have as many cooking classes as pimped out golden Buddhas.”

LINK->

Passionate immersive travelers surf cardboard signs through European cities: ExperienceLess and Trourists

September 20th, 2009 | By Joshua | 4 Comments »

Created for those “who travel to live destinations, not visit them,” ExperienceLess is the collaborative effort of a loose group of “trourists” (I know, say it 3 times fast) who, lacking “real experiences at an unfamiliar destination,” sit out with cardboard signs inviting strangers to invite them into their city for the night. To me, their postmodern couchsurfing and shouting about “the difference between visiting a city and living it,”

“HELP!!! I DON’T WANT TO SEE YOUR MUSEUMS AND I DON’T WANT TO SEE YOUR STATUES. AND, ABOVE ALL, I DON’T WANT TO SEE YOUR CITY. I  WANT TO LIVE IT.”

invites a rehash of the tired, old “traveler vs. tourist” debate (I’ve always agreed with Kelsey Timmerman that, ultimately, we’re ALL tourons, get over it). (more…)

Transitions Abroad on “what makes long-term travelers tick”

August 18th, 2009 | By Joshua | 2 Comments »

That’s what pro-hobo and travel writer Nora Dunn addresses in “The Motivation for Long-Term Travel,” interviews with six creative and dedicated full-time travelers. Each profilee has a strong web presence as well so if anything, just browsing their blogs will introduce you to a few interesting people and families. Enjoy.

Street art in Spain and Portugal

October 19th, 2008 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

Todd and Lauren just posted a slide show of street art they saw in Spain and Portugal. UPDATE: The round-the-world, ephemerratic couple has landed in Delhi and remains Eastward-bound …

Africa Trek—Couple’s 8,700-mile Walking Honeymoon across Africa now Available in the U.S.

September 29th, 2008 | By Joshua | 2 Comments »

Alexandre and Sonia Poussin took a three-year honeymoon to walk from the Cape of Good Hope to the Sea of Galilee. Originally published in 2004 in France, the Poussins’ story has become somewhat of a European phenomenon and is now available in the U.S.

“Most people,” says Alexandre, “approach Africa with fear, a lot of organization, and little time. We had faith, confidence, and no prejudice on one side; no organization, tour operator, or back-up team of any kind on the other; and no time limit.” One of the extraordinary goals of the trip was to meet people—normal, everyday Africans, “to better understand them, and understand the issues of their lives…. Our approach was anything but sophisticated: one footstep after another, for almost ever…. And let it be. Let adventure be.”

This is sure to be a phenomenal read and a close-up of introduction to the amazing individuals the Poussins met. I’m hoping it will inspire my own extended-honeymoon storytelling.

The result is a stunning collection of Africa Trek books, as well documentary DVDs which have been featured as a mini-series on the Travel Channel and are coming to a PBS station near you.
[LINK]: Official Africa Trek home page — the video is amazing.