African Trips

Tools for Possibilities: issue no. 152

The bilble of Sahara

Sahara Overland

The Sahara is a desert as large as the United States filled with emptiness, ancient cultures, and natural wonders. America has its own recreational deserts in the west, but for Africa and Europe, the Sahara is where you go to test yourself. This book, now in its second edition, has emerged as THE source for getting into the deep Sahara and back, alive and in good spirits. It is uncommonly thorough and immensely practical. It covers the kinds of vehicles and supplies you need, runs along possible itineraries and dangers, and anticipates most of the questions you might have. No stone is left unanswered. The book is a brick — a great big fat bible stuffed with precious overland Sahara lore, hard won by hundreds of trips and mistakes of others. There are not many travel books (or destinations) quite like this one.

• Another problem with guides arises when you want to take them away from their prescribed routes. Nervousness about the condition of their own vehicles can play a part, but guides also feel secure following their time-worn ‘tram lines.’ They can get distinctly edgy when asked to go into areas they don’t know or which will push their vehicles hard. The fact that you have a guidebook full of proven GPS points may not necessarily make them feel any better. I’ve seen one driver (admittedly not the guide) literally freak out at the thought of heading into the dunes, grabbing a wheel brace and all the cars’ keys, yelling ‘we’re all going to die!’
• Tyre pressures
  The first-time desert driver quickly learns the huge difference very low tyre pressures make to driving in soft sand. As Ralph Bagnold discovered nearly eighty years ago while drivng a truck into the Great Sand Sea: “Prendergast let more air out of his lorry wheels so that the pressure was only 15 psi instead of 90. The result was marvellous. The lorry sailed along”
• It’s possible to arc weld off two (or better still three) 12-volt batteries attached in series making 24/36 volts and plenty enough amps (home arc-welding machines produce about 30-40 volts). A jump lead attached to a pair of Mole grips can hold a welding rod and bits of thick cable or wire can join the batteries if necessary. Take the batteries right out of the car and if unsealed protect them from sparks (batteries produce explosive gas) and prepare the welding area well. It’s not going to do your batteries much good in the long term so is best for emergencies only, but I’ve seen a broken chassis repaired with battery welding.
• At this point, you may want to try asking someone… A lot depends on how you ask. Don’t pre-suggest by pointing and asking ‘Is this the way to Madame Tussaud’s?’. Instead ask ‘Which way to Madame Tussaud’s?’ but don’t point. It won’t guarantee a correct answer but will avoid the tendency to nod affirmatively to please or to get rid of someone. Although you may be steaming from the ears by this stage, remember to be polite and, as with all exchanges in Africa, start with greetings and handshakes. Avoid showing maps – depending on where you are, only tourists use and understand these – but drawing a mud map in the dirt or in the dust on your bonnet can be useful.

• A final word about guides: you need them, but do not rely on them. They will tell you that lots of things are impossible. That generally means that they cannot be bothered to do them. They tend to be highly conservative people, who resent being diverted from their usual routes and routines. Do not trust their navigation. If you leave your compass and GPS at home because you are in the hands of a local, you are being very foolish. Try to use guides who have been recommended to you by previous expeditions. And (of course) on no account pay them everything up front.
• An old adage advises that you should never camp in a oued because flash floods from distant rains could rip through your camp causing havoc. Some sources have even claimed that ‘more people have drowned in the Sahara than died of thirst’ – about as likely as more people dying of thirst than drowning at sea, or freezing to death in the Antarctic. In Morocco, where run-off from the Atlas can be frequent, steep and fast, this warning is valid in certain seasons but in the deep Sahara, oueds often offer some welcome tree shade or vegetated wind breaks, as well as soft sand rather than gravel. Obviously if there are dark clouds in the sky keep to the high ground wherever you are, but dangerous flash floods are only a real danger in mountain areas, and by the time they get to the plain they’re all but spent.
• People get nervous about carrying a wad of money abroad but good old-fashioned cash is a readily changeable and local currency is what talks loudest in the Sahara. Unless you expect to be visiting large cities or capitals, travellers’ cheques are of little use. Despite what you’re told, the promise of speedy replacement of stolen cheques requires a phone call – itself a rather tall order in most of the Sahara. Don’t rely on cashing travellers’ cheques in the Sahara.

Essential road maps

African Adventure Atlas

The vastness of Africa is vastly rural. Driving a car or van is the best way to get around. But African road maps are as scarce and inadequate as the mostly unpaved roads themselves. This heavy, oversized, and humungous 336-page atlas (definitely not backpackable) contains the best — and sometimes only — road maps for the entire continent.

Crafted by the cartographic gnomes at National Geographic, this set of maps is meant to be more of an adventure guide. It succeeds as both. These maps indicate the exact information you need while on the road: known ferry crossings, known border posts, known park entrances, local airfields, ruins, mileage markers, as well as the major African towns and national parks interiors. I can’t think of any other maps anywhere else in the developing world that provide this kind of vital information ahead of time. And to top it off, this full-color atlas concludes with 80 good itineraries (with maps!) for creative explorations on the continent. It’s a remarkable achievement; I wish there was one for Asia and South America as well. — KK

Once a week we’ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, and the links to them may or may not work. We present these vintage recommendations as is because the possibilities they inspire are new. Sign up here to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox.

Portable standing desk/Wplace/The Daily Grail

Recomendo - issue #476

Portable standing desk that fits in a laptop bag

I use a standing desk at home, and I miss it when I travel because my body aches from sitting so long. This portable sit-stand laptop desk made by Moft weighs just a hair over two pounds and folds to a 0.5-inch thick rectangle that easily fits into my computer bag. Unfolded, it lifts my laptop 9.75 inches above the table, and is surprisingly stable. The fiberglass and PU leather construction feels premium and durable. Recommended for anyone who spends long hours on their laptop away from home. — MF

Global youth folk art

Check out the website Wplace. It’s a zany collaborative futuristic art project happening around the world, mostly created by young people. Like its predecessor r/place, Wplace lets people paint a single pixel at a time. But everyone layers the art over Google maps and most folks start with painting over their neighborhood. And like r/place, you can repaint over other art. So in order to make any kind of a picture large requires an incredible amount of coordination and collaboration with others – and any art produced must be fiercely maintained in order to remain. The ambience is true folk art – the lowest common denominator of anime characters, memes, sports brands, political flags, logos, graffiti, and creative patterns. Surprisingly the parts of the globe most densely painted in its first month are not silicon valley but Brazil and Germany. And you may have trouble getting a chance to paint pixels because its servers are overwhelmed. This weird global emergent collab happening feels like a hint of art from the future. — KK

Fringe news feed

The Daily Grail front page is my news source for all things weird and fringe science—from papers on consciousness studies and paranormal research to new discoveries in neuroscience, quantum physics, and strange archaeological finds. Most briefs come from mainstream, credible outlets, but the curation makes me feel like a kid reading Weekly World News in the checkout line or living inside an episode of The X-Files. Its editorial approach is described as maintaining an appropriate level of skepticism while remaining open to paradigm-shifting ideas. I check it religiously via my Feedly, but daily news items are also posted to Bluesky if you prefer to follow there. — CD

Stream of collective imagination

Midjourney TV is a continuous stream of AI-generated short video art, created by the user community with Midjourney’s recently launched video model. The stream is a hypnotic, mind-expanding glimpse into how humans are using creative AI—and into the collective imagination. I’ve been a Midjourney user since day one and still prefer it for creating imagery from dreams and psychedelic therapy visions. — CD

Self-publishing advice

Because I’ve published a lot of books, both by mainstream publishers and in self-published bestsellers, I frequently get asked for advice by wannabe authors. So I have written up Everything I Know About Publishing and Self-Publishing into a blog post and also packaged in a tidy free 16-page PDF. I end with a flow-chart to navigate through the expanding variety of publishing options available today. — KK

Find books and movies on a map

StoryTerra is a interactive map that links to over 120,000 books, movies, TV shows, and games with their real-world locations and time periods. You can slide through centuries on the timeline, zoom into cities on the map, and discover what stories took place when and where. — MF

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Busiest Airports/US$ Countries/Airline Meal Photos

Nomadico issue #167

World’s Busiest Airports

OAG released the final results from 2024’s airport counts and ATL Atlanta is still the busiest airport in the world. Dubai is coming on strong though, serving more than 60 million passengers, just 2.5 million behind. Next were Tokyo, London Heathrow, and Dallas. Denver came in at #6 but capacity grew by 24% when compared to pre-pandemic 2019, the biggest increase in the top 10. Seoul/Incheon saw the biggest year-over-year increase among the international ones. See the details here.

Countries Where Dollars Rule

With the U.S. dollar suffering from multiple self-inflicted wounds this year, the great exchange rate many of us enjoyed for months on end in Europe in the Biden years is gone. There are some countries where we now-poorer Americans are insulated though. Some countries use the dollar as their currency (like Panama and Ecuador) and others have a tight dollar peg that never wavers (like Belize, Bahamas, UAE, and Jordan). See more here.

Thailand’s Digital Nomad Visa is a Hit

Many of the digital nomad visas launched by governments are poorly designed, too restrictive, or don’t really meet the needs of all those remote workers who are working for themselves. The Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) though, launched last summer, is a different story. More than 35,000 remote workers have applied and most are now approved, getting 180-day stays at a time and a period that can extend to 5 years. This is helping inject capital into a struggling tourism economy and smoothing out the seasonal highs and lows in some areas. (Discovered in Borderless.)

Database of Airline Meals

I had a surprisingly good meal on a business class flight between Tampa and Dallas recently on American Airlines, so I should probably post it on AirlineMeals.net. Yes, many airlines still serve meals, especially on long-haul international flights, so if you want to see what you’ll be eating, head there to scroll through some photos. They currently have around 24,000 photos from economy class and 21,000 from business class, plus some sad shots of what was purchased on “no frills” airlines.

A weekly newsletter with four quick bites, edited by Tim Leffel, author of A Better Life for Half the Price and The World’s Cheapest Destinations. See past editions here, where your like-minded friends can subscribe and join you.

What’s in my NOW? — Marston Quinn

issue #221

Marston Quinn is a recovering corporate drone turned aspiring writer, based in Brooklyn, NY. You can find him on X or his Substack, Pound Foolish.

PHYSICAL

• MUJI Pens: There’s always something to write on; the trick is having something to write with. These pens are perfect. They’re comfortable in your hand, write smoothly, and at 0.5 mm the ink doesn’t bleed through delicate paper, which is especially helpful if you’re writing on a cocktail napkin that you begged off the bartender. I buy the multi-packs in bulk and stash them in every bag and jacket I own so a few are always near at hand. Black for notes, red for edits, and blue for annotations—but hey, that’s just what works for me.
• Moccamaster Coffee Maker: I finally splurged on this coffee maker a few years ago as part of my ongoing effort to delight in the everyday objects I own. It has not disappointed me. In an era when coffee making has been taken to new heights of pretension and complexity, there is an elegance to a machine that you fill with water, turn on, and get fantastic coffee out of mere moments later. New York City sells coffee on every corner, but when it’s time for serious work, you need a pot all of your own on hand to fuel you through the hours.
• Tenugui: Men stopped carrying handkerchiefs in the mid-20th century due to the rise of “Big Kleenex,” but there’s a lot more to having a piece of fabric in your pocket than blowing your nose. I delight in these colorful Japanese alternatives, which fold down to handkerchief size, but can be used just as readily to wrap half a sandwich or staunch a head wound as they can be to manage your seasonal allergies. Buy a few, wash them when they’re dirty, and Mother Earth will thank you for your sustainability.

DIGITAL

• Reader App: Many people are already familiar with their popular Readwise service which puts Kindle highlights in your inbox every morning, but Reader has created the single-best read-it-later app I’ve ever used—and I’ve tried all of them. There are plenty of customization options, it can save down just about any media format, and you can highlight everything you love to go back into your Readwise digest. Plus, the team is always launching new features or responding to bug reports, so it feels like the app is constantly improving in front of your eyes.
• Brandon Sanderson’s Writing Lectures: Borrowing from John Mulaney, Brandon Sanderson means a large amount to a small group of people. If you’re not one of them, then you should know he’s arguably the most popular American science fiction and fantasy author publishing regularly today. After already conquering traditional publishing, he went to Kickstarter where he raised $40 million directly from his fans for a four-book project. He’s also a dedicated teacher and this year he released an updated series of his BYU lectures on writing in science fiction and fantasy. Even if you’re not a genre nerd, his insights into story construction, character building, and the media business as a whole are revelatory.

INVISIBLE

The Mission of My Life, John Henry Newman

“God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments. Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about.”

I’m religious, but I don’t think you have to be in order to appreciate this passage from the Catholic saint and English theologian. People are more fulfilled when they see their lives as personal quests, but it can often be hard to know what that quest is. When I feel down, I try to remember that every moment, every experience, every joy, and every hurt is another opportunity to live my life and hopefully do something for the betterment of others. It may not be clear how in the moment, but that shouldn’t stop me from trying.

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Psychobook / Dharma Delight

Issue No. 80

PSYCHOBOOK – LOOKS AT ALL KINDS OF RIDICULOUS PSYCH TESTS USED THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES

Psychobook: Games, Tests, Questionnaires, Histories
by Julian Rothenstein (editor)
Princeton Architectural Press
2016, 192 pages, 8.9 x 12.1 x 0.9 inches (hardcover)

Buy on Amazon

I am not afraid of toads. I do not like to see men in their pajamas. Someone has been trying to get into my car. I think I would like the work of a librarian. I do not always tell the truth.

The above statements are examples of what could appear on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, a “psychometric test” in which psychology patients must answer with only a “yes,” “no,” “true,” “false,” or “cannot say.” There is no place on the test to expand or explain your answers. The results of the exam help determine whether a test-taker is “normal” or “deviant.” This test has been helping to sort out the “crazies” from the “normals” since 1943, and yes, according to Psychobook, it’s still being used by some doctors today!

Psychobook, just released today, is a fun, fascinating, image-heavy book that looks at all kinds of ridiculous psych tests used throughout the centuries (some cancelled long ago, others still quacking along). Read about mental test kits such as: Lowenfeld Mosaic tests (make a design with colorful geometric toy pieces to see how carefree, thoughtful or anxious you are); the Szondi Test (see how your mind works by looking at portraits of men and guessing whether they’re homosexual, a psychopath, a maniac, or some other such type); Pictorial Completion Test (find out if your kid has delinquent tendencies by having them fill in a drawing with objects that are missing from the scene), and dozens more.

Psychobook even offers lots of tests you can take right from the book. Nervously, I took the Rorschach inkblot test (staring at a blob on a page that’s been folded in half so that it becomes symmetrical, and imagining what the image might be). I passed with flying colors, as my reading said I was “highly capable, to put it mildly…you master everything you turn your hand to…” I guess some of these psychotic tests really do work! – Carla Sinclair

DHARMA DELIGHT: A VISIONARY POST POP GUIDE TO BUDDHISM AND ZEN

Dharma Delight: A Visionary Post Pop Guide to Buddhism and Zen
by Rodney Alan Greenblat
Tuttle Publishing
2016, 128 pages, 7.5 x 10 x 0.5 inches (softcover)

Buy on Amazon

Peace of mind can be a hard-won trophy in the best of times. Other times, well, simply being may be the best we can do. Dharma Delight is a visual diary of one man’s journey into Buddhism. Author Greenblat takes the reader through the basic aspects of Buddhism, including its founding, its core tenets, a few of the more prominent teachers (er, Buddhas, not instructors), and a few basic zen practices all accompanied by his own bright, bold paintings and drawings.

The book is somewhat slight, more of a primer than an in-depth examination of any one part of either Buddhism or Greenblat’s relationship to it, but I found this to be the most engaging facet of the book. What I mean is, the book often lays out a single concept or story or koan on one or two pages, letting the reader focus on the idea being presented rather than stuffing loads of concepts and history into a confined space.

By allowing the content so much room to breathe, each painting or set of paintings comes into clear relief. Greenblat squeezes lots of detail and tiny, almost hidden prose messages into each vibrant piece of art; his style is a distinct form of pop art, somewhere between the neon, day-glo of the 1980s and the comic book reproductions of Lichtenstein. Yet, for all the bright color and heady concepts, this book has found a permanent home on my bedside bookshelf. Its light touch and beatific illustrations help me find just enough peace of mind to get to sleep. Which is a small delight for which I am grateful. – Joel Neff

Books That Belong On Paper first appeared on the web as Wink Books and was edited by Carla Sinclair. Sign up here to get the issues a week early in your inbox.

Raising Animals

Tools for Possibilities: issue no. 151

How to butcher

Basic Butchering of Livestock and Game

You can probably learn to butcher an animal better from watching a YouTube video than you can from reading text, but this classic book will help you evaluate what you see on YouTube. It gives you the context, reasoning, and background of the moves you see in the videos. It also gives you the instructions in clear text. I find it helps me sort out the cacophony of the different methods seen in amateur videos. Beef, pork, lamb, venison, rabbit and poultry are covered. And of course, if the Internet goes down, this clearly illustrated book is always there. — KK

• The animal must be killed quickly, with little or no pain, but more important is that death comes without fear. To allow an animal to become frightened at slaughter is not only cruel, but unwise, for it causes the release of adrenaline, which some believe can affect the quality of the meat. Also, fear may cause the animal to struggle, doing damage to its meat or injuring the person slaughtering. Select the method of killing that will upset the animal’s routine least, thus avoiding fear, and select a method that is sudden, thus avoiding pain.

Rabbit bible

Storey’s Guide to Raising Rabbits

For nearly 40 years this guide has introduced boy scouts, 4H-ers, homesteaders, survivalists, and pet keepers to the practicalities of raising rabbits. Now in a new 4th edition, it’s still the best manual for getting started with rabbits for food or show. — KK

• Watch carefully at feeding timeA good raiser watches stock closely at feeding time. While they are eating, run your hand over each rabbit. A rabbit that’s a bit bony should get more feed. If a rabbit hasn’t cleaned up its pellets something is wrong.To determine the cause of appetite loss, first check the water supply. Is the crock or jug empty? Is the valve plugged? Rabbits don’t eat when they are thirsty. They must have plenty of water. Most of the time a rabbit that isn’t eating isn’t drinking.

• The doe needs peace and quiet a few days before the litter is born and a few days after. Dogs and children can be particularly disturbing at this time. Upsetting the rabbitry routine can cause the doe to kill her young or abandoned them, so it it is vital that you keep things calm and quiet.You will, of course, be very curious to see the litter. If you have placed the nest box in the back of the hutch but in full view from the front, you will be able to see into it, and by the 31st day you should see a pile of fluffy fur toward the rear of it, moving slightly up and down.

Guide to goats

Natural Goat Care

On my little homestead near downtown Oakland, CA, I’ve dabbled in chickens, bees, turkeys, rabbits, and pigs (i.e. eggs, honey, meat, fur pelts, and wonderful manure for the garden). Recently the dabbling got a little more serious: two Nigerian Dwarf goats named Bilbo and Bebe (the one thing missing was milk; And I love milk. And goat cheese). Trouble was, I didn’t know anything about goats, what they eat, how they behave. Luckily, a goat herder told me about this guide published in Australia. It put my fears to rest.

With all of the other farm animals (including the pigs!), it’s mostly a matter of throwing down some food, making sure everyone has water and enough space, and we’re all good. Goats turned out to be way more complicated than any other animal on the farm. They have psychological needs. They have a rumen for digesting food. They can get sexually transmitted diseases. They have hooves that need to be trimmed. They are a long-term relationship, which — from day one — kept me up late at night worrying. With this guide, I’m far less worried. And now that Bebe is pregnant, in a few weeks we’ll have milk!

Bonus tip: I order all manner of goat-related items from Hoegger’s. — Novella Carpenter

• Homeopathic methods…Cider vinegar maintains correct pH in the body, which is probably one of the reasons it is so useful. Because of its potassium content, it is invaluable for all animals coming up to breeding.Mistletoe. This parasitic plant is a great tonic for goats, ell or ill. I pull it down from trees and feed it directly to my animals. Be warned, it turns the urine bright red for the next 24 hours–the goats have not developed bleeding kidneys.
• Kidding…The legs appear first and the kid’s nose will be level with its knees. If the head is turned back, it is a good idea to scrub up (short nails, clean hands and plastic gloves if the farmer’s hands are cut or scratched) and pull the head forward. The kid can be born with the head turned back, but it is not easy. Ease the kid out as the doe contracts and give it to her to wash and suckle or use whatever system of rearing has been planned. Each kid must have its ration of colostrum, the first thick milk that contains the antibodies for that kid.
• Psychological needs…All goats, particularly the older ones, should have names–ones that do not sound too similar. Goats soon learn to recognize their names hen called or reprimanded.

Once a week we’ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, and the links to them may or may not work. We present these vintage recommendations as is because the possibilities they inspire are new. Sign up here to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox.

What’s in my NOW? — Marston Quinn