28 April 2021

As this is being written, I’m listening to my Spotify playlist “ADG African” (ID “TekhneGuy”, or you might see “agarrison71”) – you are welcome to share it if you like.

Today I start making serious plans for travel, departing Namibia on 29 May for at least three months, possibly much longer. I’m going back to my USA home in the San Francisco Bay area and visit my daughter and small family there for the first couple of months. I’ll also be clearing out my boat “Inspiration” that has been stored out of the water since April 2015 with everything I own (that’s not in Africa) aboard. Most likely, unless my daughter has other desires for the boat she lived on often as a small girl, I will sell the boat that was my home for the vast majority of 25 years before I left for Africa in 2015. End of an era, moving on, etc.

I feel a renewed sense of purpose now that my Residence Permit for Namibia is approved and I have a flight ticket for the trip. It feels odd to get a one-way ticket. In Early August, I’ll leave the SF Bay area, and take the California Zephyr Railway to Chicago, then hop my way across the eastern USA visiting some very good friends – ending up in Bethesda, Maryland, sometime in mid-late August. From there – I don’t know what will happen. I’ll either go back to Namibia or keep travelling. I’ll keep you posted on this website.

It feels good to be writing on WITWIA again – and I think there will be more consistency now. Not only do I have more of a sense of purpose, but I’ve joined with two very good friends in a “writer’s group” to encourage each other and hold each other accountable for our commitments to the small group. My commitments to the group fold nicely into my intention to write for WITWIA much more often, so I intend for you “dear reader” (that sounds so quaint!) to have more to see on WITWIA from this point forward.

I think WITWIA will end up being a combination travelblog, personal blog, and (hopefully) somewhat provocative view of life as I see it. There is a certain freedom in being 71 that lets me speak up a bit more freely than I’ve felt comfortable with for most of my life. I’m sure I’ll write more on that at some point. And yes, I’ll start including pictures and videos at some point! Hang in there.

There is a page “Ideas for future blogs” on the home page that lists what I’ve come up with for topics at this point. Most of the ideas are quite old, but still relevant. If you have something you’d like to see me talk about, please leave a note on that page.

The  site is pretty rudimentary at this point. I plan to improve it as time moves on: for instance letting you “like” or “upvote” one of the topics on the Ideas page so I can address the most popular ones. Until I get that working, feel free to tell me what you would like to see in the comments box on the Ideas page.

It would be great if you “follow” this blog with the button in the lower right corner. I look forward to staying in touch as travel plans develop over the next year.