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THINK OUTSIDE THE FENCE ~

THINK OUTSIDE THE FENCE

The problem with fences is, once built, you don’t know if you’re inside or outside.  —Thoughts of a Kalahari Desert bushman, roughly translated. In 2003, South Africa was a country in transition, and seemingly on track to begin reversing the atrocities forced upon its native people. After being whisked between South African wineries and safari lodges, I managed a border-crossing revelation. The age-old ways of Africa’s Kalahari Desert Bush people, innately bound to their ancient […]

DON’T RUN OUT OF IDEAS—RUN OUT FOR IDEAS ~

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(from: THE DIRECTIONS TO HAPPINESS: A 135-Country Quest for Life Lessons) “A little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing.” —Thomas Jefferson Now that childhood seems to be officially over, only occasionally do I dare people to do things. Not the case with my eldest brother, Basil, who routinely challenges me to perform illegal tricks for his amusement. I routinely caved into his cons until I turned, well, about 35. Our family summered in New […]

How to Measure Your Wealth

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(from: THE DIRECTIONS TO HAPPINESS: A 135-Country Quest for Life Lessons) Put the currency blues on the run. Before email and cell phones, letter writing was still vital, as many long-term backpackers could rarely afford to call home. Such isolation made Australian hospitality even more welcome, especially after a year in Asia without a turkey hero. In the late 1980s, after a year-long Southeast Asian tour, a college friend and I hitchhiked 1,000 miles up Australia’s […]

PROLOGUE ~

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(from: THE DIRECTIONS TO HAPPINESS: A 135-Country Quest for Life Lessons) I have felt the lungs of the world expand, and this is my exhale. Our planet is trying to tell us something. There is a global disconnect of understanding, as we are often led to believe that the world is an unwelcoming place. I’m not a preacher, a guru, or a therapist but a working-guy explorer on a cross-continental mission, a messenger sharing the […]