Finding Flattop

It’s been just over five months since the accident and while the rib fractures and shoulder have healed well the low level consistent hip pain has not subsided.  Hip surgery is going to be necessary and I’ll be having it done sometime in the next 6-8 weeks depending on scheduling.

In the past couple months, I’ve seen three different orthopedic surgeons, had three separate MRI’s, and one outpatient surgical diagnostic procedure to finally have solid answers and a surgeon whom I am confident is the best for my condition.  Here’s the basics of the diagnosis.

• Tear in the acetabular labrum of the right hip combined with a cam type femoral acetabular impingement.  –  Basically this means I have a tear in the cartilage of the socket portion of the hip on my right side.  This was caused by the femoral acetabular impingement, which is a genetic deformation of the femur bone.  Basically a bump on the bone dug into and ripped a flap in the cartilage when my legs were flailing around as I bounced down the sand dune. 

Tear in right hip labrum

• Radial annular tear and disc bulging of the L4-L5 vertebrae and degenerative disc disease of the L5-S1 vertebrae.  This means there is a tear in the disc material in my lower lumbar spine along with bulging of the disc in one location combined with early stage degeneration of a disc in another.  While all this sounds bad, the surgeon does not believe it is the source of my pain and will be leaving it alone.  It will likely cause problems later in life and if so, I’ll need to deal with it then.  This too was cuased by rapid twisting of my lower spine as I rolled down the dune.

The surgery I’ll be having will be arthroscopically administered through two incisions in the hip/groin area.  In the procedure the surgeon will stitch the torn flap back into place, remove any loose cartilage or frayed edges, and then cut/shave the femur bone to reshape it in it’s correct manner so it will not be able to damage the torn area in the future.  All fairly serious.  I’ll be on crutches for a month and maybe a cane for another month or two.  I’ll have to go back through physical therapy for a few months as well.  While I should be walking normal at three months, it’ll take at least six months to know the long term outcome.  This procedure is very new (less than 3 years old) and there are only a handful of surgeons in the US which have performed it.  Luckily the only surgeon in Florida with experience doing this is in Tampa.  Otherwise I’d have had to flown to Colorado or California to find someone with experience repairing this type of injury.

This entire process has been stressful.  The surgery as any other comes with it’s own risk from issues with general anesthesia, to infection, or nerve damage.  Having thought them through thoroughly I’d rather take the risk at a shot of having a better quality of life than living with the hip pain.  More sobering is the mental knowledge that later in life there is a  high probability I’ll have to have a hip replacement and that I could have problems with my lumbar as well.

Sadly, I’ve come to the conclusion pursuing a means to travel to every country in the world isn’t feasible at this time and I’ve tabled efforts to make it happen indefinitely.  Backpacker, unplanned travel adventure such as I’ve done, takes good physical stamina and can be quite demanding.  It will be at least a year, before I think I could realistically consider it again and who knows where my life will be then.  For now I’ll be dreaming about it, working on getting healthy, and figuring out what else I can do to remake myself in the current economic slump to create an income.

In my last post, I asked everyone for their assistance in brainstorming ideas for me to fund the dream of traveling to every country in the world.  Thank you to everyone who responded.  It created some fun conversation and dialog.  While I had a few ideas on my own the contribution brought forth more ideas which I greatly appreciate.  While not all ideas are practical, actually some where goofy, I appreciate them all.  So, listed here in no particular order are all the ideas which have surfaced to date, followed by some personal thoughts on each.

Reality Show- Sell a TV/Cable channel on following me around the world in some sort of reality bit about the travel.  My first thoughts are, isn’t reality TV a little overdone now days.  Then, what’s the hook?  Why would someone want to see an unknown like me on TV?  Why would any media executive bite on the idea?  Additionally, in pursuing the goal of going to every country I’d end up visiting some pretty boring places with little to offer in terms of entertainment value, which I definitely don’t think would make good TV.  So, if you have any ideas on a theme to such a show, which might have the possibility of attracting an executives interest, send them my way.  How about, wasted around the world, or drunk in every country?

Guide Book Writer- Get hired by a guide book publisher and help write chapters for their guide books.  While on the surface this sounds practical, it isn’t at all.  First there are zillions of people, better qualified, knocking on guide book publisher doors to do this job.  Second, guide book writers go to one country or section of a country and spend long periods of time, six months or more, doing research to produce their content.  In my goal of going to every country I’ll only be in a country for a max of a few weeks, far to short to garner enough information to contribute to such a guide.  I’d be relying on these guide book writers to ease my travels on what to see and where to stay.

Sponsors- Obtain sponsorships from corporations to fund the travels.  Corporations pay for sponsorships because it either makes them look good, ie giving to charity or because they get a form of advertising value in return.  I think this idea has some merit if I had enough followers.  Meaning, if I had a million people reading my blog, I have no doubt I could get sponsorships.  However the 300-500 folks which have read my blog thus far  is far short of any number I think could be effectively sold to a paying sponsor at this stage.  I first need to find a source to pay for more travel to build a following so that I could eventually get sponsors.

Book- Write a book about my travels.  Well, that might be a possibility after I got around the world.  However, I haven’t done that yet and to accomplish it I first need an income stream to fund it.  Some have said write about what you’ve traveled thus far.  Well, I have already and if you’re reading this posting you’ve most likely already read it, for free.  Plus, it’s only enough content to fill maybe a chapter in a book, not an entire book.

American Gigolo-Whore myself around the world.  As one person submitted, $2000 X 150 per woman (if you really think a lot of yourself) or $150 x 2000 women (probably more realistic) each year to accomplish your goal.  Now before you think this is a totally crazy idea, take into consideration the number of women in each of those countries that you could man-whore yourself out to. Think of it as a working vacation.  One word …… NOT!……

Travel Columnist- Get a job as a travel columnist writing about my travels around the world in a print column, blog on the publications website, or both.  Anything from a travel website to a publication such as Outdoor magazine might be a potential outlet for content similar to what I’ve already written.  I like this idea as I already have examples of the type of content I can produce while traveling and it demonstrates my style.  In addition I could grow the content by writing about more than just my travels.  I could review travel gear which I’ve used, guide books which are useful, travel logistics and planning etc.  The plus to this is, if I could become a part of a publication that already has a following, they hopefully could afford to fund the travel with the idea my column would enhance their current readership and attract new readers as well.  The other positive is any publication would most likely have an editor reviewing my work which could improve my writing skills to make the stories even better.  The cons are I need to successfully sell a publication on risking an investment in me.  A time consuming task which takes away from pursuing other things while I eat into my rainy day funds.  If successful, well worth the effort and if not I’m where I’m at now but with less money in hand.

Photo Journalist- Become a photo journalist and travel the world taking pictures.  This could be a ball.  Lots of folks seem to like the pictures of my travels, however I’m a critic and I think anyone paying for pics would be too.  I”m not sure, but I surmise there are loads of other better photographers vying for this as well.  Also if it worked for a publication I doubt they’d hire me with the intent of visiting every country in the world.   This brings to mind, is there a way to sell any of the pics I currently have?  Is there a way I could continue to sell images as I get great shots.  I think it would be more realistic if I could sell shots here and there as purely a supplemental income stream.  If you know of any sources where I might be able to sell what I currently have, please let me know.

Personal Shopper- Become a personal shopper for expats and for unique items from a country.  Meaning, if I know I’m going to X country put the word out in the hopes an expat living there might want normal goods from the states which are hard to find where they live and I’d bring it with me for a fee.  The flip of this is I”m going to X country and somebody in the states would like a unique item from there and likewise I’d acquire it for them for a fee.  This has some merit and I could see on occasion it producing some income.  As a standalone, there is no way it would bring in enough money to fund the travel I’m looking to do.  It’s purely the possibility of some piecemeal income.

Travel Guide- Become a travel guide to other countries.  Maybe, if I could figure out a way to do it on my terms.  I think travel guides tend to know about where they are traveling.  Meaning they’ve been there before and know the inn’s and outs of the location so those paying to go have someone showing them the best stuff with limited to no hiccups.  I want to travel to new countries each time which I’ve never been before and am figuring it out as I go.  This involves, hiccups including mistakes and not always getting to do what you want.   While myself and some others like traveling in this unplanned adventuresome manner, I’m confused as to why others which do would pay for such a service as those with the spirit for unscripted travel tend to travel like I do already.  Another aspect of being a travel guide that I personally don’t like is that I wouldn’t get to do what I want.  Rather I’d be doing what those I’m leading want to do and see.  In essence, I’d be someone else’s bitch.  Not what I want to do.  So, what type of person would pay me to tag along on a trip where they don’t know for sure what they are going to see and do before they get there.  More importantly why would they pay me if I wanted to do something and they didn’t.    I know this view is somewhat selfish, but my dream is to travel to every country and I simply don’t want to do it in a manner where I  have to be serving someone else in toe.  If you have a perspective on why someone would want to pay me to tag along in my style, I’m all ears.

Reviewer- Review guide books and other travel gear.  Which is the best guide book for X country, what’s good/bad about X product.  As a stand alone item, where could I sell this information?  I think it would be better integrated with other suggestions such as the travel columnist.

Buy/Sell Agent- While I’m traveling buy a few unique one of a kind items from each country I visit and sell them when I get home on Ebay or some other site.  This also I believe could make some money but again only supplemental.  In every country I’ve been too, I’ve always randomly come across super cool one of a kind things.  Sometimes I don’t get stuff because of price, but most often I’m prevented from purchasing stuff simply because I don’t know what I would do with it.  I live in a modest size townhouse and have limited space.  Adopting the Buy/Sell attitude would solve my what will I do with it dilemma.  Plus I’d be able to provide unique stories and pictures about where and what I’ve purchased to sell.  Ultimately, I doubt this would produce enough to pay for the travel by itself but it could sure add some dollars to the kitty if I can find a primary income stream.

Importer- Buy goods and import that countries goods.  While this might have the ability to pay for the travels it would require spending my time while in a country researching what they have to offer, finding a vendor where I could acquire the goods, negotiating prices and quantities, and coordinating or arranging shipping of containers of goods back to the states.  This doesn’t count then setting up and dealing with customs and importing containers of stuff.  I haven’t even addressed where would I sell it all.  As well, for all the effort, I’d only be going to the country once and most vendors on a large scale are based on continual relationships not one time purchases.  The biggest con being I’d spend my time in a country hunting for an item and a supplier and not on being a tourist as outlined in my dream profession.  Thus my lack of interst.

That’s it folks, twelve ideas helped spawned by you from my last post.  If you have any suggestions, feedback, or ideas based on what I’ve posted here, please get in touch.  I hope this helps stoke more creativity.  I”m still looking for all the imput I can get.  If new ideas develop or current ones grow more, I’ll keep posting.  At this stage the travel columnist idea seems like the most realistic and potentially feasable idea.  Baring the introcudtion of another idea, I’m planning on risking some time and money on working a yet to be developed plan selling myself to a large number of yet to be defined publications.

Shortly after making my last post about my dream I read the following article in Forbes about a guy who is living his dream sailing around the world and getting paid well to do it.  He was creative in his approach and it convinces me there has got to be a way for me to accomplish my dream, I only have to figure it out.

As for my health.  My shoulder and ribs are doing very well.  While they aren’t 100% it’s pretty close.   However, five months after my accident I’m still having persistent issues with my right hip.  I have a constant low level pain that won’t go away which gets worse with walking more than a half mile.  I’ve been to two differnt surgeons and had one MRI which resulted in me being sent for a more detailed MRI arthrogram which was completed this week.  I see the doc again next week and hopfully at that time I”ll find out what’s wrong and whether surgury will be necessary.  Until this hip issue is resolved no matter my dream, travel is out of the question.

I started my journey around the world because I love to travel and the economy and business climate was slow providing the time.  Unfortunately, my trip was brought to an undesired halt nine months early, and I’ve had plenty of time the past four months while recuperating to contemplate my future.  The economy is supposedly stabilizing, however the commercial real-estate market is still sinking, thus I am posed with the challenge of remaking myself.   What do I do?   Well, I’ve been thinking, if I had unlimited money and time what would I do?  Easy, I’d spend the next 15-20 years traveling to every country in the world.  In–spite of my accident, and at the moment still incapable of travel, my passion for travel has not waned and I dream of being able to see and explore the world like few have done.

My dream is to comfortably visit and experience every country in the world over the next 15-20 years while spending no more than 50% of my time on the road.  If I could figure out a way to travel for 4-8 weeks alternating with 4-8 weeks home planning the next trip, it’d allow me to have a family life while achieving the goal of visiting every nation in the world.   The big key, how could I make a career living out of being a tourist that would pay for the travel, my home and life in Tampa, insurance, and fund retirement savings etc?

How many countries are in the world?  It’s a changing number and it depends on the source you consult.  The United Nations (UN) currently has 192 members and some consider this the official total.  The Travelers Century Club (TCC), a private club for people who have been to at least 100 countries, currently counts 319 countries throughout the world.  Most Traveled People (MTP), a website for people who want to travel “everywhere” identifies 773.  Which is it then?  Well, as countries goes, the TCC list and definition seems the most logical as MTP is counting places such as regions and territories within a common country.  For example MTP counts all 50 states individually.  Why not then count the more then 3000 counties across the 50 states as areas too?  While the idea of going “everywhere” is exceptionally appealing my goal is to experience some of each country and not simply set foot in a geographic area, saying I’ve been there.   The 319 TCC countries thus fits my dream.

To date, I’ve been fortunate to have visited 31 of the UN Countries, experienced 42 of the TCC countries, and traveled through 82 of the MTP locations (MTP has a neat mapping tool of places I’ve been-Flash Required).   That leaves me with only 277  TCC countries to go, a whopping big number!  Meaning I’d need to make it to 15-20 countries a year for the next 10-15 years.

Why you may ask would I want to do such a thing?  Simply, I’m a dreamer.  I love to travel and see new places, meeting new people and new cultures.  Is there a way for me to make a career out of this?  Is there a way I could earn money from this blog or something else?  I don’t know.  Basically I’d like to become a professionally paid tourist or some might say a perpetual tourist.  I want to see the exquisite, the good, the awful, and everything in between.  Life is about experiences and I want to squeeze the juice out of it.

I’ve shared this dream with a few close friends and now I’m throwing it out to the world.  My dilemma is how to pay for such a lifestyle.  Most of the folks listed on MTP as being the most traveled inherited wealth, made fortunes in other manners to self fund their adventures, are retired, or simply hoboed around the world at near poverty levels.  Unfortunately, I don’t have the war chest to accomplish such a feat and don’t want to do all the travel at the backpacker level.   I realize this could be a pipe-dream.  Is it possible to live ones dream while earning a decent living?  I’m asking for your help.  Please call or send me your thoughts.  Help me brainstorm how I might make accomplishing this fantasy a reality.  No idea is too small or mundane.   I will post brainstorms for all to see and contribute.

How much would this dream cost, meaning how much will I need to earn?  Well, first note, discussions of money are very relative and some people get very fickle when it’s discussed.  Someone in Mongolia reading this blog might think my numbers are outrageous while someone else in The Cayman Islands could think they are exceptionally small.  I’m not really sure what it would all cost, but since I’m dreaming I think a very rough estimate of $300,000/ year budget would do.   I know the goal could be accomplished for less if all my travel were as a backpacker, but since this is my dream, I’d like to be able to do it with some style.   Although, it could cost far more if I was after five-star.  Reality I’d like a mix of experiences.  I want to stay in $3 hostels in some places followed being able to experience some of the luxury premier locations as well, coach on some flights and first class on others.  So breaking down the math, what could I do to provide $1,000 of value to 300 people a year, $100 of value to 3,000 people a year, $10 of value to 30,000 people a year, or $1 of value to 300,000 people a year?  Note, I wouldn’t have to make this amount the first year, but I’m looking for ways I could fund backpacker level travel along with my expenses at home which has the potential to be grown into larger amounts.  To reach some of the more remote locations in the world it will eventually take a bundle far greater as the logistics alone cost a small fortune.

I look forward to hearing your ideas.   Here’s to dreaming…….

I recently completed 52 days on an Overland trip through Eastern and Southern Africa with Acacia Africa only to end the trip a few days early due to injury.  I’ve mentioned Acacia in some of my previous post and want to single them out as a top notch tour operator.  As a general review I give them an “A” in all categories.  Acacia offers numerous types of tours.  My particular experience was with the Overland tours they offer.    My Tour was the Ultimate Africa Overlander which covers the South and Eastern Africa stretch of countries they tour.  If you want to read what life is like and the types of things you’ll do while on tour you can start reading at my earlier post.

Overlanding is big in Africa and it’s a great way to see this part of the world at a very reasonable price.  If you like adventure, the outdoors, or camping I highly recommend this type of travel throughout Africa.  If you’re prissy and have to have the finer things in life, then this type of travel is not for you.  It’s an amazing way to see the highlights in an economical and safe manner.   At times you’ll see the up close and personal Africa and at others times from a distance.  Each tour has an experienced crew and a specially designed, self-sufficient truck.  Throughout the trip you’ll camp in designated campsites with wash facilities which vary from extremely basic with cold showers to extremely nice while enjoying the odd night bush camping in the wild.   Overlanding was an absolute blast and I found it to be an amazing amount of fun. 

Before I started my trip I had concerns about what the other people would be like.  Would they all be 18yrs old and party animals or all romantic couples alienating me?  I was traveling alone and the Acacia truck holds up to 24 people.  The reality is it was a great mixed group from multiple countries some singles, some couples ranging in age from early twenties to sixty five.  In the two months I spent living aboard I found everyone to be of a similar spirit and friendships where quickly bound.  Heck we were all in Africa camping for Christ sake.  Anybody willing to do that has got to be a good soul.  If you like meeting new people, camping, and adventure then Overlanding is the only way to go.  In general if you jump in and participate you’ll get as much out of it as you put in.

Another concern I had was food.  What would I be eating?  I figured I’d be roasting wieners on the fire, eating some bland tasteless food, or maybe worse eating cockroaches.  It was quite different and we eat heartily.  Most days breakfast was early in the morning before departing and consisted of cereal, toast, maybe eggs, coffee and juice.  The majority of our lunches were roadside in transit typically consisting of cold cut sandwiches, juice, fruit, and some sort of salad.   Evening dinners varied widely, sometimes we cooked stew in a Dutch oven over the camp fire, other times we roasted a pig on a spit, we even made lasagna on the open fire.  The truck also has a camp stove which was used regularly for meals, pasta bologna’s anyone?  Stir fry?  Mexican?  The list goes on.  Pretty much anything you cook at home we were capable of producing on the truck.  It was hearty, good, and plenty of it.  Instead of losing weight like I thought, avoiding gaining weight is a bigger concern.  I should note while I’m a meat eater there were 4 vegetarians on the truck and they were well accommodated.  And, if you are into adventuresome eating there is ample time along the way to explore some of the odd local foods on your own and a couple times as a group.

I’m touting Acacia because in my 52 nights through Africa I saw a couple hundred other overlanding trucks from other companies at campsites throughout the trip.  Africa Travel Company (ATC), Dragoman, Drifters, Gecko, Kumuka, Oasis, Intrepid, and a few others.  All the companies provide basic camping supplies, ie tents, dishes, food stocks etc and I didn’t see much difference between any of the providers.  However, where Acacia excelled above every other company is with their trucks.  Each Acacia truck is equipped with individual lockers for each passenger where all the other companies’ trucks had none and passengers had to store their bags in a mutual locker under the truck.  Other trucks would pull into camp and be pulling out bags covered in dust while my stuff was neatly packed away in a clean dry locker, which I could lock if I so choose.  Acacia trucks are also equipped with a deep freeze for food storage and most of the other trucks only had ice chest.  Thus, a big difference in the types of food we could stock.  Electrical outlets for charging batteries and an ipod station were a couple other huge benefits the other trucks lacked.  There are lots of long days on the road and everybody loved passing around the ipod creating a play-list of varied sorts by each passenger picking one song.  We’d pull into camp batteries all charged and visiting the campsite bar there would be dozens of folks from other operators vying for the one or two electrical outlets to charge for the next day.  Oh, one last thing. camping mats are provided a nice benefit over having to lug your own around.

If you’re dreaming of seeing Africa, I unequivocally recommend Acacia Africa.  If you have any questions, please get in touch.

International SOS is the world’s leading provider of medical assistance, international healthcare, and security services.  They are the team which rescued me in the Namibian desert and also evacuated me to my second facility for continued care.  I cannot say enough good things about them.  I was in a time of need and they delivered above and beyond in a not so hospitable environment.  Their staff was personable, well trained, and well equipped.  I wish my time in the hospital had been supervised by them.

International SOS also offers their own medical assistance and travel insurance.  While I haven’t used this, considering the wonderful experience I had with them during the rescue I would recommend taking the chance on them with insurance.  If their service is anything like their rescue services one will be very pleased.  It’s about twice as expensive as what I had purchased with HCC and the benefits are significantly reduced in scope, however in the future I will be going with them with the knowledge should I be unfortunate to be injured while traveling in the future, they’ll take care of everything in a premier way.