Imagine you get off a bus in rural Uganda. A guy walks up, takes the backpack you're carrying out of your hand, and proceeds to walk off towards a nearby building. Is he trying to steal from you? Is he trying to scam you? Is he trying to help you? I found myself in that very situation. Travel savvy people might immediately suspect a tourist tout. Before you jump to conclusions, keep in mind that I was a half day's journey away from where anyone could reasonably expect a tourist on a … [Read more...]

If you play a computer game for more than 40 hours a week on average, skip classes, and don't shower for up to two weeks - is that an addiction? That was pretty much me some 15 years ago. At the time I was playing 'Everquest'. Total time spent inside that virtual fantasy world of elves and dwarves? More than 3,600 hours. I don't know the exact number, but that's what I last remember seeing on the game. I don't plan on logging back in again just to check. At one point I quit. In the space of a … [Read more...]

There is this popular, dramatic moment in movies where the selfless protagonist gives up their life in order to accomplish a heroic objective. Here's a secret: That's what we all will do one day. The day we die, regardless if it's the dramatic or the anti-climatic kind, we do so for everything we've done up to that point: For the relationships we cherished, for the things we built, for the know-how we shared, for the fun we had. By then, that will be all we ever did and all we will ever do. What … [Read more...]