Summing up

My good friends sometimes mock me for being a compulsory list maker and they're right - always have been & probably always will be. I don't just create To Do or Wish lists but note down bullet points about everything that grabs my attention, be it cultural events, food items, career ideas, cities I'd love to live in or cozy coffeehouses to visit next time I'm in [insert the name of just about any place I've visited in the past five years!]. As said before, this process helps to declutter my overflowing mind and attempts to restore pristine order where utter chaos reigns (of course this never works). When it comes to sorting out my thoughts about this five-month journey through Africa I think I could do with a few handy lists. If someone asked me me now "How was the trip?" soooo many sights, sounds, smells, impressions, feelings and observations would come flooding in that I'm more likely to respond with "Uhm, well, intense" than say anything remotely sensible! I'm very rarely lost for words but find it almost impossible to articulate what this experience has meant to me, or how it has affected my worldview. Sure, a few trivial lists can't convey how much East Africa got under my skin, but maybe they can paint a picture of why I marvelled & sometimes despaired at it. Coming soon...