Notes from the Road Travelogue
Narrow dusk alley in Rovinj, Croatia—warm stone walls, glowing windows and lantern light, polished cobbles tapering toward the sea—an invitation to wander and discover Europe.

DISCOVER THE DRY WORLD

United by shared cultures, religions, and aridity, North Africa is sometimes called the Dry World — separated from its neighbors by sea and Sahara. Follow me through the medinas, courtyards, and desert landscapes of Morocco and beyond.

Narrow stone-paved alley in the Tunis Medina, framed by whitewashed walls, arched passageways, and blue-painted doors and windows.

Time in the Tunis Medina

In the Tunis Medina, walking with my family becomes a way of learning how ideas of power survive across generations.

Landscapes between Zaghouan's highlands and Lake Sejoumi, where villages, aqueducts, and salt lakes meet.

Zaghouan to Sebkhet Sejoumi

A path from mountain villages to the salt lakes of Tunis, where Roman stonework, birdlife, and landscape shape Tunisia's oldest stories.
Whitewashed blue-and-white hilltop village of Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia, overlooking the Mediterranean under bright afternoon light.

Fantastical Seaside Villages

In Tunisia's blue and white hilltop village, I explore what makes a place fantastical — and why true beauty is born from coherence, not imitation.
Majorelle Gardens in the Dry World

The Sun Offers No Wisdom

On a still afternoon in the baking sun on a street in Marrakech, the smell of an old city comes alive — dust and charcoal, stale food, incense, motor oil, damp stone.
Dry World: Essaouira Blue Boats

The Essaouira Murex

Notes on travel to Morocco's Atlantic coast city of Essaouira, where I explore the Jimi Hendrix fable and the historical blue dye everpresent in each back alley.
In the Dry World: Marrakech Arches

The Marrakech Orangerie

Why do we travel? In these notes from Marrakech, Morocco, I offer a different view of the pleasures and purposes of travel as I pursue the color and taste orange.
Tangier, Morocco

Tangier and the Imaginary Fromager

To follow in the footsteps of the world's greatest cheese traveler, we must begin in Tangier.
Marrakech, Morocco Drawings and Sketches

Morocco Sketches and Illustrations

My moleskine journal from Marrakech, as well as sketches and illustrations of Moroccan food, architecture and more.

What is the Dry World?

The Sahara, The Atlas Mountains and the Nile

You can see it clearly on any physical map. The Dry World is that only region colored in the khaki mocha tone of the Sahara sands. This region, then, is defined loosely by the Sahara desert, the Atlas Mountains in the west, and the Nile River in the east.

Arabic and Berber Languages

The Dry World is dominated by just two languages; the related languages of Arabic and Berber.

The Exit Point from Africa

Perhaps our greatest story is how we populated the world, a question which begins with how early humans, and also early hominins, left the African continent. The likely migration route is through North Africa. Anthropologists believe our ancestors have been migrating out of Africa for as long as 1.8 million years. This lends to the region's mystery as an ancient place, and a connection between the oldest civilizations.