I wrote a book.

Yes, an actual book. With a title (A Continental Affliction), a word count that would terrify a marathon runner, and enough coffee stains on my desk to qualify as modern art. Somewhere between parenting, working, and pretending my mad Wordle skills are actually skills, I thought: Sure, why not pile on writing a book?

Now, here we are. The manuscript exists, the ink is dry (digitally, at least), and thanks to BookBaby I’m ready to go public. Which means two things:

1. I can no longer deny that this project consumed countless mornings I could have spent sleeping.
2. You now get a front-row seat to the aftermath.

This blog series is my attempt to answer questions no one asked: What was I thinking? How does a person juggle a travel affliction? Do you have a favorite country? Why the hell did you think that was a good idea?

Stick around as I unpack the journey, the ideas, and the misadventures that led to A Continental Affliction. I look forward to sharing a year’s worth of planning and execution from way back in 1991 that took me around the globe before we had even heard of the world wide web.

And, I’ll attempt to address the question I posed to myself frrequently throughout the experience: “What have I done?”