Skip to navigation

Mark Moxon's Travel Writing

The Gambia: Travelling Cushion

A bottle of Julbrew beer
Of course there's another, more traditional travelling cushion, which in the Gambia comes in the form of ice-cold Julbrew beer

Even though I've only been on the road for just over three weeks, I think it's safe to say that travelling in West Africa is hard going. A Spanish guy I met in Tendaba Camp summed it up rather well: 'I think travelling here is for masochists,' he said. 'If you visit once, you can put it down to accident, but if you keep coming back, you must be a little bit crazy.' I couldn't agree more; travelling here hurts.

Ah, the Memories

Having an aide-mémoire is important because the second way I cope with difficult travelling is by building up memories. I know from previous trips that one of the most magical aspects of travelling is the wonderful store of memories it gives you, from horror stories to mind-blowing experiences. You don't remember everything, by any means, but the mind has a delightful habit of storing the best memories at the top of the pile, and it even manages to conjure up happy memories from places where I know I was totally miserable. It's a clever bugger, the mind.