HAPPY 2013!
2013 promises to be a blast!
So how did I do on last year’s resolutions? To remind you they were:
- Publish my first book
- Visit at least 12 new countries.
- Acquire conversational Arabic and Intermediate Spanish.
- Capture half a dozen flags.
1. Visit 12+ new countries
In keeping with my ultimate goal of visiting every country in the world, the standard dirty dozen new countries will need to be visited. As I came up 2 countries short last year, ideally I’d like to visit 14, but I’m not going out of my way.
I’ve already booked flights for the first few targets. After a two day stopover in Luxembourg (+1), I’m joining two other crewmembers, in Dubai, UAE and then it’s on to visit a friend (Dan from the book) in Muscat, Oman (+2).
From there, it’s back to the Horn of Africa. I’ve already been to Ethiopia, but the real destinations are Djibouti and Somaliland (visas and logistics pending). It may be a dangerous affair, but Somali pirates are not match for Mexican pirates! Yarr! On the other hand, I may be kidnapped, tortured and killed. Narr…
3. Speak 7 languages… poorly.
2013 will be the year of Babel. In the Gulf and the Horn, my tri-dialectic confused Arabic and my West African French will get some exercise, but if the Silk Road goes ahead, I’ll need to acquire basic Farsi for Iran and Afghanistan (the latter of which mainly speak Dari, which is similar). Our travel plans will also take us over central Asia, so my Russian will needs to be tight, too. The trip will also bring us to China, so I’ll have dust off my Mandarin dictionary and brush up on my Chinese… five years later. AND, on top of juggling French, Arabic, Chinese, Farsi and Russian, I’ll be keeping up my Spanish throughout the year. It’s far from ideal, but that just the way the travel plans are this year. I’ll be lucky if I get anywhere with any of them. The year of Babel, indeed!
For 2014, I think I’ll just focus my travel around one language…
3. Capture half a dozen flags
After reaching 50 flags last year (52 atm), I thought I was done with flagging… but I can’t f**king help it! When you travel, it’s just part of the fun. (Plus, it doesn’t help when you write a blog about it!) I also like the challenge. New notches do nothing for me, but at least with new flags I still get kicks. Last year, my most desired flag was any Arabic flag – and I jigging over when I got it. So, another six will do nicely.
Most desired flags of 2013:
Somalia, but the chances of that happening are zero. Apart from that, I’d be happy with any central Asian or Muslim flag.
Most likely flags of 2013:
I don’t know.. they are increasing in scarcity. Probably the odd European flag, a central Asian and an African.
What’s your New Year Resolutions?
Massive year!! That’s a hugely impressive stretch of languages.
You’ve got an impressive vocabulary of international languages under your belt. Being on this site for a while has changed my perception of you quite a bit, I thought you were another shallow, Westerner sex-tourist clown – but it seems like you genuinely make an effort in getting the most out of these travels and invest yourself in the languages.
Also just wondering, which university did you do your international relations degree from? And how do you expect to use it professionally?
@Ali: I did IR more out of interest than for a career. I’m a nerd at heart. I’d also like to perhaps get into development later in life.
Also, for the Silk Road, some Urdu/Hindi is a must to get across Pakistan and India . Luckily, both languages are very similar with only slightly different vocabulary and are understood interchangeably, Urdu is written like Farsi and is somewhat similar.
ya complete europe while you still can every year they are shrinkin away and becomin rarer(they need you to populate the region lol)
since your arabic is gonna take work ..why not just put of the middle east trip and head to latin america while your spanish is still strong.
plenty of chicas and adventure there(honduras has the highest homicide rate in the world)