65 days in

No Christmas Spirit in Tangier

We finally made it to Morocco after our stranding in Tarifa. In the end we discovered that ships would probably be leaving from Algeciras, so a day after our scheduled departure we took a bus and half an hour after arriving in the nearby port city, we were on the ferry to Tangier.

The boat, however, didn’t leave for another two hours.

That left us stranded with nothing to do but chat to our new travel friends, Susan and Akiwa while we waited for something, anything, to happen. Akiwa, a lovely Japanese woman travelling to Morocco for a few days sightseeing, and Susan, an American traveller of 20 years experience, met somewhere in Spain and where both headed for Morocco via Tarifa. But they bumped into us in Tarifa long enough to discover the boats were cancelled and so followed along to Algeciras in search of trees bearing fruit.

By the time the now overfull ferry got underway, an enormous line of people waiting to have their passports stamped had developed in front of us. And with the high seas half the queue began vomiting at regular intervals. Add to that the absolute debarcle trying to get our passports signed -the queue by this stage had disintegrated into little more than an unruly mob of angry men (of which I was a member) haranguing and arguing at one, that’s right one, customs official - and you’ve got one of the most interesting boat rides I’ve ever been on.

Eventually we made it off the boat an hour after landing in Tangier and wandered around with another traveller, Ely (the girls, having had the foresight to get passport stamps early, had left us ages ago), looking for a cheap hotel. Eventually we secured a damp and dingy little chamber with the help of a local tout, took a shower, grabbed a quick bight and crashed out, exhausted by the long day of travel and customs beaurocracy gone mad.

The next day, today, is Christmas. But it couldn’t feel less like it. Obviously no one here celebrates the birth of Santa, so we said a quick Merry Christmas to one another, opened the gifts we’d been saving and popped out for breakfast, where we were instantly accosted by Yousseff the tout from the night before. Today’s encounter ended badly: Yousseff started asking for money (despite promising the night before he didn’t want any) using the lame excuse his mother needed a trip to hospital, we refused flatly, he got upset and buggered off, we also got upset and buggered off, but not before telling Yousseff to bugger off.

Shortly after we parted ways with Ely and found our way to a nicer hotel. After a quick walk around we bumped into none other than Susan again and ended up spending the rest of the day hanging out with her, drinking tea and coffee while she waited for her bus to Essaouira. There was little else to do as it did nothing but rain torrentially the entire day.

Tomorrow we head for Chefchaouen and a more chilled out atmosphere. To me Tangier is a port city like most port cities: a bit of a seedy place filled with down-and-outs waiting for suckers or transients waiting for boats. Pretty cool place to though.

61 days in

Trapped in Tarifa

Four buses got us to the seaside town of Tarifa in the early evening yesterday. After the cold dry of Granadan foothills the day was lost to rain, so it was a good thing we got bus after bus with little more than a 15 minute wait between each. With barely time to spare for lunch we grabbed dirty looking, great tasting kebabs in the Malaga bus station and scoffed them faster than they took for the guy to make.

When we got to Tarifa, to the welcome of warm winds and cold rain, we learned of the weather forcing cancellations of boats destined for Morocco, boats we need to get on in two days. And the weather doesn’t look likely to improve any time soon.

Tarifa is a tiny place made famous for its wind. Before kitesurfing and windsurfing became the town’s lucrative meal ticket it was some backwater boot heal place. Behind the lines of surf shops adorned with neon bright posters and jagged, adventurous sounding text the impression of a fishing industry backwater is still tangible.

But I couldn’t care less either way to be honest. I’m tired of Spain. I’m tired of having everything handed to me on a plate, for an inflated price. I want to struggle and achieve each destination, dirt cheap and with all the frustration and grime that comes with the third world. Hopefully Morocco will start to feed my hunger for self-flagellating travel, but that place too is pretty well catered for these days. At least it won’t feel like Australia with Spanish accent.

I think my melancholy has something to do with Mauritania being off now. Before that, Mauri was the Wild West for me. Now that the Wild West has gotten too wild for us westerners, I’m again faced with watered-down versions of travel adventure. It all feels rather fucked.

Mali I’m certain will be challenging. But without going through Mauri Mali is hard to get to. A boat to Senegal may be the answer, but god only knows what that might entail. It could mess with going through the Western Sahara.

Things aren’t going according to plan. Maybe they shouldn't?

60 Days in

Mauritanian Kidnappings, Sickness and Seville

I'm sick. The last few days have been pretty wild in Seville. We stayed in a good hostel with plenty of young people all geared for drinking. Plus there was a bar in the hostel, so I drank alot. That made me sick on our last day in Seville and now I have a full blown lung infection.

Hopefully my health improves before we head for Africa, and in an attempt to speed my recovery I've been holed up in a quiet Hostel in Granada, eating good food and resting.

Also we found out two Italians were kidnapped yesterday in Mauritania by a group linked to al Qaeda. This is on top of three Spaniards who were also kidnapped at the beginning of December. We were hoping the situation in the region would stabilise over time, but this latest kidnapping confirms it's only getting worse.

I was still keen to go the Mauritania, even after hearing about the Spanish victims. But after this most recent news the risk is too great.

We're now trying to organise a ship to take us from Morocco into Senegal and onto Mali from there. Mali is still risky, but so long as the north of the country is avoided there shouldn't be any problems.

A run-down of kidnappings in the region over the past five years can be found here: www.reliefweb.int

54 days in

central spanish incidents

Back on the road and we’ve hit a few places in quick succession.

Hearing it was a buzzing place, we took a 5 hour bus from Asturias to Salamanca and decided to spend a couple of nights in a decent hotel. The place was nice, but we didn’t meet anyone there - you never do in hotels. Salamanca was in full Christmas swing and full of swinging tourists. Had a nice vibe but I thought it was a little touristic.

Next we travelled by bus to Madrid. The hostel we tried for was “completo” so we trudged with our equipment for a while until we got to a nice hotel we’d heard about right near the central plaza. We stayed two days; cleaned our clothes, watched Surrealist art and even took in a movie one night. Apart from that Madrid was uneventful and really just a big city. But I like big cities.

We decide to make for Toledo next. My brother had told me it was pretty cool - historically known for its steel manufacturing - and man what a place! We stayed in this crazy old castle that’d been converted into a hostel. But the inside looked more like a hospital to me, all sterile and it had that bleached hospital smell to boot.

Day 2 of Toledo gave us a shock. I opened the windows to find snow coming down in great white chunks. What a sight to see in the semi-desert of central Spain! For me all the more as I’ve only ever once before seen snow, when I lived in London. Bewildered by the beauty we wandered into the little town and made a snowman in a central square. This caused a bit of a stir, I guess because people in the desert don’t often make snowmen. We even got a TV news crew stroll up and start asking us questions. They were disappointed when we couldn’t speak Spanish for them. At least they got a good backdrop for their story though.

The photography and writing is coming easier now too. I feel more in tune with the road and I think it must be helping my creativity somewhat. But the project isn’t going according to plan, so I’m just shooting what I feel like at the moment. Afterwards I’ll make sense of it all because everything is way too frenetic for me to conjure while I’m in it.

Next we’re to a place called Carceres. Kind of out of the way for tourists, which suits me fine – I hate being in places where everyone goes. I am starting to miss people though; I have the sort of mind that enjoys meeting people and it’s been just me and Sian for a week now. Cabin fever is setting in.

46 days in

northern spain: asturias

Six days in the Asturian Mountains with hippies has done weird things to my brain, I think. But it could just be all the dope I smoked.

After a couple of uneventful days in Zaragoza, we set of to visit my brother, Sean, in Northern Spain. What an experience.

The first night we stayed at his Spanish friend’s cabin outside the regional capital Oviedo… and smoked weed.

The second night we trekked a short distance up a track in the mountains to see another of Sean’s friends, this cool English guy named Zac… and smoked weed in his solar powered stone cabin.

Third night: same as the second, except we watched The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou on the laptop.

By this time, Sian was getting irritated by all the sitting around smoking weed and talking about weed, so we trekked a bit further onto Johnno’s place. No dope smoking this time, we got drunk instead.

Following our stay with Johnno and his lovely, heavily pregnant, Spanish wife Sandra, we trekked a further two hours across yet more mountains to Ian and Louise’s; a couple who’ve chosen to live a life isolated from civilisation and in tune with nature.

Sounds like a lovely idea, but they really are roughing it as they prepare their land for self-sufficiency. I had to admire their determination.

This all sounds a bit extreme - and in some regards it is. But all of Sean’s friends a wonderfully friendly, happy people who’ve simply chosen an alternative path in life, one different from the usual nine-to-five rat race most of us endure. A lifestyle aligned with simplicity, nature and low impact subsistence.

Who can blame them?

38 days in

crystal palace

With the UK conquered and Spain awaiting, we spent a few days relaxing with two friends from Australia who’ve recently moved to Crystal Palace, about 20 minutes out of London.

Garry and Jesse’s flat is tiny, so we’ve had to kip on the floor. But It’s been great just chilling out, watching TV. Haven’t done alot else, save a day out in London town showing Sian the sights.

Leaving for Zaragoza and stage two of our journey Monday morning, early… very, very early…

34 days in

haunted hostel in wales

Wales has done nothing but rain since we got here, so we haven't had the chance to climb Snowdonia Mountain. Shame, but I wasn't too keen on getting soaked to the skin for the second time in as many weeks.

We did, however, stumble across this spooky old hostel in the middle of the Welsh Valleys.

Now owned by an American guy, the place used to be a YMCA hostel back in the 50's, so it's all old and creepy looking.

The creepiness was compounded by the fact that we were the only guests and the horrible weather.

If we survive the night we'll be heading for Bristol and then onto London in the next few days, in preparation for the Spanish league of the journey.

29 days in

creeping even further up north

After avoiding savage rains and devastating floods in the Lake District by a matter of hours, we forged our way into Scotland, and yesterday arrived in Inverness, our northern-most mark of the trip.

We were attempting to make it to John-o-Groats, the absolute top of Great Britain, but time constraints make that impossible. Plus there’s apparently not alot there. Not that there is alot in Inverness; the place really feels pretty damn isolated. Quite nice though, if you can get past the druggies.

We also stayed a couple of nights in Glen Coe (pictured) on the way up, a place best described as simply stunning.

Not much in the way of photographic material though, pretty landscapes aside.

Tomorrow we head back down into Wales to pay homage to Sian’s Family heritage and more mountains. Then it’s back to London for a few days staying with friends while we prepare for the Spanish league of our journey.

24 days in

creeping up north

When you think you've seen enough scenery, you find yourself somewhere that makes you want more.

Arriving in Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales, we rekindle our love for greenery and rusting leaves as we take an atmospheric hike in the damp and muddy hills towering over the tiny, quaint town of Bwlch (yes, that's right. No vowels here).

The cameras come back out.

Despite experiencing a grueling 5 hour hike in ankle deep mud and flooded plains, we were sad to leave Wales, but had to duck out to visit old friends further north.

We shall soon return.

We do look forward to Spain and Africa as our CF cards become crammed with countless images of mountain after mountain, cottage after cottage, forest after forest, castle after castle....

We look forward to adding some deserts and slums into the mix.

19 days in

cardiff doldrums

With the UK road trip firmly underway, today we arrived in Cardiff, Wales. The rain was there to greet us.

Frankly I don't really like what little I've seen of Cardiff; to me the place has British big city problems without British big city cool, which leaves me to ask the question, what's the point? Hostel's pretty nice though.

Tomorrow we head for the Brecon Beacons, apparently a beautiful example of Welsh countryside. However after Cornwall and North Devon I'm getting pretty over the whole breathtaking-cliffs-meets-wild-seas-while-quaint-villages-nestle-in-serene-valleys motif. At least the Beacons aren't near the ocean i spose.

And perhaps I'm just in a negative mood at the moment and nothing can please me. Sounds more accurate than everything being crap except my opinions anyway.

12 days in

west country

We arrived in the UK a while back now, and haven't done much else aside from meeting old friends and going to the pub. But what else do you do in England?

Today we head for Cornwall, the place where I was born. For me, this contains a degree of sentimentality: I've never really explored the place where I was born and lived until I was about 5. Suffice to say I'm pretty excited about the next league of the trip.

0 weeks, 7 days to go

article published

^{More coverage, which is always great for self funders like us.}

Thanks to Xpress magazine for running a bit about our project in issue# 1183: www.xpressmag.com.au

1 week, 6 days to go

getting excited

Getting pretty fucking excited about going now, but it’s also getting harder to keep finding things to write about when the trip hasn’t begun yet. I mean, what do you say when nothing happens?

Having said that, we have been finalising the trip - trying to tie up loose ends before departure and ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible while we’re travelling around. But I’m pretty sure we won’t get everything done. For one I keep remembering things to do and then not writing them down, so I forget to do them again.
Oh well, wouldn’t wanna over plan the thing anyway.

2 weeks 5 days to go

final preparations commence

Today we started doing the final checks on all our equipment. Stuff like making the tent (which already broke... but we fixed it again), checking the sleeping bags, getting camera lenses fixed. Its fun playing with all our new toys, but I’m sure the novelty will wear off once we start lugging it everywhere with us.

3 weeks 2 days to go

new destination: senegal

We’ve changed our plan a bit. Because of the heightened security situation in Mauritania, we’ve chosen to only remain in the country for a few days, rather than travel around for a month and cross the border into Mail. Instead we’ll travel down Mauritania on our way to Senegal. Senegal’s safer and it also borders with Mali, so we thought we could more safely travel this way.

Plus we get to visit an extra country, yay.

4 weeks 5 days to go

nothing happens

Seems like lately all we do is sit around waiting for the trip to begin. It’s boring. We research stuff about the countries we’re going to and check latest news in an attempt to weigh up the safety aspects of what we’re about to embark on. But other than that all we do is watch TV and eat. Suffice to say I’ve put on a few kilos, but I figure I’m gonna lose more than I’ve gained during the trip anyway, so it’s probably a good thing. Sort of feels like a hibernation period before the long, long journey.

And we still don’t know if we’re going to Mauritania.

5 weeks 0 days to go

attended colourful people exhibition

Last night we attended the unveiling of Colourful People; a group exhibition organised by local artists aiming to raise funds for The Hunger Project.

The Hunger Project is an international charity focussed on ending hunger in developing nations, with an emphasis on empowering local people.

untitled Chris Poore












Buyers raised nearly $3000 in the auction, with 100% of proceeds going to the worthy organisation.

As the only exhibiting photographer, I can’t decide if I was at an advantage or behind the eight ball. Still, I managed to sell three of the four pieces I submitted, one of which was the silhouetted basket carrier we use to promote Project Possession.

For the next two weeks, all unsold artworks are still available for sale. A PDF of the auction pamphlet with all the important information can be obtained if anyone’s interested. Contact me and I’ll arrange to have it emailed to you:

info@davidjobradley.com

6 weeks, 1 day to go

Move to Yanchep

Neither Sian nor I have ever owned our own house, which offers advantages to extended international travel. But, like anything, there’s always drawbacks.

Monday we moved out of where we were living into a friends place for the final six weeks before departure. While we’re always grateful for the support our friends offer us, Greg’s house is more than an hour north of the Perth city centre, in coastal town called Yanchep.

When everything you do is in the city, the logistical problems of living in a place as far as Yanchep are huge. We have to get up earlier, leave the house earlier, plan our entire day before leaving the house and ensure we have everything we need for the day before we go, because there ain’t no going back once we’ve left.

Couple that with the strain of planning a large-scale trip and you have mayhem.

But it is nice to be in a quiet coastal town, away from everyone and free of noise pollution.

8 weeks, 0 days to go

Article Published

















More coverage, this time in the Joondalup Weekender.

As always, thanks for all the support.

9 weeks, 3 days to go

Mauritanian Leg of Journey in Jeopardy

Recent terrorist activity in Mauritania has meant western governments are advising travelers to the country seriously rethink their plans.

The US has gone as far as withdrawing its volunteer aid workers, who've worked in Mauritania for over 40 years.

For us, this could prove a huge obstacle to the course of the Project Possession: not entering Mauritania means not entering Mali, which means not finishing in Timbuktu.

Right now we're concerned about these recent developments, but remain determined to complete the project.

Other routes are being looked into, and we remain hopeful things will change in Mauritania. But safety is always of key concern.

Besides, all it might mean is we go to Egypt instead.

9 weeks, 6 days to go

Article Published

The Media Train has begun...

Awareness is a major part of the project, we want people to know what we are doing.

Luckily it's been fairly easy to generate interest, people don't often independently embark on a project of such scale.

Our plan is to firstly target local media. That done we'll then set our sites on larger media bodies.

Media packs can be obtained by contacting:

projectpossession@davidjobradley.com

10 weeks 0 days to go

Departure Date Looms Closer, We Get Busier

Most of our time recently has been - and continues to be - spent soliciting sponsorship from various companies around Perth, with some success. Thanks to everyone for their generous support, particularly the companies listed to your right

Hopefully a video camera will materialise shortly, so we can begin logging the final weeks of organisation.

We've also secured a bit of local media attention, which has been fun and may help to spread the message in a more traditional fashion.

More to be added soon.

11 weeks, 1 day to go

Updates about the final stages of the planning proccess will be posted very soon.

After that you can expect regular updates about our progress as we're travelling.

For any info not displayed here go to www.davidjobradley.com or email projectpossession@davidjobradley.com

Thank you.

about the project

an in-depth explanation

The resulting images of Project Possession will follow the historical clash of cultures united under the banner of religion, showing the similarities and differences between cultures in the West, the East and Africa by tracing their historical transitions, transitions instigated by religion and domination.

From the United Kingdom, birthplace of Anglican Christianity, David travels to Spain, a Catholic state who not only attempted invasion of England under religious pretence during the Anglo-Spanish War in the 16th century, but who themselves struggled under occupation for hundreds of years at the hand of medieval Islamic power states.

From Spain David then moves into Morocco, the country from which eighth century Muslim invaders launched their campaigns against Spanish Catholic sovereignty. David continues to follow the religious trail by moving into Mali, where Islamic and African Tribal Animism begins to blend. Here David will focuss on a now vanished people, the fabled Tellem tribes of Mali’s Dogon country; a group of cliff dwelling pigmy people who, following clashes with Dogon Animist groups, are said to have fled the Dogon region for the Seno-Gondo plains of central West Africa.

Finally David will travel to France, colonial occupier of Mali and empirical enemy of England, who up until the 20th century were the world’s greatest rivals. This final leg of the journey connected all aspects of the study, steering the focus back to countries like the UK, who since World War One have become increasingly less religious.

But more importantly the study questions wider ideas around religion and culture. From the progressively secular United Kingdom, to Catholic Spain, Muslim Morocco, Tribal Mali and back to liberal France, this photographic study considers religion’s place in society, asking the question “what has been lost by discarding religion, and what do those who hold on to it still desire?”

Given the world’s current political, social and economic climate, this all-encompassing question is part of an essential step toward the greater understanding of the different cultures of the world, a step that will foster the necessary goodwill required to overcome the vastly complex issues surrounding our planet’s single most important challenge, climate change.