A Life of Travel: A surreal destination that left me in tears

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It's Tuesday and it's time for a travel newsletter...

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Hello from North Carolina!

Although, I only arrived here a few days ago.

The past three weeks were spent in Mauritania. I was there for my Wandering Earl Tour around that country with a group of 12 adventurous souls.

Mauritania as a travel destination is surreal.

It’s a land where you spend days contemplating life within the impossibly endless desert, rolling along the sweeping orange, red, brown and white sand dunes, passing only camels and caravans, where roads are simply the tracks in the sand that your 4×4 vehicle creates.

The desert landscape changes every few minutes. It changes in color, texture, vibe and dazzling effect on the traveler’s curious and jumbled mind.

This is a country where you come to disconnect. Internet is not widespread beyond the capital city of Nouakchott. Even when you have a faint connection, the allure and power of the quiet nature around you has already plucked away any desire to know what’s going on in the outside world.

The desert is all-consuming. It sucks you in, quickly. It leaves you wanting more desert and less noise. The sand builds up - it’s in your shoes, your pockets, your eyes, your ears. It’s annoying for a brief moment and then, before you blink again, it feels so natural.

The gorgeous canyons, ancient UNESCO villages, mysterious geological formations, breathtakingly rugged coastlines and the occasional oasis, with its palm trees and handful of nomadic tents appearing out of the sand in the most inexplicable of locations - it’s as if there is not a moment that passes without feeling some form of awe.

The experience is shared with a handful of kind, welcoming Mauritanians that you come across and an absurdly large number of camels that seem to outnumber humans 100 to 1.

Traveling here gives you an unmistakable lesson on the true meaning of ‘remote’ and ‘inner peace’ and there is more beauty in those concepts than most of us imagine. In fact, I can say from first hand experience that it’s pretty darn hard not to shed a therapeutic tear or two (or three) at the sheer wonder and serenity of it all.

Does this sound a bit too much? Perhaps. But if you’ve been to Mauritania, you’d understand.

And if such an adventure sounds like your thing, I’m offering this unique trip again in December. There are currently 6 spots already booked!

Here’s the details: Wander to Mauritania - Dec 2025

words to ponder

“Restlessness is a sign you've overstayed your welcome with where you are and need to leave by moving toward the person you can be. Our love of stability keeps us where we are. The key is to leave just before you’re ready. If you leave too late, you miss the opportunity.” - Farnam Street

“Maybe ‘the point’ isn’t to live more, in the literal sense of a longer or more productive life, but rather, to be more alive in any given moment—a movement outward and across, rather than shooting forward on a narrow, lonely track.” - Jenny Odell

“You’re mad, bonkers, completely off your head. But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are.” - Lewis Carroll

around the globe

🇺🇿 Life and Death in the Central Asian Desert
This is a great read about one traveler’s deep journey through Uzbekistan and the resulting education from their experiences.

🇵🇰 Dunes of Pakistan
Take one look at the world’s highest cold desert, with it’s remarkable beauty, and you’ll want to book a trip to the mountains of Pakistan straight away!

🇮🇳 Whistling Village in India
In the Khasi Hills of India’s state of Meghalaya, there is a unique village that whistles. Each of the 700 residents has a whistled tune associated with them, basically as a nickname. No two tunes are the same and mothers create the tunes shortly before giving birth.

🖼️ New Museums to Visit
Here’s a collection of 10 new museums in a wide range of countries that are opening up in 2025!

🇯🇵 Ancient Craft of Temari
It’s an impossibly precise, 1000 year old craft where baseball-sized balls are stitched with intricate and colorful patterns as a symbol of health and goodness. They are then passed on through generations.

🐫 Medieval Trade Routes
It’s probably not something you wish existed, but here’s an incredibly detailed map of 11th-12th century trade routes around the globe. Open it up, start zooming in and see what you learn!

🇳🇿 New Zealand Visas
One of the strictest countries when it comes to allowing visitors to work remotely, New Zealand has eased their visa rules. Now, if you’re a traveler with a remote job, you can visit New Zealand for up to 90 days and do your online work without any consequences.

🧳 Favorite Off-the-Beaten-Path Destinations
This Reddit travel thread has people sharing favorite off-the-beaten-path destinations that they’ve been to, offering a long list of places to research and consider visiting!

🏙️ Most Visited Cities in the World
Can you guess which 10 cities received the most number of visitors in 2024? I’d bet that very few people would guess #6!

where in the world?

A big congratulations to those who guessed the location of the photo in the previous newsletter! Here’s who guessed correctly:

Craig, Dianne, Scott, Steve, Julia, Ann, Francis, Dorota, Mike, Mark and York

The photo is of the Monster Building in Quarry Bay, Hong Kong. It consists of 5 connected apartment buildings that house a total of 10,000 people in over 2000 units. It’s quite a sight and has become a popular spot for photography.

This week’s photo:

It’s time to guess…where was the below photo taken?

If you have a guess (the more specific the better), click reply and let me know. Anyone who guesses correctly will be mentioned in next week's newsletter 😄 

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Thank you so much for reading!

Derek
(my middle name is Earl)

WanderingEarl.com

Travel Insurance: My personal recommendation for affordable and reliable travel insurance is Safety Wing. It was created by travelers, for travelers, and it's rapid growth in popularity is well-deserved.

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