Liz Phair

An American man walks across Afghanistan by himself, equipped with nothing but a rucksack, a walking stick and an enormous Kurdish dog. Who hasn’t dreamed of setting off into the unknown? Of risking certain danger to explore the other side of the earth, both geographically and metaphorically? Few people have the guts to trek unarmed through hostile, war-torn foreign territory, relying upon the aid of often isolated, tribal communities, but the rewards of seeing a landscape from that personal and vulnerable perspective are manifold. It heartens the soul to believe that we can depend upon one another as human beings, that we can subsist upon such accessible and un-rarified values as family, hospitality and respect. Be prepared to cry, though.