All Those Books

It has come to the attention of my agents and entourage that my many books and book titles are confusing people. While I enjoy a good practical joke every now and then, it was not my intention to have people buying more books than necessary.

So here is a primer on all the books available from 275Days.

We'll start with the most recent…actually, no, that's probably going to be more confusing and not very helpful. Let's start at the beginning, maybe that will clear things up. The real beginning, for me. For this story, at least.

A bunch of years ago now, we had a super cool opportunity, and out of that, we took some time off to travel around the world with our two kids for nine months. Before we left home, I was thinking about how to keep family and friends informed of what we were doing, and a blog was the best I could come up with. Nine months is pretty close to 275 days, so that's where the name of the blog came from. (Actually, if you subtract our departure day and our return day, we were gone for 275 days.) What I did know was that I would take lots of pictures in lots of cool places, and people would probably be interested in that. This was 2007, so youtubing while travelling was not really a big thing, and I didn't want to be spending the trip videoing everything and then being glued to a computer during all of our down time. 

I won't get into the details of the trip here, but the low down is this:

One month in Italy

Five weeks in Greece

Four weeks in Turkey

About two weeks each in 

Syria

Jordan

Egypt

Eleven weeks in India

And the final two months for a rush job of 

Thailand

Cambodia

Vietnam

and Laos

I started writing before we got to Rome, the first place on our itinerary, and did not let up until we left the airport in Incheon, Korea, on our way back home. 

I ended up with a couple hundred posts, with more than thousand pictures on the blog. That's just a guess. I never actually counted how many pictures I included, but it was a fraction of the twenty thousand I took. And those two hundred-plus posts clocked in at over 150,000 words. Yikes, what a mouthful.

I spent a couple years preparing for an art show in 2010, and then had more time to think about the value of all those words and photos. It seemed a shame to just have it sit on the computer in our house, only to be seen on anniversary dates of being here or there, or when we (I) were feeling particularly nostalgic. But as I reread the blog, two things were clear: there were a lot of great stories lingering in that mass of words, and; it deserved a far better fate than to simply disappear in an electronic recycling depot. A book seemed like the logical answer. After a bit of editing and a lot of designing, I came up with a book so massive that it required two volumes. The online printing service, Blurb, had a page limit and I was well over. At this point, two more things were clear: it would need considerably more editing, and: it was beautiful. This could work.

Things Will Not Always Be As They Were

 One of the great joys of the big trip we did several years ago, was visiting Syria before the fighting broke out.

With the events of the past decade, I wonder what has become of the many children we met, who stepped forward to welcome us, to ask questions and pose for photos, kids who would now be in their late teens and early twenties.

Syria is rich in history, with a city like Damascus that has been continuously inhabited for four thousand years. Evidence at a nearby site, barely twenty kilometres away, suggests the existence of a small town from ten thousand years ago. Aleppo has been inhabited in some form or another for eight thousand years.

Apamea was a Greek and Roman city located about 100 kms southwest of Aleppo, with a population that exceeded 100,000 at the turn of the millenium (Year 0). Its most striking remaining feature is its main colonnade, nearly two kilometres long, still lined by dozens of pillars, still paved with original stones. The memory of walking that road still gives me chills.

It's a stunning site/sight that is only outdone by the extraordinary friendliness of the people of Syria. There are friendly people all over the world - we of course hail from Friendly Manitoba - but our experience in Syria is something we will carry with us to the end of our days. The occasional kiss, the firm handshakes, the effervescent smiles and enthusiastic welcomes from people of all ages made Syria a highlight of our travels.

Main Colonnade at Apamea

Wandering a bit around Apamea

Entry arch at Palmyra

Temple of Bel, Palmyra

A window at Azem Palace in Damascus. Note the cat.

One of Hama's many water wheels.

Window at Krak des Chevaliers

Looking out over the countryside from Krak des Chevaliers.