In Baptism of Solitude Paul Bowles wrote,

"Here in this wholly mineral landscape lighted by stars like flares, even memory disappears; nothing is left but your own breathing and the sound of your heart beating.  A strange… process of reintegration begins inside you, and you have the choice of fighting against it, and insisting on remaining the person you have always been, or letting it take its course."

Personal experience bids me to second Bowles’ observation.  Indeed, the reverberations of my own jolting, desert-induced, internal re-ordering brought on in the Grand Canyon during an OARS dories river trip never fail to echo through me as I explore other deserts - 
the Taklimakan, the Thar, the Moroccan Sahara.

In this issue we bring you an opportunity to experience your own brand of desert clarity - Global Sojourns' epic cycling trip through the Gobi Desert in Mongolia - a note about Doug Levitt’s creative exploration of the U.S. in Greyhound Diaries, and a look at one Peace Corps volunteer’s 150 mile run in the sand.

Thanks for your support in Off the Radar’s first year, and happy travels in 2007.  - Christina Heyniger

Priscilla Macy had a career in international development before launching her self-proclaimed "labor of love," Global Sojourns.  Given her knowledge and experience working in developing countries, it comes as no surprise that her hand-crafted trip itineraries are of the highest caliber.  She offers only a handful of small group trips with unusually specialized itineraries each year.

For her Mongolian cycle trip, the team flies south from the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator to Three Camels Lodge, located in the Gobi Desert adjacent to Gobi Gurransaikhan National Park. Priscilla leads her guests through varied terrain - dirt roads, moderate hills, some sand - while a support team conveys gear and equipment (and tired cyclists) from one camp to the next.  The team stops along the way to volunteer in local schools, resting at night in traditional Mongolian gers, enjoying evenings by the firelight. Required reading: James Ramsey Ullman’s 1953 classic, The Sands of Karakorum. For more information contact Priscilla at macy@globalsojourns.com.

This year we heard about all kinds of unconventional travel, and how people use travel not only to explore beautiful landscapes, but also draw attention to issues such as environmental conservation and poverty. Singer/songwriter and friend since undergraduate days in upstate N.Y., Doug Levitt, brings us another wonderful example of the Unconventional Issue-Oriented Adventure.

Trading in his successful gig as a journalist working in Bosnia, Rwanda, and Iran several years ago, Doug recently completed his second tour through the wilds of America, mixing with the locals while traveling exclusively by Greyhound bus, performing his music at various unlikely venues along the way. 

He’s documented his experience in a book and album titled Greyhound Diaries. Laugh-out-loud funny and consistently thought provoking, you can sample his art in his Greyhound Diaries podcast - a funky collage of songs, radio theater-style anecdotes rich with regional accents, and fascinating political commentary on a turbulent political season.