I was in Napa when I saw it. The Journey is the Destination: The Journals of Dan Eldon. It was in one of those carefully curated book stores, where you can loiter all day with interest.
I picked it up. I leafed through it. I bought it {immediately}.
I don't want to tell you about Dan Eldon's journey because perhaps you might like to find out about that yourself. It's a complex, tragic and inspiring story. It's also hypnotic {really}.
I can tell you that one of the places Dan Eldon visited was Morocco. {Of course.}
But more than his beautiful images {of which there are many} and his poetic yet amusing words {many again}, it's his outlook on life that stops me in my tracks, his manifesto.
Here are his words:
"Free at last" Voyages - the search for clean water in a swamp.
Mission statement for....Safari as a Way of Life
To explore the unknown and the familiar, distant and near, and to record in detail with the eyes of a child, any beauty (of the flesh or otherwise), horror, irony, traces of utopia or Hell. Select your team with care, but when in doubt, take on new crew and give them a chance. But avoid at all costs fluctuations of sincerity with your best people.
Buy Journey as a Destination right here. Published by the brilliant Chronicle Books.