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An endangered Red Colobus monkey in the Jozani Forest in Zanzibar - OTD during last year’s 100-day adventure.

A monkey with distinctive black, white, and reddish fur is perched on a tree branch surrounded by lush green leaves.
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Fish market in Zanzibar - OTD during last year’s 100-day adventure.

A variety of fresh fish are displayed on a table at a market stall, with a person reading a newspaper nearby.
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Sorta fun map. I guess I’m a US Level 207, depending on how you count. The “levels” are a bit opaque. I’m using “stayed here” to mean visited for a week or more, visiting is more than a day, stopped here is a day. There’s an EU version too.

A stylized map of the United States is divided into multicolored regions with a rainbow-striped box in the lower center.
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Joined a buddy for a 5k walk at Papago Park this morning. Always good to spend some time among the creosote.

A desert landscape features rugged red rock formations and sparse vegetation under a mostly overcast sky.
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It’s suddenly become a rather busy 6 weeks of travel starting next week. First trip is 10 days in Costa Rica/Nicaragua, followed by a week long work trip to Seattle, then directly on to Dallas for a week, then home for a week before heading off to El Salvador/Honduras for a week. Whew!

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Roadside produce market in Tanzania - OTD during last year’s 100-day adventure.

A roadside market features stalls displaying colorful containers and fresh produce with people walking by.
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It’s gorgeous weather outside today, so I grabbed a couple sandwiches to go and brought Jen out for a quick picnic in the park for lunch.

A tray on an outdoor table holds a packaged sandwich and a canned drink beside a small container of sauce, with a pond and palm trees in the background.
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Browsing the buffet - OTD during last year’s 100-day adventure.

A giraffe is munching on leaves from a bush with a backdrop of lush greenery.
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Now accepting housesitting applications for our home in Phoenix between mid-Dec 2026 and mid-Jan 2027. No pets to manage, just free lodging for you. Borrow our car. Wear shorts on Christmas. Visit the Grand Canyon. Hug a saguaro. Hike a mountain preserve. Get some tacos. Enjoy a nearly free trip.

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Say cheese, Eddie! - OTD during last year’s 100-day adventure.

People in a safari vehicle are observing a lion resting in the grass nearby.
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Visiting a coffee plantation in Tanzania - OTD during last year’s 100-day adventure.

Two people are tending to rows of young plants in a lush, forested area.
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We successfully rebooked our New Orleans road trip—the canceled one we would currently be on—for later in March. I’ll drive over with our camping stuff and Jen will fly in/out for the long weekend. We’ll mark off two national park units, a state capitol, the World War II museum, and some counties.

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Checking back in on my Places I’d like to travel to that I haven’t visited—yet post from Nov 2024, it looks like I marked off 3-ish:

  • we finally made it to Africa as part of our 100-day adventure
  • I managed to visit a bunch of Indiana
  • I visited the two newest national park units (re-completing my quest to see all 433), but failed to visit Sáttítla Highlands National Monument, in spite of having three separate trips planned to see it. Still, the park units were the far higher priority for me, so I’m taking at least partial credit for this one.

If our 2026 goes as planned, we should mark off a few more items from the list too: Norway, the Canadian Rockies, and Costa Rica are all already on our travel calendar, and New Zealand is leading the field for our December trip too.

I could also see us squeezing in weekend trips to the Idaho panhandle and Vancouver, but neither is highest on priority list this year so I wouldn’t say it’s at all likely.

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The Banana Kid - OTD during last year’s 100-day adventure

A bustling outdoor market scene features vendors selling bunches of bananas amidst a lively crowd under colorful umbrellas.
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“…the rains in Afffrica” - OTD during last year’s 100-day adventure.

A dramatic cloudy sky looms over a quiet beach with a few people in the distance.
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Building out Jen’s new travel-focused micro.blog site has given me a ton of FOMO about my own sites. Currently rethinking my plans…

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Interesting post on Instagram’s year-end memo. The future returns to the individual—there’s never been a better time to have your own website to post your stuff. Feeds are dying, as is virality + influencer-status (thank fucking goodness!). Let’s abandon social media and return to social networking.

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It’s January 1, which means it’s time to grab your 2026 Campfire Permit. You need one to have a campfire or use a gas/propane stove on public lands in California.

It’s free and takes 5 mins to complete—watch a short video, answer a stupid easy quiz—so just click the link to get it done right now.

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My wife Jen launched her new travel blog today at JenWiles.com! She has most 2025 trips & photos posted and will slowly add in prior years, too.

How to follow

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Dinner in Malawi - OTD during last year’s 100-day adventure.

A group of people are gathered around a campfire in front of a parked bus in a wooded area.