TravelBlog » Michael J

Michael J - Michael J. Sharp

Where I've Been

Map Legend: 12%, 33 of 263 Territories

Places I've Lived

Places I've Been

These are the countries I've visited so far, and I have about 165 to go before I'll be satisfied.

My name is MJ, but in Costa Rica my name is Miguel, and in Germany my name is Michael. I'm scared to go to another country where I might lose my identity again.

Actually I love to travel, and hitchhiking is the preferred mode of transportation. You have to be a little bit crazy to hitchhike, but you also have to be a little bit crazy to pick up a hitchhiker. So, I end up meeting some really interesting people.

So far, I've covered quite a bit of ground, but I've still got about 150 countries to go.

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Joined on: September 26th 2007
Last Login: May 19th 2008

Blog Entries: 3
Photos: 39
Recommends 1

TB Code: [blogger=48691]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by Michael-J, order by Date newest first.

By Michael J
November 14th 2007

The Vacation Paradise Known as Iraq

Middle East » Iraq » North

Iraqi Airlines
Apparently Iraq has its own commercial airliners. Who knew?

Iraq Report: 3-14 November 2007 I went to northern Iraq to help out at a mental health clinic in Duhok. I was specifically brought along to do lectures on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for the counselors in the clinic and possibly to see some patients. If I had only been able to accomplish these two things during my 10 days in the country, I would have been happy, but it ended up being much, much more. The following is a report on some of the highlights of the trip and an attempt to get out on “paper” what I learned. Preceding [View Full Entry]

By Michael J
August 15th 2007

Afghanistan: Still a War Zone

Asia » Afghanistan » East » Kabul

Our Group
This is the entire group that I was traveling with. I'm in the first row, second from the left.

In going to Afghanistan, I wanted to do several things, such as: better understand Afghan culture; learn some Dari; and show Afghans that Westerners (and Americans specifically) are capable of visiting other countries in capacities other than in the military. While I did all of these things to at least a certain extent, the thing that sticks out in my mind was how crazy the security situation got the day we arrived. Security Situation Before we even got out of Europe, we heard on the news at the airport that two Germans had been kidnapped in central Afghanistan (read: Kabul). [View Full Entry]

By Michael J
July 10th 2007

Why I'm Going to Afghanistan

Asia » Afghanistan » East » Bamyian

Bamyan
This is where I'm headed. It's apparently gorgeous.

When people hear that I’m going to spend a month in Afghanistan, they usually have a bunch of questions, namely: Why? Because I’ve answered this question about a dozen times already (and never really to anyone’s satisfaction), I’ve decided to try to explain it here. So, here in the form of a FAQs page, is all the information I think anyone could want on the topic and my reasoning. Feel free to respond, denouncing my hippy logic, if you feel the urge. Question #1: You’re doing what? I’m going to Afghanistan. I will flying out of Germany on July 17 and [View Full Entry]