Hi, I'm Sam. Come Explore With Me!

I’m an American currently based in Cairo. Twice per month, I publish free essays about all that is wonderful, difficult, and interesting about travel and life in Egypt. I also send out monthly newsletter to paid subscribers that I pack with stuff that doesn’t fit into an essay, but is too fun not to share—like my prettiest photos, links to the best travel and memoir writing, cocktail recipes from my home bar, and vignettes of life abroad.

I want to take you on adventures through lush descriptions and gorgeous photos, while always striving to find meaning in the inner journeys that happen in parallel with real-world excursions. When we step outside our typical experience, what burning questions are we left with, and how does it change us? What truths does it reveal about being human? In seeking to answer those questions, I hope to bring you joy, introspection, and a deeper awareness of the world around you.

If you are new here (Hello! So happy to have you!), I invite you to start by reading the following—a mix of my most popular essays and the writing I’m most proud of:

• My very first Substack essay, on adjusting to the craziness of Cairo: Learning to Live with Chaos

• On finding peace in the Maldives after my father’s death: Why I Refuse to Scuba Dive

• On having no freaking clue where my life is going and trying to find my path again: Not All Who Wander Are Lost But I Sure As Hell Am

If you want to delve even deeper, you can read everything I’ve posted here, in my archive.

So I’ve given you the elevator pitch, but I have another, simpler motivation. I started this newsletter after waking up one morning, opening my laptop to peruse my favorite magazines and news sites, and finding that there was literally nothing I wanted to read. Not a single click was going spark wonder. Or foster a sense of community. Or provide information that would actually affect my daily life. I was staring into the abyss of an online world that felt sterile, shouty, commodified, and untrustworthy, and it made me tired.

This newsletter is my personal rejection of that online world. I just want to bring some authenticity, some reflection, and some genuine delight back to the internet.

I love to hear from readers and I try to respond to every comment, so do feel free to reach out!

Looking forward to traveling with you. :)
Sam