August 7, 2025 : Back in Austin after three weeks in Tanzania. We unpacked, ate a very TexMex tacos/chips/guac/queso dinner and right now it’s 4:30am so the jet lag is still hitting after the 42-hour return trek. This newsletter is a quick recap of the trip and an introduction into a Tanzania series.

Quote for the Week: “The vastness of the African wilderness humbles you, reminding you of your place in the grand canvas of life. Here, amidst the towering trees and endless plains, one feels an acute awareness of our connection to the natural world.” – Peter Matthiessen, American novelist, naturalist, wilderness writer and one-time CIA agent.

About: Every week (except for the last three) I write about living a great story: personal stories, adventure recaps, links to coolness and analog photos that most likely have nothing to do with what you’re reading. The photos are random, but I love shooting film, so here is where I share snippets of my photography craft.

Read time: 5 min… but 14 min if you watch all of the videos.

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Tanzania Three Times

One of the tricky parts about travel is deciding on a destination. The world is filled with innumerable amazing places, but where is the next spot?

“I haven’t been there before, but it’s on The List” is a phrase often repeated by travelers. With infinite places to see, it makes sense to list, order and track our aspirational destinations. Your list says a lot about you.

But with so many places on The List (the further you travel, the longer it gets), there comes a time to make a hard decision:

Do I check a new place of the list or do I go back to a place that I loved?

Tanzania is one of the places I’ve chosen to go back, now for the third time… and probably a few more in my lifetime.

Hopefully, my upcoming stories will convince you to bump Tanzania up your list.

Why You Shouldn’t Go to Africa

1) It’s too far

Total travel time, round trip, door-to-door from Austin to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania and back was 82 hours. Total time in a plane was about 48 hours on six different aircraft. To save about $400 (and to increase the likelihood of a business class upgrade), I split bookings which added about 12 hours of total extra transit time. Flying from the middle of the country takes longer than the East or West coast. Regardless, Africa is too far away. Better to visit Europe like everyone else on your Instagram feed.

2) You might not make it to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro

There’s the chance that you travel all that way and you don’t reach the summit. Many people don’t. On this most recent trip, after 8 hours of trekking through freezing temperatures and the coldest wind I’ve ever experienced, we reached the iconic sign 19,341 feet up to find it completely empty. We had the summit to ourselves. Countless others couldn’t fight the bone-chilling wind, gruelling altitude sickness and steep incline, turning back before the finish line. Summiting is probably the hardest thing you’ll ever do in your life. You could fail, so it’s probably better not to even try.

3) T.I.A (This is Africa)

Africa is different. Your baseline niceties, like immediate hot water or quick meal service or things just working as they’re supposed to, don’t follow the same rules. Hot water runs out mid-shower. TIA. The obnoxious, fluorescent light that beams like a hospital waiting room won’t turn off for the entire two-hour van ride. The safari car breaks down in the middle of nowhere Serengeti. Then it breaks down again. TIA. The paved road ends and you have to off-road the minivan 10mph for the next two miles. TIA. Africa is an adventure, not a vaca. If you want a vacation, go to Tulum.

4) It’s too expensive

The flight alone is over $1500. To climb Mt. Kilimanjaro will cost you $2300 (don’t pay less, trust me). You’ll need to buy or rent all the gear, too. Don’t skimp or else you’ll feel it on the mountain. Safaris aren’t cheap. Hotels, transport and souvenirs will set you back even more (make sure to haggle). Altogether, two weeks in Tanzania will cost you $6000+. Sure, it’s a bucket list destination that will inspire your soul and forever change how you experience the world, but that’s just too much money.

Why You Should Go to Africa

Ambulance Campaign Update

We reached our $6500 goal and purchased the ambulance!

Thank you to the 78 amazing people who contributed to this campaign! Seriously this was a HUGE group effort to make a life-changing impact on the lives of about 30,000 people. This ambulance will serve as the only form of transport between Kahe (our climbing team’s village) and the nearest hospital, one hour away.

During our finale dinner with the Kilimanjaro Backcountry homies, they shared deep gratitude for everyone’s support and repeatedly emphasized how this dedicated community ambulance will save so many lives.

My goal was to film more of this story and capture scenes from the ambulance delivery but my last day was too quick, and unfortunately, I wasn’t able to travel to Kahe. However, I will continue to share updates and content from the team about this campaign here and through the GoFundMe page.

A preview of coming newsletters:

• Next week’s newsletter is a super special story, make sure to open it.

• 936 photos from 24 rolls of film. 20 minutes of Safari footage from my 1995 Sony Handicam. 100 clips from my DJI Osmo Pocket 3. 200+ photos and videos from my Y2k Digicam. Lots of content, which means lots of stories. Maybe I’ll finally post on Instagram… maybe maybe I’ll finally post on LIVE A GREAT STORY’s Instagram

• The tiny, smoke-filled Maasai hut built of cow manure and dirt was almost pitch black. I could barely see Lucia, the cowhide bed we were supposedly sitting on, or the children’s bed right next to us. I had three questions prepared for the young man who invited us into his home: 1) “What’s one life lesson you’ve learned from your elders?” 2) “What advice do you have for Americans?” 3) “What brings you joy?”

• We were supposed to get a brand new safari car for the four-day Serengeti / Ngorongoro safari. What we got instead was the exact opposite and it landed us in the Tourist Police station, filing a report and pressing charges.

Incredibly grateful for a third trip to Tanzania and a third once-in-a-lifetime-bucket-list experience climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. Going through customs, I used the same multiple-entry visa from last year, which is just a very cool feeling. The immigration officer felt the same. I’m now an official Kilimanjaro Ambassador and I’d love to help you plan a visit. The combination of going on a safari and summiting the tallest mountain in Africa is truly a life-changing experience and I can’t recommend it enough. Stoked to share more stories in the coming weeks.

-z