Marty and his Lonely Planet book

I travel often with my friend Marty Fritzhand. He says he's happiest in an airplane, and it's true. He's not interested in Rome, Paris and London, although he's been to Rome, Paris and London. He loves far more challenging travel. Not danger travel, but he has been in dangerous situations because of the places he visits. Even managed to get thrown in jail once or twice. I'd call him an adventure junkie.

Here's an example. We went to Burkina Faso in West Africa. We arrived in the capital, Ouagadougou, late at night armed with nothing but a Lonely Planet book. No reservations. No car waiting. Pure improvisational travel was our only plan. From a swarming mob of taxi drivers, we selected one to take us to a hotel listed in the book. He ran out of gas about one mile from the airport. We grabbed our packs and started walking in the dark. A sure sign you're in a third world country (now often called an "emerging nation") is no light, even in a capital city.

We walked. We found a hotel. We slept. Next day we got on a bus with the chickens and improvised our way to the massive open market at Gorom Gorom up near the Sahara. Adventure with Marty. That's how it goes.