Brook Silva-Braga is not your average backpacker. Prior to embarking on his ambitious one-year-straight journey around the world, Silva-Braga had a cushy producer job at HBO and was settled into a more than comfortable life in Manhattan. Then, one day, somewhat unbelievably, he decided to quit his job and travel around the world. Carrying five pounds of clothes and 30 pounds of camera equipment, Silva-Braga made a documentary,
A Map for Saturday, along the way,via a shoddy wi-fi connection in Mauritania, Silva-Braga muses on lessons learned and the one song that encompasses them all:
What did you hope to get out of the trip prior to embarking on it?That's a good question. All I really knew was that a trip around the world was something I should do at some point in my life and the best time to do it was as soon as possible. I didn't think much farther along than that, I just knew it was something I wouldn't regret.
What did you learn from it?That's another hard one to answer because I think what you learn are a thousand little things that you hardly notice and then a handful of really big, broad things that are hard to even recognize you've come away with. I know something about the differences between Cambodians and Vietnamese, between Indians and Nepalese. I know a bit about different cultures and languages and customs but its hard to give a name to what it is I've learned.
Most surprising part of your travels?Maybe the most surprising realization is the least sexy; it's the fact that people and places around the world are less different than you'd think. There are certainly differences and they're what every travel story or TV show focus on, but in the end the commonalities are much greater than the differences.
One item you couldn't have traveled without?My passport. Everything else is optional. Even if some things in your bag feel essential, they aren't really.
What would be the theme song, were you to have to pick one, for your trip?Well I can't pass up the chance to mention "Faith and White Light," which is the actual theme to A Map for Saturday and was composed by my good friend Jimmy Khoury. But while I was away I found that every time I left a city or country I'd start humming "Another One Bites the Dust."
Worst meal?I must have blocked it out because I really can't remember. After months away, when the other joys of travel stopped making much of an impression, the variety of food around the world always kept me excited to try something different.
One moment from your trip you wish you could relive again for the first time:The fourth night of my year away in Sydney, Australia, was probably the most magical of my trip, because it was when I realized what this backpacking life would be like. I didn't know anyone, and I was feeling really alone. And then I met this big group of other lonely travelers, and we just became instant friends. That happened again and again while I was away but it never meant as much as it did that first night.
One place you've never traveled that you'd most like to see:That's an easy one. I totally missed Africa on my big trip and have wanted to get there ever since. Now I'm here! I'm writing from a little internet café in Nouadhibou, Mauritania, and will be driving down towards South Africa the next three months. I'm really excited about it.
One piece of advice for all travelers:One lesson that has been reinforced on this African trip is that a lot of what keeps us from exploring is empty fear. People have lists of false reasons not to go away and at the heart of almost all of them is a lack of understanding about what it would be like if they actually gave it a try. If you have children to raise or debt to escape it's hard to travel for long stretches, but, for almost all of us, the reasons not to go are just bad excuses.
