A year ago today I stepped off a plane in Accra, Ghana to spend five days in a country I knew very little about, but that would change my life forever.

The ONE Campaign invited me to witness the country-wide rollout of two important vaccines that would change the lives of the children of the country.

You can read my travel journal or view my photos from the trip.

One thing, that no one has seen until now is the video I shot while on the trip.

A few weeks before we left I purchased a Canon EOS 5D Mark III (affiliate) with the assumption I’d shoot video in addition to photos while traveling. I returned with some beautiful footage, but for one reason and another, I never got to doing anything with it.

When I realized the one year anniversary was soon to arrive, I decided I needed to edit it together so that others could see and hear a slice of what I experienced.

Ever since leaving, I’ve longed to return to the African Continent and I hope I get a chance to soon.

Best enjoyed full screen by clicking the expand icon in the lower right hand corner of the video. Enjoy!

People ask me all the time why the focus about global health, extreme poverty and other issues.

Now, thanks to Bono taking the stage at TED2013 I can show them this video as an answer. It is hard to argue with someone when they combine so much passion with data to back it up.

One of my #3Words for 2013 is minimize and yesterday I needed to clean my desk off to start that process.

My desk is one of the most important locations in my house as I spend a lot of time there. I write, edit my photos, make videos, take meetings and pretty much run my business from this very spot. Because of that I’m always trying to find the ultimate combination of technology to make it as productive a location as possible.

I took and shared this photo after cleaning off my desk and instantly received a ton of questions asking “what is that?” about various items on my desk, so I thought I’d write up a quick walk through of my desk to answer those questions.

I’ll describe everything from left to right. Most links are affiliate links.

While it is mostly off camera, my MXL V63M Microphone is crucial and always present on my desk. This is the same microphone I bought back in 2005 for podcasting and I use it to this day for all my Skype calls, webinars, voice overs and new episodes of Managing the Gray. The boom mount allows me to move it out of the way when I’m not using it and it takes up a tiny amount of desk space.

I can tell that I took this photo later in the morning because where my coffee usually would be is my GORUCK water bottle and leather coaster. I tend to drink at least two full bottles worth every day and try to never be without water. If you like Nalgene bottles like I do, definitely check out getting a Humangear capCap to make them easier to drink out of.

I never found an iPad desk stand that worked for me, so I use to have it laying on the desk charging until I bought a HoverBar. It is a flexible metal arm that connects to my display and keeps my iPad off the desk. I rarely use it as any form of secondary monitor, but it is nice when notifications pop up and I can look over to it without stopping typing and see what is going on. I’m still not sure if this will stick around long term, but for now I’m liking it.

Twelve South makes a lot of products on my desk and if you are an Apple type of person you need to check them out because their products rock. My newest product (and what motivated me to clean the desk) was the arrival of a HiRise Stand that I decided to buy myself as a late Christmas present. It has a hidden compartment in front to put little things that end up hanging out on my desk and already I like having my Apple Display raised up a bit. Who knew it would make such a big difference?

What you can’t see is my 13″ MacBook Air hidden behind the display on a BackPack Adjustable Shelf which is such a simple, but effective product. I love that my laptop is always here and when I hit the road I just unplug it and go. The cables stay in place and out of the way. A magic combination for my sanity.

Because of all the devices I’m always plugging in and out, I’ve gone through a variety of USB hubs and currently am using a Moshi iLynx that has worked great for a number of years. I also love that the Griffin Simplifi Dock has extra ports in addition to being where my iPhone stays all day AND it has both an SD card and a CF card reader built into it. Sadly, they are not making an updated version that has the Apple lightning adapter so I will have to get rid of this when I upgrade my phone. I love this device and would hate to have to find a replacement.

There are also copies of Content Rules and Amazing Things Will Happen that I’ve had sitting on my desk for far too long that I’m due to bring to my local library for their “town room” where they keep signed copies of books by local authors. You’ll also see my bluetooth headset that I use for taking phone calls and my Mophie PowerStation (RED) that I’m charging up for NMX this weekend.

Finally, you’ll see my speakers and audio control. Music is almost always playing whenever I’m at my desk. As I write this I’m listening to Howard Stern as I do most mornings. Baba Booey!

I’ve also got a few special things on my desk including my hand carved pen holder from Ghana, a mug from Best Made Company and my pick yourself mug from Seth Godin. I’m a big memento type of guy so you’ll always see little things like this on my desk and in my office. Sometimes a bit too much of it

So there you go my friends. The desk of little old me and what allows me to do what I do. Hope this is helpful for you.

In a year, it should be interesting to look back and see how much changes.

I love to travel.

I love writing, taking photographs and shooting videos when I travel so that I can share my experiences with the world.

Today on Managing the Gray, I want to talk about how important I believe that travel is to making you a well rounded person.

I don’t think you have to travel the world or go broke seeing far off destinations, but the more people, religions, foods and towns you experience, the better of a person you will become.

Links to topics on today’s show.

• The beautiful travel map my wife gave me for Christmas
• My travel to Ghana, Nottingham and Girona
• Still much of Massachusettes to see
• My Life List
• Nomadic Matt
• How to Travel the World on $50 a Day: Travel Cheaper, Longer, Smarter (affiliate link)
• NMX
• The Neon Boneyard of Las Vegas

And here is the video I mentioned called Do More from Casey Neistat.

As I write this, the rain is falling heavily on top of a night full of snowfall. It is a slushy mess of a gray New England morning and I have no desire to go out and shovel the driveway as I know must be done.

Instead, I’ve poured another cup of coffee and noticing that we have less than five days left in the year I thought it would be fun to look back at what unfolded in 2012.

January started off with being selected to serve on a jury. It was my first time for this and it was a very interesting experience, even if the trial was longer than it needed to be. Kenmore invited me and other parenting bloggers to Chicago for an event and that same weekend we went to the AFC Championship game as a family. After months chatting online, I finally met Jason McCarthy and his sidekick Java in New York and we got to chat about GORUCK and interview him for Passion Hit TV.

February was fairly quiet. A bunch of friends went to see Rock of Ages on stage and sung our hearts out as this silly fun production. My relationship with Lynda.com also began this month as I traveled to their California studio to do a screen test for possible future work with them. Walking along the coast I observed day old seal pups which still to this day makes me smile thinking about them. I was also invited to speak at a private retreat for a global pharmaceuticals company about the future of the web and how they should be using it. This was one of those opportunities that you never plan for, but it was a great discussion at an inn on the ocean in Newport, RI.

March will always mean SXSW to me. Traveling to Austin to connect with old friends and meet new ones is always an important week for me. The weather was horrible this year with two days of cold rain that put a damper on things, but it picked up and got better as the days rolled on. While in town I jumped over to the first ever Dad 2.0 Summit to moderate the morning keynote. Laura and I snuck away for our first weekend in Las Vegas together. I had won the trip in a contest and we had a great. I’ll always remember looking out at all the lights of the strip, while booking vaccine appointments for when I got back for a big trip that had just been confirmed. I also made a quick trip to Washington, DC and back to meet with the team at Amtrak. The month ended with spending the weekend in New Orleans thanks to LG. They flew me and a couple of others dads down to enjoy the NCAA Basketball Championship weekend and boy did we ever have a good time!

April was the month that changed my life forever. Spending a week in Ghana with the team from ONE came about from a single email and looking back now it feels almost like it was yesterday and years ago at the same time. The day after returning home the whole family climbed forty six stories of stairs as part of the first annual Wediko Stair Climb and I did it in under twenty minutes.

May tends to be a quiet month for me. The highlight this year was spending time idling well with my dad in Echo Valley, VT. Just me, him, Abe and the quiet of the woods. The family and I jumped on a train for our first adventure in New York City together for National Train Day. I’ll always remember Emily’s face as she stood on Broadway for the first time. Another milestone was reached during this month as Content Rules was released in paperback!

June was one of the busiest months of the year. I spoke at BlogWorld in New York and then proceeded across town to do interviews for Watch.tv during the Vimeo Film Awards. ONE had a large group of us down to discuss and plan the future of their ONE Moms program. Being the only guy in a room of such smart and inspiring women is not a bad way to spend a couple of days. *grin* TBEX had a last minute cancelation and I was brought in to give the opening keynote in Keystone, Colorado. It was the largest room I had ever been in front of and it was a rush of the best possible kind! Finally, me and some of my college roomies made a pilgrimage down to New Jersey to spend time with a fellow room mate. It was one of those trips that reminds you just how old we are getting.

July started off with a bang when I attended the World Domination Summit in Portland, OR. It was unlike any conference I had ever attended and I bought my ticket for 2013 on the spot. Emily and I took a road trip to Syracuse University so that I could speak to their communications team. It was quality father daughter bonding at its best. We had a mini Random Foo Pictures reunion at my house that I think I’m still smiling from.

August found me back in California to film my first class for Lynda.com. Insights From a Content Marketer (affiliate link) was fun to film and the crew there is top notch. Google invited me to their New York office to talk about Google+ and it was fun to get even a little peek behind the Big G curtain.

September started off with my first visit to Columbus, Ohio to speak at Content Marketing World. This event gets bigger and better every year. Then Laura and I traveled to Girona, Spain. I was speaking at TBEX again and the local tourism board wanted to make sure we got to enjoy their beautiful country. I’m still going through my photos from the trip and long to go back to the Nuria Valley sometime as it is easily one of the most peaceful locations I’ve ever found on Earth. The month ended with the first ever PodCamp East and it was great to reunite some of the Zen Acorns for a quality weekend together.

October began with a seven minute talk at MarketingProfs B2B Forum for me. I also traveled to Detroit for BrandConf University and event walked on the enemy territory of Jets Stadium to have breakfast with Doug Flutie thanks to Dove Men+Care and Dad 2.0 Summit.

November was extra special this year as my latest book, Amazing Things Will Happen, hit store shelves. The launch didn’t go as planned, but after months of writing and editing it was great to have it out there for anyone to buy and read. After recovering from a great Thanksgiving meal with my family, I jumped on a plane headed to Nottingham, England to give my first ever TEDx Talk at TEDxLaceMarket. I’m still smiling from that and it checked another item off my life list of goals.

December is always about winding down and enjoying time with my family. I did sneak in a trip to Toronto to meet with the team at Kobo about my book and down to Washington, DC to speak at ONE. I also had the pleasure of an intimate conversation with a group of authors at Grubb Street and I look forward to doing more with them in the future.

2012 certainly was a year full of hard work and good times. I know that as soon as I hit publish on this, I’ll remember other fun times I had yet forgot to mention.

To think that on top of all this I was writing a book, being a dad, writing and recording content AND working with clients.

While each of us plan what we’d like to accomplish in the months ahead, few can totally plan for what will unfold.

I know that there are many things that happened in 2012 which I had not planned for. What will happen in 2013 that I’ll look back with amazement at twelve months from now?

My plan for the year ahead is to focus on building The Cleon Foundation into the company I want it to be, making sure as many people as possible know about and read Amazing Things Will Happen and continuing to create new episodes of Managing the Gray and Passion Hit TV. I’m looking forward to continue to take on new freelance writing assignments, speaking to crowds of all sizes and getting better with my photography. But, what else arises I can only imagine!

I hope that 2013 is a beautiful and rewarding year for each of you and thank you following along and being part of mine.

Happy New Year!

Today marks the start of the last year of my current decade.

Sure, that is a weird way to look at it, but as the sounds of Sons of Anarchy fill my office that is how my brain is spinning.

I traditionally compose thoughts on the morning of my birthday to look back and forward at the same time.

This past year was filled with the typical mixed bag of accomplishments, surprises and challenges. Flipping through my notebooks and photos it is hard to imagine that all this happened in less than the past three hundred and sixty five days.

I certainly did not expect to feel the soil of Ghana under my feet and leave with it in my soul. There were no plans to attend World Domination Summit and leave inspired to change the world. Who knew that I’d be on the TBEX stage in front of my biggest audience ever to share my passions? Delivering my first TEDx speech not here in Boston, but on the other side of the globe in Nottingham, England? Nope, that wasn’t planned for either.

There were lots of smaller moments too. Seeing Amazing Things Will Happen in a bookstore and getting rave reviews from friends and strangers. Sharing sangria and giggles at a cafe in Girona, Spain with strangers who I know are now friends that I’ll see many more times in the future. All the conversations, coffees, drinks and moments spent offline, in the moment with friends around the world.

At some point in the coming year I’m sure that I’ll freak out over turning forty. Thinking about age is not something I do often, but those big milestone birthdays tend to do it to me.

The path I’ve chosen for the year ahead is not an easy one, but it is the one that I need to walk. Making The Cleon Foundation a success, finding patrons to sponsor my art and making sure as many people as possible read, watch, listen and are inspired by my work. Those are the goals. Can I achieve them? I’m my biggest cheerleader and doubter some days, but in my heart I know I can. I won’t settle for anything less.

Thank you for all the birthday wishes that have already come in and those that will come.

I’m taking the day off to do nothing

A well lived life is a series of remarkable moments.

We have no idea how many moments we are going to live while we walk the earth.

Last week, my Dad informed me with a smile that my Aunt Maggie had read my new book and he gave me her number to call because he knew her review of it would be one of a kind.

I never called her.

Earlier this year in Ghana, a young girl named Mercy touched my heart as she held my hand and asked me not to leave her hospital room. I pulled away promising myself that I’d do something to help her.

I haven’t yet.

Yesterday as I sat in the offices of ONE, I received the news that both had passed away.

One, a woman who had lived a full ninety four years. The other a girl with the biggest smile who was only here for a mere thirteen years.

If I wasn’t committed to making the world a better place before, I most certainly am now.

Rest in piece Maggie & Mercy.

Recently, I learned about a new service called Postrgram that I used to make the image above from my Instagram photos.

This got me thinking about how important having a variety of life experiences is to having a well rounded and fulfilling life.

Too many people stay at their desk, never leave their home state and always go to the same restaurants every week. There is nothing wrong with having favorites because they bring comfort and joy. But, life is too short not to break out of your comfort zone and experience new things.

Looking back at this year I never thought I’d be on a TEDx stage or in the jungles of Africa. Those were not planned for or expected. Each of them added new threads to my life that were not there before.

Yesterday I was at the Ballet and a couple weeks ago at a NFL game. Two very different activities, but again adding to my well rounded life.

Looking at the mosaic of photos I can see images from around the word. Faces of strangers and loved ones. Each little memory adding up to making me the man I am.

The end of the year makes me reflective. It also makes me excited.

I have no idea what new experiences 2013 will hold for me, but I’m sure they are going to add to my life and make me happy.

Get out there and experience new things. Variety IS the spice of life and life is so much more fun when you know more about the world you live in.

Go get it.

In the coming days and weeks, we are going to hear a lot about the “fiscal cliff” that we as a country are approaching.

I’m not an economist or a government expert, so my over simplified summation is that there are a pile spending cuts set to happen unless changes are made.

What especially got my attention was that there will be no exemptions for International Affairs programs anticipated and there is no flexibility permitted to protect certain programs (PEPFAR, Feed the Future) by cutting other programs more deeply.

A year ago, this wouldn’t have mattered much to me or even got my attention, but after a week in Ghana with the ONE Campaign earlier this year everything changed.

It use to bother me seeing all the commercials on television asking for my money to help feed starving kids in Africa. Sure, I wanted to help them, but what about all the starving kids living right here at home in the United States?

I still want to see us as a country doing more to help the poor here at home. We should not have hungry kids in this country! But, I also know that after seeing the level of poverty in other parts of the world, what we have here doesn’t even compare.

At less than 1 percent of the budget, America cannot sort out its fiscal problems on the backs of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. We need to protect that small percentage from any cuts that need to be made.

Need some facts to see what even that small percentage of our federal budget has done in the world?

• 50 million children in sub-Saharan Africa have started going to school for the first time in the past decade.
• Millions of babies’ lives have been saved by anti-malaria bed nets. Half of sub-Saharan African families now own a bed net, up from only 3 percent in 2000.
• More than 5.5 million children’s deaths have been averted thanks to basic immunizations supported by U.S. foreign assistance.
• Effective agricultural programs in some of the world’s poorest countries are feeding millions of people, fueling economic growth and helping communities become self-sufficient.

If those don’t get you thinking, ponder for a minute how grateful any group of suffering people would be towards whatever country helps them. We’ve got too many enemies in this world to have them stepping up and saving the day. Repeatedly our US Military leaders have said that they support foreign assistance because a more stable world is a safer world.

Helping our fellow man is something that any good human wants to do. While the fiscal cliff approaches and hard decisions are made, I’m hoping that you will help me in encouraging our elected officials not to cut the tiny percentage of our budget that is helping so many millions of people around the globe by signing the petition below.

If enough voices raise this issue they will listen and life will continue to improve for millions of people around the globe.

Please share this with others, sign the petition and help make the world a better place for everyone.

Thank you.

Tomorrow night I’m speaking at Meet, Plan, Go Boston 2012 about this very topic and in helping to collect my thoughts, I thought I’d share them with you.

Traveling is something I love to do and plan to spend the rest of my life enjoying.

As a storyteller, it is important for me to experience as much as possible when I’m on the road and then to turn around and share it with the world so others can experience it. Companies hire me to do this because they know I’m going to deliver results that they’ll be happy with.

No matter if you are capturing travel moments for a client or for yourself, there are some things I think you need to keep in mind to be as successful as possible with it so that the memories live on.

Know Your Equipment

It is never about the tools first, but if you don’t know how to use all the equipment you choose to bring with you there could be trouble.

On my recent trip to Spain, I brought a new Olympus OM-D 5 camera to use and review. I only had about an hour of shooting with it before the trip and I made a grave mistake when my frist day of video filming was all without audio due to a menu setting that I hadn’t educated myself about. If I hadn’t noticed this when I did, it could have been devastating since I was hired to film video while in the country.

Make sure that you know all the quirks of your equipment, have all the chargers, cards and any other accessories you need before hand. Don’t wait until you get there to realize you forgot something.

Carry a Notebook

No matter how good your memory is, you are going to forget things.

Carrying a small notebook with you on your travels takes up no room, but allows you to jot down thoughts, reactions and details that you might forget down the road. I rarely leave the house without a notebook of some sort and would never think of hitting the road without one.

They are also great for jotting down new phrases you learn, directions and doodles if you get delayed on your journey. Plus, they make a great keepsake to flip through in the future.

Use a Smartphone to Track Where You Go

Location data is something that you may not think about when traveling, but I live for it.

Most smartphones these days allow you to know exactly where you are in the world. Mine allows any photo I take with it to capture that data with the image.

If your phone doesn’t do this, use one of the popular photography apps such as Instagram that allows you to tag your photo with your current location.

When you upload these photos to a service like Flickr, the map data goes along so that you now have a virtual travel log for your photos. I then use this data from my phone to add all the other photographs I take with my other cameras to my map. I love sharing this little travel hack with everyone I meet because most don’t know they can do it.

Develop an On-The-Go Workflow

Every professional creative knows that over the course of their lives they will constantly fine tune their personal workflow. I’ve learned that what works in your office doesn’t always work when on the road.

It is crucial that you are backing up your memories when traveling. Personally I always have multiple memory cards and an external hard drive with me. Anytime I find myself back at my room, I make sure to copy all the images and videos I’ve taken to a hard drive. In doing so I now have two copies of everything I’ve created. I also make sure that when I have a WiFi connection I allow Google+ to do a full backup of all my mobile images into a secure and private album they offer.

Also, by importing your photos and video on to your computer, you can work with them as you travel without having to get all your gear out. Plus, nothing makes a train ride or flight go by faster than working on your post processing.

Share Your Journey Upon Return

Why capture the memory in the first place if you have no plans to share it?

Today there are numerous ways you can share your journey with others. While I choose to share them with the world, you may choose to do it more privately.

Something I’m beginning to do more of is assembling a photo book for major trips. Using a service like Blurb, anyone can easily import photos and have a hard bound book shipped to them quickly and easily. Some even allow for map data and words to be added to make it an extra special memory.

Another great solution is from Animoto, that allows anyone to create a slideshow like the one above. They now allow for video clips to be added into the mix as well.

I’ll be sharing more tips at the event tomorrow. Tickets are still available, so I hope to see you there.

The response to my Shot@Life Blogust post yesterday was simply amazing.

Thank you to each person who commented and helped raise such a large amount of money to help make vaccines available to children around the world who would not usually have access to them.

The world needs a lot of help and it should be the duty of each and every one of us to make it a better place.

We have a rule whenever we go camping or hiking to “leave it better than we found it” and I try to keep that in mind ever single day.

While I’ve always made myself available to help with any charity or organization that approached me, things changed earlier this year when I went to Ghana with ONE.

Seeing first hand how much help a single country needed changed me. Our own country needs a lot of help as well. The whole world needs help.

I’m committed to making the world a better place. Working with organizations like ONE and now with Shot@Life are just the beginning of how I can help. I have so many ideas on things we could do together and I hope at least some of them end up happening.

Recently I’ve become more committed to helping bring change to the world through creativity. I have a head full of ideas and need to start making them realities. The $100 Investment certainly pushed me forward with making this more official quicker than originally planned and that is a good thing.

The work I get to do with Wediko, Know My World and most recently Lost Kidz is rewarding, but I want more.

Can I help you or your organization? My camera, words and hard work are always available for worthy causes. Please consider contacting me out if there is a way we can do some good together.

This big blue marble we live on needs a lot of help and it is up to each of us to do our part to help those around us. Are you with me?

One of my favorite memories from my recent trip to Ghana was having dinner with several students from Ashesi University.

I had never heard of the school before that night, but each of the students I chatted with were dreaming big and wanted to make Africa an even more powerful place.

I wrote about the night on the ONE blog previously.

Turns out, that my own college has a program with this university. As a graduate from Bentley University this made me proud and I hope to find a way to do something together in the future.

What sparked this post was a new video from Ashesi that I think captures the enthusiasm and drive of the school in a perfect light. I wonder if the copy of Content Rules I sent them helped at all

It is a dream of mine that perhaps someday I can at least speak to a class if not teach for a bit there. This video and the conversation with those students that night was very inspiring and I think we could do some amazing things together.

I especially enjoy working on anything that involves living a digital lifestyle, travel, education or social good. I’m very open to travel anywhere in the world to perform my work.

Over the years, I’ve worked directly with brands or through their agencies. Starting and selling my own successful marketing agency, I understand both worlds and can offer a variety of services including ideation, strategy and advocacy.

I have no problem working completely behind the scenes or directly in the spotlight. I’ve done it both ways.

Every relationship starts with an e-mail and I look forward to hearing what you have in mind.

The main categories of work that people hire me for include:

• Keynote speeches and corporate events
• Freelance writing and photography assignments
• Consulting on branding, online marketing and social media
• Advisory Board Positions
• Host or Correspondent talent engagements

At the end of the day, I love working with people and organizations that want to be creative, but strategic at the same time.

Contact me today and let’s get started.

Photos used with permission. Click through to see more of each photographers work.

Three weeks ago if you asked me if I had ever heard of the phrase “energy poverty” I would have said no. I’m betting most of you reading this are thinking the same thing.

But, ever since I visited Ghana with ONE and have been spending more time getting educated on all that they do and care about it is one of the issues that has really stuck with me and that I can’t kick out of my brain.

Energy Poverty is quite simply, that many people in the world don’t have access to affordable, safe and reliable electricity. When the sun goes down, they are in the dark.

Really, stop and think about that for a moment.

Let your mind digest how much harder teaching school, running a business, treating sick people or keeping your family happy and healthy would become.

What would happen to a continent like Africa, that is full of riches both below the ground and walking the land, if it no longer suffered from this? Imagine how over time they would not just sustain themselves, but prosper and thrive.

I was at ONE headquarters yesterday in Washington, DC and we talked about about The Energy Poverty Challenge they have going and I really hope you’ll take the time to become informed, but more importantly share your thoughts on the matter.

When I look at products like the BioLite stove (can’t wait for mine to arrive) and other innovations happening in this space I get excited. We need a lot more minds focused in this direction because while it may be an issue in only third world countries, the whole world has energy problems even if we don’t want admit it.

I’m up for the challenge, are you?

I took this photo of myself earlier this week while off the grid with my father. It was quality time doing nothing and exactly what I needed.

Life is extremely busy right now with working on finishing up my next book, client assignments, preparing speeches for upcoming conferences and everything that comes with being part of a family with two very active kids.

Free time is a myth because I know I can always find something to take up every minute of the day if I needed to. That is why you have to make time to do nothing.

It is a bit sad that I need to set an out of office message clearly telling people they were not going to hear from me for three days. Even still, I had several people send e-mails saying something along the lines of “just in case you check your e-mail.” When I say I’m going off the grid, I mean it.

The concept of workshifting is firmly in my DNA. I know that I can work from anywhere in the world if I choose to. But, I wish more people would choose to leave the devices and work behind from time to time and really enjoy life and their surroundings.

It did make me laugh that while I had full internet and cell access when I was in Ghana, I had neither earlier this week in Vermont. I couldn’t check my phone even if I wanted to and the one time we had service, I turned it on long enough only to check if I had an emergency text messages and then turned it back off.

Instead of my usual view of a computer screen this is what I was looking at while offline. Which would you prefer?

Even though we live in a 24-7 world, I promise that taking a few hours or a few days away from it all is not going to kill you. But, it is up to you to make and take the time.

I came back recharged and ready to rock. My productivity has been through the roof and instead of playing catch up, I’m pushing forward. It feeels great.

Stop making excuses and start making quality memories away from your technology from time to time. It’ll lead to a happier life. Promise.

I had arrived in Accra after a ten plus hour flight from Washington, DC. We had left in the dark of night and arrived to a gray afternoon on the other side of the world.

As we approached the airport, the lush vastness of green quickly changed to a muted multi-colored rainbow of buildings packed together tighter than a deck of cards.

Walking down the stairs from the plane, my eyes scanned the horizon. I was really here. The mother continent as I have heard it called. Africa.

I was brought to Ghana with a small team from ONE to see the work they and their partners have been doing. The GAVI Alliance was rolling out two new vaccines for pneumonia and rotovirus across the country and there was a large celebration planned at the end of the week that we’d be attending. Our agenda also included visiting hospitals, a meeting at the US Embassy and conversations with local business owners to give us an overall feel for the country and the variety of work that was happening.

My wanderlust is strong and I love traveling to new locations to meet the people, taste the food and capture it all with my camera. My new A7 strap would keep my equally new Canon 5D Mark III close to my side and always ready to shoot. It hadn’t been field tested yet, so I had a backup shooter in my GORUCK GR2 at all times. While I didn’t mean for this to be a trip of me testing out new gear, it ended up being that way and thankfully everything performed above and beyond my expectations.

Accra is on the southern coast of the country and is the capital of this nation of 25 million people. We’d be spending the majority of our journey in this general area. I’d like to return some day and head into northern Ghana where the houses are round and the muslim population is much greater. I’d also like to head to the west to see the slave castles and other ports of call that run along the sea. But, there is always an ever going list of places I’d love to see and for now I’d rather focus on the tale of where I’ve been.

The Accra Arts Market sounded like the perfect first adventure. I had come to the country with plans to purchase fabric and beads for my daughter. My son would be getting a mask, drum or other masculine item that caught my attention. The plan was to find my wife a necklace or something that would look great on her. I figured the sooner in the week I found my desired treasures, the sooner I wouldn’t have to worry about them and I assumed all could be found here.

A van of fresh off the airplane from America faces sure does draw a lot of instant attention at a market. The door hadn’t been open for more than a second when “John McCain” nudged me in that way that any guy trying to sell something to you will and propositioned me with, “You want hand carved masks? I got the best shop in the market. Come, let’s go see.”

Now, in any other corner of the world I might assume I was going to be lead into an alley and never come out, but I’ve always had a good read of people and these guys were just born salesmen. They knew a mark when they saw one and they knew why we were at the market.

My advice for you when going into a market like this is be ready to use a firm “no thank you” whenever needed. Granted, in this case it had to be said more times than should be necessary.

Even after we bought a couple of things and had enough it got to the point where the pushiness crossed over to border line worry as we waited in the van for the final two to return. We were surrounded by people trying to sell us stuff. Knocking on the windows, waving and trying to get our attention. It was unlike anything I had ever seen and the whole time was a blur of adrenaline laced with confusion that I’d rather not repeat. It was far from the first impression I was hoping Ghana would make on me.

The crashing sounds of ocean waves, mixed with an ice cold pilsner glass of Club beer will do wonders to make you forget all the ails you. Add in sitting around the table with my fellow travelers dining on Red Red, chicken and the most perfect fries cooked in palm oil that you’ve ever tasted and it was a great night. Plus, this is the night I discovered the magic spicy sweet treat known as bukom kelewele that you absolutely must try if ever in this part of the world.

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We were on a humanitarian mission and we set off the next day early to learn about the 86 year old Princess Marie Louise Hospital whose mission is treating acute malnutrition. They have a dedicated staff and a thriving volunteer population serving the 200 plus patients they see every single day.

Seeing the starving kids on television does not prepare you for seeing it up close and personal. Standing outside the door of the in-patient room we were about to enter I took a deep breath to still myself for what may lay on the the other side of the door.

Thankfully it was not the room full of skeletal children and babies I had feared.

Yes, there was mothers, babies and young children in there, but it was manageable and everyone was very welcoming for us to intrude on their privacy. We were welcomed with open arms and that is when I met the girl that would be on my mind for the rest of the journey and perhaps my life.

Mercy had hope in her eyes. She was scared, but she knew she was going to be ok. It had been a month and a half since a hospital volunteer had found her lying on the ground next to her dead mother. For the first month at the hospital she barely made a sound and most certainly did not speak a word.

When I met her she was overly friendly with a smile that melted your heart. I felt horrible as I asked if I could take her photo. There was no way I could take a photo of her body as it was too painful and what right did I have? I tried to focus on her face. That beautiful face. But, even as I tried to take it, it hurt to do so. I shook and the best autofocus in the world wasn’t going to save that.

I held her hand. I thanked her and told her to get better. She told me she was 13, the same age as my son, and I found myself instantly full of tears. I had thought she was nine or ten at most. I couldn’t imagine my son in this much pain.

I needed to leave and as I said goodbye she tightened her grip on my hand. Her eyes pleaded not to leave, but I knew there was nothing more I could do for her.

We would leave the hospital all changed. There wasn’t a lot of discussion about it, but you could see it the other’s eyes. Nothing really prepares you for a moment like we had just shared.

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The journey continued to the other end of the dial.

Through the streets of Accra we would travel. Street signs don’t exist and you know you are not going the right way when you recognize houses and landmarks that you’ve recently passed. As the lead car stopped to get their bearings, our driver stepped out to relieve himself in the middle of the road.

Our afternoon found us spending time with local business owners who had chased a dream and were now living it. Tekura is a shaded workshop full of skilled artisans creating a variety of authentic and unique African art pieces. Stools and elephant tables were the product of the day as they had a large order to ship to Pier One back in the states. We were also warmly greeted at TK Beads where not only would we learn about how they were made, but we’d paint our own as well.

There is no future in bead painting for me, but with the kilos of beads I bought to bring home to Emily, maybe she’ll be rewarded for her creativity. She is already wearing a bracelet she made and everyone at school loves that they she got them from Africa.

Too many people think of Africa as the poor continent with nothing but famine, poverty and war. Yet, as we sat down to dinner with students from Ashesi University and heard their dreams of fighting leprosy, increasing tourism to Ghana and starting new literacy programs you couldn’t help but realize that there is a bright future and endless possibility for Ghana and her people. I was proud to discover that Bentley University, where I graduated from, has an exchange program with them and I can’t wait to find out more about it.

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Wednesday, we set off for Africa’s third largest hospital to learn about their HIV clinic and to meet with three HIV+ mothers who due to the agressive treatment options had not passed the disease onto their children.

The fact that 98% of the babies born to HIV+ mothers who use the regimen remain negative still makes me shake my head in amazement. Doris, who I chatted with had one of the biggest smiles I had ever seen and the beauty to go with it. Her spirit is one I won’t soon forget and I hope her wedding goes off without a hitch this July.

Another profound memory would be created here as early in our tour we had been told about the yellow folders that every HIV+ patient was put into. It was a throw away comment, that for some reason I remembered. We walked into this damn room and suddenly we were presented with row upon row of yellow folders. The fact came back to me and I had to ask how many folders I was looking at. More than 16,000 was the answer.

As our conversations came to a close, the sky turned black and you could feel the tingles that come just before a major storm. It may have officially been the dry season, but we were about to get very wet.

The skies opened and gave a refreshing rebirth to the temperature. The outside ceremony we had thought about going to for World Malaria Day became a distant thought and it was announced that we’d be heading to Frankie’s for lunch.

I shocked the room when by impulse I blurted out, “Oh wow, they have great milkshakes!”

The look on the locals faces was pure pricelessness. How in the world did this silly American know that Frankie’s made good milkshakes was written all over their blank stares?

I gleefully explained that I had asked world traveler and author Chris Guillebeau for any suggestions on Ghana and all he told me was where he had a great milkshake. The chances of me winding up there were slim to none and yet now it was happening.

The milkshakes lived up to the dream. It is the little things that make me happy. Especially when you are over 5,000 miles from home.

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The big day had arrived. The reason ONE had brought us all me to Ghana.

No more field visit casual. The pressed shirt and good pants got pulled out and we headed to massive celebration with the GAVI Alliance to celebrate the rollut of the new vaccines. There would be speeches, dancers and the First Lady of Ghana all under the hot morning sun of Independence Square.

There were children, students, Chiefs and queen mothers. Camera crews angled for the best shot and drummers provided a rhythm to distract us from the blazing sun shining down from above.

The speeches sounded mostly the same to me. They started with a long list of formal greetings, talked about the importance of vaccines and then thanked everyone. It was formal and sterile as any ceremony of this sort would be.

I was pleasantly surprised when the First Lady took to the podium and with a grin stated matter of factly, “I’m a teacher, so you have to listen to me.” I liked her instantly and at the end of the ceremony I even got to shake her hand.

I didn’t know it at the time, but I had taken a photo before the ceremony of the baby that would be getting the first vaccine. Just another reason why a good photographer should always trust their gut. If it feels like a photo you want to take, push the shutter button and make the image.

Going from this sort of ceremony to the US Embassy made a perfectly logical transition. We were there to meet with a team from US AID to learn about Feed the Future and the other work they were doing in the area. As a taxpayer it is important that we know where our money goes and I’ll be honest that I didn’t fully understand the scope of what this particular government agency does before our meeting.

It was fascinating to hear their focus on everything from agriculture to literacy to consistant power. With one billion people suffering globally from chronic hunger, it is groups like US AID who are working hard over the long term to sustainably feed people. That is no small undertaking, but they have solid programs in place that need consistant funding to be maintained and I hope our government continues to do so.

By the end of the day my head was swirling around ideas on ways that I could work with ONE with a more dedicated focus towards the men of Africa. They currently have a ONE Moms program, but I kept hearing about all the changes and education that needed to be done for the fathers in Ghana and throughout Africa and my mind never sits idle around a presented problem.

I’m still noodling about it right now and hopefully it’ll lead to something in the future.

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With only one day left in the country before we took our late night flights home, the plan was to join other journalists from around the globe to go out in the field to see the vaccines in action.

As our security escorted convoy made it’s way at break neck speed beyond the city’s boundaries the whole landscape changed from the stale gray and dusty red to lush green. The cars climbed up the side of the mountain as we drove past the President’s summer house. The roads narrowed and I was shocked to see speed bumps become very common. I was told that they were for the safety of the villagers.

Nurses greeted us at the first village and explained to us how the elders were gathering under the tree to meet with us. They walked us through their tactics and approaches to making sure that children were given the proper shots when they needed them. You could see that they were proud of their job and enjoyed telling all of us about it.

I love the tradition that when coming to a meeting like this we would walk around and greet each elder one by one. Then we would be expected to sit and they would return the favor.

The Chief of the village had put on his Sunday best and while his English was broken, his smile never went away the entire time we were his guests. I was glad he was very accommodating for my request to have a photo taken with him.

I mentioned to the UNICEF translator in my vehicle that I loved how no matter who I met or where I went in Ghana that everyone had a smile on their face. It didn’t matter if they were begging on the street or working in a restaurant. No matter their situation in life they still had a smile on their face. Her response is one that I’ll never forget, “It is all some people have.”

The second village was further out in the bush. The houses were now clay and because there was not a tree large enough, they had built a special shelter just for our arrival. Knowing that they had taken the time to construct something like this drove home how important of a day it was.

One of the elders got a kick out of calling me “big man” when I greeted him and we all shared a great laugh about that. He’d later tell me that  I was welcome back anytime. I’d love to make that happen.

The children were not too sure about all of us with our cameras walking around and checking things out. I noticed three boys laying on a wall watching me and took their photo.

I walked over and showed it to them and they all got a big laugh. They called over a couple more friends and I thought I’d really blow their minds and captured them on video and showed it to them. If smiles can be bigger than they had on their faces, I can’t imagine them.

Sometimes you don’t need any words and soon kids were coming from all over to have their pictures taken. A portrait I had hoped to take of a kid in a Dots t-shirt soon turned into a massive group shot. Who was I to say no? *grin*

It was a long last day in the field and as we got back to the hotel, we crashed in the bar over cold drinks. We knew that we were on our last hours together and for some of us, our paths might never cross again. You never hope that is the truth, but it is the reality of the busy world we live in.

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I’ve been home now for almost a week. I’ve posted all my photos, I’ve chosen some of my favorites photos and now I’ve written this mammoth post that I wanted to serve as a true travel journal for me and others to go back and read at random points of time in the future.

I still dream of seeing the world and there is not a single location on this big blue marble that I don’t hope to travel to some day.

I also now have my third continent checked off on my dream of shooting photos on all them. I may not have eaten the grass cutter or fufu I was hoping for, but it just means I’ll have to do it on another trip.

ONE is an amazing organization doing great work. I’m proud to have been able to take part in just a small sliver of the activities they do on a daily basis. I have a new found respect for the work they and other advocacy organizations do.

Someone on the trip told me that Ghana is sort of Africa 101. If that is true, I can’t wait to take the AP course next time!

Photo Credit of me with camera to Amy Graff.

I may have successfully uploaded all my photos from my recent trip to Ghana , but I still have to go through and assemble a travel video.

Thankfully the good folks at the GAVI Alliance have published this video highlighting the vaccine rollout ceremony.

Kudos to the team for pulling this together and sharing it so quickly.

The Internet went down and never came back in a stable enough fashion for me to upload while there, so now that I’m home I wanted to get it right up and share with you immediately.

I’m safely home from Ghana, but there will be MANY more photos, posts and video soon.

The internet has been down at our hotel since early yesterday, so none of us have been able to post updates of any length, but there have been plenty of tweets flying around for sure.

The photo above was taken in Ghana’s Independence Square during the GAVI Alliance Vaccine Celebration today. The blue you see behind the arch is the ocean. It was a beautiful location and a great ceremony. I will talk more about that soon.

While I have a connection (spotty at best at the moment) I wanted to share a few audio updates I recorded so that you can catch up on everything.

I did film a video update yesterday and have over 200 photos ready to upload, but neither can be done at the moment unfortunately.

First up is while we are at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, which happens to be the third largest hospital in all of Africa, I asked our guides about how they can get more men involved in the HIV testing they do.

Then after a tour of the HIV clinic, we had the chance to sit down with three amazing mothers who all are HIV+ but their babies are not due to the usage of PMTCT prophylaxis which has resulted in 94% of the babies born to HIV+ mothers at this hospital to not have contracted the disease! I chatted a bit with one of those moms.

Finally, today at the GAVI Ceremony I recorded a bit of one of the speakers who said, “Without mothers there is no immunization.”

I hope you listen to all three updates. They give a great peek in to the voices and sounds of Ghana, both of which I’ve been blessed to experience first hand and I’m psyched that technology allows me to share them with you.

There are so many more stories to tell, thoughts to share and experiences I need to digest and write about. You can expect plenty of updates in the days and weeks ahead.

ONE has made my life a better place by exposing me to all the magic of this part of the world. Thank you for having this ONEDad be part of the ONEMoms team!

It is not going to be until I get home that I can fully process everything I’m thinking, but I also want to capture and share my raw thoughts as they happen.

Today was an amazing day that started at a hospital and ended with us making beads. In between I saw some of the the trouble AND the opportunity that the people of Ghana have. There is plenty of both, but being the eternal optimist, I like to believe that great things are coming.

I’d write more, but we have to run and have dinner with students from the local university. Please listen to the podcast to hear more of my thoughts.

I know that I should be curled up in bed asleep right now, but I feel a duty to document and share everything I’ve seen, smelled and tasted while here in Ghana.

It has only been 10 hours that I’ve been on the ground in Africa with the ONE team and already it has been everything I thought it might be and yet totally different.

Everywhere you look there is poverty, but there is also entrepreneurship. People are making the most out of what they have and smiling while they do it.  There is construction everywhere and an energy that you can feel.

I’ve quickly realized that my grand plans of video taping the experience are not going to happen. I’m certainly a photographer first and video comes second. But, I’m still hoping and learning.

We went to a local arts market and listen to my thoughts that I recorded immediately upon returning. It was certainly a blur of intense memories and I still can’t fully put to words how it felt.

Dinner was beside the ocean where we were serenaded by the waves. Ice cold Club beer, plantain chips and great conversation were on the menu for the night. The steak was tough, but the chicken was juicy and flavorful. I had my first taste of the very local Red Red which is a combination of beans, spices and chunks of fish (it was down home amazing). I intended to avoid the plate of french fries, but that changed as we all discovered they were heavenly good due to the oil they are cooked in.

Of course the people are what make any meal and getting to know Amy, Ana, Rich and the rest of the team was the highlight. Their passion for what they do excites me.

Crazy that all of this has happened in such a short amount of time. I can’t imagine how packed tomorrow will be since we’ll have a full day to fill.

Our plans for tomorrow include a visit to a malnutrition clinic and then to a local furniture maker who has grown their business into one of the largest of their industry here in Ghana. Then we are headed to meet with a woman who makes beads made from recycled glass. I have every plan to buy some while there. I think I know a girl who would love to have them to be creative with. We’ll end the day over dinner with local University students. I’m excited to talk to them about their plans for the future.

My photo set will continue to grow and I’ll be sharing as much as I can on Twitter. Of course you can follow the #ONECampaign or #ONEMoms tags to see updates from everyone.

I’m safely in Ghana and we just returned from a quick trip to the arts market.

I wanted to capture my thoughts immediately upon returning. I was NOT ready for how intense it was going to be. Listen to the file below to hear my thoughts.

All my photos from the trip will be constantly added to this Flickr set if you are interested.

Sunday I leave for Ghana and ever since I got the invite I’ve been thinking about how I was going to capture and share the adventure since that is what I live to do.

While every adventure is different, I think I’ve figured out how I’m going to be doing this one and thought I’d share my plan in case it was helpful for others.

Plus, people keep asking me and now I’ll have a post I can point them to. *grin*

The purpose of the trip is to take part in the GAVI vaccine rollout which ONE has been a big supporter of. We’ll be visiting hospitals, clinics and government offices. Between meetings, meals and casual conversations I’ll be talking with everyone from HIV+ parents, to government officials and even a few University students.

I want to remember it all and share all the good parts with the world, so here is my plan:

• I’ve set a personal goal of writing one post or recording an audio update every single day. This will depend on how tired I am and what our day includes.
• I’ll be recording audio updates on my iPhone using SoundCloud. They allow for adding photos and sharing instantly on Twitter and Facebook which I love. There isn’t a way to embed on my blog directly from the app so doing that will have to wait until at night when I get back to my hotel.
• I’m still old fashion and will be writing down notes by hand the whole time. I rarely go anywhere without a Field Notes notebook in my pocket and I’ve got a new one just for this trip. I also bought extras and am bringing them to give away to children I meet.
• I bought a Canon 5DMKIII and if you know me, you know how enthusiastic of a photographer I am. I bought this camera because it will also allow me to film video while there. This will be something new for me to do on the same camera that I shoot still images so it is going to be a bit of an experiment. I’ve bought extra memory cards and a new portable hard drive just for this trip. My goal is to edit together a single travel video when I get home that uses the images, photographs and audio that I capture.
• I bought a SIM card to use while on the ground so that I can share photographs taken immediately with my iPhone. I use Camera+ to take all my photos and then you can expect to see them going out instantly on Instagram and I’ll most likely share them on Google+, Flickr and Facebook. Once I get home I’ll upload all of my photos with the best ones going to 500px as well as all the previously mentioned locations.

That is my plan for the next week. We are on the ground five days in Ghana and I know it is going to fly by in a blur and if I don’t make an effort to capture it all I’ll regret it.

If you really want to follow along at home, there will also be updates on the ONE Blog and Twitter accounts so be sure to follow those. Who knows, something I create might even show up there!

Thanks for all the wishes of a safe journey and excitement around this trip. Feel free to reshare what you like liberally to help raise awareness for all the good ONE is doing in the world.

Only a few days left before I head to Ghana as part of the #ONECampaign and I’m starting to get excited/nervous. Listen to my thoughts.

As I mentioned in the audio update, I plan on sharing the whole experience while on the ground there. Of course there will be lots of updates after the fact as well, but I’m going to be liberally sharing across all my networks while there to capture as much of the journey as possible.

When it comes to traveling, I’m not one who likes to leave things until the last minute.

Because of this, even though I’ve still got 13 days until I leave with ONE for Ghana, I’m starting to think about what I need to pack so that I can fully document the experience while I’m there.

Sure, I’ve got to pack clothes and other things, but I’m focusing what I’ll be needing to share the story and experiences both from there and when I return.

Currently on my must go list are:

• GORUCK GR2
• Canon 5D MKIII with 50mm & 24-205mm lens and RODE Microphone
• Olympus EP3
• iPhone & iPad
• 13″ Macbook Air
• External hard drive and extra memory cards
• Head phones
• Field Notes
• Travel Tripod
• Chargers, cables & plug adapters
• Local SIM card with data plan

I’m debating if I throw something like my GoPro or my Sony camcorder in my bag just in case something comes up. Who knows, one camera could die and then what am I going to do?

While there I know I’m going to be using SoundCloud to share audio thoughts and Instagram to share photos directly from the field. Of course that content will be shared across all of my usual channels and there will be longer thoughts and better quality photos shared here and on Flickr when I have time and stable Internet.

For those fellow story tellers of any medium out there, am I forgetting anything?

Long time readers might remember that I was suppose to be in Kenya last month helping teach a class on entrepreneurship.

Due to some unrest, the government officially postponed the trip.  While I still hope it happens some day, when I got the news I assumed I might never make it to Africa.

I’ve got a permanent case of wanderlust. There isn’t a location on this earth that I wouldn’t want to see in person. To smell the air. Taste the food. Meet the people. Those experiences are what I live for.

But, then last week a bit of magic happened and in two weeks I’ll be boarding a plane for Africa and I’m super excited to tell you why.

On April 26th, Ghana will become the first GAVI-eligible country to rollout two new vaccines at same time. They will be pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines, which will save thousands of children’s lives.

As a guest of The GAVI Alliance, ONE has invited me to come along for the journey to be part of this historical announcement and see how their efforts are changing lives on the ground. The White House credits ONE (ONE’s supporters, volunteers and moms) with successfully pushing for the multi-year $450 million pledge of commitments to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI).

Watch this beautiful video to learn more about what is happening.

I’m not sure I can fully express how thankful I am that ONE approached me with this opportunity. While getting seven shots last week was less than fun, I’ve already forgotten them and am getting filled with excitement as I think about the week I’ll spend there and what stories I’ll be able to capture and share.

Last year when the #ONEMOMS program brought some of my friends to Africa, I followed along on their journey.

The above photo was taken by Karen Walrond who was on that trip and who shared all the beauty she discovered along the way. I remember sitting here at home dreaming of going on a trip like that someday. Now, it is a reality.

You’ll be able to follow along on my journey to Ghana as I’ll be sharing as much as I can across all of my channels, but there will also be updates daily to http://one.org/blog and http://facebook.com/one as well.

Thank you ONE for having me be part of something so important and so special.

Africa, here I come!