The Places In Between

Rory Stewart decided to walk across Afghanistan. Shootings still going on here and there. Nine feet of snow in places along the way. Walking.



He made it, but heaven only knows how. What makes us set goals like this? And then actually do them?



But how else would I ever have visited a place like this? I don't think I've ever visited so many people that are so isolated from the world. Lots of wonderful hospitality. Lots of scary moments.



It was Stewart's pictures I liked the best. Drawings of people and places along the way. Not gallery quality pictures, but pictures like the best artists of sixth grade make. Nevertheless, something special about the little drawings, something that makes you think about the people posing for the pictures in the cold of central Afghanistan, the willingness of people to do for others, I think.