Within my professional life I've been paid to think about the unthinkable, or more accurately: think about the stuff that others really should have thought about and didn't; that is (at least part of the reason) why I was there.
My current unthinkable thought, one that most, if not all, of my friends would be astonished to find me having even had let alone be seriously considering...
Don't go to Africa.
Yes. I am seriously contemplating not going to Africa, a place which calls to me, during my trip.
I suspect many will be surprised by this, but it is actually very simple: I have a finite budget and I need to make compromises about where I go and what I do. One of my options, and all I've got at the moment are options, is that by skipping Africa it gives me more time and money for other things, specifically a trip through Central Asia.
This trip has been something I've looked at many many times and it just grabs me. In reality I'd probably do this one (or something a lot like it) as I'm not sure Iran is going to be a good place to go in 2013, but that is (mostly) America's fault - from what I've heard Iran, and Iranian people as a whole, is a wonderful place and well worth visiting; unless, of course, America and Israel decided to turn it into the next war zone.
Back to Asia... The trip is something I've wanted to do for years - it is so far removed from anything I've seen and done and such an amazingly remote place that it just screams "DO ME!" Alas it is way over my budget - skipping Africa means I can do the Central Asia tour, doing Africa (bit-by-bit?) at another time.
Time to think the unthinkable.
