Writing this post from Dulles Airport, a gateway to the world that just happens to be 15 minutes from my house. Out the window: rain, clouds and the gigantic nose of an Airbus. Inside: people from many nations milling around in search of coffee, water and connecting flights.

I’ve been planning this trip for months, and will be preparing even in the hours I have en route. But in truth, nothing can prepare me for the people I’m about to meet, the roads and rivers I’m about to travel, the interviews I’m about to conduct.

In the end all I can expect is … the unexpected. That’s what travel is about.