Deciding to take a year off to travel through 20+ African countries requires considerable preparation to ensure a smooth journey and to avoid situations that could derail our plans, temporarily or entirely. For those of our readers who may be thinking, “how on earth can you travel through so many countries,” or “you must be completely…

“It’ll be amazing,” they said. “A trip of a lifetime,” they said. Every day, we want to believe that driving through Africa in our ’91 Defender named Maggie is an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience, but the truth is that it doesn’t always feel like rainbows and butterflies. At times it can be really, really hard, but…