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N’Djamena, Chad
5 March 2023
We wanted to visit Chad and did not want to experience it on a tour. This meant we needed a letter of invitation from a Chadian national in Chad in order to get the visa. It was either that or fly back to the US to visit the Chadian embassy there (far too expensive as we were in the Middle East and heading to Africa next). Mark had the idea to reach out to people through a cultural exchange website in order to find a local Chadian sponsor who would write us the necessary invitation letter for the visa. He connected with Adra, who kindly agreed to help us. Adra went above and beyond for us before and during our trip to Chad.
We were trying to get the Chadian visa while we were in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. We went to the consulate. At first it seemed impossible and I was ready to give up, but Mark persevered. The first difficult requirement was they needed a letter from the US embassy in Saudi Arabia stating we had permission to travel to Chad. Mark had already contacted the US embassy who refused to issue such a letter on the principle that US citizens are free to travel to (almost) anywhere they would like to go. In addition, the Chadian consulate in Jeddah kept changing the requirements. On our first visit they said our friend in Chad just had to write a letter inviting us and have it notarized. So Adra did that. When we went back with that the following day (20 minute taxi ride each way), they said actually the letter needed to be prepared/typed in an official format and a special government notary had to notarize it. This cost significant money to do and Adra agreed to do this and pay for it out of pocket. After Adra obtained the letter and had it notarized by the official notary, the Chadian consul general’s assistant then told us (on our third day visiting the consulate in Jeddah) that the Minister of Foreign Affairs in N'Djamena had to sign the notarized invitation letter. That one was especially tricky.
When Adra went to the office in N’Djamena they said he had to come back the next week. At that point our flight from Saudi Arabia to Chad was departing in four days (we had to purchase our flights in order to apply for the visa). Waiting another week would have meant losing our tickets, making the visa moot. Adra understood this and would not take no for an answer. He did not give up and eventually convinced them to have the minister sign the letter that day! He then emailed us the letter, which we promptly printed in Jeddah and presented to the officials at the consulate in Jeddah.
It was incredibly generous of Adra to commit so much time, energy, and even his own money to this endeavor for people he had never even met. While of course we agreed to pay back all the fees associated with the process there was no guarantee that we would even make it to Chad!
Finally, after five visits to the consulate (over 40 minutes in the taxi every round trip) and some more weird stuff (like driving with the assistant and his child from the consulate to the consul general’s home, waiting in the car as a babysitter with the 4 year old child as the assistant went into the home to get his signature on the visa sticker, then watching the assistant stamp and place the visas using his steering wheel for a table), we got our visas. Unfortunately all the back and forth ate into our time in Chad, so it was a short visit.
When we arrived in N’Djamena, Chad, Adra picked us up at the airport. He helped us buy a mosquito net and some other items from a local market and delivered us to our AirBNB. Another day he drove us to Gaoui village along very difficult dirt roads, where we visited a cultural museum and observed traditional architecture and pottery. Despite living close by he had never visited, and we all enjoyed it.
Adra also helped us find the wild hippopotamuses that live in the capital city of N’Djamena. This was a priority for me because I love hippos and it’s unusual to find them living in a city. He even sent us photos of a rogue hippo who, the day after we left, decided to enter downtown and was blocking traffic into a local bank!
Adra made our short trip to Chad possible. Because of his tremendous generosity and trust and kindness he made our experience in Chad very special. He enjoys traveling too, so hopefully we can return the favor by hosting and showing him around in the United States someday. Plus we hope to meet up with him again on our next trip to Chad! There’s a lot more to see.
Thanks again, Adra!
5 March 2023
We wanted to visit Chad and did not want to experience it on a tour. This meant we needed a letter of invitation from a Chadian national in Chad in order to get the visa. It was either that or fly back to the US to visit the Chadian embassy there (far too expensive as we were in the Middle East and heading to Africa next). Mark had the idea to reach out to people through a cultural exchange website in order to find a local Chadian sponsor who would write us the necessary invitation letter for the visa. He connected with Adra, who kindly agreed to help us. Adra went above and beyond for us before and during our trip to Chad.
We were trying to get the Chadian visa while we were in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. We went to the consulate. At first it seemed impossible and I was ready to give up, but Mark persevered. The first difficult requirement was they needed a letter from the US embassy in Saudi Arabia stating we had permission to travel to Chad. Mark had already contacted the US embassy who refused to issue such a letter on the principle that US citizens are free to travel to (almost) anywhere they would like to go. In addition, the Chadian consulate in Jeddah kept changing the requirements. On our first visit they said our friend in Chad just had to write a letter inviting us and have it notarized. So Adra did that. When we went back with that the following day (20 minute taxi ride each way), they said actually the letter needed to be prepared/typed in an official format and a special government notary had to notarize it. This cost significant money to do and Adra agreed to do this and pay for it out of pocket. After Adra obtained the letter and had it notarized by the official notary, the Chadian consul general’s assistant then told us (on our third day visiting the consulate in Jeddah) that the Minister of Foreign Affairs in N'Djamena had to sign the notarized invitation letter. That one was especially tricky.
When Adra went to the office in N’Djamena they said he had to come back the next week. At that point our flight from Saudi Arabia to Chad was departing in four days (we had to purchase our flights in order to apply for the visa). Waiting another week would have meant losing our tickets, making the visa moot. Adra understood this and would not take no for an answer. He did not give up and eventually convinced them to have the minister sign the letter that day! He then emailed us the letter, which we promptly printed in Jeddah and presented to the officials at the consulate in Jeddah.
It was incredibly generous of Adra to commit so much time, energy, and even his own money to this endeavor for people he had never even met. While of course we agreed to pay back all the fees associated with the process there was no guarantee that we would even make it to Chad!
Finally, after five visits to the consulate (over 40 minutes in the taxi every round trip) and some more weird stuff (like driving with the assistant and his child from the consulate to the consul general’s home, waiting in the car as a babysitter with the 4 year old child as the assistant went into the home to get his signature on the visa sticker, then watching the assistant stamp and place the visas using his steering wheel for a table), we got our visas. Unfortunately all the back and forth ate into our time in Chad, so it was a short visit.
When we arrived in N’Djamena, Chad, Adra picked us up at the airport. He helped us buy a mosquito net and some other items from a local market and delivered us to our AirBNB. Another day he drove us to Gaoui village along very difficult dirt roads, where we visited a cultural museum and observed traditional architecture and pottery. Despite living close by he had never visited, and we all enjoyed it.
Adra also helped us find the wild hippopotamuses that live in the capital city of N’Djamena. This was a priority for me because I love hippos and it’s unusual to find them living in a city. He even sent us photos of a rogue hippo who, the day after we left, decided to enter downtown and was blocking traffic into a local bank!
Adra made our short trip to Chad possible. Because of his tremendous generosity and trust and kindness he made our experience in Chad very special. He enjoys traveling too, so hopefully we can return the favor by hosting and showing him around in the United States someday. Plus we hope to meet up with him again on our next trip to Chad! There’s a lot more to see.
Thanks again, Adra!
Mark, Simmi, and Ronny at dinner.
Funafuti, Tuvalu
17 June 2023
We were walking back to our hotel after a swim in the ocean when we happened upon a busy pool hall. Mark asked one of the men there what was going on. Ronny explained it was a tournament for boys with one younger and one older boy per team. The winners had just been crowned, and won two tubs of breakfast crackers! Ronny and Mark got to chatting. Ronny, who is originally from Vanuatu but now a dual-citizen, invited us to share a bowl of kava with him. Unfortunately we couldn’t that night. Our hotel only turned the water on for one hour in the morning and one hour at night. We were desperate for showers after swimming and quickly running out of time! So instead Ronny invited us over for dinner the next night.
Ronny shuttled us to the house on the back of his motorbike, since we didn’t know where he lived. In Tuvalu only two people are allowed on a motorbike at a time so we took turns. It was a wonderful experience and quite the dinner! Linda cooked, and Simmi also joined. There was spaghetti with vegetables, dal, rice, and eggs in taro leaves. They even surprised us with ice cream cones for dessert! We had a great conversation and watched some rugby with the group.
A couple days later Ronny also hooked us up with the kava. We joined him and a group of his friends from Fiji. It was my first time trying kava. They showed us the traditional way to do it.
Thanks Ronny and friends for really enhancing our visit to Tuvalu! Hope to see you again.
17 June 2023
We were walking back to our hotel after a swim in the ocean when we happened upon a busy pool hall. Mark asked one of the men there what was going on. Ronny explained it was a tournament for boys with one younger and one older boy per team. The winners had just been crowned, and won two tubs of breakfast crackers! Ronny and Mark got to chatting. Ronny, who is originally from Vanuatu but now a dual-citizen, invited us to share a bowl of kava with him. Unfortunately we couldn’t that night. Our hotel only turned the water on for one hour in the morning and one hour at night. We were desperate for showers after swimming and quickly running out of time! So instead Ronny invited us over for dinner the next night.
Ronny shuttled us to the house on the back of his motorbike, since we didn’t know where he lived. In Tuvalu only two people are allowed on a motorbike at a time so we took turns. It was a wonderful experience and quite the dinner! Linda cooked, and Simmi also joined. There was spaghetti with vegetables, dal, rice, and eggs in taro leaves. They even surprised us with ice cream cones for dessert! We had a great conversation and watched some rugby with the group.
A couple days later Ronny also hooked us up with the kava. We joined him and a group of his friends from Fiji. It was my first time trying kava. They showed us the traditional way to do it.
Thanks Ronny and friends for really enhancing our visit to Tuvalu! Hope to see you again.
Carlos and Ashly with the couple in Bali. Photo courtesy of @happynomadcouple.
Bali, Indonesia
December 2017
We were nearing the end of our 9 month long Round the World trip, and heading from Cambodia to Indonesia to spend the weeks leading up to Christmas in Bali. We fortuitously got upgraded to an exit row that we shared with a nice Canadian ex-pat who now lived with her English husband in Bali. We chatted a bit on the flight and once we deplaned and headed to baggage claim, she handed me a note with her name and email on it. She told us that we were welcome to stay in their villa for a few days if we would like. We thanked her profusely but were also unsure about it. We were still technically strangers and she lived in an area we weren't planning on visiting. After some thought, we figured it was worth a try, so I emailed her and told her we would love to come stay with her and her husband if the invitation was still open. She sent a driver to come pick us up the next day. We ended up staying with them for 4 amazing days where they taught us about Balinese culture, went out for dinner and drinks, swam in their pool, washed our clothes, and were able to spend part of the Christmas season feeling like we were surrounded by family. We're so glad we ultimately decided to go.
-Ashly and Carlos
happynomadcouple.com
spliceclothing.com
December 2017
We were nearing the end of our 9 month long Round the World trip, and heading from Cambodia to Indonesia to spend the weeks leading up to Christmas in Bali. We fortuitously got upgraded to an exit row that we shared with a nice Canadian ex-pat who now lived with her English husband in Bali. We chatted a bit on the flight and once we deplaned and headed to baggage claim, she handed me a note with her name and email on it. She told us that we were welcome to stay in their villa for a few days if we would like. We thanked her profusely but were also unsure about it. We were still technically strangers and she lived in an area we weren't planning on visiting. After some thought, we figured it was worth a try, so I emailed her and told her we would love to come stay with her and her husband if the invitation was still open. She sent a driver to come pick us up the next day. We ended up staying with them for 4 amazing days where they taught us about Balinese culture, went out for dinner and drinks, swam in their pool, washed our clothes, and were able to spend part of the Christmas season feeling like we were surrounded by family. We're so glad we ultimately decided to go.
-Ashly and Carlos
happynomadcouple.com
spliceclothing.com
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