Joy Hecht, Tales of a 21st Century Gypsy

Tales of a 21st Century Gypsy Joy E. Hecht		Photo above by Susanna McIlwaine.
In October of 2003 I decided to get rid of most of my possessions and go on the road instead of living in housing. This website chronicles of what followed from that decision. If you'd like to comment on it, feel free to email me at jhecht at alum dot mit dot edu. (You know what to replace "at" and "dot" with - maybe the spam webcrawlers don't.) In September of 2006, after traveling the US, Canada, and various places overseas (for work) for a long time, I moved back into my house in northern Virginia. I thought I would stop keeping a running commentary on my everyday life, but habit had become too strong. So if you'd like to read about life in one place, please click here. To read some of my professional writing, please click here. To return to my home page, please click here. Part 21: July to September, 2006: Eastern Canada Part 20: June to July, 2006: Mongolia Part 19: Spring-Summer 2006: The Beginning of the End Part 18: Back to Malawi, winter 2006 Part 17: Fall 2005: The West, Malawi, London, and the West again Part 16: Burning Man, August 2005 Part 15: Out West, Summer 2005 Part 14: Work in Malawi, Summer 2005 Part 13: Back in the USA again May-June 2005 Part 12: From Egypt to Vienna, March-April 2005 Part 11: Back To the East, January-February 2005 Part 10: The Southwest and Back, Nov 2004 to Jan 2005 Part 9: Trip to Vietnam, October-November 2004 Part 8: Back in the U.S. of A. August-September, 2004 Part 7: Off to Egypt, June-August, 2004 Part 6: Back Out There: May 2004 Part 5: Interlude: Back in Arlington. April 2004 Part 4: On the Road at Last! March-April 2004 Part 3: Camping in Arlington VA, Feb-March, 2004 Part 2: Southern Africa - January and a bit of February, 2004 Part 1: Leaving New Jersey, October - December, 2003 Unless otherwise marked, all text and photos on this site ©Joy E. Hecht.

Part 1: Leaving New Jersey - October through December, 2003

October 18, 2003. In the beginning - finding my van.
October 19, 2003. Dematerialization.
October 20, 2003. Meeting the rest of the USA.
October 21, 2003. Travel plans.
October 20-24, 2003. The Train Station Party.
November 23, 2003. November 23, 2003. Finishing work, selling the car, buying the supplies, sorting my stuff, eeekk!.
November 25, 2003. Places to travel.
November 29, 2003. Keeping things, keeping people.
December 1, 2003. Report to the Truman list on problems of becoming a nomad.
December 3, 2003. More on screening books.
December 4, 2003. The VW Thing.
December 6, 2003. Snow - From an email to Mike.
December 12, 2003. Reactions.
December 24, 2003. On a roll.
December 25, 2003. Seeing New Jersey.
December 26, 2003. About writing.
December 28, 2003. Trip to the city.
December 30, 2003. The end or the beginning or the next step?

Part 2: Southern Africa - January and a bit of February, 2004

January 6, 2004. Nelspruit, South Africa.
January 8, 2004. Maputo, Mozambique.
January 14, 2004. Pretoria, South Africa.
January 15, 2004. On a wildlife drive in Kruger National Park.
January 16, 2004. Kruger staff.
January 17, 2004. Animal notes.
January 18, 2004. Tourism notes.
January 24, 2004. Liberty.
January 29, 2004. Back in Maputo.
February 1, 2004. Vila Algarve.
February 3, 2004. Traveler.
February 6, 2004. Leaving Maputo.
February 7, 2004. Cape Town.
February 11, 2004. Leaving Cape Town.
February 12, 2004. On the plane.

Part 3: Camping in Matilda in Arlington VA, February-March, 2004

February 17, 2004. Back in Arlington.
February 18, 2004. Barbecue, chapattis and wire transfers.
February 19, 2004. Dupont Circle.
February 25, 2004. Accounting.
March 8, 2004. Shame and fear.
March 9, 2004. Returning home?
March 10, 2004. Death.
March 17, 2004. Analysis, wiring, sewing, and other kinds of knowledge.

Part 4: On the Road at Last - March-April 2004

March 24, 2004. History and the art of vanagon maintenance (or Major Intellectualization).
March 26, 2004. Durham, NC.
March 27, 2004. Public art.
March 28, 2004. Savannah.
March 30, 2004. Entrepreneurs.
April 1, 2004. On my own at last!
April 6, 2004. With family in Norfolk.
April 8, 2004. On Traveling.
April 9, 2004. On a sand dune at Jockey Ridge.
April 10, 2004. At Kitty Hawk Hostel.
April 12, 2004. At the Ocracoke Planning Board.
April 14, 2004. North Carolina in the Spring.
April 17, 2004. Among the Vanagoners.
April 18, 2004. Reading the townscape.
April 23, 2004. On a lake in Virginia.
April 25, 2004. Oh, the people you'll meet!

Part 5: Interlude: Back in Arlington, April 2004

April 28, 2004. Interlude.
April 30, 2004. In Court.
May 2, 2004. In the neighborhood.

Part 6: Back out there: May 2004

May 8, 2004. By a Waterfall.
May 10, 2004. Eruption on the Vanagon list.
May 12, 2004. Pittsburgh.
May 16, 2004. Subcultures - Sea Kayaking.
May 20, 2004. Cairo, Egypt.
May 22, 2004. The Environment Club.
May 28, 2004. On the Jersey Shore.
May 29, 2004. At the kite festival.
June 4-6, 2004. At the Crawfish festival.
June 10, 2004. Back in New York.

Part 7: Cairo and Rome, June through August, 2004

June 18, 2004. In transit.
June 19, 2004. In Cairo, in a manner of speaking.
June 25, 2004. From my hotel window.
July 1, 2004. In a boat on the Nile.
July 3, 2004. Life on the new job.
July 8, 2004. Zamalek.
July 15, 2004. Alexandria in the daytme.
July 15, 2004. Alexandria by night.
July 22, 2004. Oh, the people you'll meet!
July 27, 2004. Women.
August 6, 2004. The flavors of Rome.
August 7, 2004. Rome on a quiet day.

Part 8: Back in the U.S. of A., August - October, 2004

August 17, 2004. Back in the U.S. of A.
August 21, 2004. The County Fair - Arlington, Virginia.
August 24, 2004. Vanagon or Prius? Prius or Vanagon?
August 31, 2004. Family life, Upstate New York.
September 2, 2004. Oh, the people you’ll meet – the independent women
September 5, 2004. The County Fair – Chippewa, Michigan.
September 6, 2004. Family life, rural Michigan.
September 7, 2004. Oh the people you’ll meet.
September 13, 2004. Marquette, Michigan.
September 15, 2004. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
September 17, 2004. Madison, Wisconsin.
September 19, 2004. Buses over the Rainbow, Decorah Iowa.
September 23, 2004. Minneapolis, Minnesota.
September 24, 2004. Minneopa State Park, Minnesota.
September 25, 2004. Mitchell, South Dakota.
September 26, 2004. Driving across South Dakota.
September 26, 2004 (again). South Dakota History.
September 27, 2004. The Badlands.
September 28, 2004 The more I travel...

Photo by Sue Harmon or Barb or Marilyn Cotton.

Part 9: Trip to Vietnam: October-November, 2004

October 29, 2004. Gray Hanoi.
October 30, 2004. People and values and culture.
November 5, 2004. Ha Long Bay.
November 10, 2004. Looking at cities.

Part 10: The Southwest and Back, November-December 2004

November 17, 2004. Boulder, Colorado.
November 21, 2004. The Grand Canyon.
December 3, 2004. Phoenix.
December 9, 2004.Quartzsite, AZ: The weird capital of the world?
December 12, 2004.Tucson, AZ: A pretty normal place, all in all.
December 16, 2004.Peña Blanca Lake.
December 18, 2004.Hot Wells Dunes.
December 21, 2004. The South West Landscape.
December 23, 2004. Camping in the Cold.
December 26, 2004. Living in the Cold.
December 31, 2004. Austin, Texas.

Part 11: Back To the East, January-February 2005

January 4, 2005. The Chitimacha.
January 6, 2005. Water World.
January 7, 2005. Oh, the People You’ll meet – Foreigners in New Orleans.
January 20, 2005. Family Shindig.
January 30, 2005. At the Beach.

Part 12: From Egypt to Vienna, March-April 2005

March 8, 2005. Back in Cairo.
March 18, 2005. Excursions: Blind in Cairo.
March 25, 2005. Excursions: The Pyramids.
March 31, 2005. Excursions: Churches and scarves.
April 7, 2005. Excursions: Boat to Qanater.
April 16, 2005. Spring in Vienna.
April 17, 2005. Vienna again.
April 18, 2005. Urban Form in Vienna.

Part 13: Back in the USA again May-June 2005

May 20, 2005 Long limbo.
May 12, 2005 Athens, Ohio.
May 15, 2005 Columbus, Ohio.
May 17, 2005 Indianapolis, Indiana.
May 18, 2005 Rockford, Michigan.
May 22, 2005 Buses by the Beach.
June 3, 2005 On the road from Rockford to Boulder.
June 13, 2005 The Grand Tetons.
June 18, 2005 Yellowstone at last!
June 22, 2005 From Yellowstone to Tacoma.
June 24, 2005 Washington, D.C.

Part 14: Work in Malawi, Summer 2005

June 29, 2005 Mount Mulanje, Malawi.
July 6, 2005 Working in Malawi.
July 25, 2005 Ecological Economics.

Part 15: Out West, Summer 2005

August 4, 2005 Canoe Journey.
August 5, 2005 The Olympic Peninsula.
August 9, 2005 Logistics.
August 12, 2005 Places to Live: Seattle
August 22, 2005 Oh, the people you'll meet: The Pacific Northwest.
August 28, 2005 Oh, the places you'll see: Crater Lake.

Part 16: Burning Man, August 2005

August 29, 2005 Burning Man: I arrive.
August 30, 2005 Burning Man: Camps, Cars, and Creations.
August 31, 2005 Burning Man: The airport.
September 1, 2005 Burning Man: Middle of the Night.
September 3, 2005 Burning Man: Costumes, sex and nudity.
September 6, 2005 Burning Man: The end of the world.
September 8, 2005 Burning Man: On the way out.

Part 17: Fall 2005: The West, Malawi, London, and the West again.

September 15, 2005 Dry empty country.
September 18, 2005 Moab.
September 22, 2005 The National Parks.
again September 22, 2005 Petroglyphs.
September 24, 2005 Mesa Verde.
October 15, 2005 A Tirade on Foreign Aid.
October 20, 2005 My work in Malawi, or why your tax dollars are keeping me in Africa this time.
November 16, 2005 Mulanje Mountain.
November 21, 2005 London.
December 7, 2005 Speaking of the weather.
December 13, 2005 California dreaming – the geography of popular culture.
December 19-22, 2005 "Drive to Cheyenne, turn left, keep going till you get to San Francisco”
January 3, 2006 California, at last!
January 5, 2006 Monterey Bay
January 9, 2006 Proper tourism
January 13, 2006 Los Angeles
January 16, 2006 Buses by the Beach: meeting up with my family
January 18, 2006 Las Vegas
February 1, 2006 Tucson, The Gem Show