Africa is a land with endless stories to tell.

From epic battles, brilliant rulers, and the dramatic rise and fall of civilizations.

Join us on the History of Africa Podcast to learn the too often unknown stories of the African continent.

From the sands of Cairo to the Plains of Zimbabwe and from the mountains of Ethiopia to the

forests of the Congo.

Find the History of Africa Podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts.

I've covered some intense subjects lately on this podcast. In the next few weeks there are some similarly

tough topics to come, including the Gering Brothers and an exploration of exorcism.

But as we head into the holiday season, this week I've decided to offer some light affair and I'll be talking to a fascinating man who's been to more fascinating

places than even the most avid traveler.

Renowned travel writer Gary Art has visited over 400 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, over 200 countries and territories, and he once visited

all seven continents in just one year. His traveling really began in 2007 when he sold his house and began a

multi-year world trek. So Gary what was it like going on a multi-year vacation?

I wouldn't call it a vacation.

Everybody thinks that traveling is a vacation and that you're just constantly

in leisure mode the entire time.

I had a pretty popular travel website, social media accounts,

so I was working a lot of the time.

I was traveling, but it wasn't vacation.

When you embarked on that journey, how far out did you have it mapped out in terms of where you were going to go

or was it just sort of wherever the wind took you?

I made it up as I went along.

...