The Beginning of a Quest, His and Mine

For many this was the end of the line, a place at the end of Africa to get lost in purple hazes and naked lunches. But long before Burroughs and Hendrix added their hipness, a local boy took the Tangerine brand far beyond the Levant. A medieval gap-year wanderer who saw it as a beginning rather than an end,  Ibn Battutah set off in 1325 from this white speck beyond Hercules’ pillars on a pilgrimage that turned into a 25-year, 75,000-mile odyssey…all before coming home to dictate his tale. Get lost in the warren of the medina looking for this ultimate traveler-turned-saint’s tomb, and pick up a bit of traveler’s karma before setting out on your own journey. Or just try armchair travel by leafing through his Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Traveling.

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Originally published on Trazzler