DECEMBER: TAYLOR BENNER
I've known Taylor for a while now. In 2014 he had the idea to hike the Appalachian Trail with my younger brother Aidan, they are best friends from high school. Luckily for me, I tagged along, because if I didn't, my ma wouldn't have let my brother go. That's when Taylor became more than just my little brother's friend. Through 2014 + 2015 we hiked over 2,000 miles on the Appalachian Trail, + through all the ups + downs, good times + bad, we became more like family. Since then, Taylor hasn't stopped traveling + adventuring. He's currently down in Key West, Florida sailing for the winter, + last year ventured to Senegal. His adventures have been amazing! See for yourself.
- Devon
You recently went on a trip to Senegal! Could you tell us a bit about why you decided to go there?
It was a very spur of the moment decision! I love to travel + knew I wanted to experience a new culture, somewhere I knew little about to hopefully gain some new insights. I narrowed it down to West Africa or South America. I decided on West Africa after finding some really interesting WWOOFing programs there, the first I wanted to visit happened to be in Senegal. West Africa is not the safest place to travel as a white American, but after doing some research on the region, Senegal seemed to be the best bet. I was also very interested in continuing to learn French + Senegal, having been a French colony, is a predominantly French speaking country.
Was there anything about the culture that really stood out to you?
Of course! So much! One thing that really stood out to me was how people truly live in the moment there! It is such a different way of life in Senegal than we experience here in the US, especially in U.S. cities. The pace is so much slower than I was used to, even from growing up in rural Maine. The deeply ingrained need to live in the moment is truly exemplified in the most common Wolof greeting of Na'nga def (How are you) with the answer Mangi fi rekk (I am only here).
Do you have an interesting/crazy story you could tell us?
There were so many crazy things that happened on this trip between taking the wrong bus to the border of The Gambia, to having to find our way to a tiny village in the middle of nowhere that we couldn't even pronounce + to thinking I had malaria and lying in bed for two days contemplating death. But the one that comes to mind happened towards the end of the trip, traveling from the southern city of Ziguinchor, across The Gambia, to the capitol city of Dakar in the North. It's about a 275 mile trip which became the longest trip of my life. I boarded a bus at 5 in the morning + soon understood the lack of schedule at this bus terminal. I was told it would be much quicker to take a "Sept place" which is basically a hatch back car that they cram 7 people into, but on this day they didn't have any going to Dakar so the only choice was a mini bus, which are always a metal death trap. After waiting 6 hours for the bus to fill up we Finally departed at around 12. We reached the boarder of The Gambia around 2 + then the Gambian river an hour or so later. The thing about the Gambian river is that there is no bridge across, just a small ferry that takes 1 bus + 4 sept places at a time. I found at the river, a line of cars over a mile long, all of these people sharing one crummy bathroom with an estimated wait time of 24 hours to just get across the river! It was a crazy realization. Long story sort of short, I went up + down asking people if I could get in their cars towards the end of the line, + finally ended up paying about 10 dollars to get a ride across, + made it to Dakar in about 16 hours.
What was the hardest thing to get used to?
I would have to say the immense differences of culture. Money in Senegal is treated in a very interesting regard. It's not seen as important, but is still needed to survive. The culture of gift giving + sharing money works really well within a village or extended family, but when foreigners, like myself are expected to play into that, it makes it sort of complicated, especially being on a small budget like I was. It was sort of a constant one way exchange of giving away things + being expected to pay whenever I went somewhere with someone. Even something as simple as asking for directions could turn into a hap-hazard tour where it is expected that a tip will be given at the end. All in all, I think it is important for people visiting impoverished countries to feel obligated to pay for these things, but it was unexpected + ended up being sort of a challenge.
As an aspiring photographer, how did making photographs in Senegal compare to other work you've done in the past?
It was an amazing experience to have the opportunity to make photographs here. I feel that the photos I made are some of the best + most meaningful I have made in my life. For other bodies of work I've done it has been about sort of taking the mundane + finding an interesting angle, but in Senegal, everything was so amazing + foreign to me, that the pictures were just popping up everywhere. The stories of the people I made portraits of, their lives being so different from my own. I was also lucky enough to witness, set up for + take down, a seldom seen festival called Futampaf. The festival is centered around all of the boys of the village being circumcised + sent to the forest for 1 week to live in exile to teach them the struggles of manhood. To see + photograph these young people acting with such bravery was inspiring. It was also challenging but interesting to navigate this sacred festival as a white foreigner with a camera.
We know you have a sense of adventure. You've hiked the Appalachian Trail + spent months in Senegal. You also just sailed to Key West, Florida from Camden, Maine on the Schooner Appledore + plan to spend the winter there. What sparked this latest sailing adventure + how was the journey down to Key West?
Yeah! It was sick! It took us 10 days to do the 1,800 miles down the coast. It's a traditional boat with no autopilot so there's got to be someone on the helm at all times, 24 hours a day which is crazy. It was some of the best sailing of my life, though. We had amazing wind! We saw consistently 25 knots of wind + even more at some points. I definitely feel like I learned a lot from it. As far as what sparked this new adventure, I just love sailing + got bored of normal life + I guess I've got the sailing bug! I also aspire to get my captains license in the next year so the sea time helps.
Could you tell us a little bit about sailing in Key West?
Sailing in Key West is pretty cool. There's consistently good wind + it's always at least 75 degrees so that's pretty great. Being surrounded by the 3rd biggest reef in the world means that it's super shallow all around the island so with our deep draft of 11 ft we can't go very many places. We basically have to stay in the shipping lanes or we're running aground. As far as the people go it's mostly drunk older people who love to pop they're tops off.
We know you just got yourself a motorcycle, how's the bike life been?
It's been great. Super dangerous, but great. I don't have a license (don't tell my mom) so it's also highly illegal but I'm loving it. It's a super loud 1974 Suzuki 2 stroke, it's a pretty cool bike, but obviously someone hated it. The other day I'm woken up to someone knocking on the hull of the boat asking who owns the blue bike (parked next to a whole row of motorcycles) because someone kicked it over in the night. I honestly thought I was still asleep, but I went out there, + there she is in a pool of gasoline. The security guard comes out + is like, "we got it on tape, you wanna see" so I go take a look and it's some douchnozel at 3am who jumps up + double foot kicks my bike over, lands on his feet + runs away. I don't know why but I was pretty impressed, but also thoroughly peeved.
What's next for you?
I honestly don't know with a ton of certainty but there are a few plans in the works. One of which is an around the world sailing position on a old wooden Maine schooner. I'm hoping for that one!!