Starting a Book About My 2 Years in Pakistan

I have Pakistan on the BRAIN!! For weeks I’ve been plotting scenes, choosing what I’d share and what I won’t share, and starting to write the story of my two years in Pakistan and it’s making me relive A LOT!

There were countless wonderful new friends. Millions of smiles. Remote villages. Waterfalls. UNESCO Sites. Bootlegger transactions on street corners. The failure of my company. Dolphins and islands. Rally racing and camel racing. Luxury hotels and fine dining. Sunrise paratha & eggs at Balochistan dhabas (some of my favourite days feature a rural dhaba!). Fabulous Pakistani fashion. Bonkers neighbours. And so much more…

Most of it was so mind-blowingly-epic, magical, and full of adventure that reliving it is filling me with joy.

A few fun facts:

• Ran out of food during a week-long lockdown in Islamabad when we were forbidden from leaving our building (I lived at One Constitution Avenue) so neighbours had to feed me haha
• Never went to “The North”
• Have been found guilty of PECA Cybercrimes by NCCIA for an article I wrote
• Spent 72 days in Balochistan
• 😳 Was investigated by Pakistan’s security agency as a spy for my frequent trips into Balochistan. My closest friend in Karachi was interrogated 5 times by immigration agents & hotel GMs had to report on any visitors I had
• Spoke at 3 tourism forums, 2x to promote Balochistan and 1x to promote rally racing
• 🚂 Travelled by train 4 times, including the famous Jaffar Express Bolan Pass route through 25+ tunnels in the desert of Balochistan
• Have reviewed every 5-star hotel in Punjab, Sindh, Azad Kashmir & Balochistan
• Started a branding & marketing company and was approved by PTDC to rebrand Balochistan Tourism
• Visited Astola Island 2x
• Was the 1st foreigner to attend an annual Lasbela camel race in 100 years!
• Had bootleggers on speed-dial (yeah, it’s what it sounds like, prohibition-style alcohol sellers who I’d meet on the street and pay in cash)
• Broke a toe at Quetta Serena & lost a toenail after trekking in Noshki
• Had lower blepharoplasty plastic surgery in Lahore
• Made friends with Pakistani arms dealers, politicians, athletes, wonderful travel professionals, and incredible female small business owners ❤️

Some of it tugs at my heart. For “story lines” that impacted my life in a meaningful way but could hurt someone if their identity was found out (someone I care about OR, alternatively, someone who might sue me haha), I am diligently creating new character bios for them to masque who they are. Like the man who broke my heart after months of completely trusting him, he’s been turned from a medical professional to a human rights barrister.

BEST PART SO FAR is I finally have the opening chapter after weeks of starting and deleting paragraphs! It starts on the day this photo was taken, when I was almost run over by the winning camel at a village camel race in Balochistan. They said I was the first foreigner to see the race in 100 years. Now that was an amazing day…