I have been talking about this trip for a while now and one topic has come up repeatedly in discussions with travel veterans. The subject concerns a secret underground African economy, one that is built on the incredibly stable value of used T-shirts. The route will take us through some pretty remote locations where the ability for locals to exchange cold hard cash for anything of value in their villages may be limited or non-existent. In this situation, the most appropriate payment for services rendered is literally the shirt off your back. As a result, I am setting up a T-shirt drive where I appeal to you, my beloved countrymen, to help me fill every nook and cranny of the car with your unwanted apparel. All clothes are welcome except “I’m with stupid” shirts. No-one wants those.
If you are interested in helping out drop me a mail at ross.kinmont@gmail.com and I will organize to come collect your kit. Anything unused by the time we get to Ethiopia will be donated to charity.
If you want to hear more about the underground T-shirt black market in developing economies I highly recommend this series of podcasts from NPR’s Planet Money: http://www.npr.org/series/248799434/planet-moneys-t-shirt-project. In particular, the episode titled “The Afterlife Of American Clothes”.
Joburg to Scotland 