Journal Entry: Today’s Expedition

Today’s expedition involves heading out to find an ATM.

We moved from our Airbnb in the capital city of Accra to Ghana’s Western Region—about a four-hour drive on roads under heavy construction. That external shift in location has required an internal shift in my relationship to daily life as I’ve always known it… and rarely thought twice about.

Here, the day-to-day luxuries I never considered luxuries are not always easily accessible. The sights are different. While english is spoken, Fanti is the language of this region’s people, and I do not understand anything. Shopping is different. Sleeping is different. My relationship to time is different. And without a car at our disposal, getting around becomes a real adventure.

So yes—today’s expedition involves driving to a “local” ATM.

First, allow me to share my definition of a local ATM.

Recently, we were awakened early one morning to the sound of the electricity shutting off. If you’ve never experienced that, it’s hard to explain, but it’s almost like a heavy silence lands in a flash—sudden, definitive, and with no warning. It’s the kind of moment where your body asks immediately:

Why is this happening? Is it the entire neighborhood… or just us?

That morning, it was just our place.

My husband is more familiar with how life works here, so this babe-in-the-woods bucked up and followed his lead, learning in real time. Rob told me that while he was outside in the wee hours, he’d wondered why a particular light in front of the house was blue. When the electricity shut off, it made sense.

We needed to top up on our credit.

Here, electricity is paid for in advance—otherwise known as “topping up.”

So we hastily got dressed and headed out to find an ATM so we could get local cash and restore power. Rob remembered where a nearby bank was, about a twenty-minute walk along local roads—complete with goats, dirt paths, thick foliage, churches, tro-tros (local buses), children headed to school in uniform, shops opening for business… and sheep.

I’m telling you: sheep.

My husband’s memory was precise. We found the ATM… only to be informed by the security guard on duty that it did not take Visa.

It was time to pivot—a skill you learn quickly in these parts.

Next, we hailed a local taxi and picked up a family friend who knew where another ATM was located. The drive through the villages alone was a sensory barrage. After about twenty minutes, we came upon the ATM: a lone building the size of a small walk-in closet, sitting on a patch of grass, with a well-worn path leading up to it.

Another first among firsts.

This is true pioneering, people.

I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until the machine finally dispensed cash. Talk about gratitude. By mid-afternoon, the electricity was back on and all was well.

And this is the same ATM we’re heading to today.

Will it work? Fingers crossed.

Because it can be sobering, real quick, to realize how modern conveniences train us into expectation.

Of course the ATM will take Visa.

Of course there will be more than one machine.

Of course it will be operational.

Where I come from, an ATM doesn’t work when you have insufficient funds. That’s the only reason it fails. I’ve been conditioned by a system that usually works, quietly, in the background.

Where I am now… you can’t always be so sure.

So I’m taking it all in stride, because this is what it takes to start fresh in a place I mindfully chose to begin a new life. Mercifully, this is temporary as we get our bearings—but what a reboot it is.

Ever-evolving explorer… reporting from the field, and smiling in your direction.

From my heart to yours,