What does the word “other” mean? It looks like a totally innocuous adjective, not worthy of much attention. But actually it’s a word laden with connotations. Literally it just means something distinct from something that’s already been discussed. Ask any English professor however and they’ll tell you that “the other” refers to the marginalised, the less well-known, the alternative, the different.
It’s in that context that we hit upon calling November’s collection of long reads on Mpora “The Other Issue”. We wanted to take a look at people, places and approaches to adventure that were different, alternative, or outside of the perceived norms.
“Foster’s study involved foraging for food on all fours, defecating in people’s back gardens and eating worms like a badger.”
We always try to explore unusual destinations, but this month’s travel stories are particularly interesting. This isn’t because they’re especially far flung (they’re certainly not as ‘out there’ as Afghanistan or Kyrgyzstan, both of which we’ve covered in the past), but rather because they’re less obvious alternatives to better-known areas nearby.
