Sincerely, Jacob

On travel: South African unemployment

During a walking tour of Old Cape Town yesterday, I learned that the South African unemployment rate is around 40%! If it’s more than 7% in the United States people are up in arms!

I spoke with some of the workers at my hostel to try and understand how this could be. I understand that Cape Town and the surrounding areas are at a higher level of infrastructure and Western resemblance than the rest of the country, but I found it hard to believe that there wasn’t any jobs available for the people without them.

Apparently, it’s a cultural issue. Traditional culture prioritizes the well-being of the community over the individual; largely antithetical to the egocentric, selfish Western world. If your grandparents, parents, and wider family are not apart of that job seeking, 9-5, hustle culture… then you probably won’t be either.

There was probably an alternative history of South Africa, like the rest of Africa, where a lack of European intervention would’ve provided for a modern day alternative way of living. Instead, people are struggling to exist in the wake of oppression, and in a world dominated by a cultural system that is not their own.

On life: Endurance

Four full days into this trip, and I’ve come to realize how great my capacity for endurance is.

Over the last few months I’ve mentally prepared myself for what was to come - discomfort, anxiety, and loneliness. All natural feelings when backpacking months on end, alone.

I have come to learn, and surely will learn far more, how capable I am. I don’t need my own room, my daily routine, or people around me that I’ve known for years. Everything is a season, including life. Nothing comes without sacrifice.

Whenever I have a moment of weariness for my discomfort, I remind myself the mental ethos of this trip: I am on The Great Adventure, all that comes I can handle and make the best of. I’m too fortunate to do anything but smile and laugh.