Change of route: we start in the south and drive north
Our year on the road starts on 11 January 2027. New plan: we head south first, to Kairouan and the oases of the Jérid, then we drive back up the coast. Here's why.
When we first drew our route, it started in Cap Bon, an hour from home, and went down the coast towards the desert. It looked logical on a map. Then reality stepped in, the way it always does on a project like this: one of our hosts said yes, and that host is in Nefta, at the edge of the Sahara.
So we redrew everything. On 11 January 2027 we still leave La Marsa, but this time we head straight inland and south. The first stop will most likely be Kairouan. The second one is confirmed: Dar Zargouni, a guesthouse in Nefta, in the oasis region of the Jérid. From there, we will work our way back north along the coast, region by region, until the green hills of the north-west.
Why the south first makes sense
The first reason is simple: winter. In January and February, the south of Tunisia is at its best. Days are mild and bright, nights are cold and clear, and the oases are green. It is the high season for desert travel, which means guesthouses, guides and local businesses are busy, and that their digital problems are visible in real time. If a booking system breaks or a message goes unanswered, we will see it happen.
Spending the coldest weeks in the north, on the other hand, would mean rain, short days and quiet businesses. By the time we reach the coast and the north in March and April, spring will be there, and the seaside towns will be preparing their summer season. The timing works for us, and it works for our hosts.
A real host changes everything
The second reason matters even more. NomadTech is not a road trip with a few clients along the way. It is a residency: we live with our hosts, we work on their business, and we leave them tools they can use alone. A confirmed host is worth more than a perfect line on a map.
Dar Zargouni saying yes gave our route its anchor. Everything else is organised around that week in Nefta. It is also proof that the idea works: a guesthouse in an oasis town, hundreds of kilometres from the capital, decided to open its doors to two builders and a truck. That is exactly the kind of place we want to work with.
The new route, region by region
Here is the plan for the first part of the year, still subject to change as hosts confirm:
- Kairouan (to be confirmed), the holy city of the centre, with its medina, carpets and craftsmen.
- Tozeur, Nefta and Douz, the oases of the Jérid and the gateway to the Sahara, with our week at Dar Zargouni.
- Djerba, the island of the south-east.
- Sfax, the business capital of the south.
- Mahdia, the fishing town on its peninsula.
- Sousse and Monastir, the heart of the Sahel.
- Cap Bon, the garden of Tunisia.
- Tabarka and Aïn Draham, the forests and the coral coast of the north-west.
Eight weeks, eight regions, then the international part of the journey, which depends on our sponsors.
What changes on the blog
Over the next two weeks, our articles will travel ahead of us. We will write about Kairouan and its crafts, about Nefta and the Jérid, about the brick city of Tozeur, the date palm economy, the Chott el Jérid, Douz and the Sahara, and the mountain oases near the Algerian border. Each article looks at the people who make these places work, and at what simple digital tools could change for them.
The articles we had prepared about Cap Bon are not lost. They will come back in the weeks before we reach the peninsula, later in the journey.
You are in the south or the centre?
We still have six weeks to fill. If you run a guesthouse, a workshop, a farm, a shop or a small company in Kairouan, the Jérid, Djerba, Sfax or anywhere along our new route, and you have a spare room and a digital mess you would like to sort out, we would love to hear from you. One week at your place, your digital life built with you, and you keep it.
Write to us at boyleai.tech/nomadtech, or send this article to someone in the south who should host us.
Photo: Patryk on Unsplash, track in the desert near Douz.