Origin Story

While I wasn't actually born on the side of a highway, I'd say it was pretty close. The first decade of my life was spent on the road, stopping sometimes for a few days or months but never much longer. My parents, seeking a better life outside of our turbulent motherland, leveraged all talents they had and found gainful employment in an international traveling circus. That fun fact never fails to raise a few eyebrows. For me it meant a constant rotation of new sights, playgrounds, friends. I loved it. Long after we retired and settled down in an ordinary suburban American town, I itched to be on the road.

Amidst a flurry of ever-changing environments, books were a constant presence in my life. I developed a love for the written word pretty early. I was a voracious reader with occasional bursts of writing, particularly fan-fiction for my favorite books and a few creations of my own. Those early pieces are still out there on the internet, under a pen-name I will carry with me to the grave.

I wanted to be many things when I grew up. Archeologist. Veterinarian. President. Astronaut. Maybe even a writer. But following your passion is a luxury reserved for those families with enough means who teach their children to treat money like lego blocks. Dad gives you lego blocks - if you lose one, no problem - just ask for more. To this day, that concept is alien to me. As the only child of poor immigrants, saddled with the weight of parental expectations and the knowledge that I would need to make my own luck, I focused on cultivating talents that had better odds of economic success. As I got older plenty of letters were still on my screen, except they were the equations of advanced calculus, software code, laboratory reports. Some of those early dreams fell dormant, but my desire to see every corner of this marvelous planet never left me.

Once I graduated college, armed with a prestigious job, new freedoms, and most importantly disposable income, I started indulging my wanderlust whenever I could, using long weekends and holidays to travel. At first I coordinated with friends, but quickly ran out of patience waiting for someone else's someday to become today. Someday is where dreams go to die. I didn't want to spend my whole life waiting on others, and through that I discovered the joys of solo travel.

I spend a lot of time in my head, so naturally I keep journals, ever so careful to keep my thoughts private. As my travel escapades got increasingly offbeat and I had more stories to tell, I became more open about sharing them on my private social media account. I discovered I actually enjoyed it. As my writing grew more personal, much to my surprise my fans didn't flee. Well, all 5 of them, which includes my mother. It's a tight knit fan club.

This website is the next chapter of that journey - to share my adventures in photos and stories with anyone who has a wandering spirit. I'm here to prove that the world isn't as scary as it seems, that you can travel while having a demanding full-time career, and that you can do it solo if you wish.

Armchair or active traveler, I hope you'll find some joy, humor, and inspiration from these stories, and the courage to make your own. Perhaps you too will be inspired to rekindle an old dream of what you wanted to be when you grew up.