What I Do When I Don’t Travel: 20 More Facts About Me

Who am I besides just a guy who loves to travel? What do I do when I’m not on the road? What are my interests? Do I have hobbies?

Since I’m more than just a writer and travel fanatic, I wanted to share a bit about who I am and what I do when I’m not on the road (indulge me for one article).

While I do post a lot of my day-to-day life on Instagram, here is a little bit about me and my life!

1. I hate flying. I love airports, lounges, and elite status, but the act of flying makes me sick. I don’t like heights and any turbulence makes me think the plane is about to crash. I’m not a good flier and I take Xanax to calm me on most flights. (Ironic considering how often I fly!)

2. I never traveled independently until I went to Costa Rica at age 23. My travel experiences up until then were a series of road trips with my parents and a drunken weekend in Montréal when I was 19. (I also never went west of the Mississippi until I was 25.)

3. I decided to travel long-term after meeting five backpackers in a shared taxi while on vacation in Thailand. I was so amazed at what they were doing that the next day I decided to quit my job and make long-term travel my goal. They were two Australians, a Canadian, and a Belgian couple. They changed the course of my life and have no idea.

4. When I was younger, I wanted to be an archaeologist because of the Indiana Jones movies. I eventually went to school to be a high school history teacher and taught for one year, but then the economy tanked and no one was hiring history teachers so I got a job doing administrative work at a hospital in Boston before I started traveling.

5. I’ve had three really bad incidents on the road. On my very first trip by myself, I got terrible food poisoning. I was hospitalized for three days and put on a morphine drip. Second, I popped an eardrum in Thailand. And, third, I got stabbed in Colombia, which is definitely the worst thing that has ever happened to me!

6. I am a good cook. I don’t cook much on the road because I hate how hostel kitchens aren’t fully stocked and everyone crowds them at the same time, but once in a while, I like to cook a massive meal for my fellow travelers. However, when I’m home, I cook a lot and even host dinner parties for my friends. Some signature dishes include shrimp scampi, this delicious tomato/basil/olive salad, stir fry, and baked salmon.

7. I used to be a vegetarian. After reading Fast Food Nation, I decided to give up meat and was a vegetarian for four years. It wasn’t eating meat I was against, but rather industrial farming and the chemicals/antibiotics in the meat that I didn’t like. I gave up vegetarianism when I started to travel.

8. I think it’s rude to turn down food in other cultures. If you go to a village in Mongolia and you are given food, it’s insulting to refuse. “Sorry, your traditional and heartfelt cooking doesn’t go with my dietary needs.” It’s culturally insensitive. But that’s a rant for another post.

9. I’m a huge fan of soul, Motown, blues, and jazz.

10. If I could ever pick what time period I could live in, I’d pick 1920s Prohibition America. I think that would be an exciting time to live in. But maybe I’ve just read The Great Gatsby too much.

11. Speaking of Gatsby, I learned to swing dance so I could throw myself a Gatsby-themed birthday party. I did it for three years in a row. They were epic birthday parties.

12. After travel, politics is my second love. I live and breathe politics, and it is the only news I keep up with while traveling. I am always ready to discuss and debate the world any time of the day and with anyone, no matter how well I know them. (However, in the last few years, I’ve turned off listening to the political news every day because it was causing me a lot of anxiety and not a good use of my mental energy!)

13. People always ask will I be nomadic forever. My answer: I don’t know. Forever is a long time. I travel less now than I used to and I think I’ll continue to take fewer trips but I still travel a lot when compared to the average person. For now, I’m enjoying the ride and see no reason to hang up my backpack just yet.

14. I’m a Japanophile. I love everything about the culture: the food, the history, the etiquette, the landscape, the architecture — all of it. I would eat sushi every day if I could.

15. I’m an unabashed Taylor Swift fan. She has a song for every emotion and, when you listen to her non-pop hits and really get into her catalog, you see just how talented of a songwriter she is. Listen to The Last Great American Dynasty. She wrote an entire narrative arc in three minutes. That’s seriously good writing. I went to the Eras Tour multiple times. I love her.

16. I’m also a huge fan of Sia. Incredible songstress and writer.

17. I don’t drink coffee. It tastes like shit to me. And I don’t want to put added sugar or milk (or soy milk) in my cup of joe. Drinks should be able to stand on their own! Nothing is going to change my opinion on this. I’ve tried for years to acquire a taste for it. It’s just not going to happen.

18. I drink tea. Lots of it. Especially green tea. That’s my drink of choice! I’m a big fan of the brand Rishi.

19. My alcoholic drink of choice is an old fashioned. A few years ago, a few friends turned me onto whiskey and I’ve been obsessed since. I judge a bar by the quality of the old fashioneds they serve.

20. One day, I’d like to learn how to garden. I want to grow my own food. I love cooking and think it’s a logical step.

21. I used to be a semi-professional poker player. I funded a lot of my original trip with poker winnings and lived in Amsterdam for a few months playing “professionally” at the casino in the city.

22. When I was younger, I worked for the Sierra Club in Massachusetts. I created a PowerPoint that we took to different community organizations to show that, by being energy efficient, they could save money and the environment at once.

23. When I was in high school, I played a lot of Magic: The Gathering and won my state’s championship (my friend came in second). We won a trip to NYC to play in the national tournament there. I lost in the first round.

24. I don’t eat sweets. Maybe once a year I’ll have a cookie or brownie but, for the most part, I don’t do desserts or sweets as I don’t like all the sugar.

25. When I’m working, I’ll often play one song on repeat over and over again. It helps me focus because it ends up just being white noise. As I write this post, I’ve been listening to Sweet Annie by Zac Brown Band on repeat for the last two hours.

26. I don’t have a favorite color. I have two: blue and green.

27. I was one of the spokesmen for Asiana Airlines. I did a commercial for them that aired for two years on TV. They dubbed out my voice though. It always sounds so weird when I watch it.

28. I love movies. I probably watch two or three a week, either in the theater or at home on Netflix. My friends and I have group chats dedicated to movies.

29. My favorite liquor? Scotch, specifically peaty Scotch from Islay. (My favorite brand is Ardbeg.)

30. I want to learn how to shoot a gun. Not because I’m a gun nut — I strongly dislike them, want really strict gun control, and am a regular donor to Everytown for Gun Safety — but because I am one of those crazy “preppers.” I think the world is pretty much f*cked, and I’d like to know how to shoot a gun to (a) protect myself in case civilization ends and (b) hunt (another thing I want to learn how to do) for food when that happens or (c) the zombies come. Having a Plan B never hurt anyone, right?

To that end, I’d also like to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow. I think that would be really fun — and useful.

31. I spend an hour a day reading. I’m a big fan of biographies and travel, history, and business books. I think reading and educating yourself is one of the most important things you can do in your life, and I cannot understand people who don’t read books. In your typical year, I’ll read around 50–70 books. You can find a list of all my favorites here.

32. I’m a morning person. I tend to wake up around 7am and do my best work before lunchtime. On a good day, I’ll get up at 6am.

33. I’ve gotten way more into the gym in the last year. I go to the gym six days a week and do pilates one day a week. Going to the gym often has a positive knock-on effect too: once you start going to the gym, you end up eating better and drinking less because you don’t want to ruin your workouts. I’ve gotten into a lot better shape the last few months and I plan to continue that this year.

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So there you have it! Some more interesting facts about me. Well, things I think are interesting at least.