White Baboon

Hometown:  New Yawk

Age:  my body is 33, my mind is about 77, my soul is about 112 and my spirit is about 11

Why are you traveling?  i didn’t set foot outside of the usa until the age of 30, when i treated myself to six weeks solo in western europe…the travel bug burrowed in deep and infected me with an incurable wanderlust.  i moved to korea to teach english, the quickest money fix i could figure to get myself out in the world.  what i’ve learned and am affirming each day through living as an expat and through traveling, is that the people i meet “out here” are the ones i want to mold my view of the human race…and of myself.  i find that global village houses the most intelligent, adventurous, culturally sensitive, kind, self aware people that i have ever come across in large numbers.  and being amongst these people, in settings that prescribe the the kind of medicine needed to recover my psyche and spirit after trapping myself in new york for seven years out of obligation to finding my station in the “real world,” brings out the me that i like the most.  and whenever the people at home, whom i love dearly, but cannot seem to grasp my choice to become vagabondish at an age where most of my peers are painting their white picket fences, ask me when i plan to return to the real world and settle down, i just smile and shrug - knowing i am quite satisfied with a much real-er world and a much happier me than i could ever experience by staying put.

What was your occupation before becoming travel junkie?  therapist/rock star turned screenwriter/waitress turned writer of whatever spills out/esl teacher turned professional observer

Where was your first trip to?  my first great adventure was hitchhiking across the usa when i was 20

Why did you choose where you are traveling to now?  after enduring a hideous knee injury and intense surgery, i decided to reinvent my trip to accommodate my gimpiness… but i love to be active when i travel, so i chose idyllic beaches as my settings and scuba diving as my primary activity.

What is the most essential thing in your bag?  watercolor pencils

What is the most unpractical thing you brought with you?  my entire medicine cabinet

What is the weight of bag, fully packed?  40ish pounds, maybe…

When do you write best?  to be perfectly honest, after i’ve had a joint… the goddess mary jane and i have a special relationship, and when she visits, i can be in torrential rains with a matchbook and semi sharpened eyeliner, and i’ll make it work…

What are you reading right now?  the motorcycle diaries, but its slow going - when i travel i output more than input, and the input is usually provided by my surroundings

What is your mantra during a travel crisis?  trust the universe

What is the one thing you miss most from home?  my mommy