It comes as a surprise for me to sit back and watch the reaction to the awarding of the The Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama. Not because I think he doesn’t deserve it, but actually because I think he does.

Being the son of a social worker and a nurse, I’ve been raised with a strong ’save the world’ mentality. My trip around-the-world has presented me with a pretty unique opportunity to take a snapshot of the state of the world across a wide geographic area during a microscopic slice of time (microscopic in [...]

The reality of travel is that the unreal has become real.

When I left home for college, one of my biggest (and most secret) fears was that I would never find a place to get a proper haircut in a new city—I had the same stylist (I use that word purposely) for 18 years of my life. Our doctor-patient relationship was so good, she even came [...]

(Xun Zhou, China) Everyone likes to save money, right? Of course, that’s why American’s invented Walmart and people worldwide flock to Ikea. During my visit to Xun Zhou, I got a pretty good lesson in why those stores are so cheap.

When you wake up in the morning intent on joining a pro-democracy march in China, its one of those things that sounds impressive to brag home about. So, I put on my best fitting running shoes, protective long pants, and of course, grabbed my camera before heading out of the door. This is what I learned.

I will finish up my official work with Rotary International as a Rotary Ambassador this coming week. While I am shedding one ‘ambassador’ title, I’ve just recently gained another. I’ve officially become a ‘minted’ Mentos Ambassador.

On the road my Macbook laptop is a photo editor, video assistant, digital databank, my global communication link to the world, and the only way I can call me mom. Two weeks ago. My little computer shut off and never turned back on. What happened next was nothing short of an epiphany.

In traveling, sometimes the simplest things offer a window of insight into the way a culture thinks and can offer some reflection on one’s own culture. In the case of Japan, they don’t have public trashcans.

Six months ago I quit my job, sold most of my possessions and packed up my car headed west with the goal of circling the globe in two years or so (I eventually sold my car…and used a plane to cross the Pacific Ocean). My strategy for my around-the-world trip is a bit different [...]