Among My Souvenirs

Posted : 5/12/16 | May 12th, 2016 I’ve been a New Yorker for the last three and a half years. At least, as one who travels as much as I do can be called a local anywhere. I love NYC — the hustle and bustle, the crowds, the variety of food, the cocktail bars, the culture, the theater, and the people! I loved everything about it and, as the center of the travel media world, it was a good place to be professionally. Yet, as my lease expired and my roommates moved to Boston, I knew I didn’t want to stay longer. I needed to get out of New York. I needed a change. Running around the world makes it hard to create positive routines and habits in your life. They do not go together. Over the last year or so, I’ve focused on being a better version of me: better sleep, healthier eating, more exercising, and a bunch of other things I won’t mention here. I realized living in NYC makes it hard for me to do that. Environment plays a big role in how we develop and change and my environment in NYC ...

Posted: 03/26/12 | March 26th, 2012 They say everything comes in threes, and I guess my journey has had three big moments. The first is when I fell in love with travel. It was 2004, and I was on my first international trip. I had originally intended to visit Australia, but somehow I ended up in Costa Rica. I don’t even remember how anymore; it’s just been too long. But I do clearly remember that somewhere between eating the best bruschetta of my life, creeping through jungles, hanging out with a troop of capuchin monkeys, and watching land crabs fight over territory, I became hooked. I had caught the travel bug. And as everyone with the bug quickly learns, this ailment has no cure. And every trip you take just makes it worse. The second big moment occurred the following year. After meeting some backpackers on a trip to Thailand and talking with them, I knew the only way to treat my disease was to travel more. A few days later on the Thai island of Koh Samui, I turned to my fr...