About Me

IT Project Manager and Internet Enthusiast. Wanderlusterous traveler and former Peace Corps Volunteer. Foreign Policy junkie. Runner. Independent thinker. Bad speller.

After working for DIRECTV for nine years, I derailed from the predestined path of bigger house, nicer car and a few kids. Shortly after getting married, I quit my job and joined the Peace Corps.

Having not vanquished the travel bug after exploring Bulgaria and several countries in the vicinity, my wife and I decided to devout a large portion of our savings to the exploration of Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and beyond.

This journey and this blog will explore how my passion for the Internet, geopolitics and travel converge.

I am continually fascinated with how information technology is changing the world. I believe the internet is the most important communications advancement since the printing press - telephone, television and radio notwithstanding. I enjoy thinking about the sociological ramifications of this revolution, and intend to make its exploration part of my life’s work. Here’s some inspiration: The Machine is Us/ing Us

Geopolitics, especially the situation in Iraq and the battle with Islamic extremists is absolutely gripping, and incredibly important. Through his unequivocal criticism of the Rumsfeld commute-to-the-war strategy and his brave advocation of the shockingly successful protect-the-public strategy (the surge), John McCain has proved sagacious. The family and friends I typically surround myself with are often at odds with my strongly-held foreign policy views. I’m always an island of red in a sea of blue. I’m not sure why it’s turned out that way. It’s frustrating sometimes but I haven’t lost any friendships over it yet.

Political sites I haunt

Iraq Coalition Casualty Count

The Weekly Standard

The Victory Caucus

Practically everything we read has been processed like a Big Mac into whatever shape suits the author. So many readers swallow whatever is given to them. Travel is the ultimate in alternative journalism. No, I don’t intend to travel to Iraq, Iran or North Korea. But a better understanding of Islam and a first hand look at contemporary Turkey, Syria, Jordan or the Sudan will improve and embolden my independent thinking and critical analysis.

Of course travel is usually not about politics, or information, or even history. It’s about people. I traveled to Ethiopia as the coalition started bombing Afghanistan. I traveled to Thailand during the initial invasion of Iraq. And even though it was hard to say “I’m an American” sometimes, I found that people are generally willing to know you as a person, rather than a stereotype. I expect more of the same on this trip.

“To know someone deeply, is to know someone softly” - Terence Trent D’Arby