Welcome!
Life with the Big E is a tiny glimpse into my exploration of solo traveling over the last 20 years. As you may have guessed, E stands for any derivative of "explorer." Of the 32 countries I've been to, I've lived in 12, worked in 6, and have held citizenship in 2. I practice four languages: Russian, Spanish, French, and English, with the latter being my mother tongue, and experience dim hopes of ever achieving fluency in the others. Surely, when I return to update this section, all of this will have changed again.
Over the last 2 decades, I've learned that there is an art to traveling in which I aim to bridge social, cultural, religious, and ethnic gaps across the globe. As a nomadic explorer, I engage in the art of assimilation by pushing the boundaries in exploring the following challenges:
How does a traveler participate in global societies without compromising their deepest beliefs and creed?
Where does one merge into a new society and yet remain grounded within their own customs and traditions?
Can there be total immersion into a completely different culture without corrupting one's integrity?
The art of traveling is the art of building a diverse community: a society reflective of its social, cultural, ethnic, religious, and even political affiliations (to an extent). The only real challenge I've seen across the globe is obtaining economic freedom for all humanity.
Social tolerance will only get us so far if our aim is to raise the consciousness of global society. Instead, we must seek social acceptance, the strongest substance for stitching the social fabric of our world today. Acceptance cannot be achieved without understanding, and understanding is impossible to gain without listening. If our goal as members of society is to live peacefully and progressively with prosperity, then it is imperative that we learn to listen without bigotry, prejudice, and discrimination. Every day I move nomadically is another day I've learnt how to be a global citizen without borders.
Take a peek inside my world.