An Around-the-World Traveler Chasing New Experiences, Local Flavors, and Better Ways to Travel

How this all started

My travel story did not start with one big dream destination. It started with curiosity. Growing up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, I was always drawn to faraway places, unfamiliar flavors, old streets, mountain views, and the kind of meals you keep thinking about long after the trip ends.

A summer trip to Vancouver, Canada flipped the switch. I hiked, ate really well, explored one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen, and came home from what was supposed to be a simple weeklong vacation feeling completely restless.

I wanted more. More places, more experiences, more movement, more perspective. So I quit my job and bought a round-the-world plane ticket.

A year that changed everything

I lived out of a backpack with two outfits and no jeans, traveling light, on a budget, and with very little booked ahead. Trains, planes, buses, tuk-tuks, boats, ferries. If it moved, I was probably on it.

That year taught me how much travel depends on adaptability. You learn how to read a place quickly. You learn when to trust your gut, when to slow down, when to spend a little more for comfort, and when the cheap option becomes the better story.

Somewhere along the way, the travel bug turned into full-on wanderlust. Travel stopped being something I did on vacation and became one of the main ways I understood food, design, culture, people, and myself.

Where I’ve been

Over the past 20+ years, I have traveled through 45+ countries across Europe, Asia, Latin America, North America, Africa, and Oceania.

I have returned to Southeast Asia several times, including Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Japan. I have been to a Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan, watched the sunrise at Angkor Wat, learned to scuba dive in some of the clearest water I have ever seen, honeymooned in Argentina, scuba dived in the Galápagos Islands, road-tripped through parts of Central America, and spent longer stretches in Mexico and Colombia to escape Minnesota winters.

I have also built a large travel photography archive along the way. My Google Maps travel photos have passed 9.5 million views, which still feels a little wild, but it also reminds me how much people rely on real-world visuals when deciding where to go, where to eat, and what a place actually feels like.

Why food matters so much to me

Food has always been one of the biggest reasons I travel. I love the way a meal can explain a place faster than a museum plaque, guidebook paragraph, or postcard view.

Sometimes that means a long lunch with a view. Sometimes it means street food, a market stall, a bakery, a crowded noodle shop, a neighborhood bar, or sitting at the counter watching the kitchen work. I care less about whether a place is famous and more about whether it feels connected to where you are.

I am also a home cook, so I tend to notice ingredients, technique, menus, service, and the little details that make a meal memorable. That is why so many TLGA guides are food-first. I do not think food is separate from travel. I think it is one of the best ways into a destination.

How I travel now

I still love big trips, but I have become less interested in rushing. These days, I care more about neighborhoods, walkability, food, good pacing, and building a trip that leaves room for real life.

That is one reason I spend so much time thinking about where to stay. The right neighborhood can make a city feel easy. The wrong one can make a great destination feel exhausting.

I like trips with structure, but not too much structure. A good travel day should have a strong idea, maybe one major anchor, and enough open space for the things you could never have planned: a local recommendation, a great side street, a second drink, a long lunch, or a detour that becomes the best part of the trip.

How I’m able to travel the way I do

I support my travels through my work as a web designer and creative director. That career gives me the flexibility to work remotely and spend longer stretches in places instead of only passing through.

That does not mean every trip is a vacation. Sometimes I am working from hotels, apartments, cafes, beach towns, mountain towns, or rentals while figuring out reliable internet, safe neighborhoods, local markets, transportation, and day-to-day logistics.

That remote-work reality shapes the advice I share. I care about the practical details because I have had to live with them: where the neighborhood feels comfortable, how easy it is to get around, whether a place works for more than three days, and how to balance work, food, exploration, and rest.

Why I started The Local Guide Abroad

A lot of travel blogs do not feel very real. They focus on must-see attractions and trendy restaurants, but miss what it actually feels like to be there. Too often, the advice is either too generic, too polished, or too disconnected from how people actually travel.

The Local Guide Abroad exists to share travel the way I experience it: food-first, neighborhood-aware, practical, personal, and built around real time on the ground.

I write the travel advice I wish I had when I first left Minneapolis. Honest, useful, visual, and built from experience, not just search results.

What you will find here

The Local Guide Abroad is a mix of destination guides, food-focused stories, planning advice, packing tips, travel safety, and practical logistics designed to help you travel smarter and eat better.

You will find recommendations based on places I have been, meals I have actually eaten, photos I have taken, neighborhoods I have explored, and planning lessons shaped by trial and error.

Real travel is not just about seeing somewhere new. It is about understanding it, one meal, one street, one conversation, and one slow day at a time.

Let’s connect

If you have a question, want a recommendation, found a great restaurant while traveling, or think there is a destination I should cover, I would love to hear from you.

The Local Guide Abroad is about places, but it is also about connection. The best trips usually come down to people, food, timing, and the little moments you did not see coming.

If you’re curious about the deeper philosophy behind all of this, I wrote an essay on what travel really does to us.

Read: Why We Travel →

Recent trip to Torc Waterfall, Ireland.

A Year That Changed How I Travel and See the World

Mount Cook, New Zealand.

Rafting the Zambezi River.

Turkish bath in Istanbul.

Hiking in Lofoten, Norway.