A few years ago I finished university in the US with a focus on the Latin American slave trade and a minor in Classical studies. At that point I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. All I did know was that I didn't want to end up in a library for the next six to eight years working on a doctorate, or teaching history in an American high school, or doing research in a little office working for some company. So I did what every rational person would do, I took a job teaching English at a school in a small village in Thailand. While there I contracted Dengue Fever, so I decided to move north to the mountains in Chiang Mai to get away from mosquitos. I lived there as long as my visa would allow, since my school never filed the paperwork necessary for a work visa.
After my self-deportation, I headed back to the US but I wasn't done traversing this planet. So I went back out on the job hunt for work overseas. I found a promising job in Eastern Turkey teaching at a university, then I booked my ticket and packed my bags. Just a few days before my departure, I received a warning from my government about attacks and kidnappings of foreigners in the city I was planning to move to. With this new found information, I had a decision to make and I had to make it fast. I decided to cancel my second flight to Istanbul and stay where my plane laid over in Germany. From there I headed to Poland in hopes that my friend would answer my call.
I got a job rather quickly and started teaching at a language school. I found myself a home in Poland and decided that I wanted to start writing. But what about? I discussed it with an author friend I made from the UK and he told me to write what I know about. So I wrote a book on how to become an English teacher abroad called Adventures In Teaching. While writing the book, I created a website and began writing short articles about history and culture from places I had been.
I kept writing articles for quite some time and then I found another passion: Legends. I started talking to people about local and national legends and I became obsessed with these dark fairy tales that I had never heard before. I still continued writing about history, but I ended up writing enough Polish legends to publish them in an anthology called Land of the White Eagle. During this time I was also doing research on Rutka Laskier for an idea I had for a novel and was selling my photography.
After two years living in Poland, I decided it was time to leave. I found work in Southern France, so I packed my bags and hopped on a bus over. That's where I ran into some trouble. The bus left the EU when we passed into Switzerland and I forgot my green card in Poland. I had all my documents, but they were in Polish, and very few people speak Polish outside of the country. After being detained for eight hours and having flash lights shine where no light has shined before, the Swiss border guards got ahold of a Polish embassy that said I was legal. They still deported me back to Poland. After all of that and not being home for a couple years, it was time to spend some time with my family and try US out for a bit longer.
That only lasted a few months. I found no inspiration to write in US unless it was angry political posts and that is not what I want to write. I worked on my novel a bit, but I was missing the adventure of being where the words come from. So I did a book signing at a local gallery, printed some photos, and with what money I made looked for my next stop.
That's what led me here to Mexico. I'm still working on my novel, but I'm focussing the majority of my efforts on writing the legends of the Mayan people. I hope to publish another anthology and then continue the journey. I will be putting a lot of my articles and stories on here and hope you enjoy them. If you want to know more, feel free to ask. I love sharing what I do and where I want to go.