For years, I felt like\u00a0 I didn’t have a beat. When journalism had to be done, I just wanted to be there. Limburger? Why not. Massive political protests? Put a camera in my hands, and get me a front row seat. Get in the back of a truck going up some remote mountains of the Dominican Reublic? Let me make a sandwich real quick. Crash a car in England? I can do that, too.<\/p>\n
It wasn’t always like this. I started my career in 2000, fixing computers for a rural school district who’s graduating class hadn’t quite topped 45. I climbed that ladder until I was fixing computers for the U.S. military. In 2005, I abandoned that job, ended my lease and sold a bunch of my belongings to go to Europe. Sleeping penniless outside of the Barcelona-Sants trains station one night during that journey, I found myself longing for a lot of things–but not one of them had to do with my old work desk.<\/p>\n
I began professionally writing in 2007. I opted to return to a competitive-enrollment journalism school in 2010.<\/p>\n
I graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison’s School of Journalism<\/a> in 2012. During that time, I freelanced for numerous SEO companies and served, for a semester, as the online editor of The Badger Herald<\/a>. I also earned a certificate in German<\/a> and learned to brew my own beer.<\/p>\n In late 2013, I found myself looking for work in New Orleans. A few months later, I was standing over my first dead body<\/a> (it wouldn’t be my last) in Marrero, La.. Is it wrong to say I was “excited?”<\/p>\n Yeah, it probably is.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Since 2005, I have avidly traveled. Here is a summarized list of times and locations:<\/p>\n 2002 to present<\/strong> – Logged roughly six months of total travel time in New Orleans (note: this is both pre- and post-Katrina).<\/p>\n 2005<\/strong> – Traveled 72 days throughout Western Europe and Poland (Ireland – Dublin, Drogheda, Dundalk, Galway; France – Lyon; Germany – Idar-Oberstein, Mainz, Frankfurt; Spain – Barcelona, Tarragona; Poland – Krakow).<\/p>\n 2006<\/strong> – Lived for a year in the Lowcountry of Beaufort, South Carolina.<\/p>\n 2007<\/strong> – Spent 28 days on the road from New Orleans, through Key West, up to New Brunswick and along the Canadian shore of the St. Lawrence back to Chicago. Journey included a “stop” to fly from Miami to Jamaica for a week. Jamaica entailed Kingston, the Blue Mountains and Negril.<\/p>\n 2007<\/strong> – Traveled 15 days in Guatemala (Rio Dulce, Livingston, Antigua).<\/p>\n 2009<\/strong> – Traveled 10 days in Honduras (San Pedro Sula, Tela, Ceiba, Utila [Island]).<\/p>\n 2010<\/strong> – Traveled 10 days in Dominican Republic (Santiago, Cabarete).<\/p>\n 2012<\/strong> – Lived and traveled for approximately 60 days in Western Europe (France – Paris; U.K. – London, Bath, Salisbury, Woking; Germany – Idar-Oberstein, Mainz, Leipzig; Spain – Salou).<\/p>\n 2013<\/strong> – Spent 34 days in the Dominican Republic (Puerto Plata, Santo Domingo, Barahona, Polo), beginning April 10th.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In 2005, I was coerced into quitting my job and emptying my savings account on a European gamble. For 72 days, I and my long-time partner covered most of Western Europe, including Ireland and Poland. It was all supposed to be an attempt to get the travel “bug” out. It was only the start.<\/p>\n Discontent with a settled life in Chicago thereafter, we moved to South Carolina to live and work. This long-term experience had us volunteering with the local Habitat for Humanity affiliate and paddling dolphin-filled lagoons.<\/p>\n In 2007, we traveled for two weeks to Guatemala, climbing a volcano* near Antigua and tending bar in the Rio Dulce region. This journey was an extension of an East Coast car ride, from Key West to New Brunswick with a stopover in Kingston, Jamaica**.<\/p>\n With a ten-month-old child in tow, we experienced a Honduran earthquake in the city of Tela, just prior to the ousting of the country’s then-President Zelaya in 2009.<\/p>\n My partner returned from our 2010 Dominican Republic journey with cholera. Her formal diagnosis*** shocked the medical staff at a small clinic in Madison, Wisconsin. The journey was otherwise pleasant.<\/p>\n 2012 saw our return to Western Europe, this time partaking in opportunities that went beyond simple tourism. These included a work exchange in Leipzig<\/a>, as well as an interview with the outgoing commander of the 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team<\/a> in Baumholder, Germany.<\/p>\n In 2013, I spent nearly five weeks in a small village outside of Puerto Plata. In addition to working with Haitian immigrants, my stay included a research stop at the first fortification built by Christopher Columbus and at the remote coffee village of Polo for Madison Magazine.<\/p>\n Adventurer. Journalist. For years, I felt like\u00a0 I didn’t have a beat. When journalism had to be done, I just wanted to be there. Limburger? Why not. Massive political protests? Put a camera in my hands, and get me a front row seat. Get in the back of a truck going up some remote mountains […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-85","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nTravel Dossier<\/h3>\n
*A narrative from which was published by MatadorTravel.com in early 2008.<\/h6>\n
**There are no all-inclusive resorts in Kingston.<\/h6>\n
***She recovered, in case you were worried.<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"