Gullfoss Iceland

Hello!

I'm an expat whose goal is to visit every country in the world.

114 countries and counting!  

Follow me on Instagram at The Traveling Expat.

Why Create "Traveling with a View?"

Why Create "Traveling with a View?"

The green fields of Albania near the ruins of Apollonia

Greetings and welcome to "Traveling with a View!"  After many months of figuring how to go about doing this and with the encouragement of friends and colleagues, I have decided to start this blog.  Even though I have had blogs in the past, life always had a way of pulling me away from them.  It was not necessarily because of loss of interest but more because of work commitments.  However, I have decided to give it another go since I currently have a life that allows me to travel and experience the world in all its glories.  In addition, during my time overseas, I have learned a lot of things during my travels that I would love to share with everyone.

Here is a little background of how I got into this life.

I got my first serious taste of international travel in the summer of 2008 when I was a graduate student studying art history.  I was given the opportunity to study abroad in Rome, Italy for six weeks in order to conduct research for my Master's.  Even though I was in a group of students, the thought of traveling overseas was daunting to me.  Many thoughts ran through my mind, such as "Would I be able to find my way around?", "What if I can't communicate with anyone?", "What if I get lost?", "How do I do laundry?"  These were all legitimate concerns since my only time overseas prior was with family where I didn't have to do much except follow along.  Needless to say, I was nervous but excited at the prospect of going somewhere new. 

However, unlike in the past when I traveled with family, this would be different. In this case, I was expected to explore the city and find works of art to support my thesis while also developing a working draft.  This meant spending a lot time walking around on my own, photographing, taking notes, and trying to get an understanding of the context in which these works of art were created.  To make a long story short, the Rome experience proved to be instrumental in developing my fondness for travel and removing my anxieties about traveling overseas.  I realized afterward that I was indeed able to travel alone and get along fine without too many problems.  Of course, there were many times I got lost, but I always remembered to carry a tourist map with me, and that proved to be invaluable to me.

Since then, I have traveled to places I never would have thought possible, and now I have a strong desire to visit every country in the world including territories and geopolitical anomalies i.e. Transnistria.

Eventually, I reached a point with all my travels that many people began to suggest that I start writing a book or start a website to chronicle my adventures, and that is how "Traveling with a View" was born.  It is my ultimate goal to inform, entertain, and share my experiences with all of you.

With this inaugural blog entry, I am very excited to being able to share my adventures with you, and I certainly look forward to hearing from you and your ideas as well.

Between Tradition and Modernity: The Fascinating Persian Gulf States

Between Tradition and Modernity: The Fascinating Persian Gulf States