Category: Pre-Trip

So it seems I’m called on to talk a little about myself. Having never kept up a blog before (I’ve started probably 4 that ended after one post), this is all new to me. So expect some growing pains … not all of us can be the blogging expert (nor the superb writer) that my wife is. So with out further ado … all about me!

Who am I?
I’m Jeff, 26, former high school quarterback, former college baseball player, current science nerd. I’m Hawaiian — only in the sense that I was born there. I now claim another island, Bainbridge Island, as home. I’m half Swedish and have the IKEA furniture to prove it. I follow baseball and the Seattle Mariners religiously, and football only slightly less religiously.

What do I do in the “Real World”?
I am pursuing a Ph.D. in Neuroscience. The program is a relatively new joint program between the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD and Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. That Swedish background is useful after all! If you’re not a science dork, skip the next two sentences. I’m studying the cell biology of Parkinson’s disease, focusing on the protein DJ-1 and oxidation. And if that got you excited, this is what I’ve published (except for the one random nursing paper that stole my name). OK, now everyone’s back. I plan to finish and defend my thesis next summer, just before we take off on this adventure. It’s gonna be a great time for a break.

What places am I most excited about experiencing?
1. Galapagos Islands — As a fan of all things biologically inclined (and islands), how could this not be #1 on my list. I just hope it’s not overrun with people and we can really experience it. And that we can afford to go there.
2. Nepal — It’s been such a spiritual, mythical, and beautiful place.
3. Serengeti National Park — I told myself I wouldn’t overlap with Theresa, but c’mon, it’s a frickin’ safari! In Africa! With elephants! And rhinos!

What am I most looking forward to?
I’m looking for the constant adventure, the changing situations and circumstances. It’s something you don’t get on daily basis when your routine is getting up and going to work. But when every day is something new, well, that truly is something to look forward to.

What am I most worried about?
Logistics. I’m not a logistics person. Fortunately and unfortunately, my wife is. So we’ll be well planned, but we’ll probably have our share of arguments about it. That and the runs.

So there’s your first introduction to me, I’ve got more, but how will we keep you coming back without the suspense?

Since we’re expecting this blog to be BIG TIME, with readers who aren’t my family members (Hi Mom, Dad, Matthew, Gregory, and Mark!) or the other five or so regular and commenting readers of my, um, less popular blog Spargel (Hi Laura, Megan, Anne, Lisa, and Jessica!), we thought we’d each do a little self-interview so people know we are. Reveal a bit about who we are in the real world, what we’re looking forward to on this trip, how we ended up so crazy as to think that we could and should do this. You know, the good stuff.

Who Am I?
I am Theresa. I am 26 years old. I am the wife of Jeff, the sister of Matthew, Gregory, and Mark, the oldest child of Mary Jane and Terry. I am a Kentuckian, born and bred, but I currently live in Bethesda, Maryland. In the interim, I have lived in Houston, Texas; Freiburg, Germany; and Athens, Greece. I am a pisces who doesn’t put much stock in astrology. I am a Rice University alumna, a Sacred Heart grad, a St. Athanasius Hornet. I am a wanderer.

What Do I Do In the “Real World”?
Currently I work as an editor at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. I have had this job for over one year, which is a record for me, if you don’t count the three seasons I worked at the Louisville Zoo in high school. Since graduating, I have also been a Teaching Fellow at Athens College, an intern at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, and a program assistant at The Children’s Partnership. Though all of these positions have had their interesting moments, none really captured my passion. They were jobs, a way to make money, a means to make this trip happen.

This year, I’ve also begun to make money as a freelance writer. This, to me, is more than a job. It’s something I enjoy. One day, my only job title will be writer. Maybe even novelist.

What Places Am I Most Excited About Experiencing?
1. Patagonia. I think the landscape will be awesome. I can’t wait to do some trekking and to get up close and personal with this kind of natural beauty.
2. Serengeti National Park. I’ve always wanted to do a safari, to see the wild in the wild.
3. Vietnam. Growing up I don’t think I ever thought of Vietnam as a real place. It was an abstract, a synonym for war. I want to experience it as a real place with real people.

What Am I Most Looking Forward To?
I’m excited about investing time in getting to know a place, in being a traveler and not a tourist, in meeting people and learning about their lives, their hopes, their beliefs, in making connections. I’m also excited about sharing all of this with Jeff.

What Am I Most Worried About?
I don’t know if it’s a worry so much as something I know I need to be aware of. When I travel with someone else, I tend to hang back and let the other person take care of things, especially encounters that have the potential to be trying or difficult or result in some form of “rejection.” Not only is this not fair to the other person (aka Jeff), it also inhibits the kind of personal growth that these trips inspire. So I have to make a conscious effort to be less reserved and to push my own levels of comfort.

I must also admit that I’m not really looking forward to squat toilets.

And on that lovely thought, I’ll sign off for now. Jeff, your turn.

Before you read this, read “about this blog” to the left. No, left! Stop reading this! Ok, that was your first primer as to what this blog is about. Here, I’m going to expound on that a little. This blog will be very multifaceted. It will be a way to keep our thoughts in line as we plan. It will be our connection to home while we are traveling. It will be a place to share stories of all our adventures, big and small. It will be an enduring memory for us of our trip. And when you decide you’re tired of sitting around just reading about amazing adventures and want to have your own, it will be a great reference for you to plan your own trip. Or so we hope. But above all it will be entertaining, Theresa will see to that. So enough with the intro, let the entertainment commence.