© Photo by Robert Landon
In order to travel, I have ruined my finances, compromised my health, foregone the idea of career, estranged family, and committed certain minor (I like to think) acts of fraud. I chose my university because, out of all those that offered me admission, it was the farthest away from home—and dotted with palm trees that constantly reminded me of this fact. I then chose a major that would justify the maximum time possible overseas—i.e. even father away. I measured money in $600 increments (the cost of a cheap transatlantic flight). And I still define time itself by my travels. My life is divided into the years before and after my first trip to Rio de Janeiro, for example. And 2015 is the year I finally made it to Cuba.
In 2004, a desperate Lonely Planet editor lost an author at the last minute, and she offered me the chance to work on Lonely Planet's guide to Brazil in 2004. I quit my job immediately and over the next then wrote or co-wrote guides to Brazil, Colombia, Portugal, California, Florence, Venice & the Veneto, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, and southern Italy, as well as a Portuguese Phrasebook and Dictionary.
I’ve also written dozens of travel-related articles over the years, including the following:
+ gaycities.com: Carnival on the Swiss Riviera
+ Houston Chronicle: Cape Verde via Cesaria Evora
+ Denver Post: Gradual Dazzlement in the Bijagos Islands (Denver Post)
+ A Magazine: Contemporary Design/Oslo
+ Houston Chronicle: Why I Love Easy-to-Hate Sao Paulo