Where are you from?
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
What do you do?
I’m a software developer, working for a company called Loomio, a New Zealand-based cooperative building a tool for online decision making.
How are you nomadic?
For the past couple years, I’ve spent about 5 months of the year in New Zealand, 3 months in the US, 2 months in Europe, and 2 months in Southeast Asia.
What’s your favorite part of being a nomad?
My favourite part of nomadism has always been planning where to go next; there’s a moment of intense freedom that comes with pulling up a map and feeling the possibilities of being able to go anywhere on it. I feel like I meet people that blow my mind on a fairly regular basis, which feels really good.
What’s your least favorite part?
It’s a lonely lifestyle, and it’s pretty exhausting to have to re-establish your niche (socially, productively, etc.) constantly. I really wish I could get a pet.
What’s your craziest story?
I stayed on a traveling theater ship in Amsterdam (it’s listed on Airbnb, go check it out!) There was a mix-up, and the only person on the ship was the French engine master, named Frederic (pictured below). Frederic spoke no English at all, and I speak no French at all, but that didn’t stop us from having a wonderful evening together. He showed me everything on the ship - everything about how the engine works, the ship’s library, the Captain’s quarters, and the dressing rooms and backstage of the theater onboard. Then we made a meal together; we drank, danced, and sang, even sat next to the fire and told stories late into the night, without ever understanding a word the other was saying. It was powerfully different and fun.
What’s next for you?
I’m heading back to Philadelphia for a few days to see my partner and attend a wedding, then off with my parents to visit Inishmurray, a tiny island off the northwest coast of Ireland, where my father’s ancestors fished and made moonshine for a living.
This is a picture of me last week in the Narrows of Zion National Park in Utah, a daylong hike, wade, and clamber through the canyons carved by the Virgin River.