about

Growing up I remember I had aspirations of becoming a doctor or an entrepreneur and traveling the world.  At a very young age, my mother saw this characteristic in me and I remember her encouraging me to never lose sight of my ambitions. 

I was like nearly every other fresh-out-of-college kid who landed his first professional gig and enjoyed it for so long.  While I did not become a doctor or an entrepreneur, I was more than satisfied with what I achieved.  However, I eventually became trapped in a vicious cycle doing the same thankless job every day that I had been doing for what seemed like an eternity. I was doing it for so long that I did not realize the negative effect the job was having on my physical and emotional well-being; and 18 months into the COVID pandemic certainly did not help, either.  I became so focused on anything and everything and everyone that I forgot about myself.  I forgot what my mother tried to encourage me to never lose sight on--my ambitions, my dreams, my happiness.  So, after 23 years of working that thankless job, and 10 days after my 45th birthday, I resigned to pursue my dreams.

Up to this point of leaving my job, I spent many years taking numerous trips on my own all over the United States.  Whether I was taking in the majestic views of the Grand Canyon, exploring the nearby Wupatki Ruins and Sunset Crater, hiking up Mount Guyot in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, wandering around the Oregon coast to see filming locations for my favorite childhood film, The Goonies (1985), or chasing my favorite rock bands around the country from New England to Los Angeles, there was something deep and meaningful about each moment of each trip.  

I hope you will follow along with me as I share my adventures of traveling the world.  This will be a lifelong effort, so I hope you stay on for the ride, and maybe even become inspired by some of what you see.  Thank you for being a part of my world!

--Richard J Verdi