Random Traveller #48

Welcome to round 48 of ‘Meet a Random Traveller’. The series dedicated to bring attention to fantastic people all around the world doing their thing.

Random Traveller 48

Who are you?
I’m Aaron, a world traveler since the ripe old age of 4 when my mom had a midlife crisis that uprooted my family from Massachusetts in the U.S. to Quito, Ecuador, where we would live for 5 years! We couldn’t really afford to travel at the time, but being based in a country gave us plenty of opportunities to experience things! By the time I was 9, I had been to the Amazon Rainforest, the Galapagos Islands, Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca, as well as countless other places in Peru, Ecuador and Colombia and I was fluent in Spanish!

From there it was back to the States with a few years in Alabama before my family finally settled in Las Vegas (yes, that Las Vegas and no, we didn’t live in a casino, nor were my teachers strippers…).

Aaron atop Moon Hill outside Yangshuo, China

But this was certainly not the end of my travels. Between a grandmother who retired in Mexico (and insisted on frequent visits to explore the country) and a high school exchange trip to the Ukraine, I was ready for an exciting college career that took me to St. Louis, Seattle, Chicago and Thailand, where I spent 5 months studying abroad and traveling around Southeast Asia.

After graduation, I was rather depressed to be back in the U.S. and happened to share a long car ride with a professional travel writer who imparted some words of wisdom to me that turned things around. “New York City,” he told me, “is the only place in this country I would want to live because it is so incredibly diverse and international. It really isn’t like anywhere else.” A month later, I packed up my car and moved to the Big Apple, where I still reside today when I’m not blissfully on the road!

In 2010, I took a break from my other (non-travel fanatic) life as a technology consultant and theatrical Stage Manager (odd combination, I know) and returned to Asia for a 3 month backpacking trip, only to become further addicted to that crazy thing called travel!

What’s the deal?
My blog, Aaron’s Worldwide Adventures, started back in 2006 while I was studying in Thailand as a way to keep in touch with my friends and family and serving as a chronicle of my adventures. I continued writing after college, but decided to take my blog to a larger audience before heading off to Asia last year, so I purchased my own domain, switched to WordPress and got serious about blogging.

My mission is to write about unlikely places and ultimate experiences. This includes my own crazy adventures, which include meeting the King of Bhutan, experiencing a coup in Thailand, stumbling on a collapsed bridge in Laos and attending my parents’ surprise wedding at a Buddhist temple in Bangkok! I also write extensively about getting off the beaten path, travel on a budget and my latest passion, ultralight backpacking, to which I became a convert after having to hike up a mountain with all my gear (which, at the time, as a whopping 90L pack)!

Aaron at the Taktsang “Tiger’s Nest” monastery in Bhutan.

After being relatively used to seeing different cultures growing up did your first time in Asia still come as a shock?Not really. I mean, yes, Asia is about as different from what we’re used to in the developed world as one can possibly get, but my first realization upon arriving in Southeast Asia was just how similar different cultures are! At the end of the day, people of the same socioeconomic status tend have fairly similar lives regardless of where they are.

That’s not to say that some things didn’t take a little getting used to! Squat toilets were one thing but there were certain things, particularly in China that were a little jarring at first, like their totally open “trough” toilets (which, trust me, make squat toilets look nice and give you absolutely no privacy while doing your business), their propensity for spitting and the fact that the baby’s have a convenient slit in the back of their pants so they can simply do their business on the sidewalk…

But perhaps the most difficult thing to see all over Asia was the way in which meat is handled at markets. It just sits out in the open not refrigerated with flies buzzing around it. At first glance, it kind of makes you want to become vegetarian, though, when you really think about it, all that bacteria will die when the meat is cooked anyways, right?

What is it about Asia that had you coming back again a second time?
Actually my return to Asia wasn’t entirely by choice. My grandmother who had retired in Mexico was quite the world traveler. When she died in 2009, she wanted her ashes to be scattered in the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, a land which she had visited and totally fell in love with. My family was determined to fulfill her wish and when we stepped off that plane in Paro, Bhutan’s only airport, it wasn’t hard to see why she loved it so much, as it is literally like stepping into a fairy tale!

As my family was going to Bhutan anyways and my plane ticket was being paid for, I thought I’d be crazy to not take advantage of the situation! After all, how often do you get a free ticket to Asia?

It’s also a hugely diverse continent, filled with nearly limitless opportunities for exploration. Having already spent a good deal of time in Southeast Asia, which had previously included Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, I decided this time to focus on China, which is very different from its southern neighbors.

It was definitely my time spent in Thailand that gave me a huge fascination with this part of the world. In getting to know the Thai way of life, I realized that I’m truly fascinated by cultures that are considerably different than what I’m used to. I know that I wouldn’t have the same experience in, say, Europe. Plus I like to travel to places where my money can go further…

Aaron approaching the Ping’An village at the Longji “Dragon’s Backbone” Rice Terraces in Guangxi, China.

Whats the plan?
The next major item on my list is a return to South America! I haven’t been since I was 9 and I’m just itching to get back to Ecuador, see how it’s changed over the years and brush up on my Spanish before continuing on through more of South America (I’m really itching to see Patagonia).

Also in the pipeline is a slow journey across the Trans-Siberian railroad from Beijing to Moscow and beyond, stopping off at all the little offbeat towns that I come across! To me, those little offbeat towns are the best part of traveling! Cities are great, sure, (I mean, I live in one), but there is no better way to truly experience a local culture than to spend some time in smaller towns!

Other than that, I keep myself amused between larger trips with long weekend getaways around the east coast of the U.S. or anywhere I can find a ridiculous flight deal to!

A big thanks to Aaron for taking part, great to have you.

Be sure to check him out:
Blog: Aarons Worldwide Adventures
Twitter: @adventurousness
Facebook: /aaronswwadventures

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