A fondness for foreign cultures and travel incited me to spend a semester with a host family in northern France when I was 15, another year in Paris during college, and then to move there for four more years after I graduated. In that time I learned the language fluently and studied at French high school and university. Two essays written in French can be found on the Writing page.

During my later years in Paris, I worked as a professional musician, excerpts from which can be heard on the Music page. After leaving France, I lived for some time in Chiang Mai, Thailand, traveling extensively and connecting musical tours in Europe and Asia with backpacking trips between the two. In 2007, I traveled from Paris to Tokyo overland by bus, boat, and Tran-Siberian railroad. From there I flew to southeast Asia, followed by India. In 2010, I made a Silk Route trip, traveling overland across China from Beijing into Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. Georgia and Turkey were next, bringing me back to Europe:

All told, I have visited over 50 countries around the world. In 2016, I returned to Beijing with Jessica, where we facilitated a workshop on astrology, psychology, and the arts offered by Stage Ai: