"A Little Back Ground" DSwede's Profile

My most recent additions are for my recent visits to Paraguay and Uruguay (Colonia and Montevideo). My pages for my last trips to Mexico, Hawaii and Argentina are finished. My pages for my new home of Brazil will be in a work in progress as I explore the area.

But other "country" pages that have received good praises are (in no particular order): North Korea, Romania, Turkey, my home state of Nevada, East Timor, Argentina, S Korea, Vietnam, Philippines, Oman, Italy, Australia, Spain, India, China, Laos, Indonesia, Saipan, Thailand, Switzerland, Andorra, New Zealand, Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago.

As you can see by my Map, traveling is a way of life that I know well. I've been doing it for a while and plan to continue until I have either no more energy or no more places to go. The former will probably happen first.

I guess at the moment you can categorize me as a full-time traveler, and a part time professional. Of course, don't tell my management that, or I might be neither... I'm from Nevada, employed out of Chicago and currently working/living in ??

I've been traveling long before I ever had a camera, but nonetheless I think I've done well to document some of my recent travels. I welcome anyone to view some of my photos in my gallery (a few from my own self-proclaimed 'highlight reel'). If you enjoy the pictures, please leave a comment. If by chance you like any of these shots and care to use/have any, please let me know, arrangements can be made. I don't mind through which media the comments come, either posted on VT, posted on Shutterfly, a personal email or any other. It is a personal gratification that keeps the passion and enthusiasm alive to continue doing what I do. Since I'm not a paid professional traveler or photographer, I get partial payment from the satisfaction of sharing. In the anonymous world of the internet, I don't know if I'm sharing unless you write back.

Me off the Crow

While in Kapadokya, I had my first 'official' Turkish fortune reading from a coffee cup. Much of what they said about me was accurate... other parts were not, but you decide:

I have two souls, much like the yin & yang, or the two triangles that make up the Star of David (coincidence in the namesake? maybe!?!) For me, they are battling with each other, but their compromise is usually towards the benevolent side due to the strength of my good character. The compromise is that the bad side usually gets away with impish actions, provided the only thing negatively effected, if anything is myself. Because of my constant taste of new experiences, I meet many people. I leave a profound mark on them, making them remember me well past our separation. I am a nomadic spirit, only happy when I have freedom to move about. I will continue to gallivant around, and eventually settle. But I'll never be happy sitting still for very long.

You'll just have to cross paths with me and see if that is true. My tip to the fortune teller depends on if she got it right or not.

Nature

As you'll notice in most of my photos, I'm a nature junkie. I love getting back in the heart of nature and seeing the way things were before man left fingerprints.

And when you are back that far off the track, you can find many of nature's friends. I'm simply an animal lover and maybe a bit of an animal myself, so I can make connections with them.

Whether it be domestic pets, unbroken horses, monkeys, swimming with the mantas, dolphins, humpback whales, pygmy seahorses and other various sea life, running with moose and elk, bears (yup, been up and seen a few of them real good and close), racing a camel, playing with a few sharks (great whites, black tips, leapord sharks, wobbegongs, etc.), even a few kangaroos, a silly VW spider or even a few bird brains, I am an animal lover and sympathizer.

Tahoe Basin Home

A house is the physical place you dwell. I don't have a mailing address, I don't have an office, I do not have much of anything at the moment.

Places that I've actually "lived" at for 3 months or longer (in no order):
Lake Tahoe, or more specifically Incline Village, NV (17+ years & family lives there still)
Minneapolis, MN (4+ years & family lives there still)
Seattle/Tacoma, WA (3 years & family lives there still)
Terre Haute, IN (4 years)
Chicago, IL (5 years & still employed there)
Ulsan, S Korea (3+ years)
Tarragona, Spain (3 years)
Bursa, Turkey (~10 months)
Montreal, QC (~4 months)
Paris, France (~4 months)
Ploiesti, Romania (~9 months)
Surabaya, Indonesia (~4 months)
Edmonton, AB (~10 months)
Qingdao, China (~4 months)
Benicarlo, Spain (~4 months)
Ravenna, Italy (~4 months)
Cirebon, Indonesia (3 months)
Panipat, India (3 months)
Barcelona, Venezuela (3 months)
Barcelona, Spain (~5 months)
Coatzacoalcos, Mexico (~4 months)

A home is where your heart is at rest. I grew up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, so I will always call that home!

Being an experienced traveler, I find that VT is not critical, but if used properly, can be an invaluable tool.

I've obviously been to many places prior to knowing of VT, and always found my way. But I'm comfortable with going out into the unknown and tackling the hurdles when they come. But having VT to do some research before hand can drastically improve your sense of ease and enjoyment.

I've researched a few places that I want to go, and likewise re-visited some places I had been to see if others shared my same views. In this way, VT is wonderful.

I do not however like how there seems to be no lifeguard on duty. To me, many people are simply out to post the most amounts of tips and photos, and get their names on top of the lists. I hope that you (my fellow VT'ers) will ever find too much redundancy in my entries!!

Why flood the pool with tips that have already been documented a thousand times? If you can not say it better, give more clarity or details, please do not try. When I'm going through 100+ entries about something, they all have roughly the same 10 photos from various angles and regurgitate the same information. In this case, give the original author a thumbs-up, a thank you and carry about your business. Spend your time writing up something where nobody has documented your findings.