Five More Things You Should Probably Know About Me

You have no idea how honored I am that you all stop by every now and then and read my thoughts about traveling around the world. It means a lot and I feel that we’ve built up a rapport over the years. So that’s why every now and then I like to share some things about me you might not now. I think it’s important that you get to know more about me personally in order to keep our fantastic dialogue going. So with that in mind, here are a few more things you may not know about me.

1. I am moody – Yeah, I know, most of my photos feature a happy smiling guy. And while I have a general positive attitude on things, I am without a doubt very moody. I can’t explain why, it’s always been a part of my personality and in all honesty it has gotten better as I have aged. It doesn’t please me though and there are times when I can feel the switch being pulled and the smallest thing can put me in a funk for a few hours or even longer. So if you ever meet me in person and I seem a little off, please pardon me. It’s not you it’s me but hang around because I usually snap out of it pretty quickly.

2. I don’t eat ANY fish or seafood. Ever. – This has been the subject of multiple posts but I feel the need to mention it again because it continues to follow me around. No, I do not eat fish or seafood. No, I am not allergic to fish or seafood. Yes, I have tried fish and seafood. No, I do not like fish or seafood and nothing you say, do or have me try will change that fact. So please let me exist in my happy non-fishy bubble and pass the burgers.

3. I shoot in auto – Photos have become an increasingly important part of my web site and it shocks me to look back at my photos from 4 years ago and see just how far I have come. I love photography, I really enjoy capturing small, unplanned moments when I travel as they do the best of portraying discrete moments in time. But it’s time to be honest, my camera scares me a little bit. I used a point and shoot for the longest time but once it died I decided to upgrade to a fancy Nikon DSLR – and I love it. It is amazing the quality of the photos that come from this little machine around my neck, but its settings terrify me. I have no idea what all of the letters and numbers mean and I always flashback to high school math class. So I shoot in automatic. I know, I know, I should learn about the settings but I haven’t and I probably won’t anytime soon, although I am eager to learn.

4. Lived in 10 states – Due to my father’s job and my own personal proclivity towards vagabondery, I have lived in 10 states. That’s actually a lot by American standards and it developed in me a peculiar quality. If I don’t move every few years I start to feel antsy, restless. That is why it’s fairly remarkable that I have lived in DC for 14 years but in all honesty, it’s nothing to do with me. If I were single I would have moved long ago, but my partner’s work keeps us grounded in the Washington area and so here I am. But after a few years that antsy feeling left and you know what, I really like being part of a community for once. Oh, and in guess you were wondering I have lived in: Georgia, Texas, Ohio, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Missouri, Virginia, Washington, DC and Maryland.

5. Love people but need my recharge time – At one of my early professional jobs I had to take a Myers-Briggs personality test. If you’re not familiar, the test evaluates you on several points and you are given a personality type at the end. Of my 150 coworkers I was told that I had the highest, most extreme extroverted rating of the bunch. They called me the flaming E, much to the amusement of my colleagues. While my annoyingly high extraversion has mellowed over the years, I am still, without a doubt, a people person. Nothing excites me more than talking with people and if I have to lead a class or give a speech, I’m high on adrenaline for hours, never happier. But that doesn’t always mean I actually enjoy being around people and have found that while I love engaging, I also love retreating into a personal shell. No offense to anyone I am around, but especially when I travel I need several of these quiet moments a day. Opportunities to rest, relax and recharge. Then I can engage in rhetorical debates for the rest of the day.

Now it’s your turn – what is something quirky about you?