Greetings from an American forever traveler! SoloVagabond.com is primarily a home for showcasing my travel experiences and social media material across over 2500 days and 78 countries and >350 hotels, overnight airport sleeps and campsites.
It serves as a flexible archive of my journey, providing a place to document stays, transportation routes, and observations that don’t always fit neatly into a photograph or social media post.
Below you will find an unusually deep amount of documentation…
From major world landmarks to obscure neighborhoods, from temporary city apartments to hostel bunks and free camping, the goal is to document the experience of exploring the world independently and living outside the conventional boundaries of a permanent home.
My Background
I’m an American passport holder and a middle-aged adult over 40, with a college education and a professional background in corporate technology. Before beginning my travels, I spent time living in North Carolina and approximately 15 years in New York City, including Manhattan and Brooklyn.
After leaving the corporate world, I made a deliberate decision to pursue long-term international travel. I downsized my living arrangements in New York City, left behind the idea of a permanent home, and set out in December 2019 to build a mobile life exploring the world.
Having visited approximately 78 countries so far, I have accumulated considerable experience navigating different countries, cultures, transportation systems, cities, and accommodation options. My longer-term ambition is to explore somewhere between 130 and 195 of the world’s countries.
Three Modes of Travel
My travels have evolved through several distinct approaches. Aside from the unusual pandemic period, which created its own extended chapter in my journey, I generally alternate between three primary modes of travel.
01Slowmading and Home-Base Living
Rather than constantly moving, I sometimes establish a temporary home base in a city for several weeks or months. This approach allows me to experience everyday life overseas, explore neighborhoods, work online, exercise, shop locally, and become familiar with a destination beyond its major tourist attractions.
This is the slower, more residential side of my travels, incorporating elements of digital nomadism, expat life, and independent overseas living.
02Traditional Backpacking and Hostel Travel
At other times, I travel much more frequently, moving between countries and cities using hostels, budget hotels, overnight transportation, regional buses, trains, and inexpensive flights.
This style is particularly suited to exploring Europe and Asia, visiting major monuments and tourist attractions, taking day trips, and experiencing a much larger number of destinations over shorter periods.
03Free Camping and Nature Exploration
A third side of my travels involves getting away from cities and exploring the outdoors. I’ve incorporated free camping, hiking, and nature exploration into trips through Denmark, Tenerife, Latvia, Lithuania, and Norway.
These experiences offer a different perspective on travel, emphasizing landscapes, coastlines, remote locations, and the freedom to explore independently.
What I Like to Explore
Some of my interests actually predate my international travels. During my years in New York City, I regularly spent my days off walking neighborhoods, exploring city streets, exercising, and photographing interesting places.
I also developed an interest in urban exploration (Urbex), unusual architecture, abandoned or overlooked locations, and quirky or unconventional attractions. I’ve continued these interests internationally, seeking out everything from major historical monuments and famous landmarks to obscure locations that rarely appear in conventional travel guides.
Photography is an important part of the experience. My social media content tends to focus on documenting destinations, major monuments, city environments, interesting architecture, and the places I encounter along the way.
The Practical Side of Independent Travel
Travel isn’t just about the destinations. A considerable part of my journey involves figuring out how to get there, where to stay, and how to make long-term international travel sustainable.
I document transportation connections, airlines, regional and international bus routes, trains, city-to-city movements, accommodation choices, and the differences between living in one destination and simply passing through it.
Hotel and hostel selection, apartment stays, transit connections, neighborhood choices, and the practicalities of everyday overseas life are all part of the story.
My experiences touch on several overlapping subjects: