Following Elliott’s self-unmasking last week, I would like to tell you all a bit about myself, and where my passion for travel originated.

I believe that one’s love for travel comes from both nature and nurture. When I was 10-12 years old, my parents took my older sister and I to Europe for a few weeks three consecutive summers. I was more fascinated with Europe’s openness towards sexuality, the countries’ colorful currencies (pre Euro), and the prevalent passionate soccer (my sport at the time) culture, than the museums and castles we visited. Looking back on these trips a decade later, it’s clear that my exposure to foreign cultures at a young age planted the seed of international curiosity, which has since bloomed.

I am a recent graduate of the USC undergraduate business school (Marshall). During the second semester of my junior year, I studied abroad at the eminent Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. This was an eye-opening experience! It allowed me to both take a break from the Los Angeles bubble, and experience life in one of the world’s most bustling cities.

Hong Kong’s location, relative to the rest of Asia, makes it an ideal port for the ambitious traveler. I was wise/fortunate to schedule class four days a week, allowing for extended travel weekends. During my four plus months abroad, I traveled to China three times (Guilin pictured below), Kyoto, Macau, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, Phuket, Siem Reap, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur. Traveling with fellow students, we found cheap last minute flights, slept in $6 (USD) hostels, took daylong non air-conditioned bus rides, and sampled street food. Foreign travel is thrilling, enriching, and tiring, but above all things, addictive!

Kango will revolutionize and simplify family, romantic, and themed travel. I am excited to be involved in the development and publicizing of the site!