Hey, you found me! 

​

Tell me, how long have you been looking?

 

I probably was the guy in front of you at Starbucks last week getting my usual White Chocolate Mocha with Whole Milk and an extra shot. You see, Starbucks saved my life once when I was on the other side of the world.

 

Hot tip #1: SECURE ALL LOOSE ITEMS ON A MOTORBIKE TAXI... ALWAYS!

​

​

 

One night in Thailand, with nothing left but my passport, small carry-on luggage with 3 out of 4 wheels fully intact, my phone, and the 3 pairs of outfits I first packed on this two-month journey, I was stranded and couldn't even get into my hotel to get some form of identification. 

​

At this critical moment, I had 6 hours until a flight to Vietnam (a country which I did not have legal permission to enter at that point due to terrible planning and research) and had to find a way to get to the airport. 

​

Hot tip #2: Always spell out the airport code of the CORRECT airport you need to go to. Bangkok has two.

​

Disaster after disaster went on but I then persisted and traveled through the airport of Ho-Chi-Mihn, the country of Japan, South Korea, & Hong Kong without any band cards or cash. I don't recommend it and I can't tell you how I did it but instinct survivals kick in and you find a way to survive. 

​

Hot tip #3: Always have all your flights booked and paid for 30 days before your departure date, but you have us now so you don't need to worry about that. 

​

Somehow I totally missed that Narita (Tokyo's main airport) and Osaka airport are on totally separate sides of the island and I had to take a local tram the whole distance while transferring trains every 20 minutes to an hour for 13 hours in order to make my international flight to Korea the next day. 

​

Hot tip #4: Always know local holidays of the country you're traveling in so that you don't try to travel on one of their busiest days of the year. 

​

I ended up staying with a friend from college and his family in Jinju, South Korea, going on hikes, singing lots of KTV, and exploring Korean street food. After Korea, I made my way to my final destination of Hong Kong where I met one of my greatest friends, Samad "Sam" Hashmi. Sam now is studying in a monastery in Kansas City, Missouri. 

​

Hot tip #5: NEVER RELY ON YOUR PHONE'S STOCK CALENDAR FOR FLIGHT INFORMATION. ALWAYS USE THE APP!

​

If it wasn't for a Typhoon 7 that was striking Hong Kong canceling 400+ flights in one day then I would have missed my flight completely all because the time that was showing on an event in my Google Calendar that was created in a different time zone. After this, I learned you always only refer to the app (I prefer flying Delta so the FlyDelta App) for the most accurate times and delays of your flight. 

​

Upon my return to normalcy in America, I was nicknamed 'The Miracle Traveler' by my best late friend, Denis Preka. Looking back I have no idea other than by God's almighty hand how I made it out of those countries alive. 

​

With all the great amazing friends I've made along the way my perception of this world has changed dramatically and I only wish to express this same love from others that was given to me and offer it to the world experiencing new cultures far beyond the customs and traditions of our own. 

​

#ExpandYourHorizons

​

#TravelLikeDenis

​

Blessings from an airport near you,

​

The Miracle Traveler

 

​