No matter where I travel, I seem to find myself in hilarious predicaments and unlikely adventures. Whether that’s receiving a limpia healing—a shaman’s excuse for spitting on a gringa—in the Andes, or being territorially marked by the elusive agouti jungle rodent in the Amazon, or inadvertently stumbling upon a Central American cockfight, or having my backpack slashed on an Ecuadorian public bus, the mishaps will find me.

But somehow that doesn’t deter this adventurer. In fact, I seem to thrive on it! As an international travel writer and photojournalist focusing on human rights and environmental topics, I’ve enjoyed a decade-long career that has taken me to more than half of the United States and three-dozen countries worldwide.

As an editor at Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel magazine, I was sent on assignment to the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador where I lived with the Huaorani Indians and attempted to hunt by blowgun...unsuccessfully. I’m also a regular contributor to BudgetTravel.com where I interview industry experts, review the latest travel books, and tackle controversial subjects like the recent bullfighting ban in Barcelona, Spain (which sparked hundreds of reader comments and counting!). I’ve also been an editor at the award-winning regional Philadelphia Magazine and the national magazine Men’s Health, as well as a frequent contributor to Women’s Health, Bon Appétit, New England Travel & Life, Boston Magazine, Concierge and more, plus numerous newspapers and blogs.

As a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, I studied nonfiction creative prose and photography while being mentored by The Washington Post veteran and National Book Award finalist Paul Hendrickson, and also gained fluency in Spanglish while attending the Universidad de San Andrés in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Originally from San Diego, I’ve also lived in New Orleans, and am currently based in the Philadelphia area and New York City where I enjoy scuba diving, rock climbing, snowboarding, kayaking, and anything else that I consider outdoorsy whenever I can escape my urban home. To hear more about my latest travel adventures and humanitarian efforts, follow my blog at Twitter.com/CompassMag, Facebook.com/CompassMag,  or watch my latest travel videos at bit.ly/CompassMagVideo.

* Note:  I’ve never taken any press trips, media discounts, or free gifts of travel gear intended for review, because I feel that it’s impossible to remain objective if someone else is paying the way.