I first met Matt Tansey in North Carolina in 2009. Since then he’s been touring off and on with other musicians throughout Europe. I’m fascinated with the stories of individuals that travel with some kind of purpose, and what’s cooler than seeing Europe as part of a band?

GoMad Nomad: How long have you been touring through Europe? What do you play in the band?  What is your band like, personally and musically? What responsibilities do you have outside music to the band while touring?

Matt Tansey: The tour wound up being 25 days long, which is quite a bit longer than my previous touring experience.  I play solo stuff mostly but my friend Tim Vantol and I teamed up and played lots of songs as a duo on this tour.

My music is sort of a blend of various folk genres. I guess really I just try to make straightforward, honest music without too many bells and whistles.  I’m not trying to blow anyone’s mind with my guitar playing or make any grand philosophical statements with my lyrics.  I’m just trying to write about how I feel and what I believe.  If you want to give it a listen, you can check it out at: matttansey.bandcamp.com

As far as responsibilities go for the tour: I carry a lot of instruments, merchandise and equipment, try to be a nice person to be around for the others I’m with, and have a really good time.

GN: What’s the best part about touring with a band through Europe?

MT: Getting to see old friends and make new ones.  The people I meet on tour are just such awesome people and they really make it worth it for me.  It’s truly incredible to think of all the generosity I’ve received and witnessed.  It’s hard to fathom. 

GN: What are the not-so-glamorous parts of hitting the road with a band?

MT: Spending that much time together with the same people is always going to be difficult.  But on this tour we managed to communicate well and iron out our problems.  I was touring with two good friends so we managed to work through any problems we had.

GN: Did you get a chance to see and do stuff in the places you were playing? What countries were part of this tour?

MT: Yes and no.  Some days you have lots of time, and others you don’t because you spend 10 hours driving.  But I managed to do some exploring in the south of France and in Switzerland when we had free days.  I love running, so I went for runs in incredibly beautiful places.  Also, some of the drives have just been gorgeous.  There were about 25 shows in seven countries, so it might be best just to list the countries (in order):

• Belgium
• France
• Spain
• Italy
• Austria
• Switzerland
• Germany

Also, it is unclear if we crossed the border into Monaco or not.  It’s tough to call.

GN: Any funny stories from the road?

MT: Too many.  There were times when I could barely comprehend how I could be watching the ridiculous things I was watching.  Most of them involved either me or one of my tour buddies doing something that went against common social norms.  I’d say the one that sticks out most to me was jumping into the ocean naked in Biarritz with a whole bunch of strangers cheering us on.  One of us suggested it and then we collectively sort of agreed that you only live once and that we would regret not doing it, so we did it.  One of us stayed on the side and took pictures and there must have been 20 people who just started cheering.  It was a pretty funny moment for sure.

GN: You grew up bi-cultural, with a European parent and another from the US. Can you tell us how that has affected your upbringing and your worldview?

MT: I remember returning to the States from Europe when I was 15 and hearing someone in a Social Studies class say “America is the greatest country in the world” and just scoffing.  It’s not that America isn’t a great country, but I was always amazed at that sort of insular patriotism.  Having seen and met people from different places definitely gave me a broader view of the world than many people get at that age.  Also, learning a second language has opened a lot of doors for me and always surprises German speakers when I meet them and just start speaking German.

GN: I often stress that traveling for a purpose, in this case playing music, often puts us in contact with people we might have not otherwise met. Has touring brought you closer to locals or any particularly interesting cultural situations?

Well, for one, musicians get the royal treatment in Europe for sure.  Shows generally come with a meal and a place to stay, which is not the case in the States.  It makes the whole process not only more social (with the hosts) but also more comfortable and more financially viable.  So I got to spend a lot of time with really hardworking and generous people who helped us out immensely.  Not to say I might not have met similar people traveling in a different way, but I’d say that was the most notable thing about the folks I met.

GN: Is music going to be your career, or do you have other plans? Will travel always be part of your life?

MT: You know, there’s a cynic in me that always whispers in my own ear that I can never make it as a musician.  But I’m trying to rid myself of that.  That being said, I do have some other plans (graduate school) that might prevent me from dedicating myself to music full time.  It’s an ongoing debate in my mind.  However, I don’t ever see myself not traveling.  I’ve just got so many great friends and family members in so many places that I couldn’t bring myself to not visit them.

GN: Thanks so much for taking the time to tell us your story! Best of luck with your music and your career and keep traveling!

Interview compiled by Stephen Bugno

Meet Jonas Studer, a primary school teacher from the small town of Brugg, Switzerland. For the last decade he has been crossing the world in search of the biggest, badest, and most exotic waves. It wasn’t until after years of traveling to surf that he began to “see things” other than waves. I caught up with him for an interview on a non-surfing leg of a trip to Malaysian Borneo.

GN: I’ve heard of Swiss hikers, mountaineers, ice-climbers…but surfers? No. How does a person from a mountainous land-locked country develop a life-long obsession with surfing?

JS: The first time I saw a proper wave was in my friend’s brother’s bedroom. We were young. It was a poster of Hawaii’s Back Door. We were sneaking into to his room to look for any evidence of girls that we could find. Instead of girls, we found surfing.

When I got a little older, I learned to surf “static” waves in rivers. At 14, we had raised money for a school trip to Barcelona. Due to a measles outbreak, the trip got cancelled. But some of us wanted to salvage our summer holiday. One of our classmate’s fathers invited us to his beach house in Brittany, France. We ended up using the money we raised for surfing lessons.

GN: Where are some of the destinations you’ve traveled to surf?

JS: In South America I surfed on practically every beach from Ecuador down to Santiago, Chile. In Central America I hit the waves in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Also, Indonesia, Australia (including Tasmania), New Zealand, and Hawaii. Closer to home, I’ve surfed in France, Portugal, the UK, Italy, and Morocco. And there’s one more place…but…I can’t tell you. It’s a secret.

GN: The question I always ask? Does your passion drive you to travel, or is traveling the driving force? In other words, do you travel to surf or surf to travel?

 JS: I definitely travel to surf. But traveling is a nice “side effect”. I thank my girlfriend Camilla for helping me to begin to see things when I travel. In fact, my first trip not to surf was to Bolivia and it was an incredible experience.

GN: Do you always travel with your surf board? How do you transport it?

JS: The surf board is a big pain to transport. My biggest board is 6 ft. 4 in. Some airlines charge extra for surfboards. British Airways does not allow them. You can find information like that on surfline.com.

GN: Has surfing brought you closer to locals or the local culture of the place you were traveling?

JS: For surfing, many times you have to trek to remote places. This has meant that I come in contact with a lot of locals and consequently have spent a lot of time hanging out with them. In Morocco, I took a car about two or three hours south of the touristy area to a predominately Berber region.

GN: How do you compare surfing in surfing cultures, say in Hawaii or Australia versus non-surfing cultures like Indonesia?

JS: In countries with a large percentage of surfers, everything seems to revolve around surfing, so much so, that it can be annoying. It attracts not only considerate surfers, but also the arrogant and selfish crowd.

In a place like Indonesia, you meet independent travelers that have come to surf and they tend to be much more open minded.

GN: Where are some surf destinations that are at the top of your list for the future? How about your favorite places to revisit?

JS: Indonesia is definitely on my list to revisit as is South America, predominately because of the combination of the waves and the culture.

I’d love to surf in Mozambique and Ireland at some point in the future.

GN: Thanks so much for the interview!  Keep in touch during your future surfing adventures!

Interview compiled by Stephen Bugno

Recently I’ve been increasingly interested in those travelers whose intense interest, hobby, or profession take them around the world. Be they surfers, chefs, farmers, artists, or hunters; they go to far off places to see how their specialty is done in that particular place.

I met Ben Tobin trekking in the High Sierra of California this summer. He’s the assistant cave technician (or caveman as he likes to joke) at Sequoia King’s Canyon National Park.  Whether he uses traveling as an excuse to go caving or caving as an excuse to travel, he’s been exploring caves around the world for more than a decade now. I asked him about the places caving has taken him.

Ben at the bat monument in Austin, Texas

GN: What places have you been caving?

BT: Kenya, Greece, the Bahamas, China, Mexico, and throughout the USA at various National Parks: Wind Cave in South Dakota, Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, among others on both public and private land.

A current obsession with a lot of American cavers is China, so I took a trip there with some colleagues a couple years back. In Kenya I saw some lava tubes. Greece was for an international caving conference. And most recently, some friends and I took a road trip into northern Mexico to go caving.

A large chamber in San Wan Dong (Ben holding a flash in the far distant part of the room), in Chongqing, China Photo Credit: Hazel Barton

GN: Do you meet any cavers in the countries you’ve visited? Do you connect through your common interest?

BT: One of the most enjoyable parts of caving in other countries is meeting cavers and other locals. Caves seem to provide a good focal point to expand our understanding of one another. Typically, locals (non-cavers) think that we are crazy for traveling around the world to crawl into a little hole in the ground. But in many ways, that provides a means for more meaningful interactions.

GN: Do you have any funny stories?

BT: We were in a remote region of Hunan Province in China, living with a local farmer, exploring and mapping some nearby caves. It was a group of six cavers from the US and Britain along with three Chinese cavers. Every day we returned home, exhausted from spending the entire day caving—crawling, climbing, hiking around—that we would have a few drinks, crash, and crawl into our sleeping bags for the night. Well, apparently one family in the village ended up calling the police to find out if we were legally allowed to be there.

The police arrived to investigate and asked us for our passports. Because we didn’t really understand what was going on, we all began to grow nervous.

Apparently a neighbor had reported to them that we were “really strange” and would “go crawling in the dirt all day and then not take a bath and then get into our sleeping bags to marinate in our own stink.”

Ben climbing out of cave #196 after a mapping and exploration trip in Chongqing, China Photo Credit: Hazel Barton

GN: What is the attraction to climbing into these sometime dangerous and small spaces in the earth?

BT: What gets me excited about caving, I think, is the same thing that got explorers energized about traveling to uncharted lands, the unknown. Not only are we exploring passages that people may not have ever seen, but understanding how these places work. Understanding the life that’s there, the ecosystems that have developed, and generally understanding more about this part of the world that we don’t know too much about.

GN: What’s the difference between spelunking and caving?

BT: My personal definition of the two and one I think is held by most cavers is this: People who go into caves generally fall into two categories. There are those who understand the unique delicate nature of caves, as well as some of the inherent danger of these places, and those who don’t understand that. People who enter caves and are prepared for the environment they are entering (both for their own safety and the safety of the cave) are cavers. Spelunkers are not prepared and often do not recognize the importance and unique beauty around them.

GN: Do you travel for caves or do you cave to travel?

BT: It entirely depends on the situation. Some places the caving is so enticing that that is the driving force behind going there. Other times it’s the culture and environment of a place that provides a really good excuse to travel to the cave.

Quan Kou Entrance: Ben with two other cavers entering a cave named Quan Kou Dong, in Chongqing, China

GN: What are the best regions of the world for caving?

BT: World caving hot spots right now depends somewhat on the type of caving people like. If you are into cave diving (SCUBA diving in caves), then the Yucatan of Mexico is probably the place to go.

China is hot right now because of its mostly unexplored caves and the opportunities to map and discover these areas.

For vertical caving (using ropes to lower yourself into caves), Mexico and the Caucasus are on the top of the list.

The United States is actually a substantial caving destination. Some of the longest known caves are located here. Mammoth Cave is the world’s longest with over 360 miles of mapped passage and Jewel Cave comes in second with 150 miles.

Southeast Asia up into China has some of the largest rooms and passages in the world. I know cavers who enjoy these areas not only for their caving, but for the environment they are located in. In a place like Borneo, for example, you are surrounded by tropical rain forest as you hike around looking for cave entrances.

GN: What areas are on your must-see list?

BT: My must-see list is way too big. Currently, I have an obsession with marble caves, which are much less common than those made of limestone. In addition to California, there are marble caves in Norway, Madagascar, and New Zealand that I would like to explore.

I’d love to return to China as well and also check out some caves in Southeast Asia. And the Pantanal in Brazil is a place I’d like to investigate too.

But basically if there is a country that has potential for caves, I have a lot of interest in going there.

Meet the 73-year-old, mountain-trekking, pilgrimage-making, French-born, Swiss citizen, Lydie Carbou.

Lydie Carbou hiking the Bisse de Ro in Switzerland

She’s a retired traveler. Not retired from traveling. But retired. And can’t stop traveling. It’s hard for Lydie Carbou to stay in her 7^th floor apartment in Geneva for very long without setting off on another adventure. I caught up with her for an e-mail interview after recently returning from a trip to Nepal.

GN:  How long have you been traveling? Is this something you started doing after you retired, or have you been traveling all your life?

LC:  As long as I’ve had money, I’ve been traveling during my holidays from work. I’ve always loved going places, but when I was working, I only had about four weeks (and later five) of holidays per year. I started traveling sometime after I turned 25.

GN:  Which place would call your favorite place on earth? What draws you to that particular place?

LC:  My favorite place is Bhutan. It’s a very special place–untouched, very pure, no new construction, no roads, people wear typical dress and there are the most beautifull monasteries I’ve ever seen in my life where locals stay the whole night to pray. When I visited, the government was protecting the country by accepting only 2,000 tourists per year, so it was very expensive to get a visa.

GN:  Have you ever felt like you were born in the wrong place, like you belonged someplace else?

LC:  Sure I was born in the wrong place. I should have been born in Asia, probably India, a place I go at least once a year.

GN:  It’s been almost 2 years since I first met you on the Camino de Santiago in Spain. What have you been doing since then?

LC:  Since I met you two years ago, I’ve gone to Porto, Portugal and walked the Camino Portugues to Santiago. But it was not enough. After that, I took the train to Oviedo, Spain and walked to Santiago on the Camino Primitivo. In August, I went to Ladakh, India to trek to Zanskar, up to 4,800 m (15,748 ft.). In November, I was in Nepal, around the Annapurna, up to 5,416 m (17, 769 ft.).

GN:  How many times have you made the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela? Why do you like the Camino de Santiago so much?

LC:  I’ve made five caminos and have five compostelas, about 5,000 kms of walking total. I very much like walking continuously, always farther in front of me.

GN:  When did you get interested in long-distance walking?

LC: I started walking long-distance on the caminos after I retired. As you know, long-distance walking is a very good school for both your brain and your body. It’s nice to make a break with your own life, you have plenty of time to dream when walking and to get lost sometimes…and you meet people from everywhere which can be good value.

GN:  You’re 73 now. What’s your secret? How do you stay healthy and physically strong when you walk such long distance, trek at such high altitudes, or visit countries with more difficult living conditions?  What advice can you share with our senior traveling readers?

LC:  Well, if i am strong at 73, it is because I choose to be like that. I think we can do what we want. Just to wish it is enough and easy. This is very important and everyone can be the same as me.

Just beleive it. If i am physically strong, it is because I don’t care too much about my body, I am asthmatic and have some arthritis…but never mind…I keep going..I try and I’m always positive and optimistic and my mind is happy.

GN:  You grew up in France during the Second World War? How did you get away from the war? How did you end up in Switzerland?

LC:  I was two years old when the war started and all I remember is that we often went hungry. For this reason, I carry a lot of food with me when I hike. But I was really too young to remember much else and except for the food I missed, we got away from the war without any big problems.

My sister was living on the border of Switzerland and in 1959 I came here and never left…except to travel. I’m always thinking about traveling.

GN:  Any plans for you next trip?

LC: Next trip will be to Mt. Kailash in Tibet if it is possible to go. And one day I will pass away in Asia….and stay there…

I met Noel Lau back in 2005 in Leon, Spain while walking the Camino de Santiago. Since then I’ve traveled through the Middle East with him and joined him in Spain to teach English. In 2008 he left for South America. He’s currently in Colombia.

Noel Lau at Wadi Rum, Jordan

GN: So, you’ve been on the road more or less, away from you native Borneo for more than 5 years, is that right?

NL: I have been away for almost 6 years. I left home because I was feeling trapped and bored by my old life; I was working as the Training Manager of The Westin Hotel, (a 5 star international hotel) a good, well-paid job with lots of opportunity to advance and make a career for myself. I had a secured a comfortable life. But I wasn’t happy. Life felt like a routine and I was having an identical life as anybody else: education, career, car, house, retirement, etc. I wanted something more. I was longing for freedom and just wanted to get away. Ever since I was young, I had always wanted to travel so that was a chance to fulfill my dream.

I haven’t returned to Malaysia because I don’t really feel that it’s my home anymore. I went back for two weeks about three years ago to renew my passport and visit my family, but I felt like a stranger in my own home. This could be what you call “reverse culture shock”, but for me it is much deeper than that.

GN: I’ve dubbed you “International Nomad”. Does that fit you?

NL: I’m not sure whether I am worthy of that title. I didn’t set out to be a nomad or traveler. When I left my home, I thought I was just going to go to London to work. Then step by step, things happened and after all these years, I’m still on the road. I guess “nomad” is the best way to describe what I am doing. I have had a few temporary homes, where I based myself to work and save money, but the idea of having a permanent home and a career, is quite claustrophobic for me right now.

GN: So you just work and save up and then travel, then repeat? Where are some of the places you’ve done this?

NL: Yes, that’s right. When I come to a place that I like or when I am low on money, I stay and work there. And when I have saved enough I go on traveling again. I have lived in London, Madrid, Mendoza (Argentina) and now Medellin (Colombia). There are also other places where I stayed from a week to a month like Puerto Natales (Chile), Castro (Chiloe Island, Chile) and Cartagena (Colombia) where I worked for my keep, mainly because either I was too tired to move on right away or I like the place enough to stay that long.

GN: Where is the longest you’ve stayed any one place?

NL: I lived and worked in Madrid, Spain for 3 years. I stayed that long because I wanted to learn Spanish and I made some really good and close friends that made it difficult for me to leave. I really like Spain and have a great memory of my 3 years there.

GN: But you’re from Malaysia. Your father is ethnically Chinese and your mother native Bornean? You were raised Christian. Your passport says you’re Malaysian? How do you identify yourself?

NL: When you put it this way, it sounds weird but yes, those are correct. Though I still speak Chinese fluently and love Malaysian food and still can recite all the prayers of the church by heart, I don’t really identify myself with any of them anymore. When I left Malaysia, one of my aims was to find myself. Since I wasn’t happy with the kind of life that everybody wants and seeks, then there must be something fundamentally wrong with me. So I decided to embark on a journey of self discovery. Who am I? What do I want? All the social conditionings that I went through growing up in one particular society: are they changeable? And if so, are there limits to experiencing life? Through these years of being by myself and being in contact with so many different cultures and exposing myself to different ways of life and schools of thought, I have shed my old identity and embraced a new one. So now I don’t really fit into any box or stereotype. And I rather enjoy this freedom in identity.

GN: You mentioned you didn’t feel at home in Malaysia? Where do you feel most at home? Why?

NL: Of all the places I have been to, I think I feel most at home in Spain. I really like the culture and friendly people, the open-minded society and the country is diverse and beautiful. I had also grown to like the tapas culture, where you have a drink and eat some tapas while chatting with friends in the evening. That seems to me the best way to end a day, any kind of day.

GN: How many languages do you speak?

NL: I speak about 6 languages: English, Chinese, Spanish, Malay, Cantonese and Taiwanese. I am also learning Portuguese. But at any given moment, I can only manage 3 fluently. For example, my Malay is really rusty after not speaking it in 6 years.

GN: Your favorite place or country? The least favorite? How about people…the most friendly or most hospitable? Were you ever turned off by a particular country or its people? Did they not treat you well?

NL: It’s really hard to name a favorite; I like different places or countries for different reasons. I really like Spain as a country to live and explore. I had a memorable and wonderful experience backpacking through the Middle-East. I also like the quiet and peaceful atmosphere of small countries like Belgium, The Netherlands and Austria. Also the beaches of Brazil and the otherworldly beauty of the Patagonia in South America are to die for. I don’t really have a least favorite place but I generally don’t like overly touristy places, or going to places in high season. The friendliest people I have encountered are the Brazilians and Colombians; some have really gone out of their way to help me. When I crossed from Bolivia to Brazil, I was a bit lost at the port because the immigration office wasn’t there. I went up to the police and asked for directions, and instead of pointing me the way he drove me all the way there. And here in Colombia, if you stop someone in the street for directions, they will spend the time needed to point you to in the right direction. No one is in too much of a rush to not help others.

GN: You are a budget traveler I know. What countries has your dollar (or Euro) gone the furthest?

NL: So far I think it was in Syria and Bolivia. I can’t remember what my budget in Syria was because that was more than 2 years ago. In Bolivia, I lived on 10 Euro a day, everything included, food, accommodation, transportation, etc

GN: Any travel tips…ways to experience a foreign culture better, see things differently, or save money?

NL: I think the first thing you have to do is to leave your guidebook in the hostel. Guidebooks are good for research and practical information, but once you are on the road, you should let your instinct guide you and try to get acquainted with locals. There are so many people traveling right now, that backpacking isn’t what it used to be. So, you meet other travelers in the hostel, restaurants, bars, etc. Everyone goes to the same place that the guidebooks dictate, so you don’t really get to experience the local culture, you see but a small portion of a country, merely there to take pictures. And you will have the same experience as other travelers that visit the same place. So, what’s so special about that? I try to speak to the locals, in buses, on the street, etc. I eat where the locals eat, and stay in hostels that aren’t in the guidebook; they are usually much cheaper. It can be risky, but that’s what travelling is about, getting out of your comfort zone and experiencing life.

GN: Why does a life on the road appeal to you? Do you ever think you’ll settle in one spot? Will traveling always be a part of your life?

NL: I think what appeals to me about of a life on the road is the freedom. The kind of freedom I could never experience in any other way of life. I have no obligation to anyone except myself and most importantly I do not have to live up to anybody’s expectations. On top of that I get to see incredible sights and meet interesting people and characters along the way. I cannot say that I will go on like a nomad or travel for the rest of my life. I will do it as long as there is meaning in it and it brings me happiness and contentment more than any other way of life. But when the moment arrives that it doesn’t do it for me anymore, I need to have to courage to let go and change. That said, traveling will always be a part of my life because not only is it an enriching experience when you go out of your comfort zone and confront all kinds of experience, it’s also a lesson in humility and self discovery.

GN: You are in the midst of a South American trip. Tell us a little bit about what you’ve done/seen so far.

NL: Yes, I have been here over 15 months now. I started in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, and spent about two months heading south through the coast of Brazil. Been to some small villages with beautiful and wild beaches, Rio de Janeiro, Ouro Preto, Curitiba and my favorite place in Brazil, Florianopolis. Then I went to the see the Iguazu falls and crossed into Argentina en-route to Uruguay. There I spent about 2 weeks seeing Montevideo, Punta del Diablo and Colonia de Sacramento. Took a boat across the Rio Plata to Argentina, where I spent sometime in Buenos Aires, Rosario, Puerto Madryn to see whales and penguins. I then headed to the southern most city in the world, Ushuaia to spend Christmas and New Year. I was trying to get a free ride working in the ships that go to Antarctica, but unfortunately there wasn’t any available. Then I went hiking and camping in the most beautiful national park I have ever seen, Torres del Paine, Chile. The beauty is so pristine as if untouched by humans. I then hitchhiked up the Carretera Austral, one of the world’s most isolated highways, exploring the mythical island of Chiloe, Puerto Pontt, Pucón, Valpariso and Santiago. After about two months in Chile, I went back to Argentina and spent three months working in a hostel in Mendoza. Then I met up with a friend and went to Bolivia, laboring through Bolivian highways and harsh travelling conditions for two months. But it was an incredible period when I visited Sucre, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Samaipata, Cochabamba, La Paz, Titicaca Lake, The Uyuni salt flat, Trinidad and Rurrenabaque. After which, I went back to Brazil to take 2 boat rides through the Amazon to get to Colombia. I then spent about 2 months in Cartagena working on the street, selling origamis and writing names in Chinese. Now I am in Medellin, Columbia.

GN: You are currently in Medellin, Colombia. What are you doing? What is so great about Colombia? And what everybody wants to know…is it safe for travelers?

NL: I am working as an English teacher in a language centre. I hope to stay for a while and to explore this country. Colombia is a really beautiful country: both the landscape as well as the people. The Colombians are the friendliest people I have met; they’re warm hearted and will go out of their way to help you. Yes, it is safe, as long as you don’t wander into the jungle or unmarked territory. The cities and towns are safe, of course there are areas to avoid, just like any other cities. Even travelling by bus at night is safe. So, the general rule is to stick to tourist route or talk to a friendly local who is always willing to give you any information you need.

GN: What after Colombia? You’ve never been to the U.S., any desire to go there?

NL: I have no idea what or where after Colombia, as I don’t really plan my life more than 1 month in advance. I do want to go to the U.S. because I have some good friends there. But unfortunately, with my current status, no permanent job nor home address, the U.S. immigration would never give me the visa to enter. So, I guess, I will have to put that on the back burner.

Noel Lau blogs at http://wander2nowhere.com