I get asked this question all the time and I never have an answer. No one place is my favorite because I find myself drawn to the contrasts in Asia among its richly varied destinations. Certainly I gravitate towards travel that takes me out of my comfort zone because I am much too restless to sunbathe on a beach for more than a few days. I enjoy visiting tribal cultures all over the world, the more remote the better as you can see from my photos. While there is no one favorite, some standout recent travel memories include the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan, Ladakh, Turkmenistan, and North Korea.

I recently had two travel experiences I’ll never forget, ones that in a few years will not be possible anymore. I visited several newly opened tribal villages outside of Loikaw in Myanmar’s Karen Hills then traveled on to some remote areas of Phongsali province in the extreme north of Laos where the local people had never seen a foreigner before. No one I met had ever had their photo taken before I did it. I felt profoundly fortunate, as I know these cultures will not be around forever.

Finding enough time. Since I travel most often for my work, these trips are always fast paced. I change hotels every day, trying to see as much as possible. It can be tiring but I would never complain about getting to do it all

I travel to meet and connect with people living lives I could not have imagined when I was growing up in New Jersey. This diverse perspective gives me real insights and empathy for how others live and what they value. I often observe a real bias in Western media and have learned that what we see on TV even when its reported as news should never be accepted at face value. Go out and see the world for yourself. Form your own opinions. Even places like North Korea are not the places CNN makes them out to be and you would never know the truth without visiting. Only travel provides that education.

I grew up in Mendham, New Jersey around 45 minutes from Manhattan. From my teenage years, I developed a strong desire to travel and to get out of the small town where I grew up. I studied journalism and video production at Rutgers University and that further fueled my desire to travel, first all over the US then later the world.

The original reasons for basing myself in Bangkok were business ones. Bangkok is the ideal hub for reaching the greatest number of Asian destinations, living costs are reasonable and we have great staff at Remote Lands. Over time, the Thai capital has come to feel like home. It is an excellent place to live that combines traditional and modern elements in one culturally stimulating place that I find edgier than Singapore or Hong Kong, which I like to visit.

Though I never traveled as a backpacker, as I get older I appreciate comfort more when it is available. Certainly I can rough it when it is not. I can be happy with a private pool villa at an ultra-luxe resort any day but I will always want to combine that with something to stimulate my sense of wonder.

After 20 years on the bleeding edge of the tech industry, I was ready for a change. Most of my career had an international focus and travel was already a vital part of my lifestyle. So when my business partner at Remote Lands approached me with the idea of starting a travel company, I jumped at it with one condition. From the start, I felt we had to identify a unique niche and go for it in the biggest way possible. Certainly, I feel we have.

In the tech industry I traveled heavily and developed business partnerships in 40 countries across Asia, Africa, South America, the Middle East and Europe. What a fantastic lesson in how to deal with people from every type of background. That taught me to be flexible and resourceful, two qualities I rely on every time I set off on the next adventure.

These days I tend to leave my Canon 5D at home, and shoot with a Sony A6500, which is a fantastic little camera for ‘run and gun’ shooting. On occasion I’ll also use my Sony RX100 MKIV. I also can’t live without my Zhiyun Crane 2 gimbal and DJI Mavic Pro drone. My latest purchase was a DJI OSMO Action cam.

You can’t be shy or lazy or it doesn’t happen. I approach my photography and therefore my subjects as a professional would, which means directing people to get the shot. I would tell anyone else attempting this to tell people what you want. Most often they listen, although I have learned it helps to offer some incentive. Like that it is a fair exchange. When I want to take group shots in more remote places I find its best to deal with ‘the guy in charge.’ In Loikaw, Myanmar we rolled into the village with bags of rice, medicine and alcohol. We headed straight to the village elder and then everything suddenly unfolded. When it’s a face that captivates me, there is nothing like establishing a rapport. So I put the camera down and start from there. I don’t worry about language barriers, a little eye contact showing my genuine interest and walls usually start coming down.

There are many countries left for me to visit. Miraculously, considering how often I travel, there are a few Asia destinations I still look forward to in my future: Maldives, and Timor-Leste come to mind. Globally my wish list is almost endless: Iran where I’ve been trying to go for some time, and the Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia) are places I’ve been dreaming about for quite awhile

My travel philosophy is to veer off the beaten path and out of my comfort zone as often as possible and to interact with people I meet along the way rather than merely observing them from a safe distance. Travel memories are made in those deeply personal moments.