I often refer to myself as a mongrel, due to the rather disparate origins of my family. My mother is American, but my maternal grandparents were of Norwegian and Swedish stock. If you go a little further back, you will find Kvens, the Finns who emigrated as far north as mainland Norway goes. My father is English, but his family’s origins lie in Wales.

Further complications arise from the fact my brother’s wife is Chinese, and I was born and grew up in France. I met my Korean wife while we were both living in Japan, but I’ve also lived in Poland, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Georgia, Greece, Scotland, Montenegro, Estonia and Bulgaria. I think that pretty makes me the complete mongrel.

When I originally started this site, I intended to make it purely a travel site, but I’ve now decided I want it to be more like myself, a big mix of things I am interested in.  

I hope you find the site informative and fun and that it can help you out on your own adventures. Please let me know if things have changed anywhere I’ve written about or if there’s some inaccurate information by adding a comment.

All illustrations on this site are the work of my wife, Dora.

Travel Mongrel