Interview With Will Brubaker of Vagabumming
Please give my readers a background about yourself. What made you want to start vagabumming.com?
When I first started going to Antarctica for work, friends and family thought that was pretty cool and they demanded stories and photos. I was just doing it by email, but different email accounts had different ways of handling photo attachments so I found myself being a tech support rep to dozens of people, so I started a blogspot blog and vagabumming.com grew from that.
In all of your travels, in your opinion what country has the best food? and the worst food?
I have very fond memories of coastal Ecuadorian cuisine. Fresh seafood often prepared 'encocada' which is similar to a Thai coconut curry. Having grown up in a landlocked state (Wyoming) I never had many chances to experience good seafood, so it was in Ecuador where I first had octopus. I was completely blown away, I was expecting something rubbery but whatever they did to the octopus there, they did it right it was tender and mild and delicious.
The worst food? England, hands down. Bangers and mash and spotted dick? Are you people serious? I remember being in Chamonix, France. The grocery stores there advertise "we sell English food". I was thinking "seriously? people don't come to France to eat mushy peas do they?"
Did you always have a love of travel or did you develop your passion for traveling as you got older?
To this day, I classify what I do less as travel and more a transient lifestyle. In my youth, my mother was very involved with all facets of showing horses. That meant that during the summer I was constantly on the move, going from horse show to horse show. This meant making new friends on a regular basis and being somewhere different very frequently. That was just my life and I never gave it much thought. I think it probably did cause me to feel a bit restless after spending too much time in one place. In early adulthood, I joined the military and continued to go from place to place. It's what I do.
What impact has vagabumming.com had on your life?
Well, like I said earlier, it started as just a place to put photos and stories for my family and friends. I have tried several ways to monetize it and found I was simply unable to write in a way that sells products and I wasn't willing to put in the effort to make people want to pay for links from my site. Along the way, however, I found that I have a fondness and aptitude for PHP programming (it's what makes websites work). I did a lot of customization to the site and picked up an awesome skillset along the way. With that experience, I have been able to realize my dream of never having to work 'for the man' again, though 'the man' is currently enticing me with yet another sweet international job that I'm likely to accept. So, to sum it up, vagabumming.com has provided me with yet another marketable skill that I am currently using to finance my travel habit. Need website customization? Get in touch!
What has been the least exciting destination you've traveled to?
I'm going to take some artistic license with my answer and sort of read 'biggest letdown' into the question as opposed to 'least exciting'. With that, my answer is London. I'm feeling pretty bad now, and the Poms aren't going to appreciate me for hating their food AND their capital city...but the expense of being in London combined with the ceaseless traffic served as a distraction to me and made it really hard to appreciate all the wonderful history in the city.
What has been the most surprising destination you've been to? Meaning, you had a specific mindset about a certain destination but it was totally a different experience than you had imagined.
Taiwan! Hands down. Part of that was that I really had no expectations going in. It was a job opportunity that sort of fell in my lap and sounded interesting enough, but I knew nothing of Taiwan and I guess I went into it assuming that Taiwan was just another Asian country. I probably won't live long enough to ever say enough wonderful things about Taiwan. The people there are absolutely amazing. The culture is very interesting from so many different points of view. There are so many wonderful active pursuits, beautiful places and just a great vibe throughout the country.
If you had to decide which destination has been the most influential in your life, which destination would you chose?
Without question, India and maybe more specifically, Kashmir. India on the whole is that one place that I believe all humans should experience. It'll really change the way you look at everything.
If you could travel with any celebrity for one week, who would you chose and why?
Julia Stiles because I have a crush on her. 2nd choice would be David Choe and if you don't know why, check out the 'Thumbs Up' series on vice tv (vbs.tv)
What advice would you give to a newbie traveler?
1) It's not a race or a contest to see how many places/sites/things you can visit in a certain amount of time, nor is there a prize awarded for how cheaply you do it.
2) I know your supply of money is finite, but sometimes it's worth paying for a guide or tour to truly be able to appreciate the history and culture of wherever it is you are.
3) People who you encounter will make judgements about your country based on your behaviour. Act appropriately.
In 10 years, do you see yourself still traveling or slowing down?
I don't see myself falling back into the nine-to-five suburban lifestyle. I can't imagine that I'd ever be o.k. with remaining in one place for an indefinite amount of time.
Thanks Will Brubaker for the interview. Please visit Will's blog @ Vagabumming