Tom Bourguignon

(Traveling through Singapore at time of interview)

Home: "Grew up in Toledo, Ohio. Live in New York City."

Job: "I worked for two years in New York, doing graphic design work for a big investment bank to save up money. And, except for the occasional black market cigarette sale, I haven't made any money on this trip — eleven months and counting."

Age: 27

Places visited: "I lived in Cambridge, England for a year, Strasbourg, France for a year, Aberdeen, Scotland for a year and backpacked western Europe for a couple months. Then later I left for Greece, Egypt, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and may head west to Burma and Nepal after this."

Favorite country and/or place to visit: "The place I may have liked the most was Egypt, especially Cairo. I like the desert, and dry, sandy, yellow-and-brown-colored places. Cairo is a big, loud, dirty, intensely passionate, "You-Shook-Me-All-Night-Long" kind of city, with a sense of urgency to match its sense of humor. I also loved Cambodia. Cambodia's got the ancient Angkor-era history and Hindu sculpture — plus it's got the most beautiful rice-paddies I've ever seen, the best drug scene, and a really contradictory laid-back French colonial capitol in Phnom Penh. I like Borneo because I punched a monkey there after its friend stole my cookies. I like Laos because a man handed me a pistol once and told me to open fire on a little family of wild hens. I didn't hit any, as it turned out."

Inspiration for travel: "As for my current trip, I began with the goal of traveling to Greece, Turkey, Egypt and (unlikelier) Iraq — seeing the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, only one of which really remains in any kind of shape. I managed to more or less see three of them before the backpacker tendency to suddenly change plans kicked in and I went to Thailand."

Memorable adventure: "I struggle these days to understand what I think of when I think of the word 'adventure'. Is an adventure when you get into some kind of memorable scrape, like Huck Finn getting stuck with the Duke and the Dauphin — and is thus a narrative of how one manages to successfully navigate the tough spot? Is adventure just doing risky stuff — like jumping off the top of a thirty foot waterfall without having made sure the pool at the bottom was deep enough, or trying to cross borders illegally, or snorkeling with sharks and barracudas around? Is adventure our struggle to come into contact with the culture of the place we're visiting — all of our failures and triumphs on the way — funny local dance clubs and bars, trying to speak phrasebook lines to old wrinkled women, trying to buy a guy's Chairman Mao hat off his head, and so on?

"I don't know what I think about all of it. Memorable times have included hanging out with a Dutch couple in southern Laos, and one night we had a contest to see which animals we could induce to eat the most moths: a cat, a chicken, a gecko, or a dog. Getting into a shoving match with a burly Pakistani man in a basement bar in Saigon at about four a.m., because of a disagreement about billiard rules — then singing Guns 'N' Roses songs together, arm in arm, a few minutes later. Finding a waterfall buried deep in the jungle in southern Laos and sitting there all day, just listening. Wandering around back alleys in Cairo with a demented Hungarian floutist, looking for some mythical, and probably nonexistant, coffee shop said to serve up strong ganja in their sheesha pipes. Standing in the middle of a riot — a somewhat mild one, really, but still surprising — in Athens, upon the arrival of U.S. President Bill Clinton (whom I voted for once), watching the streets burn. Climbing Mount Kinabalu on Borneo, the highest mountain in Southeast Asia at 4,100 meters (not a difficult climb, but really thrilling anyway).

"Those things jump to mind, but I think the best parts of my trip have been the smallest moments. Naps in hammocks, swordfights with small children, good meals or bottles of grain alcohol, scenic boat rides, riverwalk sunsets, the sound of cities, waiting in line at post offices, and so on."

Biggest challenge on the road: "To not shut down and just wall myself off from everything around me, which is different and possibly intimidating. It's easy to put up barriers, reading books and e-mailing all the time, eating every meal at expat joints and drinking back at the hostel over a game of cards — and sometimes I need to get myself motivated to go out and do other stuff. Sure, expat cafes and card games have their place, but there's more to it than just that, and a lot of the other stuff involves just diving into the unknown. Accepting an invitation to a wedding in some small town where you don't speak the language, or just wandering around the streets and alleys and talking to whomever strikes up a conversation with you, and so on. I kind of like spending a lot of time on my own, so it has been a challenge going out and doing stuff with local people."

Biggest sacrifice of the vagabonding lifestyle: "Here in Asia, I desperately miss my friends and family and spicy burrito restaurants. Maybe even worse, I'm missing the baseball playoffs right now. Even though the Indians didn't make it, I wish I could be watching."

Biggest satisfaction of the vagabonding lifestyle: "Once in awhile, I just start laughing or beaming — thinking how there's stuff going down around me I never knew existed. Seeing the beauty in every little dirty thing: every slanted, corrugated roof; every dripping canvas and smoky temple; beaten up rickshaws and sweating amputees shaking dixie cups. Blowing smoke rings on a dock over a lilypad-covered lake, knowing there's no hurry, nowhere to go and nowhere to be. Granted, half the time I'm cranky and frustrated and don't like anything around me — but it's worth waiting for those moments of real connection and appreciation in everything you see. "

Travel advice: "My advice is to ignore all U.S. travel advisories and just keep your ear to the ground; try to meet backpackers who've been to the potentially risky areas you want to visit, and see what they've got to say. Don't plan your whole trip at the beginning. Don't buy plane tickets that can't be changed. Never pay tour operators before you get to the country. Don't try to visit too many places during a limited time; stay one or two places for a longer time, until you feel that rumbling in your gut to move on. An overlong stay is always better than a hurried, truncated stay.

"I think what I'm really trying to say through all this is thattraveling abroad is really a lot easier and safer than it mightseem before you leave. There's no point getting bogged down by worrying about every possibility before you leave home. Just get out on the road, stay calm, don't let taxi drivers take you to their buddy's gem shops, and enjoy it all for what it is."