My Love for Travel

Traveling, especially with my family, is one of my greatest joys. When you travel the world, you become a story-teller and a witness to humanity and nature's greatest attributes. My wife, Lise, and I drag our children everywhere because we believe travel is a formative process that shapes how they view their place within the world, as well as to be humbled (sorry, Disney does not fit this, but hello Arctic!). More eloquent people have probably summarized the joy and power of traveling better than me, so here are a few quotes that hit home: 

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” – Gustave Flaubert

“The gladdest moment in human life, me thinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton

“To awaken alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.” – Freya Stark

“Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else.” — Lawrence Block

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” – Saint Augustine

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

All true...!

Early Travels

After Australia, I visited Norway (soaked in the fog and rain, but fell in love with glaciers!) and ended up getting married and living there for half a year. Our honeymoon was spent in the Canary Islands, of the coast of Morocco. Great geology (nerd), but a fantastic time exploring the island with my wife.

Next up, Tunisia...

Then, Montserrat:

Peru (Machu Picchu) and Equador (Galapagos Islands)

As part of my Ph.D., I spent time in Sweden, Edinburgh (Scotland), and Switzerland, and then visited Italy (again), Norway (again), Monaco, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Southern France (Nice, Cannes), Iceland, Finland, and Estonia. After my first son was born in 2005, back to Iceland and Norway, followed by a visit to Paris (France), Edinburgh (again), and Istanbul (Turkey). Phew! Once I began working at University of Michigan - Dearborn, I led field courses to Iceland (taking students with me to Norway) and Puerto Rico. I also visited the Arctic: stunning Svalbard! 

U.S. Fulbright Experience

Sponsored by the United States Department of State and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Fulbright Program provides funding for students, scholars, teachers, and professionals to undertake graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and teaching in elementary and secondary schools.  I was honored to be a U.S. Fulbright Research Scholar to Cyprus in 2012, as it was a marvelous experience shared with my family, one that will forever impact our lives! 

Summary:

We departed Michigan on December 13, 2011 and toured Italy (Rome and Sorrento) and Malta, before arriving in Cyprus on December 29, 2011.  We moved into a nice apartment in Nicosia, my 7-year old son began attending the American International School (AIS) of Cyprus, and I started my project with the Geological Survey Department of Cyprus.  Near the end of April, we traveled to the European Geophysical Union (EGU) conference in Vienna, Austria, before visiting Jordan and Greece on the way home.  Throughout the entire five and a half month experience, we interacted with many warm, wonderful people, explored some of the most incredible geological and archeological sites in the world, and developed an appreciation for the Mediterranean life and for our place in this complex world!

My Project:

I spent most of my time working on three projects: soil erosion in Cyprus, teaching geology and physical geography concepts in elementary and middle schools, and photographing and placemarking geologic sites from the Classic Geology in Europe Series 7- Cyprus field guide by Edwards et al. (2010).

Teaching:

Although my Fulbright award was for research, I managed to get into the classroom and into the field to teach elementary and middle school lessons on map making (1st grade), land use and land cover (4th grade), rock identification (6th), and plate tectonics in Cyprus (8th grade).  The sixth grade students, eighth grade students, and AIS were kind enough to acknowledge my participation, but I am the one who truly enjoyed sharing my knowledge and time and am grateful for being a temporary contributor to AIS!

Placemarking Geology Field Guide:

The geology of Cyprus is one-of-a-kind and it was my intent to explore as much as possible, especially the ophiolite sequence.  I visited and photographed every site in Classic Geology in Europe Series 7- Cyprus to provide a better method for finding sites that are off the beaten path.  Many of the directions to sites were hard to follow, sending us even further off the beaten track, so I hope other visiting geologists or geology teachers in Cyprus can use this information to locate sites of interest and get background information.  Each placemark is colored according to chapter and is presented in order that it was explained in text.  Naturally, Edwards et al. receive the credit for their fine work!

Recent Adventures

The Fulbright experience was amazing, so we returned the next year as part of a UM-D grant to continue my research (but also to prepare a field course). So we returned in 2015 with great students and visited London (UK) and Italy (Rome: again, Venice, and Torino). Most recently, we dogsledged in Svalbard, and visited Norway (again) and Iceland (again)! Next up: Barcelona for my youngest son (to participate in an international FC Barca tournament) and Puerto Rico for those not going to Spain!