Since I was a child, I had always thought I would become a painter, but I was a dreamer and had a penchant for sky gazing. My father, who was an exceptional software engineer, encouraged me to pursue a technical career. During my formative years, I read heaps of science fiction and fantasy novels. I was naturally good at math and science so I went to UCLA and became an aerospace engineer.
After a brief stint as an aircraft engineer, I realized that I was inherently unfit for cubicle work. I quit my job to pursue an M.B.A. and an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering; however, graduate schools could not dispel my restlessness. I wanted to "live life" before I became old and too set in my way to change. At last, I abandoned my studies, and, saddled with debts, I tried my hand at writing for a living. I dabbled in technical writing and editing and spent several wonderful years as a starving artist while working as a restaurant critic for a local newspaper.
It has been a long arduous road, filled with dark abysses, marvelous heights, gut-rotting doubts, exquisite joys, heartbreaks, memorable feasts, and long stretches of hunger. But I have enjoyed the journey immensely. There is some truth in the old proverb: The rewarding path is never easy, the easy path never rewarding.
Along the way, I’ve held a dozen different jobs and lived in eight cities scattered across four states. I have been traveling and living abroad for nearly two decades.