About Reid

For those who want to know more, this is a little about who I am as a person and where I came from.

I was born in 1988 and grew up in a small conservative town in Minnesota where I felt stifled and like I never really fit in. My parents are devout religious followers and raised me in that environment along with 10 other siblings. They tried to indoctrinate us into a church known as the Laestadian Lutheran Church with the religion being called Conservative Laestadianism in some parts of the world. Dad and Mom worked very hard to support us. Mom always encouraged me to be independent and would usually support my decisions. Dad encouraged us to get a degree so we could have a safe life and career we liked. They raised us to the best of their abilities with full positive intentions about what they genuinely believed was best. I am thankful for their efforts. My childhood years partly shaped who I am today. My first job was milking cows at 12. Had I never questioned what was taught, the rest of the story would be that I got married at 18 right after graduating from high school, had kids by 19, stayed in the small town, worked at a job I hated, and lived a life I could not stand. But alas, the story is much brighter than that.

I questioned the religious ideas and began to embrace rational and logical evidence based thinking. At the same time I let go of religion and spirituality. I started to do what I knew was right, not what someone else believed. Now one of my goals is to accept the truth no matter what. I now strive to embrace ideas using logic, reason, science, and evidence. Those were the first steps to a much more fulfilling and happy life. My plans shifted a bit. Now they included a degree, finding a great high paying job to dedicate my life to, mansions, expensive cars, kids later, and retiring at 55. One job prospect was becoming a pilot. So at 16 I started flying and at 17 earned my private pilot's license and started my degree.

People I looked up to recommended traveling the world before other commitments prevented it. My first trip abroad was to South Africa in 2007. I was 19. It was a great time to challenge myself being away from the small town and home I grew up in. I was exposed to many different things and really grew as a person. A fellow traveller said that it was great to see me begin to break out of my shell. It was a time of self discovery and growth. Only when I moved out I felt people appreciated me for who I am and not who they wanted me to be. It felt like my connections were real and honest.

I learned a great deal with Walgreens as an intern and graduated summa cum laude with a degree in entrepreneurship. I began to care very little about mansions, cars, careers, money, unfulfilling work, or most material things. We need very little to survive. Things do not bring happiness and fulfillment. I decided that there is more to life than knowing exactly how it would pan out. I was offered a promotion that would have guaranteed a set life with a great career. I turned it down to travel the world. Some of my best friends graciously allowed me to stay in their family homes in Hong Kong, Nepal, and India. I experienced what it would have been like to be raised there. The families treated me like a son. When I returned to the States I stayed with a great fruity bunch near Washington DC while working for Apple Inc. My next travels took me to Korea to teach English followed by staying on a beach in Thailand. Australia called with promises of easy money and helped me pay off all debts and save for more traveling.

I have continued to explore and live a life I love. There is so much to see, learn, and do. As for the future, it is now as much a surprise to me as anyone else. My plans are no longer measured in lifetimes. They usually go as far as what I am doing now. The slate is blank after this.

Personally I tend to blend in unnoticed. I am a very deep thinker and sometimes follow the rabbit for weeks, months, or even years. I thoroughly enjoy being lost in thought. I do not enjoy partying, drinking, or clubbing. They exhaust me within a couple hours. Once I go home I feel refreshed and chase another thought. When I make free time it may be to create a video, learn about something, go to a park, explore a new area, try something new, or relax and do nothing. Some people call me stubborn. I can be difficult. I want everything to be perfect. I am now very comfortable with myself and who I am.

Happy Travels,

Reid