Thanks for stopping by my photos! My name is Tom but everyone calls me El Chino Latino. I was born in Vietnam, grew up in Southern California, and consider myself a citizen of the world…I love traveling, making friends around the world, and learning new things.

I recently lost my job in this horrible economy, but instead of sulking about it, I see it as the perfect opportunity to do what I’ve always dreamed about: traveling around the world! 2010 is going to be my year of exploring this beautiful planet of ours, with nothing more than one carry-on backpack.

I’ll be traveling light, solo, and on a budget and hope to keep my family and friends updated with my adventures (and misadventures)! I’ve been inspired by friends who are avid travelers, and passionate travel bloggers, who’ve been trailblazing the way and sharing their knowledge for others to follow in their footsteps. I hope to impart some of what I’ve learned from my journeys as well and inspire others out there who dream of seeing the world! If I can do it…anyone can!

This is as much an inner journey as it is an outer one for me. I honestly don’t see myself ever going back to being shackled to a regular corporate type job, working long hours for someone else, and not having the freedom to travel whenever and wherever I want. I’m going to be doing a lot of soul searching on my travels, and figure out what I can do in the next phase of my life that is more impactful and meaningful.

More important to me than ‘where’ I’m going and ‘what’ I’ll be seeing, is ‘who’ I’ll encounter along the way. It’s the personal connections with other people that make traveling exciting, spontaneous and fulfilling for me and I have made wonderful life-long friends.