ABOUT MR. SCHRADER

Angkor Wat (near Siem Reap), Cambodia, 2010

On my sixth birthday, my parents gifted me with a gigantic world map and hung it above my bed. I studied it day and night, memorizing the capitals, shapes and locations of all the world’s countries. I checked out any book or magazine from the library that I thought would give me a glimpse into daily life in cities like Cairo, Buenos Aires or Moscow. I usually returned the books disappointed, but you had to take what you could get in the days before Wikipedia and Google.

Unfortunately, I wouldn’t get my first opportunity to see the world outside the United States for nearly 15 years. The summer before my senior year of college, I embarked on a trip to Europe. In hindsight, it was less than transcendental, but it did unlock my sense of adventure like never before.

With my best friend Bianca on my 26th Birthday in my hometown of Austin, TX.

Nonetheless, when I moved to Austin, TX after graduation, it was with the understanding that I would get a “real” job. I bored quickly with the monotony of adult life, however. After abandoning a lucrative sales position at Dell, I decided to focus on developing a lifestyle that was both financially sustainable and free of excessive work commitments. As I bounced from job to unfulfilling job over the subsequent three years, I began to realize that the vast majority of my life’s joy came as a result of the periodic vacations I took. The longing and anxiety I felt after returning from my second trip in India in May 2009 confirmed this: Travel was becoming more than just a passing interest for me.

Merzouga (near Algeria), Morocco, 2011

And in a big way. I moved to Shanghai, China in November 2009–my first time living abroad–and resided there until July 2010. Between then and my return to Austin in early October, I visisted Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Turkey, Switzerland and Holland en route.

Plaza Santa Ana, Madrid, 2011

In November 2010, I became a finalist in a blog contest sponsored by the Thailand Medical Tourism Board and traveled not only to Thailand, but also to Myanmar and the Philippines. I just finished a two-month trip to South America, one which saw me visit Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. This past August, I embarked on a ten-week trip through North Africa, Israel and the Mediterranean Coast of Europe. Next stop? Australia, from the end of January to mid-March 2012.

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, 2011

I was raised middle-class in the Midwest and my income is probably lower than yours. Using a combination of hard-work, determination and outside-the-box thinking, however, I’ve been able to travel like a rockstar for the past several years — on my own dime. This is something anybody, including you, can do. Want to learn how? Bookmark Leave Your Daily Hell and visit often.