Garrett Russell | nomadderwhere

Am I a Cultural Imperialist?

I got on a bright yellow bus with "Awesome" scrolled along the side of its body. I lined up behind rolling suitcases, backpacks and wide-brimmed hats to book a ticket to the islands. I arrived to five resort employees singing a Fijian welcoming song, somewhat half-heartedly. A tourist I became ...

Journeys of a Lifetime in March

Welcome back to my new monthly series on Nomadderwhere, one which highlights the incredible trips one could take in that current month - thanks to a vibrant book called Journeys of a Lifetime by National Geographic. Each month I pick a couple adventures from each section in the book in order ...

They Aren’t Just For Kids, Part 1

I'm not talking about Trix cereal. I'm talking about the Nakavika Project classes we've been conducting here in Fiji. Within the first week of teaching the children about English and hygiene/health, the young men of the village expressed their interest in learning what we have to teach. Classes with these boys ...

Street Smarts: Transport Scams

Walking around India with glowing blonde hair, parachute pants, and the backpack/daypack humpback/pregnant belly combo is a sure-fire way to indicate, “I’m not from around here.” What does this mean to the rickshaws slowly following your swagger or the cyclists hoping you’ll turn around and want their transport services? Some ...

Good Global Citizen

After running across ProjectExplorer.org a couple months ago, I've been contemplating this topic in hopes I could really tap into the depths of my beliefs. What does it mean to be a good global citizen? Part of me wishes that would mean having the coolest passport ever - or I guess a ...

Bracing for the Cyclone: Day 13

Various news publications reported Cyclone Mick as a battering, vicious storm, causing a lot of devastation to Viti Levu in December of 2009. BBC showed disheartening video footage of the aftermath. Al-Jazeera accentuated the death count. The Telegraph wove together an anthropomorphic description of Mick using beastly adjectives galore. ...