Biography of The Big Blue Marble Founder: Paul Heller

I can't think of anything that excites a greater sense of childhood wonder than to be in country where you are ignorant of almost everything.
Bill Bryson

Past Travel Experiences

• Exchange student in Yaizu, Japan; Baguio, Philippines; and Tepic, Mexico (through Youth for Understanding and World Learning)
• Studied Spanish in Guadalajara, Mexico and Buenos Aires, Argentina (also took tango lessons), Russian in Saint Petersburg, Russia (Saint Petersburg State University), and Thai in Chiang Mai (AUA) 
• Semester abroad, American University in Cairo
• Volunteer English teacher, Kaliningrad, Russia (World Teach)
• Cruises: Mediterranean, Mexican Riviera, Caribbean
• Bus trip around the USA
• Home exchange: suburban London, Paris (Intervac)
• Backpacking/ independent travel: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland, Netherlands, Mexico, Spain, Indonesia, Malaysia
• Homestays and hospitality exchanges in Guatemala, Argentina, Mexico, Baltic States, and Costa Rica
• Reality Tour: US-Mexico Border
• Workcamp Volunteer: Sea Turtle Conservation Program, Colola, Michoacan, Mexico
• Studied Traditional Medicine in Cuernavaca and the Politics, Economics, and Culture of Tepoztlan, Mexico

• The Dome of the Rock Mosque, Jerusalem
• Topkapi Palace, Istanbul
• Palenque, Mexico
• Alhambra Palace, Granada (Spain)
• Ronda, Spain
• Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Guanajuato, Mexico
• California Wine Country
• Kyoto, Japan

• Eating out
• Reading
• Writing
• Teaching
• Taking classes
• Sightseeing
• Researching
• Visiting museums
• Wine tasting

• Spanish
• Russian
• A smattering of Arabic, Mandarin, German, French, Portuguese, Thai, and Japanese

• BA, Macalester College in Geography and International Studies. Minor in Spanish.
• Masters of Public Administration (MPA), University of Southern California
• Fifteen years public sector work experience including grant administration, affordable housing development, legislative analysis, and public relations

• Favorite Personal Heroes: Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Abraham Lincoln
• Favorite Movies: Citizen Kane, It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, Casablanca, Auntie Mame, M (German film, 1932), Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront, Network, The Official Story (Argentinean film, 1983)
• Favorite Non-Travel Books (note: my favorite travel books are listed on the Book Picks section of the website): Common Ground (a book about the struggle for desegregating Boston's schools), The Power Broker by Robert Caro.
• Favorite TV shows: most documentaries.  I particularly like the PBS series Frontline and anything hosted by Bill Moyers.
• The one thing I can't stand: acts of deliberate cruelty
• People who knew me in high school thought I was: a bit geeky
• If I could live my life so far over again I'd: Be less serious and more outgoing. Start this business ten years earlier.  
• If I could change myself, I'd: talk to strangers more comfortably, have more faith and worry less
• Favorite music: I like almost all music (even rap and heavy metal at times).  I like to listen to different types of music depending on my mood.  I am especially fond of Latin music, particularly Cuban salsa music (Celia Cruz rocks!) and fado (Portuguese folk music). 
• When I'm driving I listen to: National Public Radio.  I am a great fan of This American Life, Fresh Air, and All Things Considered. 
• An odd thing about me: I have a hard time listening to music or walking in nature without doing something else. My brain automatically starts thinking about other things.
• If I could live anywhere in the world, I'd live in: Buenos Aires, Argentina.  It is everything I love in a city-- big, sophisticated, inexpensive, and a bit quirky.   I?m happy in most large cities in the world.
• I can talk for hours about: travel, writing, good books.
• My idea of paradise: a life of constant travel and a full library
• What I don't want in my life (and everyone else does): a house of my own
• I?ve never been able to: settle down in one place for very long without getting antsy or be able to
  understand most mechanical systems (I'm a bit of a modern day Luddite!)
• I am passionate about (other than travel): Learning
• My favorite subject in school: Social studies
• My least favorite subject: Math
• My goals in life:
  (1) Find someone with whom I can share my passions for travel and writing.
  (2) Dave Freeman has expressed my second goal perfectly: "The goal of life is to take everything that made you weird as a kid and get people to pay you money for it when you're older."

These are photos from my first major journey traveling like a local as a Youth for Understanding exchange students at age 14 in 1979. The photos depict my host family: the Miyazakis of Yaizu, Japan and students and teachers at Fujieda Higashi High School where I helped teach English. Want to know more? Read Taakasan Omiyage in my Big Blue Marble newsletter .