[close] Today, I’m a freelance writer--but I didn’t start out that way. After college, like most of the people I knew, I headed for corporate employment. I did well. I learn fast and I’m very good at solving problems, and those are important gifts in the world of giant international corporations. But even as I climbed the corporate ladder, there was a persistent dream that kept me from really feeling at home. I wanted to be a writer. I had always wanted to be a writer. But how would I ever find the time to make the dream come true?

Eventually, the answer came to me: just quit. Walk away from the corporate world and write. Of course, that’s easier said than done, but at least I had a goal—to save enough money to get out.

At about the same time I began saving money, I found that my lifelong interest in Australia was becoming an obsession. In my mind, the two dreams—writing and Australia—became bound together. Once I quit, I needed to get far away from the temptation of taking another job, and Australia seemed the best, and farthest, place to accomplish that. So when I finally reached escape velocity and got away from the gravitational field of income and security, Australia is where I went. It is the six wonderfully adventurous months I spent in Australia that are recounted in my book, Waltzing Australia.

As you can imagine, it took a while to rebuild my career, once I came home. There were a few years of beans, rice, and potatoes, but in time, the sacrifice paid off, and the work began to get regular. Today, I am a writer and photographer, a culinary historian and world traveler. But I shall never forget the beginning of the road I now travel, and I am eager to share with others the unfolding of the dream. [close]