About Me

Hello, I’m Daniel, and I’m a freelance journalist from the United States. Growing up in a central Texas town with around 1,600 people, I was never exposed to a lot of different cultures growing up, but I always enjoyed traveling to new places. As a kid, I remember driving an hour to Killeen to eat Korean food, or half an hour in the other direction to eat Mexican food.

Growing up, I never cared much for academics even though I did well if I applied myself. I mostly cared about sports and hanging out with my friends, so I did just well enough to maintain passing grades so I could play football and run track. Both of those activities involved traveling to other towns around the giant state of Texas, which meant getting to skip some of the afternoon classes. I didn’t play basketball in high school, but one time I confidently stood up and walked out with the ones in my class who only had to check in so they could leave early for a game. I got away with it until someone told the teacher at the end of class. The principal laughed as he gave me detention.

I took a job building fences less than a year after high school, where we worked for the oilfield and built fences on drilling sites all over North Texas. Traveling was the only fun part of that job. It was tough and if an employee wasn’t a drunk then there was a good chance that he was a big fan of methamphetamine.

A few years later, I started training in mixed martial arts (MMA) and began fighting professionally by the time I was 25. While there were several other reasons why I went down that path, the option to travel was also one of them, and it brought me to some magical places like…Oklahoma.

As I progressed, I became disillusioned by the business side of professional sports and the reality from which I had been running had finally caught up to me. The life I was leading with no education was untenable. I would have gone back to school years ago but I couldn’t think of a profession in which I was interested.

As I was dealing with the lovely insurance companies from a recent shoulder surgery, I discovered a British journalist named Christopher Hitchens on YouTube. He traveled around, debating people about politics and religion while discussing the history and current events with others. He was also a prolific writer, something that I was already fairly decent at doing. Since I’m the type of person who is interested in many different topics and the many ways in which the world functions, I thought it would be in my best interest to become a journalist and pursue a nomadic lifestyle, one where I am always learning and experiencing new things. It’s my defense against boredom and going stir-crazy from being forced to stay in a city that I hate because I have to work a job I despise.

After building up enough credits at community college, I got accepted to the journalism program at the University of Oregon in Eugene. Moving 2,000 miles away without knowing anybody and hoping that my charm and good looks would get me through a bartending job interview was a test for me. I had to prove to myself that I could begin a new life in Oregon, otherwise, how was I going to do it if I wanted to travel abroad for an extended period of time.

I fit in well during my time there, and I had no problem assimilating after arriving in Zagreb, Croatia, on November 1, 2020. I rented a room next to a house for a month to give myself time to get used to being in a foreign land. I ended up using every bit of my three-month visa, touring the coastline and taking advantage of drastically reduced COVID-19 rental offers. I’ve since gone back and looked at several of the places I stayed and the prices are now 4-5 times more expensive.

After touring much of the Balkans over the next couple of years, I decided to create a travel-oriented website that would not only chronicle and preserve the time I’ve spent on the road but also serve as a travel guide for others and a way for me to sharpen my writing and journalism skills.

I enjoy traveling to countries that aren’t the most democratic or stable because that’s where a lot of the action and stories are. I had a great time while spending ten days in Copenhagen, but it was boring because there was no civil unrest or discontent with the government. Everything is clean and functioning properly.

So, there is a brief introduction about who I am and what this website is about. Any donations to my Patreon are greatly appreciated and go a long way. I am also open to any businesses that might be interested in sponsoring what I do so I can have an easier time building this into something special and enjoyable for everyone.

I am open to any feedback for improvement or corrections. You can reach me at danielm549@gmail.com.

Cheers!

Daniel Miller