Crude & Cultured encapsulates my being, a fine line I frequently blur on purpose - like sneaking a flask into the museum.

Because damnit! If I’m going to view one of my favorite art pieces in person, then I might as well pull up a chair and have a drink at A Bar at the Folies-Bergère.

But who am I, and why should you care?

Honestly — you don’t have to. I’m not here to pitch you a lifestyle or sell you a fantasy. You can take this website or leave it, I won’t be offended - it takes quite a lot to offend me. But if you are sticking around, thank you. I hope what is found here illuminates something for you: a place, a culture, a story, a souvenir with real purpose and weight — the kind that smells like incense smoke, or chai, or unfamiliar spices clinging to worn fabric.

To be clear, this website and the blogs in it won’t be a daily ritual - I do have to work full-time to afford my lifestyle of going to work every day, paying rent, gassing up my old car, and affording my dogs very charmed life. There’s no linear arc to this website. It’s not tidy, but it’s real. It’s my form of nostalgia, of working through the landscape of my memories and their meaning. A space for critical thought about travel — not just the places themselves, but the experience of being somewhere foreign, somewhere undefinable, somewhere that changes you.

…But if you do want to know a little more about me, here it goes: I’m on the wrong side of 40. A wanderer. Not quite rootless, but never really settled either. I tend to overstay my welcome in most chapters of life, putter around in the in-between, and spend an unreasonable amount of time wondering what comes next. I don’t enjoy walks on the beach, but will throw myself at a trek through the jungle or a strange eats food tour. I have a Masters in Humanities; I LOVE culture, philosophy, art, literature, travel, Moroccan rugs, Thai silk, and Mexican ceramics.

Like a real nerd, most of my writings have been academic in nature. And while I promise to bring intelligence to this website - because you’re not an idiot and I won’t talk down to you as if you were - I also believe weaving my travel experiences and personal perspective can be a more engaging read than my thesis. And so far my thesis (not my degree) hasn’t done shit for me - but my travels have! So here’s to chasing the dream, the flight, the sun - chasing what matters, even if you don’t always know what that is.

Peace, and happy travels.

- Sophia