Over my years of life I've come to find a foundational truth that is central to every one of us: We all want to be loved. And we all want to love.

As I came to reflect and contemplate on that truth, I realized an essential accompanying truth: we were created exactly for that. I've been blessed to have traveled on 6 continents and dozens of countries, but no matter where I go that truth has proven true again and again. It is the core human truth, and it's the one I bring with me on my travels.

Life "over here" started as a project to share a little bit more about my travels with people after friends asked me again and again why I didn't share more online. Traveling for me had always been something I did (normally solo) to learn and to grow, not to show someone else. But over time I realized the beauty of sharing that travel with other people.

The more I thought about it the more I got excited to start posting about my adventures. But the goals of my travel also seemingly changed: I still wanted just as much to learn and to grow, but I wanted to help others learn and grow too. It turns out that's what it had been about the whole time, it had just become clearer.

Many assume that people are more hostile than they are. It's true that there are people who are oppositional, whether it's because you're white, an American, a Christian, left-handed, or some other factor. But just as much, I've discovered that from Canada to Japan, humans all have the same basic building blocks in common. There is truly "something for everyone" here.

In addition to wanting to love and to be loved, we all want a place to belong. The Over Here blog is ultimately just one journey and just one piece in a sea of pieces. But it exists to bring people along for the journey and to help them find the one true place they belong, and I'm happy to have you along for the ride.

So what do you say, let's make it happen?

So no matter what your story, no matter where you come from or where you think you're going, I want to invite you to come aboard the train of adventures that is "Over Here".

Whether it's in Bangladesh or the Bay Area, we'll laugh together, learn together, and do life together (or as they say in Portuguese, "conviver"). You'll join me as I trot the world but you'll also join in what the ultimate mission is Over Here: letting everyone know that that love is already there for them, and it's given by the one who created them for it.