A fondness for foreign cultures and travel incited me to spend a semester with a host family in northern France when I was 15, another year in Paris during college, and then move there for four more years after I graduated. In that time I learned the language fluently and studied at French high school and university. Two essays written in French can be found on the Literature and Interdisciplinary pages.
During my later years in Paris, I worked as a professional musician, excerpts from which can be heard on the Music page. After leaving France, I lived for some time in Chiang Mai, Thailand, traveling extensively and connecting musical tours in Europe and Asia with backpacking trips between the two. In 2007, I traveled from Paris to Tokyo overland by bus, boat, and Tran-Siberian railroad. From there I flew to southeast Asia, followed by India. In 2010, I made a Silk Route trip, traveling overland across China from Beijing into Kyrgyzstan, Khazakstan, and Uzbekistan. Georgia and Turkey were next, bringing me back to Europe:
All told, I have visited over 50 countries around the world. In 2016, I returned to Beijing with my wife, Jessica DiRuzza, MFT, where we facilitated a workshop on psychology and the arts offered by Stage Ai:
Reality Conspires 