The people on this page are not only travelers, but are significant in the crucial role each play in my life as a friend, roommate, classmate, or family member. They are from and in every corner of the world imaginable, and are the inspiration for my travels. They will be seen often within the stories and images of this blog. And now, I share them with you…

NOTE: If you would like to share your profile as a traveler, leave us a comment! We would love it. Tell us your current city, hometown, birthplace, occupation, favorite travel experience, favorite city, and favorite travel accessory.
A N D R E W
*Photo by Andrew
Current City: Washington DC
Hometown: St. Louis, MO
Birthplace: St. Louis, MO
Occupation: Strategic Management Consulting
Favorite Travel Experience: Monrovia, Liberia
Favorite City: Capetown, South Africa
Favorite Travel Accessory: A headlamp
How we met: Graduate school at Carnegie Mellon University

A N N A
*Photo by Anna
Current City: Bologna, Italy
Hometown: Bologna, Italy
Birthplace: Bologna, Italy
Occupation: cultural operator (still trying to figure out what this exactly means…) If you want to get an idea, imagine me working with a theatre/museum/festival.
Favorite Travel Experience: US trip going from the Grand Canyon across the West Coast
Favorite City: I love many cities, but Paris is my first love and probably the one I know the best, after my Erasmus experience.
Favorite Travel Accessory: Can’t live and leave without my camera, but also travel wipes can be important ;-p
How we met: Graduate school at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, PA

C R Y S T A L
Current City: Williamsburg, VA
Hometown: Little Rock, AR
Birthplace: Little Rock, AR
Occupation: Development Research Analyst
Favorite City: I don’t know! but I love my current city, my hometown, and my most recent city, Pittsburgh, PA
Favorite Travel Accessory: Guidebook with MAPS
How we met: Graduate school at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, PA

E Z G I
Current City: İstanbul, Turkey
Hometown: Ünye, Turkey
Birthplace: Ordu, Turkey
Occupation: Internshipppppp
Favorite Travel Experience: I have two actually.:) One is my 1 month London experience when I went there for summer school at LSE. I can still remember the pain of walking 10 hours a day. Nevertheless it was the best thing I’ve done to discover a city. And the second one was last summer when I did 1 week backpacking at the Liguria coast with my friend. The sea, food, people were amazing and I wanna do it again for sure. 🙂
Favorite City: İstanbul
Favorite Travel Accessory: iPod and a toothbrush
How we met: Graduate school at the University of Bologna

G E N E
Current City: Alexandria, Virginia
Hometown: Connellsville, Pennsylvania
Birthplace: Connellsville, Pennsylvania
Occupation: Healthcare Policy Project Management
Favorite Travel Experience: Climbing volcanoes in Costa Rica
Favorite City: Madrid, Spain
How we met: Graduate school at Carnegie Mellon University

G I O V A N N A
Current City: Imperial, CA
Hometown: El Centro, CA
Birthplace: El Centro, CA
Occupation: Physical Therapist
Favorite Travel Experience: Going to Amsterdam as part of a tour and making friends with complete strangers and having the best time of my life..I think I was high from second-hand smoke in coffee shops hahaha The next day my new friends told me it was like I had a split personality and she was really fun hahaha good times!
Favorite City: Florence, Italy
Favorite Travel Accessory: My blow up travel pillow; it’s not the kind you get at Wal-Mart it has a really big hole so you can blow it up in like two breaths and it has a cover that you can remove and wash all your saliva off of hehehe.
How we met: High school in El Centro, CA.

J A K I
*Photo by Jaki
Current City: Sacramento, California
Hometown: Imperial, California
Birthplace: Montclair, California
Occupation: Institution Personnel Officer – California Department of Corrections
Favorite Travel Experience: Cabo San Lucas
Favorite City: Catalina, California
Favorite Travel Accessory: iPhone

J E R
*Photo by Roberta
Current City: the woods, NY
Hometown: Buffalo, NY
Birthplace: Buffalo, NY
Occupation: Student
Favorite Travel Experience: Everyday just keeps getting better.
Favorite City: Bologna, Italy.
Favorite Travel Accessory: iPad
How we met: Graduate school at the University of Bologna

J E S S I C A
Current City: Chicago, IL
Hometown: DeWitt, MI
Birthplace: Lansing, MI
Occupation: Research Analyst
Favorite Travel Experience: Getting unexpectedly detoured in Paris while en route to Venice and discovering I still knew the metro after 6 years of not being there!
Favorite City: Paris, France.
Favorite Travel Accessory: My lovely German beau. 🙂
How we met: Graduate school at Carnegie Mellon University.

J O H N
Current City: Washington, DC
Hometown: Seattle, WA
Birthplace: Chester, PA
Occupation: Nonprofit strategy and public education reform
Favorite Travel Experience: One month traveling up and down Viet Nam
Favorite City: Berlin, Germany
Favorite Travel Accessory: My Bugatti carry on I bought at the Ka Da Ve in Germany.
How we met: Mutual advocacy work on behalf of arts education in Washington, DC.

J U S T I N
Current City: Chicago!!!, IL
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
Birthplace: New Kensington
Occupation: General Manager, Choral Theater
Favorite Travel Experience: Climbing Table Mountain, looking out and seeing Antarctica
Favorite City: Trieste, Italy
Favorite Travel Accessory: Leopard print travel blanket
Website: www.facebook.com/justinfyala
How we met: Graduate school at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, PA.

L A U R A
*Photo by Laura
Current City: New York City, NY (Manhattan)
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
Birthplace: Pittsburgh, PA
Occupation: Artist
Favorite Travel Experience: Collecting salt from green and pink marble formations at Agean Sea in Greece.
Favorite City: Siena, Italy
Favorite Travel Accessory: Sunglasses
Website: www.lauralindamiller.com
How we met: Graduate school at Carnegie Mellon University.

L E N A
Hometown: Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Birthplace: Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Occupation: Student
Favorite Travel Experience: Eating grilled oysters with a friend sitting on boxes in front of our hotel in Shenzhen, China.
Favorite City: London, England
Favorite Travel Accessory: Socks and a cardigan, to take off my shoes on the plane, curl up and fall asleep.
Website: www.facebook.com/lena.manylova
How we met: Graduate school at the University of Bologna.

L E S L E Y
Current City: Ithaca, NY
Hometown: Trenton, NJ
Birthplace: New York City, NY
Occupation: Arts Manager (director of an arts colony)
Favorite Travel Experience: One month with one pair of boots and one backpack in rural Scotland in October.
Favorite City: New York City, NY
Favorite Travel Accessory: A toss-up between a good toiletries bag and one of those tiny, super-absorbent camping towels that dries in like, a minute and a half.
Website: Working on it!
How we met: Graduate school at Carnegie Mellon University.

L U C A
*Photo by Luca
Current City: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Hometown: Bussero, Italy
Birthplace: Omaha, Nebraska
Occupation: Chef and eater-at-large
Favorite Travel Experience: The euro trip I took a few years back starting in Milan, then Brussels and finally Belgium and back. I went with good friends, the timing was great since we hit queen’s day in Amsterdam and had a blast in the process.
Favorite City: San Diego, California
Favorite Travel Accessory: Well my iPhone: great for capturing the moment and to quickly find out more about where I am. Oh and the music of course to keep sane during the long flights!
How we met: At our neighborhood pub, the Ritual Tavern, in San Diego. Then we found out we were neighbors.

L U D O V I C A
Current City: Paris, France
Hometown: Rome, Italy
Birthplace: Rome, Italy
Occupation: Student – Intern
Favorite Travel Experience: Singapore-Malaysia- Bangkok with my sister in 2008.
Favorite City: So far, I’d say Paris..but I change my mind easily.
Favorite Travel Accessory: My umbrella and my sunglasses (because we live in a world of contradictions).
Website: <a href=”http://
How we met: Graduate school at the University of Bologna.

M A N U E L
Current City: Bologna, Italy
Hometown: Bologna, Italy
Birthplace: Bologna, Italy
Occupation: Independent Sound Engineer
Favorite Travel Experience: Vietnam-Cambodia-Laos
Favorite City: Seville, Spain
Favorite Travel Accessory: My camera
Website: sites.google.com/site/manuelfarolfi
How we met: Manuel was a roommate of a student studying with Peggy at the University of Bologna.

M A R C
Current City: Venice, Italy
Hometown: Verona, New Jersey
Birthplace: Venice, Italy
Occupation: traveling shoe salesman
Favorite Travel Experience: Meeting Giulia on the train to Venice.
Favorite City: Venice
Favorite Travel Accessory: A woman or a book (both preferably) easy enough to fit into my backpack.
How we met: Marc heard Peggy speaking English at a bar and yelled “Americano” across the room at her.

M A T T I A
Current City: Birmingham, UK
Hometown: Benevento, Naples Area
Birthplace: Benevento
Occupation: Community Manager
Favorite Travel Experience: Road Trip to Spain and Portugal 2009
Favorite City: Lisbon, Portugal
Favorite Travel Accessory: A blanket I always carry with me
Website: the-iciclemelter.tumblr.com
How we met: Graduate school at the University of Bologna.

M E G
Hometown: El Centro, CA
Birthplace: Indianapolis, IN
Occupation: Print magazine editor in chief
Favorite Travel Experience: Finding neighborhood cafes, spontaneous stops for refreshments, spontaneous shopping
Favorite City: London
Favorite Travel Accessory: Ecco sandals, geeky but flawless for comfortable all-day walking.
How we met: She’s my mom! 🙂

M E G A N
Current City: Alexandria, Virginia
Hometown: Columbia, South Carolina
Birthplace: Washington, DC
Occupation: Aviation Writer
Favorite Travel Experience: Soaking up the sun in Los Angeles after having been snowed-in for five days in Northern Virginia.
Favorite Cities: New Orleans, Seoul and Barcelona.
Favorite Travel Accessory: Pashmina scarf and an eye mask.
How we met: Peggy lived in Megan’s basement for a summer.

M O N I Q U E
Current City: Portland, OR
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Birthplace: Santa Monica, CA
Occupation: Receptionist (day job, for now) / Actor
Favorite Travel Experience: So hard to choose! But I will have to go with my trip to Santos, Brazil in 2006 with my capoeira teacher. (stay tuned – blog entry coming soon!)
Favorite City: There’s a lot of cities I love but I feel I’ve yet to discover my all time favorite.
Favorite Travel Accessory: A good suitcase you can live out of.
Website: www.moniquefleming.com
How we met: Studying theatre at the University of California, San Diego.

N I N A
*Photo (c) Filippo Brandini
Current City: Munich, Germany
Hometown: Poltava, Ukraine
Birthplace: Poltava, Ukraine
Occupation: Production assistant and a freelance translator.
Favorite Travel Experience: Waiting endlessly at a gas station somewhere near Budapest to hitch a car to go to Zagreb. After almost 10 hours of waiting and finishing all food and alcohol supplies with 2 more Hungarians we randomly met, getting into a super old VW with 3 French hippie guys and a dog, crossing the border with them and driving through the night.
Favorite City: Berlin, Germany.
Favorite Travel Accessory: A 2-liter water bottle.
How we met: Graduate school at the University of Bologna.

P E G G Y
Current City: San Diego, CA
Hometown: El Centro, CA
Birthplace: Lomé, Togo
Occupation: English teacher, cultural manager
Favorite Travel Experience: Driving the beautiful back-roads of Pennsylvania during a midsummer dusk with my sunroof open.
Favorite City: New York City, NY
Favorite Travel Accessory: iPhone
Website: www.peggyryan.com (in progress!)

S A N D R A
Current City: San Diego, CA
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Birthplace: San Diego, CA
Occupation: Administrative Assistant
Favorite Travel Experience: Exploring the city of Barcelona by myself.
Favorite City: Barcelona, Spain
Favorite Travel Accessory: A journal.
How we met: Studying theatre at the University of California, San Diego.


S E V E
Current City: Ravenna, Italy
Hometown: Ravenna, Italy
Birthplace: Recife, Brazil
Occupation: Student studying foreign languages at the University of Bologna.
Favorite Travel Experience: Moving to Italy at the age of four and seeing snow for the first time.
How we met: We are roommates!

S I M
*Photo by Sim
Current City: Manchester, UK
Hometown: Harare, Zimbabwe
Birthplace: Harare, Zimbabwe
Occupation: Concierge
Favorite Travel Experience: Mauritius & Fishing + Safari in Zimbabwe
Favorite City: Paris
Favorite Travel Accessory: iphone + SLR camera
Website: simix25.wordpress.com
How we met: Peggy was a guest at the George V in Paris where Sim was working at the time.

S T E P H A N I E
Current City: Brussels, Belgium
Hometown: All the places where I’ve lived, except for the one I grew up in – Maastricht, Berlin, Bologna, Brussels.
Birthplace: Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands
Occupation: Coordinator at a cultural non-profit
Favorite Travel Experience: Cycling to the sea through the countryside with my friends when I was 16.
Favorite City: It always changes. The city is often the opposite of where I’m living at that moment, so I guess my favourite city is where the grass is always greener. 😉
Favorite Travel Accessory: Earplugs, definitely!
How we met: Graduate school at the University of Bologna.

V A L E N T I N A
Current City: Bologna, Italy
Hometown: San Vito al Tagliamento (PN)
Birthplace: Maniago (PN)
Occupation: Student in Arts Management
Favorite Travel Experience: Listening to Fado artist at Mesa de frades (Lisboa – PT)
Favorite City: The one I’m planning to visit next
Favorite Travel Accessory: SPF +50 sun lotion
How we met: Graduate school at the University of Bologna.

Z E Y
Current City: Istanbul, Turkey
Hometown: Istanbul, Turkey
Birthplace: Istanbul, Turkey
Occupation: Living life 😉
Favorite Travel Experience: Cinque Terre with my friends, we slept on the beach and met a lot of people. It was really fun!
Favorite City: London, England
Favorite Travel Accessory: Can’t decide, they are all precious.
How we met: We are roommates!

Z O N G
Current City: Shanghai, China
Hometown: Chongqing, China
Birthplace: Chongqing, China
Occupation: Art gallery
Favorite Travel Experience: layover in Lisbon, Portugal, one-day trip, by myself
Favorite City: New York, NY
Favorite Travel Accessory: iPod Classic, 160G, Black version
Website: www.weibo.com/dzonhan (Chinese only)
(How we met: Graduate school at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, PA)