David Rich rides a camel in China near the Pakistani border.

GoNOMAD Writer Profiles

David Rich: Happily Homeless

David Rich is GoNOMAD's most intrepid writer, braving blizzards, monsoons, desert heat and State Department travel advisories to visit the world's most out-of-the-way places from the Karakoram Mountains in Pakistan to the wilds of Borneo to the Harley-Davidson Rally Week in Sturgis, South Dakota.

David retired in his forties to become a full-time international traveler, an occupation he finds far preferable to his former professions of law professor and trial lawyer, from which he says he’s now "mostly recovered."

He has pursued freelance travel writing and exotic travel for sixteen years, living so far in more than 140 countries. However, with 191 countries in the United Nations (and 202 at the Olympics) he’s barely halfway through the list. He says he has "sold everything" and is "classically homeless."

With his wife Mary he RVed Europe, Scandinavia, Northern Africa and the Middle East for three years, Australia for over a year, New Zealand six months, and South America for two years.

Then it was on to Nepal, India and China before helping sail a 39-foot steel cutter from Malaysia to Thailand. Then on to Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia and Hawaii.

In 2004 they took a 4x4 overland trip from Johannesberg, South Africa to Yemen via "a bunch of interesting countries."

Next was Japan, then Korea, Bangkok, Borneo, sailing the Philippines and driving for a month through Java. They popped back to South Africa for Namibia, Botswana and Victoria Falls, then dipped into Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho before taking the Garden Route back to Capetown. Their next stops were Rome, Tunisia, Malta, Sardinia and Corsica.

David and Mary in Tunisia

Where to next? Albania and Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Iraqi Kurdistan, Iceland and Greenland. Then Kazakhstan and Georgia.

Visit the Rich website, which has been featured on LonelyPlanet.com.

David has written numerous stories for GoNOMAD, many of them with supplementary photo galleries, and there are plenty more coming up.

GoNOMAD Stories and Galleries by David Rich

Turkmenistan: Tinhorn Tyranny

Uzbekistan: Police State Jewel

Tajikistan: Following the Ancient Silk Road

Beyond Borat: Discovering the Real Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan: The Vanguard of Western Permissiveness

Machu Picchu: An Ancient Treaure Threatened by Man and Nature

Wild Thailand: Elephants, Cobras and Tigers

Titicaca the Great: Urcos, Yavari and Sillustani Too!

What-a Ball-a in Guatemala

Panama: More Than Just a Hat

Nevada's Burning Man Festival: Raunchy Rainbow Picture Show

Jordan: Petra Rocks

Burkina Faso: From Holy Catfish to Percusso Picassos

Balloon, mosque, moon

Good Golly, I Sure Do Miss Mali

Mali Photo Gallery

Mummy Dearest: A Visit to the Real Egypt

Egypt Photo Gallery

The Philippines' Mountain Provinces

Eastern Turkey Sampler: Exotic History and Astonishing Scenery

Tunisia Will Seize Ya

Tunisia Photo Gallery

Yemen: Safer Than Where You Live

GoNOMAD Photo Gallery: Yemen

Vale of Kashmir: An Idyllic Locale of Uncommon Beauty

David on top of Moon Hill in China near Guilin/ Yangshou.

GoNOMAD Photo Gallery: The Vale of Kashmir

Half a Million Harleys: Rally Week in Sturgis, South Dakota

GoNOMAD Photo Gallery: Sturgis Rally Week

Learning to Train Elephants in Thailand

Pakistan's Karakorams: Mounains to the Max

A Tale of Two Koreas

Hiking to the Base of Mt. Everest

The Spiti Valley: In the Middle of the Mystic Himalayas

The Uttermost Ends of the Earth: Tierra del Fuego

Watching the Chinese Watching the Westerners at China's Funny Pointy Hills


David also recommends a story by his friend Anonymous:

Cuba: Lost in Time, Lost in Space

Read Our GoNOMAD Writer Profiles: Kent St. John David Rich Max Hartshorne Paul Shoul Sony Stark Tim Leffel Cindy-Lou Dale Kelly Westhoff Shady Hartshorne Laurie Ellis Mridula Dwivedi Lucy Corne Rick Millikan Habeeb Salloum Cindy Bigras

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