During every adventure you embark on in life, you will meet new people. In most cases their presence will last momentarily. But every so often you will find a lifelong friend (or two!) – whose impact can be momentous.

Andres is one of those people in my life. He and I were introduced through fellow coworkers during my first week at our company. Needless to say, our passion for travel and penchant for silly jokes helped us became fast friends!

I’ll admit – Andres’ travel experiences dwarf my own. Because of this, I find his stories inspiring. He has backpacked across Europe and South America, taken a spur-of-the-moment trip to Guatemala, conducted in-home interviews with rural Egyptians, relocated to Dubai, and more! Not too shabby for someone with a full-time job!

In my audio interview at the link below, Andres and I discuss several topics that I thought would interest you, dear reader of mine! The primary themes include:

1) How he found himself to be an American expat in the Middle East
2) How he has maximized his vacation days to explore new places
3) His advice for choosing the right travel partner

Click here to download the interview as an iTunes podcast

Click here to stream the interview online

I hope you find the conversation as interesting as I did!

-Eliz