I admit to an incurable travel addiction, which I have been lucky enough to feed by journeying around Asia since 1980, driven by an abiding interest in the wonders and troubles of the region.
Mostly my travels in the last 25 years — 22 of them spent living here — have been fieldwork for my academic activities, currently as Director of Asian Studies at Temple University's Japan Campus in Tokyo. Consequently, many trips have consisted of interviews, data collection and firsthand observations that inform and inspire my writing. There is also the odd conference to attend, but sometimes my travels are nothing more (or less) than a recharging of the batteries.
In between trips I grow restless, and one of my hobbies is trip planning, researching destinations that I may visit, chasing down contacts and figuring out logistics. But, truth be told, not always in that order.