Traveler Profile: Ryan Van Lenning | Matador

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Screen name:

Ryan Van Lenning

Age:

35

Gender:

Male

Travel status:

Traveling soon

Hometown:

Belmond, IA

Currently in:

Oakland, CA

Traveling Next:

Ecuador

Favorite places I've been:

Guatemala (Lago de Atlitlan, Semuc Champey, Tikal); Mexico (esp. Chiapas and Michoacan); Rift Valley and east coast of in Kenya; Istanbul, Turkey; Colorado Rockies and Northern California; Rishikesh, India; Tortuguero, Costa Rica; Bocas del Toro, Panama

Places I want to go to:

Norway, Cambodia, Vietnam, Ecuador, Bolivia, Iran, Columbia, Venezuela, Mali, Uganda, Rwanda, Egypt, Sweden, Brazil, Kerala State, India

About me:

I left a good teaching job to travel for 6-months straight around the world, from Mexico to Thailand via Poland, Turkey, and Kenya. Then I did what I should have done years ago, resettled out in the SF Bay Area and make my way as writer and activist. I have them ol' travelin' bones and like to write on social justice, environmentalism/sustainability, peace and militarism, fiction, and of course travel. I think writers can be guerrilla fighters of the word and social change. I am scuba certified, I wish I knew how to build a straw-bale house. I also wish I could write the way Andres Segovia played Spanish guitar and could dance the way Twain and Nietzsche wrote.

Profile URL:

http://matadortravel.com/travel-community/ryan-van-lenning

Read more about Ryan Van Lenning

I'm fired up on:

writing, learning about everything, travel (short and long, big and small, orange, local and around-the-world, smart, lost, any type), Matador!, organic gardening/urban agriculture, creating sustainable cities, exposing myths (or at least laying them peacefully to rest), resistance and progressive social change

Tunes I rock out to:

peace frog (The Doors), King of the Bongo(Manu Chao), Brimstone Rock (16 Horsepower), Uncommon Valor (jedi mind tricks), Fight For Your Mind (Ben Harper), Free Speech For the Dumb (Metallica), Reves (Cafe Tacuba), Asturias (Andres Segovia)

Travel style:

any which way including loose

Quote:

"Caminante, no hay camino,se hace camino al andar."--Antonio Machado

Sports I do:

does scuba and hiking count?

Favorite artist(s):

Lila Downs, the Doors, Ben Harper, 16 horsepower, Aterciopelados, godspeed you black emperor

Favorite books:

heart of darkness, conrad; hope in the dark, rebecca solnit

Who I'd like to meet on my travels:

Mark Twain

I want to make a difference by:

Linking the connections between what happens at home and what happens abroad; Supporting local organizations and communities where I travel

Languages spoken, other than English:

Spanish

I felt the most immersed in a foreign culture when:

when i get their art and politics; when i am invited to eat in the house of locals; when i get inside jokes;

Why I travel:

got them ol' travelin' bones

Ideal place to watch the sunrise:

Volcan Tajumulco in Guatemala

Before I die I'd like to:

scuba-dive with a whale and get color-bombed at Holi Festival in India

Let's collaborate:

on an interactive map and webite of social movements/organization in the global south

My links:

http://travelinbones.wordpress.com
http://pulltheroot.wordpress.com
http://vanlenning.wordpress.com
http://rumiandthecholo.wordpress.com
http://www.oaklandlocal.com
http://www.plantingjustice.org

Post New Comment

by Angela | 2009/07/26

Hi Ryan! So sorry I've just seen your comment on my profile! Actually on that demo for Gaza in London we were 200,000! And that was not the only demo... I can't say it's easy, though, it's hard to rally so many people, but we have many grassroots organizations all over Europe and, due the present catastrophic world situation, more people are realizing that there is something wrong.
And we try to do some good and honest information, I try my best, that's why I spend my days under piles of books...when I'm not traveling ;-)
Good to hear from you, let's keep in touch so we can exchange some useful link and information!

by halamen | 2009/05/24

Shout out if you ever make it to Bolivia. Just spent 3 months there and loved it.

by Teresita | 2009/05/22

Drop me a line if you get to Oaxaca in your Mexico travels! Welcome to Matador!

Please Vote on My Guatemala Trip for the Trazzler Writing Contest

By Ryan Van Len... | Location: Guatemala | 08/31/09 | Pics: 1

I've made it to the Semi-Finals for the Trazzler NYCGO contest to win a $10,000 2-week trip and writing contract to cover NYC! I need your help, fellow travelers and travel-writers: I am asking you to please "wishlist" my trip called "Lounging...

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Taste of Thai: Part I

By Ryan Van Len... | Location: Thailand | 06/30/09 | Pics: 7

5:30 am. Sukhamvit area of Bangkok. It is still dark and because I haven’t slept I have decided to take an early stroll down to Lumphini Park, Bangkok's green zone of leisure in the midst of this giant Mexico City of South...

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To Cover The Cries

By Ryan Van Len... | Location: Poland | 06/29/09 | Pics: 3

I wrote this in a strange state of mind after walking through Auschwitz.

To cover the cries

when you see the mounds of shoes

of the babies burned

and the piles of hair

TONS

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