Gary Mancuso yearned to travel ever since he was a boy. Then, the summer before his senior year in high school, he left his family home in Ohio and drove to California. Arriving in Los Angeles with four dollars in his pocket, he slept on the beach for a spell until he got his footing. When he wasn’t off wandering somewhere, he studied economics, communications, and political science and got a master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Southern California. Before setting off on the journey that became the subject of this book, Gary headed business development in the trading room of a large regional bank. Along with his passion for travel, he is an avid trekker, swimmer, scuba diver, environmentalist, and private pilot.