Wayward: Fetching Tales from a Year on the Road is a hilarious and heartfelt ride around the world, wherein the author eats dog, obsesses about chewing gum, gets stranded on an island, does dirty things, reveres rock n roll and muses about everything from death to Star Trek to the President Obama to jail time. Now available on Wattpad, Wayward has been a surprise hit at both iTunes and Amazon, reaching #1 on both retailers' travel charts. It chronicles a year in the life of the author, who lived in 12 countries over 12 months, one month at a time. It's kind of funny, kind of sad and kind of weird. Forbes describes the book: "Wayward isn’t strictly a travelogue or a guide by any means. The book reads like a diary, with chapters dedicated to everything from watching Obama’s inauguration in an Argentinian bar, to viewing a dubbed version of the newest Star Trek film in France and trying to understand the plot despite not speaking French, to remembering the ecstasy and pain of his first love just before breaking up with his then-boyfriend in Berlin, to eating dog in Vietnam, to his experience working with Patti Smith in New York. Gates’ lively, conversational writing style bring all the disparate pieces together for an engaging, enjoyable read."

After spending a year teaching in Thailand, I longed to travel with only my quirky self to keep me company. My journey started in Myanmar where temple cycles and village treks exposed me to the past and present of this intriguing nation. I returned to Northern Thailand for a volunteer experience and some of the most ingenious and adrenaline-pumping New Year's celebrations. Indonesia's smiling faces warmed my heart and even coaxed me out on a date or two. Join in if you've ever wanted to experience the beauty of a volcanic sunrise, the joy of Javanese hospitality or the thrill of a five-day water festival where joining a water war is as easy as saying 'Sawatdee!' or 'Hello' for my English readers.

30 Before 30. Thirty days in Europe. Thirty inspired moments of adventure to live it up before my 30th birthday. Just the idea of it gave me purpose. Here was a reminder that I could choose a new path, even if it was only for 30 days. A little background first. Ten years ago, if you had told me that at 29, a normal week for me would be taking Sienna Miller out for a night on the town, going to see an NBA Lakers game across the court from Jack Nicholson, and taking a celebrity-filled private jet to Vegas for a Maroon 5 concert, I would have laughed and said, “Order me another shot, crazypants”— of course, secretly hoping you were right.

After quitting our jobs, my partner and I hopped on a one-way flight to Asia to spend six months exploring. Come along for the ride! Journey through historic and busy China, beachy and rural Thailand, temple-tastic Myanmar, delicious and sleek Malaysia, the stunning and surprising Philippines, jaw-dropping, adventure-filled Nepal, classy Singapore, and Indonesia's underwater wonderland. Combining my love of travel, writing and photography, Travel Drabbles is an ongoing collection of bite-sized, visual chapters. The strange love child from when travelogue met poetry. Brace yourself for the good the bad and the ugly, plus the funny bits in between.