1. Who are you?
My name is Aaron Gilbreath. I’m a nonfiction writer from the Arizona desert.

2. Where are you now?
At home in Portland, Oregon, in our basement, which I’m turning into an izakaya.

3. What do you do when you’re not travelling?
I work a few different jobs, I write, and try to enjoy life with my wife, family and friends. I constantly dream about traveling and read books to feed my lust.

4. What was the last piece of music you listened to?
Gil Mellé’s song “Four Moons”.

5. Tell us briefly about the travel story you shared in LOST.
It’s about getting lost in an unfamiliar part of old Tokyo at night and having to learn ─ as a suspicious American used to violence and thievery ─ to trust a stranger. The experience lingered with me long after it happened, which is always a sign I should write about something. Personal nonfiction is a powerful way to process experience and try to answer lingering questions.

6. What do you love about travel?
In the early 1900s, my Grandma Silvia’s father used to periodically leave New York City to ride the rails. She didn’t remember where he went because it was before she was born, only that he hopped trains to go exploring and would send his family letters from across the US. “Mom called him a ‘hobo,'” my grandma told me. Her father was an immigrant, and she admired his willingness to indulge his curiosity and explore his new country in whatever way he could afford. I feel the same way about the world.

First off, I love seeing what other parts of our planet’s surface look like. Mostly, I love seeing reality through other peoples’ eyes and how many perfectly suitable ways there are to think and live and believe. I love learning something about humanity and the question of existence, love pushing myself to grow, and hopefully improve, by gaining perspective and incorporating new cultural practices into my daily life back home. I love meeting new friends and fortifying my sense of empathy between me and my fellow human beings, because travel reminds you how we’re more alike than we are different, and that yet, simultaneously, our cultural differences are also some of the best things about us. To me, travel provides a way to celebrate that. Deep down, sharing and cooperation are more natural to us than competition and selfishness, and travel encourages what Michelle Obama said in her 2016 Democratic National Convention speech: that we need to lean on each other and listen to each other, not turn against each other, “Because we are always stronger together.”

7. What do you hate about travel?
That I can’t afford to do more of it. Besides that, nothing. I love it all, even the difficulties, the exhaustion, the inevitable discomforts. To me, every struggle feels like a worthwhile trade for new and powerful experience and emotional connection with other people. I can live out of a bag for a long, long time, and I’ve slept in cars more times than I can count in order to take a trip I couldn’t otherwise afford. If life allowed me the luxury, I’d keep traveling and you’d have to drag me home. The world’s just too fascinating to stand still or insist on comfortable ways of experiencing it.

8. Do you like to travel alone or with people? Why?
Both, because they’re such drastically different experiences. To me, the trick is finding the right people to travel with. If I can’t, I’d rather go alone. I’ve always enjoyed time alone, and I don’t get debilitatingly lonely. It’s way more frustrating to travel with someone who drags me down psychologically or who limits my exploratory options.

People travel for different reasons, so I’ve always tried to find the people with similar adventurous, social dispositions and stamina to travel with. I don’t travel to relax. And I don’t go to hole up in a hotel. I like to go everywhere and try everything, to talk to people and be spontaneous, so I need someone inquisitive who can thrive in simple conditions and who doesn’t need all sorts of accoutrements to get through their day or who needs a firm plan. Granted, this make me a bad companion to people, too, because I’m like, Isn’t twenty minutes in this pool long enough? Can’t we go wander around now? I’d drive many people nuts. Another issue is that most people have careers that prohibit long road trips. That means I’ve often gone alone. A lot. I’m the guy eating alone at the rural diner who you feel bad for. But don’t. I’m having a blast.

9. What do you think about during travel?
“The truth is everywhere. The truth is where we are. One small step separates earth from heaven.” ─Eihei Dōgen, Japanese Zen Buddhist

10. Any future travel plans?
Chicago for a few days, which I can’t wait for, and camping here in Oregon. Besides that, only future travel dreams: New Zealand, Tasmania, Chile, South Korea, Germany, North Africa, Scotland, England and, once more, Japan (this time Hokkaido and Kyushu). Until then: books about those places!

1. 你是誰？
我的名字叫 Aaron Gilbreath，來自亞利桑那州沙漠地區，是一位非小說類的作家。

2. 你現在在哪？
在俄勒岡州波特蘭家中的地下室，我正在把這裏變成一個居酒屋。

3. 你不在旅行時平常會做什麽？
我有不同的工作可以做，我寫作，努力享受和妻子、家人以及朋友共度的生活。我常常向往旅行，會讀很多書來滿足我的欲望。

4. 你最後聽的一首歌是什麽?
Gil Mellé’s 的歌 “Four Moons”。

5. 用一段話，簡單地告訴我們你在《LOST》分享的個人旅行故事。
它是一段關於迷失的經歷，發生在夜晚，東京老城區一個不熟悉的地方，作為一個習慣暴力和偷竊的多疑的美國人——我不得不去學習——信任一個陌生人。這段回憶在故事發生後一直跟隨著我，像是一個提醒我應該寫點什麽的標誌。個人化的散文是一個強有力的方式來陳述這段經歷，也試著去回答一直逗留著的問題。

6. 旅行最讓你喜歡的是什麽？
在1900年代早期，我祖母 Silvia 的父親習慣定期離開紐約，為了去乘坐火車。祖母並不知道他去了哪裏，因為那些都發生在她出生前。她只記得他跳上火車去探索，會寄來跨越美國的信件。“媽媽說他是一個 ‘ 流浪漢’ ”，我的祖母這樣告訴我。祖母的父親是一位移民者，她羨慕他縱容自己的好奇心去探索他的新國度，用任何他可以負擔得起的方式。關於世界，我有和他相同的看法。

首先，我想去看看地球其他地方長什麽樣。最想透過他人的眼睛看看現實，找找有多少種恰到好處的方式供思考、生活和相信。我喜歡去了解人性，以及存在這樣的問題，喜歡推著自己去成長，希望通過獲取不同的見識和引入新的文化實踐進入日常生活來改善自己。我喜歡認識新朋友，並增強與朋友之間的共鳴感。因為旅行會提醒你人類之間的共同性多於差異，而且同時也會提醒你文化的差異是關於人類最好的東西。對我來說，旅行就是提供了一種慶祝上述那些的方式。深入、分享、合作，對我們來說更加自然，相比較於競爭和自私，而且旅行能夠鼓舞人，就像米歇爾·奧巴馬在2016年民主黨全國代表大會上演講的：我們需要依靠彼此，聆聽彼此，而不是彼此敵對，“因為團結總是更有力量。”

7. 旅行最讓你討厭的是什麽？
除了沒錢做更多的旅行外，其他沒有。我喜歡旅行的一切，即使是困難、精疲力盡、不可避免的不適。對我來說，要換取新的、有力量的經驗，以及與他人的情感聯系，每一次鬥爭都是值得的。我可以在睡袋裏生活很久很久，也曾在車上睡過數不清的次數，如果不這樣做我就沒法承擔得起旅行。如果生活允許我奢侈，我將繼續旅行到你不得不把我拽回家。世界太迷人，以至於我無法停下來或者只用安逸的方式去體驗。

8. 你喜歡獨自旅行還是跟朋友一起？為什麽？
都喜歡，因為兩種經歷截然不同。對我來說，這個把戲的關鍵是找到對的人一起旅行。如果沒有找到，我情願一個人。我總是很享受獨處的時光，但是我不會讓自己變得脆弱的孤獨。和那種在精神上拖累我，限制我各種探索的人在一起更令人沮喪。人們因為不同的原因而旅行，所以我一直試圖找到擁有類似的冒險精神、社交能力和耐力的人一起。我旅行不是為了放松。我也不會窩在酒店裏。我喜歡隨處走，嘗試各種事物，與人交談，讓一切自然發生，所以我需要的是充滿好奇心的人，他能在各種簡樸的環境下過得很好，他不需要各種全套裝備來度過一天，也不需要一個嚴密的計劃。誠然，這也讓我成為了一個糟糕的伴侶，我常常會說類似，在遊泳池裏呆二十分鐘還不夠嗎？我們能不能現在就到處去走走啊？我會將很多人逼瘋。另外一個事實是，很多人的工作讓他們沒辦法長途旅行。那就意味著我通常都是一個人旅行。很多時候吧。我是那種可以獨自在鄉下餐館用餐的人，你會覺得我可憐，但是不必這樣覺得，我吃的很爽。

9.旅行時經常會想到什麽？
“真理無處不在。真理就在當下。人間和天堂只一步之遙。”——日本道元禪師。

10. 接下來有什麽旅行的打算嗎？
會去芝加哥幾天，已經迫不及待了，然後會在俄勒岡州這邊露營。除此，還有一些旅行的夢想：新西蘭、塔斯馬尼亞島、智利、南韓、德國、北非、蘇格蘭、英格蘭，還有日本（這次去北海道和九州島）。在那之前：就讀讀關於那些地方的書吧！