The guy behind all this
I’m very fond of boasting smugly that I “don’t do selfies.” Then I realized I needed a picture of me for this page. So, this is me in Istanbul, making a complete liar out of myself and utterly undermining my credibility. In my defense, I’d just bought the jacket and wanted to send a picture of it to a friend. Technically, the coat is the subject of the photo, not me. But that’s probably just splitting hairs.
I have no excuse whatsoever for the cocky stance or that smirk.
A caveat wrapped in a blanket apology
Knowledge of history varies significantly from individual to individual. How much a person knows about a particular time or place is shaped by many things: what you studied, where you studied, how much you remember of what you studied, and whether you were taught much history at all. I learned virtually nothing about Indian history throughout my years of formal education, so I’m still wrapping my head around things every Indian schoolchild knows. Conversely, my Western schooling prioritized the outlines of classical, general European, and American history—subjects given less attention elsewhere.
So, if it sometimes seems like I’m assuming you know very little about a given historical topic, it’s not because I think you’re stupid or uneducated. I’m just trying to fill in the blanks for folks who never encountered or have forgotten certain subjects.
About me
I’m Steven Sassaman, a proud native of Portland, Oregon, who’s nonetheless spent most of his adult life living in San Francisco, California. So I’m fond of excellent food, rivers, bridges, and forested mountains. I don’t mind rain or steep hills, and I harbor a deep suspicion of places called “the beach” instead of “the coast.” (If you don’t understand the distinction, you’re most likely a beach person.)
I’ve discovered I’m often happier traveling than I am staying at home. In recent years, this has taken me abroad to Central and Southeastern Europe or Northern India (I have a huge soft spot for Maharashtra).
As a diehard urbanite, I tend to visit a lot of cities. I’m drawn to places with compelling histories, where the past is reflected in the physical setting, architecture, and culture (which certainly includes cuisine and foodways). However, I’ve been trying to get outside city limits more often to visit smaller sites and experience the countryside between the labeled dots on the map.
Language is another of my interests. In addition to my native English, I speak German (useful) and have some Latin (far less practical unless you’re confronted with an old inscription). But I make an effort to pick up enough of the local language to cover the basic interactions. While that’s not always necessary, given how many people have at least some familiarity with English, I think it’s pretty arrogant to turn up in someone’s country and expect them to use your language without taking any trouble to understand even a little bit of theirs.
About this site
I’ve tried writing the usual travel blog with daily posts so folks can follow my trips in real time, but I discovered I hated it. Feeling like I’m on deadline during vacation rather undercuts the purpose of taking a trip. So now I write journal entries or articles retrospectively when I’ve been able to give things some thought and have the time to sit down at the keyboard.
I’m not a good photographer, so please don’t expect gorgeously composed images. Or sometimes even images at all. I sometimes forget to take pictures or feel uncomfortable doing so in certain moments—not everything or everyone should be a foreigner’s camera fodder.
But I’m getting better at remembering to take pictures of food, even though I still get a little embarrassed to be one of those people who photographs a plate of food before eating it. (I’ve tried telling myself that it’s just like saying grace before a meal; given that I abjure that practice as well, this hasn’t been a successful strategy.)
Finally, I don’t just write about what I’ve seen or eaten. As noted above, I’m passionate about history; honestly, I don’t think it’s possible to fully understand or appreciate a place, a people, or a culture if their history is a closed book for you. There’s certainly no shortage of plaques on walls or helpful guides to fill in details (although I’ve found these are not always entirely reliable). But that’s the classic “forest for the trees” scenario, as the larger story that gives all of these individual sites meaning can be harder to find. Those more expansive stories fascinate me, so I write about them as well.